thanks for your review and video. i did a review on the athaya website, which i’ll post here, hopefully you can let it all post, tho a bit long:
so happy to review this watch, especially since it’s the first review. am a writer so this may be long.
i had developed a love of the Apocalypse Now watch, the seiko 6105‑8110. there are some really nice homage watches being made and i bought the most popular one, but upon receiving it i became aware that the top crown guard on these, and almost all others out there, was way too big compared with the original. so, i just wouldn’t wear it and still have it.
i began a search on the internet to see if anyone had got the original case correct, being a fan of these early seiko divers, and almost to a manufacturer, none had. except…
finally i came across this watch, the Athaya Vintage AV002. i was blown away, there it was, a top crown guard that was correct! i had a cup of coffee and spent the next hour comparing photos online of the original and this piece, and they were as alike as 2 watches could be. i began scouring reviews, and found that all agree about the remarkable accuracy, which is not ‘replica watch’ accuracy, but a tremendous love and appreciation of the original by this maker. even the dimensions differ slightly. this is quite an amazing feat, so i had to have one.
i went for as spare and clean as possible, getting the strap without date. in photos the dial is somewhat like the original, but didn’t really nail the seiko look, BUT upon receiving it in person, i must say it very much has the seiko vibe and to a large extent the 6105‑8110 dial look. some real frosting on the cake.
in person this thing is very big, which is great as i love big divers of that period. but on my wrist it looks like i stepped back in time to the Mekong Delta. i was a few years too young to have gone to Vietnam and, not a fan of war, but am a collector of vintage milwatches. so, to get such a beautiful piece true to the original was a real treat, myself not expecting this to be so much of a reincarnation.
as for all the other stuff having to do with watches that we all care about, the QC (quality control) and build, i can say this is certainly better than seiko (for those who know their alignment issues). but saying something is better than the often misaligned seiko divers is not saying much, so i will add that this piece is a perfectly made in all respects as any Swiss diver in the $1000 and up category.
some particular loves of mine are the accuracy of the crown to the original (tho this has an athaya signature), the beauty and very 60s vibe of the dial, bezel, hands. also the lume is superb. of course, what we all adore most is the perfection and accuracy of the watch case. this is an homage in the best sense of the word, made with clear love and respect for the original.
as some early reviews of the watch said, the rubber straps were not all that much. since i had to have this on a rubber strap as i don’t wear bracelets, Adrian notified me that the original straps were brittle and cracking now as of 5 yrs past the original manufacture, and he’d at no cost send me one with a bracelet. i said absolutely not, send me one on the cracked/brittle rubber and i’ll put on my own strap, which i often do anyway. so that may be something new buyers will be made aware of.
the pouch this came in is a beautiful microbrand style leather. it came very quickly when shipped. but most of all, this is one of my dream watches, sitting on my wrist as i type this, and i thank Athaya for making it. especially with such love and respect for the original!
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Nate griff
I like that grumpo gamma, Don. Thanks for the excellent review.
Stephen Chan
Thks for the write up.
johnny johnny
thanks for your review and video. i did a review on the athaya website, which i’ll post here, hopefully you can let it all post, tho a bit long:
so happy to review this watch, especially since it’s the first review. am a writer so this may be long.
i had developed a love of the Apocalypse Now watch, the seiko 6105‑8110. there are some really nice homage watches being made and i bought the most popular one, but upon receiving it i became aware that the top crown guard on these, and almost all others out there, was way too big compared with the original. so, i just wouldn’t wear it and still have it.
i began a search on the internet to see if anyone had got the original case correct, being a fan of these early seiko divers, and almost to a manufacturer, none had. except…
finally i came across this watch, the Athaya Vintage AV002. i was blown away, there it was, a top crown guard that was correct! i had a cup of coffee and spent the next hour comparing photos online of the original and this piece, and they were as alike as 2 watches could be. i began scouring reviews, and found that all agree about the remarkable accuracy, which is not ‘replica watch’ accuracy, but a tremendous love and appreciation of the original by this maker. even the dimensions differ slightly. this is quite an amazing feat, so i had to have one.
i went for as spare and clean as possible, getting the strap without date. in photos the dial is somewhat like the original, but didn’t really nail the seiko look, BUT upon receiving it in person, i must say it very much has the seiko vibe and to a large extent the 6105‑8110 dial look. some real frosting on the cake.
in person this thing is very big, which is great as i love big divers of that period. but on my wrist it looks like i stepped back in time to the Mekong Delta. i was a few years too young to have gone to Vietnam and, not a fan of war, but am a collector of vintage milwatches. so, to get such a beautiful piece true to the original was a real treat, myself not expecting this to be so much of a reincarnation.
as for all the other stuff having to do with watches that we all care about, the QC (quality control) and build, i can say this is certainly better than seiko (for those who know their alignment issues). but saying something is better than the often misaligned seiko divers is not saying much, so i will add that this piece is a perfectly made in all respects as any Swiss diver in the $1000 and up category.
some particular loves of mine are the accuracy of the crown to the original (tho this has an athaya signature), the beauty and very 60s vibe of the dial, bezel, hands. also the lume is superb. of course, what we all adore most is the perfection and accuracy of the watch case. this is an homage in the best sense of the word, made with clear love and respect for the original.
as some early reviews of the watch said, the rubber straps were not all that much. since i had to have this on a rubber strap as i don’t wear bracelets, Adrian notified me that the original straps were brittle and cracking now as of 5 yrs past the original manufacture, and he’d at no cost send me one with a bracelet. i said absolutely not, send me one on the cracked/brittle rubber and i’ll put on my own strap, which i often do anyway. so that may be something new buyers will be made aware of.
the pouch this came in is a beautiful microbrand style leather. it came very quickly when shipped. but most of all, this is one of my dream watches, sitting on my wrist as i type this, and i thank Athaya for making it. especially with such love and respect for the original!