Homage Watches
The Hamilton Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical is an amazing watch! I love it! Retail = $845. I was fortunate to find it used at a great price. AliExpress has a Baltany homage for $159. It is much thicker but has a sapphire crystal and NH38 movement. 41 hours power reserve compared to the Hamilton H-50 with 80 hours.
I tend to stay clear of homage watches. Just my personal preference. No judgement from me if that is your thing. But I'm curious if anyone has opinions they would like to share. The price difference is substantial enough it makes me wonder if it is worth the savings sometimes.
Thanks for sharing!
Relatively new to watch collecting. I love researching, learning, and collecting a wide variety of time pieces.
The W10 Mil-spec design issued to the British Royal Air Force in the late 60s is public domain and fair use for any brand. Smiths was the original supplier of the W10 starting from 1967 before Hamilton joined the production in 1973 until 1976.
Baltany didn't produce watches for the British military historically, but their use of the W10 design is just as legitimate as much bigger brands such as CWC or MWC. Baltany's niche is reviving iconic watches with military history, without infringing any copyright, which I find commendable for a Chinese microbrand. From what I've experienced, they do a great job at that and the finishing is impeccable for the price.
Alternatively, the CWC Mellor-72 (W10 "homage") is available for $600 ($325 with quartz) and the MWC W10 homage is available for $320.
A lot of great watches are homage. Everything’s fair game unless it’s a downright clone/copy or fake.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Was able to buy a baltany dirty dozen. Was really surprised with the case finishing in person and specs. I must say it is really worth it to consider. Love the brand name as well.
I just want to say thicker because automatic. Stupid rotor.
Also, I think Merkur/Seizann does one that is 38mm (boo!) but appears to be hand wound, still thicc.
My first mechanical was a W10 replica and I would love one too but pfft to Hamilton prices. I'd want acrylic crystal too.
I’d go for the CWC Mellor ‘72 over the Hamilton every day and twice on Sundays. More authentic, cheaper, just as much character.
Pretty sure I am not following the entire convo but this CWC fat boy was in an email I received today and looks great.
Hey, if you like the design (art) aesthetic that was created by one company (artist), but don’t want to recognize them for their contribution, then you should definitely buy the knock off and pretend it’s the real thing.
Hey, if you like the design (art) aesthetic that was created by one company (artist), but don’t want to recognize them for their contribution, then you should definitely buy the knock off and pretend it’s the real thing.
I already own the Hamilton. I was curious what others thought about homage watches.
No issues with an homage
Do you my guy 🍻
I already own the Hamilton. I was curious what others thought about homage watches.
Do not approve of 90%+ copies. I’m good with similar design language.
The fashion industry as a whole does the same homage stuff. The designers reveal their lines and then it's copied by major retailers so the average person can get the look for less. In fact, it's considered smart & savvy to be able to emulate the look of major designers for less money.
It's probably safe to say that if this were FashionCrunch, there'd be a negative attitude from those who paid for the real thing towards those who either can't afford to, or don't wish to pay out the big money.
It's human nature for people to be indignant in a situation where someone else paid less for the same outward appearance, although one would also think that they'd be content in the knowledge that they did indeed own the real thing, and therefore it doesn't matter what those in lower socioeconomic groups are doing with their money, even if it could be construed as flattery by impersonation.
In the end, our opinions - including mine - are based on how we look at the situation, and who is to say which way is the only way or the right way?
So there's my two cents.
I think these are both interpretations of an historic, military design. I’d likely go with the Hamilton, but have not seen the Baltany in person.
I sense there has been something of a sea change in the way people on this site feel about homage watches, although I appreciate that you shouldn't generalise from a sample of 10 or so contributors' comments.
A year or so ago, there would have been some very hostile reactions to homages. I welcome the change. I have quite a few of them and I love them - especially Steeldive.
Now all we have to do is wait for some people to recognise smart watches as watches - 'soul' and all. Bring it on!
It's the same with any cheap Chinese homage watch. Yes, they are cheaper (although in recent times, some are really testing that and charging more & more), but if you want 'the real thing', will the homage ever really cut the mustard? Will you look down at your wrist every 15m and, over time, increasingly start to think, "I'd rather be wearing a Hamilton... yeesh, why did I buy this thing?" Even if it took someone an extra 3, 6, 12 months to save for the Hammy, if it's what they really want, there's really no point to essentially wasting money on something like this. But in an age of instant gratification, watch people do it a lot.