Next watch? Wise Adamascus AD8
OK, Crunchers, please talk me into or away from this 41 mm every day / dive watch from a Thai microbrand. Things I especially like: unique and attractive dial and indices, simple but legant case design, finish quality reportedly quite good, mirror finish throughout (yeah, I know, fingerprints and scratches), relatively thin, exhibition back, decent Miyota 9015 movement, date complication. Reportedly great lume and 904L are maybe bonuses (?). I’d probably wear it mostly with a rubber strap, and although I dive, mostly as a sports watch. $600 cost seems OK but not a bargain. Haven’t as yet seen one in person.
Anyone have hands-on experience with this model? Thanks in advance!
Wearing watches 60+ years, always loved looking at and owning these little machines, but just recently fell into the idea of collecting. Reading articles and viewing watch videos non-stop lately, incl...
Love the dial on those
A Wise Man once said...buy me!
Great looking watch.
Go for it. I may just do it too.
Looks gorgeous. Now you have me thinking about buying one!
Looks gorgeous. Now you have me thinking about buying one!
same here. I'm seriously considering buying the AD7 and selling my Tissot Gentleman Powematic 80
Love the dial on those
Thanks, I’ll take that as a yea vote!
same here. I'm seriously considering buying the AD7 and selling my Tissot Gentleman Powematic 80
Sounds like a consensus! Feeling my will power seep away…
Sounds like a consensus! Feeling my will power seep away…
haha same
I’ve been watching videos and reading up on Wise non-stop since I’ve seen this post. 😂😂
@PeterKotsa had mentioned that the action on the bezel was a bit stiff, but they had fixed it on the blacked out AD8 (really great videos, btw). I’m curious if the action has been fixed on all AD8 models since the blacked out version.
Same here as far as video watching is concerned! Almost every reviewer mentions that it's quite stiff, so I have to believe Wise purposely built it that way (they are Wise after all), as opposed to this being a quality issue. I haven't seen anything about the tightness having been fixed, but honestly, I'm not personally very concerned about that, since I probably wouldn't use it to keep track of my bottom time or safety stops (more likely to wear my Casioak while diving). I'm guessing it's may loosen over time the more it gets played with, but even if it doesn't, too tight is better than too loose, because it's less likely to get changed accidentally.
How close are you to pulling the trigger?
Same here as far as video watching is concerned! Almost every reviewer mentions that it's quite stiff, so I have to believe Wise purposely built it that way (they are Wise after all), as opposed to this being a quality issue. I haven't seen anything about the tightness having been fixed, but honestly, I'm not personally very concerned about that, since I probably wouldn't use it to keep track of my bottom time or safety stops (more likely to wear my Casioak while diving). I'm guessing it's may loosen over time the more it gets played with, but even if it doesn't, too tight is better than too loose, because it's less likely to get changed accidentally.
How close are you to pulling the trigger?
You make a great point. I would also prefer it to be on the stiffer side rather than loose.
I’m still in the daydream/window shopping phase 😅. I could pull the trigger if I can sell some stuff from my other hobby though. Really leaning towards the AD861A with the blue to black fade dial!
How about you? Convinced yet?
Getting there I think. But earlier this week I thought the next watch might be a cocktail time, so it appears I'm easily distracted by any new shiny object!
I'm still going to look around a bit to see if there is any other watch that checks the right boxes: automatic, great dial, quality movement and finish, and exhibition back (why get an auto if it's invisible?).
The blue to black fade is sharp, as is the red to black.
Mind if I ask what your other hobby is? Too many hobbies is my exact problem.
Getting there I think. But earlier this week I thought the next watch might be a cocktail time, so it appears I'm easily distracted by any new shiny object!
I'm still going to look around a bit to see if there is any other watch that checks the right boxes: automatic, great dial, quality movement and finish, and exhibition back (why get an auto if it's invisible?).
The blue to black fade is sharp, as is the red to black.
Mind if I ask what your other hobby is? Too many hobbies is my exact problem.
I totally understand that. I’ve been looking around a ton recently and keep hopping around. Just wait until the next beautiful piece comes around!
My other hobby is custom mechanical keyboards. It’s pretty accessible for people who just want to go wild with customization or even creating their own designs. Also with a vibrant community.
But I’m with you. Way way way too many hobbies!
That’s an interesting hobby! With that background, seems like you could transition into modding watches.
So I owned the light blue dial version. A nice watch excellent packaging came with a couple different straps. My only issue if I remember correctly is it is a 41 mm watch and a little bit too big for me so I ended up selling it after owning it for only a few months. 904 l steel is truly amazing. I currently own the wise full lume special edition watch and have on order their new GMT 904L steel I should receive in February. No issues with the call of the watch just a little bit too big for my wrist.
So I owned the light blue dial version. A nice watch excellent packaging came with a couple different straps. My only issue if I remember correctly is it is a 41 mm watch and a little bit too big for me so I ended up selling it after owning it for only a few months. 904 l steel is truly amazing. I currently own the wise full lume special edition watch and have on order their new GMT 904L steel I should receive in February. No issues with the call of the watch just a little bit too big for my wrist.
I very much appreciate the feedback! Can I ask, what size is your wrist? BTW, what do you think of the bronze with the blue dial version? It would mean giving up the 904L mirror finish, but it looks kinda sharp to me (and I’m not usually a fan of bronze watches).
For me the AD15 and the bronze green AD8 are exerting a certain pull. I'd consider 41mm rather big, and am not normally into divers nor bronze, so I probably shouldn't... but it looks so well judged and I love the green tones they used.
I've owned an AD8 in red for about a month so far. I love it. The quality and finishing is amazing. For the price Wise charges, it really is a bargain. My AD8 came with both leather and FKM rubber straps. Both straps are very comfortable, although I mostly wear it on the FKM rubber due to the hot humid weather here in Thailand. On a visit to their HQ I got hands on with most of their watches and saw that every model is a stunner. I couldn't resist buying the AD8 that day. I also tried on their ADX GMT and fell in love with that too. I ordered the GMT as they didn't have any available for sale that day. If the GMT had been in stock I would have walked out of the HQ with 2 watches that day!
Thanks for letting me know of your experiences, that's great to hear! I'm jealous of your trip to their HQ. I've hinted quite strongly to my wife (OK, pretty much told her) that I'd like the bronze/blue AD8 for my b-day, and I'm fairly certain she ordered it because she asked me which of the 333 limited edition numbers I might want (I think there are about 60 or so remaining).