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PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:51 pm 
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Hey guys, here is what we have so far:

Black

44MM Pilot case
Black dial
Black Hands
Arabic numerals
Chrono function
Diamond crown and standard pushers
Day-Date feauture
Strap and bracelet included
LE 20

Now the only remaining issue is the Chrono subdial design, any one have any ideas on how we should aproach this? maybe a style you like from other watches?

Lets hear yoru thoughts on this.

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 1:59 am 
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Well, I am in love with the IWC pilots chrono:
Image

So I'm going to make my suggestion for the subdial hands here, again ;), how about a red seconds hand in the 9-oclock subdial? We could also consider red-tipped hands for the chrono totalizers as well. I think that would make enough of a difference in the design to set it apart from the regular Steinhardt Nav B-Chrono to make the design worthy of a LE. This would be kind of similar in inspiration to the Chronomat LE with rhodium dial and orange-tipped subdial hands (I can't find a picture of this one online anymore....but hopefully you know which one I mean)

The chrono totalizers on the Steinhardt chono are pretty similar to the IWC, but the seconds subdial lacks the numbers of the IWC:
Image
At the risk of being too much of an IWC sycophant, I would also put forward the suggestion of putting numbers at 20, 40 and 60 seconds for the 9 o'clock subdial (but this is really minor...and I don't know if it could be done).

I will admit, however, I like the dagger-like hands on the chrono subdials better in the Steinhardt than the thicker ones on the IWC. (So, see, I'm not totally an IWC sycophant after all! :) )

So to summarize:
- Red-tipped seconds hand: a minimal adjustment to the standard Nav B-Uhr that will still retain the classic pilot's chrono look yet also be worthy of being an LE.
- 9 o'clock subdial numbered like the IWC: Another modification that retains the classic look but adds LE distinction.
- Red-tipped chrono subdial hands: also something to consider.

///M

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:54 am 
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Well said Mofongo. Another vote for that.

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 5:24 am 
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:yeahthat Red is always good 8)

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 6:14 am 
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I'll decline to comment on this. So far my preference has 'lost' every single poll except size, so not sure that I am going to be buying so not fair that I influence the decision.


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 6:51 am 
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Roffensian wrote:
I'll decline to comment on this. So far my preference has 'lost' every single poll except size, so not sure that I am going to be buying so not fair that I influence the decision.


Well on the last LE my preference won all the poles and it was still changed because of opinions, surely you should offer your thoughts as these are only early stages and can be changed.

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 3:43 pm 
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I like Mofongos ideas. I would agree with that.

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 5:39 pm 
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Pretty much agree with Mofongo on this one, personally love the Nav-B and the IWC lots!

Not a huge fan of subdials cutting off half a number though - if that was necessary to fit in the 20,40,60 on the 9 o'clock sub dial .. I like my watches to have the whole number on the dial or none at all.

What about making the date wheel cut-out a little bigger and doing something like this.... (clearly I'm new to the forum so may have missed previous threads on this... so feel free to ignore if I'm missing the point totally!!)

Image
:yeahthat

Fingers crossed I can grab one of these when the time comes, even if it means putting the Chronomat/Blackbird fund on hold a little longer !!!

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 5:55 pm 
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I also like Mofongo's ideas. A touch of red will be striking!

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 10:17 pm 
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Mofongo's idea is probably doable, i will contact the designer and see if Gunter can accomidate, though that would require specially made hands as opposed to off the shelf ones, which would slightely increase the cost and delay delivery. But I say that should not be an issue, if we are doing this lets do it right.


taffytoon wrote:
Roffensian wrote:
I'll decline to comment on this. So far my preference has 'lost' every single poll except size, so not sure that I am going to be buying so not fair that I influence the decision.


Well on the last LE my preference won all the poles and it was still changed because of opinions, surely you should offer your thoughts as these are only early stages and can be changed.


I am going to clarify this one last time, the polls in the first set where clearely intended as design option 1, and we created a final poll for the group to decide between the two designs. If your design did not "win", you where in the minority.

The idea behind this second issue is that some people felt the first iteration was not to their liking so this most likely be what they are looking for.

If someone can think of a better way to design these watches please speak up, or go ahead and start your own process and we can compare the finalized designs later. I thought of having a live chat session but that would have been too hectic.

let me know if you have any other ideas or requests before I submit the ideas to Gunter on January 1st.

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 1:09 am 
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Chumba wrote:
What about making the date wheel cut-out a little bigger and doing something like this.... (clearly I'm new to the forum so may have missed previous threads on this... so feel free to ignore if I'm missing the point totally!!)

That's a great idea! I'd go for that. The Steinhardt logo and the "Nav B-Chrono" wording will have to be moved somewhere, though. Maybe they could just be shifted to the left a little bit?

Chumba wrote:
Not a huge fan of subdials cutting off half a number though - if that was necessary to fit in the 20,40,60 on the 9 o'clock sub dial .. I like my watches to have the whole number on the dial or none at all.

At first I didn't understand what you meant by this, but now I think I do. So you mean you don't want the main hour numbers to be chopped off by the subdials, right? (Kind of like Breiting frequently does on their dials). That does make a lot of sense, and I did not think of that. IWC gets around this by not having numbers at the cardinal points (just super-sized tick marks...plus slightly smaller subdials), whereas Steinhardt has all numbers except the "12". I have to admit, I kind of like the Steinhadt better in this respect. So, yeah, I agree that if it comes really comes down to having to bite into the "9" we should only consider deleting it completely.

Really, now that I have been looking at the design of the Steinhardt dial some more, I am coming to appreciate some of it's design elements more than the IWC. In addition to having all of the hour numerals except "12", and it also has oversized subdials. Both of these, I think, contribute to the readability of the dial and are in keeping with the philosophy of a true pilot's watch.

Hmmm...a red seconds subdial hand and a bigger cut-out for the date wheel like Chumba suggests...just those two modifications would look pretty killer.

///M

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 2:17 am 
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You've hit the nail on the head there Mofongo, that's exactly what I meant!

Cheers!

Dave.


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 3:12 am 
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I did not want to offer my opinion so that people would not thing I was steering the decision one way or another, but I came to the same conclusion as you Mofongo, in that the Steinhart takes the Chrono concept to pilot watches in a better way than the IWC!! I much preffer the way they placed the subdials and the way the numerals are not cut off.

I will consolidate yoru thoughts and present them tp Gunter by tommorow. I would like it if Roff and Driver contributed as well since their input was of such value the first time around, even if they are not buying :D

Also, if anyone has any ideas about other elements of the watch they would like to propose please bring it up now!

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 4:00 am 
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Altair wrote:
I would like it if Roff and Driver contributed as well since their input was of such value the first time around, even if they are not buying :D

Sorry Altair, I've been taking a back-seat on this thread (but avidly watching!) as I was quite involved wit the last one and I didn't want it to appear as if it was a "moderator's/admin's party"!

Having said that, I'm more than happy to venture some opinions, especially as I may very well still be in for buying one! :D

Firstly, I think the decisions made so far have all been really good, and for the most part I'd be happy to back them! :thumbsup:

I love the fact that it's going to be a black dial with white arabics as I think that is highly in keeping with a pilot's watch needing to being exceptionally legible.

Size-wise - well, I'd have gone for 47mm personally, but i can live with 44mm, so that's not a problem. The only issue with 44mm is that the subdial at 9 encroaches into the hour numbers (as some of the guys have already said) around the edge of the dial. IMHO the 47mm just looks less crowded. But, I'm cool with 44mm. :wink:

For my money I'd be happy to see this watch - http://www.steinhartwatches.de/index.ph ... _ID=27#165 - but with the diamond crown and some red on the dial....., such as on the small second hand, and on the centre chronograph-seconds hand. Oh and one last thing, I think the main hands should be black as I personally hate blue hands.

So all in all, I think the design so far is really good! :thumbsup:

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:27 am 
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The problem that I am having right now is that I really have way too many dark dial watches and was really hoping for something out of the norm here with a light dial / dark subs.

That said, if the dial is going to be black then I think that it needs to be dark subs, though I might go for a subtly different colour - something like a charcoal gray or even a 90% black - not light, just slightly different.

In terms of dial size and encroachment, I think that the sensible answer is to eliminate any numbers that couldn't be shown completely rather than have cutoffs. A smaller size can also result in a smaller font size which will help.


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