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Father’s Day Wishlist: What to buy for Pop on Sunday

John Biggs — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:30:00 +0000

I’ve been going through the items I’ve seen and bought this year and thought I’d share a few things that would make me particularly happy this Father’s Day. To that end, I’ve collected a mish-mash of items that might make dad smile a bit more readily than a tie and cologne set from Donald Trump’s fashion collection.

Canon G10

I had to send this camera back but I’m honestly thinking of buying it new. It’s a great, heavy duty shooter with plenty of manual chops and a huge rear LCD. It takes shots at 14-megapixels and costs $485. It’s a bit much – I always recommend getting a DSLR like the Rebel if you’re at all into shooting – but it’s a good mid-point camera with great portability.

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EnviroCycle Composter

It’s odd that I brought a composter into this round-up but Dad’s love gardening, at least the part that involves worms and dirt. I’ve been composting for years but I used to just dig a hole and drop eggshells into it. Now I have a huge, unsightly and stinky worm world that blends in perfectly with the riot of pumpkin vines that are growing up around the old compost pile. At $138 it’s better than a hole in the ground.

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Debaufre Aircraft-8 Chronograph

Love it or hate it, Debaufre is doing some interesting things in low-priced chronographs. The Aircraft-8 is the first watch I’ve seen from them that actually looks new and fresh and at $740 for a calendar chrono movement, Swiss ETA, no less, it’s quite nice. Worth a second look.

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Tissot Sea Touch

If Dad needs a more rugged watch, get him the Tissot Sea Touch. An impressive update to the T-Touch line this monster comes in orange and black and has a rotating bezel, compass, chronograph, thermometer, second time zone, and a diving logbook. All of the functions are available just by touching the screen. I’ve seen it for about $1,000.

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32 GB iPod Touch

I know this is a little bit old but it’s still a great product and a great way to introduce pop to the magic of MP3s and video downloading. Stock it up with some tunes and and some good movies and maybe add the iFitness application so he can take it to the gym. It starts at $229.

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Amazon Kindle

If Dad likes to read, get him a Kindle. Seriously. It’s a great device, it saves space, and he can download books anywhere and at any time. It’s a great device and the smaller version is delightfully portable. $359.

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Pioneer XMp3 Radio

If you haven’t tried satellite radio and drive a lot, you owe it to yourself to add this to your Father’s Day shopping cart – if only for yourself. The XMp3 is a portable XM radion that supports up to 100 hours of recording and can record five stations at a time, meaning you can listen to the game on one channel and still grab your favorite shows – Bob Dylan? Howard Stern? – on other channels. They’re selling the radio with a car kit for $149. Installation is dead simple and the satellite subscription costs $164 a year.

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CrunchDeals: Debaufre redoes their fatty Aviator-8s, sells them cheap

John Biggs — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:33:50 +0000

Debaufre, a watch company that uses great movements inside cool cases, has redone their line to reflect a more personal touch – a great move considering their Aviator-8s were just on the edge of copyright infringement. The new models have a curved case with a different, more attractive marker font and come in all of the Aircraft-8 colors. The new models also have an exhibition back and run a hand-wind Unitas movement.

Pop over to their store right now to grab the watch for $485. More specs after the jump.

# 44-mm stainless steel case.
# Swiss Unitas hand-wind movement.
# Domed sapphire crystal glass.
# Anti-reflective coating.
# Mineral exhibition window.
# Special “Cote de Geneve” engraving.
# 24-mm x 24-mm leather strap.
# Sweeping Second Hand.

New Debaufre Aircraft-8 Chronograph

Dave Freeman — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:00:53 +0000

Debaufre just announced their new Aircraft-8 Chronograph, and I have to admit. I want one. Vaguely B&R inspired, the square black case with the red hands on the sub dials just speaks to me. Add to that the 44mm case, sapphire glass, and the fact it’s available in either PVD black or stainless, and I’m sold.

Here are the specs from the website:

Stainless Steel Case
Swiss movement (ETA Cal. 251.262)
44mm
Sapphire crystal glass
Black leather strap

Starting with a pre-order price of $640, it’s a pretty good deal too. Better hurry: after the introductory launch, they’ll go up to $740.

CrunchDeals: Debaufre 44mm Aviators on sale

John Biggs — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:20:03 +0000

You can pick up some beefy aviators for not much money over at Debaufre. This Nav-B 44mm with ETA movement, for example, is my personal favorite. It’s selling for $373.75.

When you check out, use the coupon code 3S8K8J. The sale lasts until February 12, so get thee to the Debaufree. I favorably reviewed another Debaufre piece, the Aircraft 8 so you’re probably going to like these.

CrunchDeals: $230 off Debaufre CSAR watches

John Biggs — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:01:55 +0000

The longer we’ve had the Debaufre Aircraft-8 the more I’m convinced that these guys have finally gotten things right. For about the same price as a higher-end quartz you can get an ETA or Unitas mechanical watch with some nice styling. I’m still not happy with the B&R and Rolex knock offs on there, but it’s fairly common practice to create “homages” when you’re trying to build brand awareness.

Debaufre is selling their unique CSAR watch with Unitas hand-wind movement for $420. This is one of their most unique styles and I can recommend them for men and, interestingly enough, women: my wife wears the Aircraft-8 daily now.

Review: Debaufre Aircraft-8

John Biggs — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:35:49 +0000

What you do know will hurt you. As a long-time lover of larger than life watches, I was pleased when Steinhart nee Debaufre released a line of watches to rival Bell & Ross’ attempts at recreating old-timey airplane dial. As I’ve mentioned many times before, Bell & Ross watches are obscenely huge and obscenely expensive so to find a watch that mimics – but does not totally copy – the B&R style for not much money excited that bargain-hunting watch-lover in me.

Sadly, however, I think this taste of paradise will make the average watch-lover desire a B&R even more, a sad state of affairs for someone who is trying to avoid spending $5 grand or more on a stinking watch.

First, a pet peeve. Debaufre has a huge section of Rolex Submariner knock-offs that I don’t condone. The Submariner is such a boring style and so commonplace that knocking them off is akin to counterfeiting baby formula – it won’t end well for anyone. There are plenty of diving watches out there that are plenty water resistant and even have GMT hands that don’t have to look like something that would grace the wrist of an overly tanned, gut sprung sailboat captain just coming in to dock at Catalina Island. If your watch collecting bug is calling for a Rolex, buy a Rolex. You’re not fooling anyone.

That said, I’m just to the side of calling Debaufre out on their Aircraft series but this thing is sufficiently different to warrant a fair look. The watch itself has a 44m steel case and an ETA 2824-2 case – two things that make this stand out from the average Chinese-made lump. It is 3ATM water resistant – there is no screw down crown and the band is leather, so don’t test that rating – and it has a sweet seconds hand and date.

I bought the black faced model at $535 and am please by the readability and uniqueness. Unlike other big watches, the face font is quite readable and he hands are big and bold. Unfortunately, however, only the hands are luminous, leaving the pips and numbers dark at night. This is a huge no-no – I want to read a watch accurately in the dark or else I’d avoid the lume entirely. Giving me half a lume sandwich is almost as bad as giving me no lume at all.

The watch comes in a leather presentation box and includes a leather band with signed buckle. The back has a childish helicopter etched into stainless steel. The crown is nice and big and offers a choice of hand and automatic winding.

This is actually can make a fun woman’s watch, as well. My wife wore it all weekend and reported that it fit better than anything else I’ve given her. Like guy’s dress shirt or a ratty old concert tee, big watches look great on women.

Another peeve: the front of the watch has four weird little divots that are supposed to look like bolts. This is an obvious reference to the B&R screws that hold the watch together. I think both these divots and the B&R screws are too busy and should be done away with.

Would I recommend this over a real Instrument Series piece? Watches like these are the gateway to more expensive models, a stepping stone, if you will, to bigger expenditures. B&R do good work with movements and cases and even though this is running an ETA I’d be worried if something went wrong with the watch down the line. Buying one of these, selling it, and buying up. This is the recession special and the first in a long line of fine watches for many collectors but be warned – watch acquisition is a slippery slope.