42mm Offshore - ROOC or Diver??

[smg8]

Hi All,

First time posting in a while!

I am keen to get the collective opinion of the forum to help me in choosing my next AP!

I am looking to add a 42mm offshore to a small collection;

Rolex GMT Master
AP Royal Oak Chrono 26320 (silver dial)
Patek Aquanaut 5167

I've had a craving for a Royal Oak Offshore since first ever showing an interest in watches and ready to pull the trigger on something.

Main purpose will be for summer/holidays/beach/casual. I had a bi metal Rolex Sub for this purpose and didn't click with it (too flashy for me personally) so flipped it but never got around to replacing it.

The 44mm offshore is too big for me, plus beyond what I want to pay so is not an option unfortunately.

I am playing with a budget of circa £12k ($15.5k) and my thinking on options is as follows;

Royal Oak Chrono - original Panda, Navy or Safari (any of which I'd put on a rubber strap)

OR

Offshore Diver

I can easily obtain a black dial Diver in budget, likely a 15710 with the clear caseback BUT;

I have recently discovered the white dial/blue accent diver with the white and/or navy strap and it looks amazing in pics/video and ticks all the boxes. BUT there are none to try on near me in the UK. It's also beyond budget, but I have seen a couple at $16k or so in the US so would look into importing. I am visiting NY in June so could try on in person then.

Has anyone else had this dilemma between the ROC and Diver of late, and what swung your decision?

Many thanks!

[Marchy]

I am actually in the same thought process as you are right now, I like the offshore (42mm) better than the RO. I've recently been looking at chrono24 listings. The diver is cheaper than the chrono but I'm stacked up with divers so I'm more inclined to go with the chrono, black themes or safari. You already have a chrono but no diver so I would go with the diver if I were you. Either way, both the chrono or diver would be fantastic watches for sure. Happy hunting and the best of luck!

[maciej]

Personally, as a person who’s had a wide variety of those pieces, my favorite was the Diver. I’d get a newer one with an open case back.

[KJBrandal]

First of all, great collection! I have the diver and use it as a daily driver, absolutely love it! I also have a CHNR, 116503, and Omega Sea-master in my collection so the AP Diver is my second "dive watch". Id say, since you already have a chronograph in the RO Chrono, go with the diver!

[Becweb]

I would wait for the new releases from AP, perhaps some surprises will be there.
If you can't wait, i'd go with the Diver, preferable the red gold one.

[MrEleven]

I would go diver because you already have a chrono and a gmt so it would go well with your collection.

[Burlington]

I’m biased !

But both are great options for you

[NutNut]

I agree with adding a diving watch as it would be a great compliment to your collection.

A full metal Royal Oak Diver might be of interest to you.




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[smg8]

Thanks for the comments, really useful. I think I was veering toward the diver anyway, and just wanted some positive reinforcement haha.

My thinking being;

- already have an AP Chrono (as pointed out by others)
- don't have a dive watch in the collection (as above)
- I could get a newer variant for the same money, i.e. clear caseback 15710. Whilst if I went for the ROOC I'd be getting the "older" variant, and would need to find one that's been serviced recently etc which seems to be quite hard to do

In an ideal world I'd love the ceramic diver, but a bit out of budget! So a toss up between the white dial/blue accents vs the black dial.

Hopefully an incoming to follow in the coming weeks!

Cheers

[smg8]

For those dailying a Diver, how does the bezel hold up? I guess similar to the Chrono, it scratches if you look at it?

[NutNut]

Originally Posted by smg8

For those dailying a Diver, how does the bezel hold up? I guess similar to the Chrono, it scratches if you look at it?

My ROO Diver is on rotation but I'm definitely mindful whenever I wear it. More so with my RO Dual Time!

[AK797]

Originally Posted by smg8

For those dailying a Diver, how does the bezel hold up? I guess similar to the Chrono, it scratches if you look at it?

It will mark up as the watch sits quite high on the wrist, worth checking out the CE models, both Diver and Chrono.

[Potawatomi]

Originally Posted by smg8

For those dailying a Diver, how does the bezel hold up? I guess similar to the Chrono, it scratches if you look at it?

I've daily worn mine for almost 2 years and I would say its held up considerably well. I wear it to the gym and I'm not that mindful where or how i set it down at the end of the day. I would say it does have a lot of hairline scratches on the bezel but it's my go to watch for when I'm not wearing my 15400 which I feel gets a lot more damage in a lot less use scenarios

[Burlington]

Also daily for 2.5 years now. Some scratches, chips and dings but it continues to look amazing.



I wouldn’t stress it. The first few were painful but after that you kind of forget about it.

CE bezels are good as per above - but I’m convinced I would have cracked one if my bezel had been ceramic instead of stainless.

[MrEleven]

Ive had my diver almost a year, wear it most of the time and dont baby my watches. It has one scratch on the bezel thats only noticeable at certain angles

[SPeters79]

The diver seems like a great choice.

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[golfski]

I had this same dilemma and ended up choosing the White Diver with blue accents. The Diver is a little thinner than ROOC (thinner rubber seal) and cleaner looking, imo. I chose the white dial because the strap combos I saw all looked great. I’ve only had it on white rubber though and love it!




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[Token74]

With the money you have to play with, I’d personally go Diver. Sure, the bezel scratches, but it’s not as bad as people often think. I’ve had mine in rotation for a couple of years, and certainly don’t take extra care of it.




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[WWC]

Diver

[karasus]

ROOC, especially if you can find some of those with the original blob/baton indices instead of the numerals. The dial on those look much cleaner while retaining everything that a ROOC should have.