SMS : Is Glycine A Good Choice?

I have just flipped off my Glycine Combat Sub, which was acquired recently and updated accordingly in my advert on MWF. A forummer whom I previously dealt with asked me if Glycine was a good brand and the reason that I was flipping it off in such a short period of time.

Well, I know that he swings by my blog often so I shall answer here instead.

I bought my Glycine Combat Sub "Root Beer" because I had been on the hunt for a Root Beer watch for quite a while; and at the point of purchase in August, the model was newly-released. Other older models had a healthy discount, but not the Root Beer at that point in time. So the watch had snobbish appeal of being I-have-a-piece-that-just-hit-the-market with it, plus in a colour that I had wanted to add to my collection for a while. And lastly, it was rather rare to find a new diver watch with lug holes these days.

The watch looked superb in the showroom, which was the reason I whipped out my credit card to purchase the one and only Root Beer in the showroom.

But at home, when placed next to the many other diver watches in my collection, then the Glycine started to look less special and I was therefore motivated to let it go to a more appreciative owner.

If there weren't so many pieces of diver in my collection, I would no doubt have kept the Glycine. A timeless design (as all divers were), sapphire crystal, lug holes for easy strap-changing, and most importantly, a very reliable and dependable Swiss ETA 2824-2 movement - the watch basically had a lot going for it.

With a release price of RM3,923.99 and discounted to RM3,400 during my purchase, I believe that it made a good value-for-monies purchase. After all, it was a long-established Swiss brand with a huge following (albeit overseas) and supported by DKSH's 2-year warranty for peace of mind. Unlike mini-brands like Steinhart and Helberg, which may cost a little less but has much, much lesser brand recognition and wrist presence, and especially troublesome is when one needs to send back these watches to Germany for warranty claims.

I would rather take this Glycine over the mini-brands then.

I took a look at Mudah and found that it's pre-owned value was generally quite stable and it held its value well, perhaps helped in part by the fact that there were not many Glycine pieces in the secondary market. A 1-year old Combat Sub that looked like mine was still selling at RM3,500, so I guess my purchase at RM3,400 was a good deal. My buyer, whom bought it for RM2,400, had an even better deal even.

So would I recommend Glycine for fellow watch collectors?

A definite yes, for a piece that sings to you.