Steeldive makes some really nice watches. I personally have both their Submariner Date homage -the 1953 and their Seiko Tuna Can homage - the 1975 and I have to say that I rate them very highly indeed. Their new ‘brand’ the SteelFlier is for their aeronautical series of watches. The Steelflier SF791 is their homage to the Grand Seiko Elegance SBGM221 and in comparing pictures of that model with this new Steelflier I really struggle to tell the difference apart from the name on the dial.
The Steelflier SF791 is a cream-faced dial watch with a date and GMT complication. The watch uses the Seiko NH34 GMT movement. The GMT and Date complication are accessed by the first click stop of the crown - counterclockwise for changing the date and clockwise for moving the GMT hand forward in one hour increments. The crown is screw-down and this allows the watch a stated water resistance of 200 metres - that’s quite something for a dress watch. The case is polished which gives the watch a high degree of bling. The watch also features a top-hat sapphire crystal which is nice but would definitely benefit from some strong anti-reflective coating.
The watch came supplied with a reasonably nice leather strap - which I immediately swapped out for the thicker Hirsch Liberty which I’ve had for a number of years. One of the main criticisms I have regarding this watch is the 19mm lug-width which seriously restricts your strap choices - especially when it comes to the cheaper ones on the market. However in all fairness it has to be said that the Grand Seiko that this watch is clearly homaging also features the much-hated 19mm lug width as well.
As much as I like the watch a lot, there are some elements of the watch which could definitely be improved upon. For example, the handset would benefit from having a more three dimensional aspect to them rather than the simple flat ones supplied. In other words, some bevelling. This watch has no lume and I have to admit there are times when I find it difficult to instantly read the time as the silver of the hands somewhat disappears into the cream colour of the dial. Most of the time this really isn’t a problem but there are times when it definitely takes me longer than normal to read the time.
All in all, I really like this watch. I have a number of homage watches in my collection and, if I’m going to be completely honest, I would rather have them rather than have the original watches they’re trying to emulate. With perhaps the exception of the Grand Seiko. I think that the Rolex Sub is stupidly expensive and represents really poor value for money and I personally would never want to wear one outside for fear of damaging it or having it taken from me. I can say much the same for the Seiko models - although I suspect that most watch muggers wouldn’t even know what they are - let alone how potentially valuable they are. This is one of the few watches in my collection which look really good on a leather strap and I can’t really imagine wanting to put anything else on it. A bracelet would be too ‘blingy’ in my opinion and a NATO, Rubber or canvas strap would spoil the elegant aesthetic of the watch.