Hi, what are your thoughts about this watch? Appreciate your comments.
This is a wonderful watch. I love the Santoni strap and it really is a very versatile watch. The brown of the strap is casual, smart. But it is not for everyday wear. So I switch it between a black alligator from my 3717. The 3717 has a 21mm lug width, but it fits. I have somehow come to prefer the watch with the black alligator strap as it makes the watch look more "classic" and the blue of the dial is more subdued.
This watch is just the right size. Unlike the mark XVII which was 41mm, which I felt was too big and the Mark XVI which is a little difficult to procure as not many would want to part with it. I love 40mm as this is the sweet spot for me. I have very puny six and a half inch wrists and anything more than 40mm would have the lugs hanging off the sides of my wrist.
I chose the leather strap version over the steel bracelet version of this watch because I feel that this watch is meant to be on leather. I have previously owned the pilot chrono 3706 and 3717 respectively. I have bought both the previous references in steel and a leather bracelet separately. And I always ended up wearing them on leather more than anything else.
So to this Mark XVIII LPP version, it is no different, it really looks much better in a leather strap. And the fact that it comes in a brown leather strap makes it more distinctive. I wear it with my jeans and t-shirt. I wear it with a shirt and tie and also Bermudas and polo shirt. I just goes with everything.
The blue really looks great under the sun. And the date aperture is in white, while the black dial version has a black date aperture. It really depends on what your preference is. I just feel that this is one watch that I can keep for a long long time to come. Good luck and I hope you get one soon.
Cheers
Patrick