Sean,
thanks for linking my Dreadnought site. It reminded me that I need to update the owners list on it. The PRS 2 really seems to be an emotive and emotional beast for many people and in many ways I can fully understand it.
The reason I bought mine was not through some desire to own an iconic watch. Actually I followed the development of it but considered it too big so never went after one. I bought it because as it was the only fully polished one at the time, I was able to pick it up relatively cheap. People didn't want a polished one. I bought it to compare it with the Doxa SUB 300T Reissue and fully intended to sell it again once the review had been done. However, when I got it I was captivated by it. Like many watches, photos don't do it justice. It is a serious lump of hardware and has an amazing wrist presence. I also loved the fact it was poloished. I just don't like beadblasted finishes. They are a bugger to try to repair.
For me (and your mileage may vary), the Dreadnought is a classic, just like the Seamaster, Sea-Dweller, Submarinner, SUB 300T etc etc. It was a design which didn't seem to have been done before. Sure, it used elements of previous designs (Ploprof hands for example) but it took those elements and made something different. Different enough that it was then copied or homaged or whatever. Now that to me isn't a bad thing. It means that the watch had a substantial effect on the hearts and minds of the audience it was targetted at and other watchmakers. Given the specs and the price, Eddie Platts produced a classic. If it had been made by Rolex, or Omega or one of the big boys, it would have cost shedloads more and been hailed as a paradigm shift. Eddie is just an ordinary bloke so he would never receive the plaudits or exposure of say, Rolex.
Ultimately I sold mine because I felt the watch was just too big for my squinty wee wrists. Incidentally, I sold my SUB 300T reissue for exactly the same reason. I was able to do a deal for a Sea-Dweller for it so I sold it. It has subsequently been sold again and restored to the beadblasted finish. Do I wish I still had it? Actually, yes, but I'd probably not wear it much. I'm now into comfort rather than form or function. Of all the watches I own, the Seamaster is without doubt the most comfortable one to wear. Low profile, low center of gravity and large flat caseback. For some strange reason watchmakers seem to think the bigger and thicker the better. They make casebacks thick and solid, not to accomodate the movement but just to add height. Plain crazy in my opinion. You can have wrist presence with comfort and subtlty. If you have bigger wrists the Dreadnought had both. Unfortunately for smaller wrists the comfort factor suffered.
Ultimately the fact that some people love or loathe the DN all boils down to personal preferences. No-one is right and no-one is wrong. What rattles my cage is people pontificating about how good or bad it is and they have never even seen one in real life. But I guess that's the same for anything. Opinions are cheap. Besides, the whole thing is insanity. I was driving home yesterday with a Breitling Superocean on my wrist, gleeming in the sun. My car is a 14 year old Honda with 230,000 miles on the clock and is worth probably 20 bucks for scrap. It just seemed so incongrous that a half ton car which still drives me around and runs likle a train is worth less than a tiny piece of gclass, steel and cogs which does nothing but tell the time.....
We are all nuts
Pete
