Glycine was at one point my best watch, i loved it. But we tend to move on and move up in watch collecting don't we? Seeking the more refined brand, the more respected brand. Well this video reminded me of what a soft spot i have for Glycine and prompted me to order this model. It came today and it is knocking me out. It demonstrates to me that a great watch is a great watch---regardless of price. I have other more expensive pieces now, but man, this one is great. I mean, the finishing on my Tudor BB is not noticeably different than this. Wears like a thin slab of coolness on the wrist (again, besting the Tudor in thinness and wearability). As a side note, nobody seems to have a problem with Swatch group watches so there's no point making a huge deal about the Invicta ownership here either. Actually, huge props to them for helping Glycine to continue making great Swiss watches and doing it at a price that, as you point out, is a headline itself.

My family owns 3 Combat Subs. No better deal out there for mechanical Swiss divers. Very nice watches, well made and highly recommended. The Swatch is a disposable plastic toy.

Years ago glycine combat subs were going for 600-1000 and i thought of them like squale. Now the products haven't really changed, but the invicta ownership had changed the business side of things for them and the perception. They aren't exclusive or scarce anymore and that changes value dramatically. They used to be critically acclaimed and now they are simply a fantastic bargain, so their notoriety is for a completely different reason

I got that exact Glycine- at Costco- for about $260. I love this watch. The strap looks good but doesn’t wear comfortably so I picked up a black with orange stripe NATO from Crown and Buckle for about $20 and now it’s perfect.

I've had a Combat Sub for years. It looks great and has never failed me.

I think you struck a great balance. The Glycine is definitely the better watch if you're looking for a daily wear watch. The Swatchpain is the better watch if you're looking for a fun addition to your collection of capable serious watches.

I just picked up a Helm Miyako. Design inspired by the Fifty Fathoms. ISO Certified diver, decent Miyota movement. Absolutely solid and incredible build quality for the price. Doesn't have the brand history but an incredible watch for $375 plus $35 shipping. Only real downside.....well not easy to get one...there is a waiting list....you have to be patient unless you want to over pay for second hand but well worth it.

The Glycine is kind of a steal tbh

I JUST walked out of Costco…they had it for $239! Swiss Made goodness, with a slim case, at this price is incredible!

Really enjoyed watching this excellent video. I'm all for living in the moment and having fun with and through my watch collection.

SO glad you're looking into Glycine, I've been a huge fan of this brand for years and have several in my collection

Though I don't own any of these collaborations, I do think that they're great for the watch community. They bring awareness of brand that many may not know of and bring new collectors to the hobby. I can't help but wonder what other collaborations may come...maybe Casio and Audemars for a real "Casi-Oak".

Proud owner of the 39mm version, GL0401 ! It's my absolute favorite watch, started wearing it pretty much all the time. It wears amazing, put it on a black/gold Nato strap, the gilt is great and build quality is unrivaled for the price :) My dream was to get a Tudor BB58, but honestly after getting the Glycine for 500€, it's hard justifying spending 4k on a BB.

You got exactly the point imho, there are tons of video suggesting you how to spend better your money, but all those good suggestions are valid if you have only that watch. If I already have 6 good divers in my collection and I want to have some additional fun I would go for the Swatch (the one you selected is also my favorite one) and not for a Glycine.

Ecstatic w this review. Picked this up at Costco for under $300. Wish it were 38 but it's a very, very solid, hearty watch.

I bought a green bezel Glycine combat sub back when they were priced along with Squale and Steinhart from a grey market retailer. Lume dot came off and it became my work watch for the last 10 years. It has been though a lot and has been a great watch. I need to decide if I replace the bezel when I retire or wear with pride the "patina" I have put on this watch.

Glad you are bringing the love to the Glycine Combat Sub 42. I have had mine for a year. BTW, this watch has anti-reflective on the inside of the crystal.

Your essay on the comparison between the plastic Blancpain and the Combat is so spot on. Enough so that I subscribed. Your point about the deep discounts (thanx Invicta bad press) is absolutely true. This is a situation in which an unused nice quality diver containing a Sellita for under 400 is extremely rare. The only other brand with similar specs that gets routinely discounted this significantly would seem to be Gevril....but the history of Glycine is much more legit. I guess you could occasionally put Certina and Mido in there too, but anything new contains a Powermatic with the "hobbled" regulator---which is why I don't acquire them anymore. I think it is cool that you buck the typical online trend of only whispering Glycine, due to the instant backlash about them being Invictas. I have a 24 hour "blue/black" Worldtimer, and a gorgeous sunray blue moonphase Combat, and paid relatively nothing for them. I also have Speedies, Seamasters, Ulysse Nardin, Hydroconquests, etc., but will pull out a Glycine when I want a carefree outing not worrying about scratches on the Hesalite. Bang for the Buck baby! You might want to double check your timeline comparison on the whether the "Fifty" was patented or came to market before the "Sub". Not sure we should always blindly follow the corporate storyline. You are presenting intelligent narratives, and don't seem to have been ensnared by manufacturers "quid-pro-quo" largesse yet. I will continue to have you on my top half dozen watch stuff views.

Glycine makes solid tool watches with ETA/Selita movements.......highly underrated.

I have been interested in watches for many more decades that I would care to admit and, these days, I have quite a few high-end mechanical timepieces and one sort of high-end quartz (Breitling Aerospace, my go-to travel watch). Even though I decided to stop buying watches 8 years ago as what I had collected was way more than anyone might possibly need, I saw the Glycine Sub at local Costco in December 2022 and immediately bought it as, being interested in watches for many decades, I was well-familiar with the brand and wanted to check it out to see what was the catch and why it was so cheap. During the month after that, I discovered that I gradually started picking it up over other watches I had at that point at home (the vast majority of my watches are in a bank safety deposit box, but I rotate them constantly). Fast forward almost a year. It has been on my wrist practically non-stop since then. I just love it: it is light, comfortable, well-built, accurate (+4.5 seconds a day - totally on par with all my high-end pieces), easy to clean (taking it off the NATO strap takes 10 seconds and it can be rinsed or washed). Unscrewing and screwing the crown back in gives that hard-to-describe pleasure one gets only from operating a precisely built mechanical gadget, but - if you happen to have a gadget like that - you'd know exactly what I am talking about. In short, it is a great watch. I was smiling through the Glycine part of the video, as @WatchCrunchOfficial's opinion was so close to what I think about that watch.

Great video spot on

My wife has a 36mm Glycine Combat Sub. It has a brown dial that I thought I wouldn't like. It has a copperish color to it. It's a beautiful dial. Her's is on an oyster bracelet. A little light for my taste but it's a damn nice watch for the money. The new 36mm has better finishing than the larger models. Great value for a Swiss watch and automatic Swiss movement

Nice Glycine. I was thinking about the bronze diver

Glycine!!! Such fantastic quality and value proposition! Glycine really deserve more love!

Wonderful video, did not know I could get a swiss movement mechanical diver at this price!

This affordable Glycine is real food for thoughts. It has provenance, performance, street cred and looks good on the wrist. Do you really need a SeaMaster or a JLC Polaris to feel good ? Buying a €61 Pagani Design vintage Patek chronograph homage (something I would not have been caught dead doing five years ago) and a €200 1990’s quartz YEMA Superman Worldtime from eBay has had more impact than I expected. I truly enjoy wearing these two pieces, and suddenly made the spending of €5000 on a watch look completely shocking.

Wow great video. I know nothing about watches - I just saw the Swatch in a store and was thinking about it but this Glycine seems amazing.

I go with the SwatchPain. If I wanted a value diver in the Submariner vibe made by an Invicta company... I'd go for *another* Pro Diver for less than $100 (my current one is at least 10 years old and runs great, even after my washing machine "test" last year). If I wanted a quality watch at a great price but in the Blancpain vibe I'd recommend the Baltic Aquascaphe which has many elements of the BP Bathyscape. But I can see a day at the beach with the SwatchPain.

I own two Combat Subs, my favorite is the bronze and both keep excellent time.

Very interesting thank you

Finally a video that makes sense recommending a quality watch over junk plastic with a throw away robot movement.

I have a combat sub quartz I got for a steal and I absolutely love it!!!

I’ve been eyeing the 39mm combat sub for a while.They have a black dial blue bezel version that looks awesome

I have a GL0083. It's a great watch. The one annoying thing I will note about it is that the lume pip at midnight on the bezel is a different color than the lume on the dial. Of course, this isn't even noticeable in daylight.

Glycine is seriously underrated. I will look at them more often!

My son has a Glycine and is proud of it. I am looking more at Tissot and Bulova.

I bought the Glycine at my local Costco for $239. Love the watch and a great deal!

Have a combat vintage, great watch!

During peak Panerai era, I wanted to pull the trigger on that Glycine but the 42mm case didn’t speak to me upon trying it on at the AD, and thought it would better looking in a smaller case which wasn’t available at that time.

Live rocking the Glycine for a while, and we both know how I feel about the collaboration. I agree brilliant marketing Greta video, Max. PS: “A Seiko had S3ks with a Rolex floored me”

I just purchased the Artantic Ocean, and I love it, it is a great beach watch, since I don’t feel comfortable wearing my more expensive watches to the beach, the Swatch Blancpain works well for my beach days even more than my Longines Hydroconquest (too heavy).

Good job with the analogy doctor Max :) about the Glycine yeah it’s better watch then Scuba but so many others at that price point which I’m not even bother listing here and still I’ll buy the new Swatch

I would prefer the seiko diver prospex SNE573P1. 38,5mm, 11mm hight. It is a solar quartz 200 meter. It is a verry classic seiko millsubish thing that will work on a lot off wrists and without any problems (solicone strap is not to my liking but easely switched). I’m considering it for a first main watch for my son. Advice price around 500€.

The Combat Sub. Literally the best name for a watch in all of watchdom. If BP has to move to plastic to bump sales, well, that tells you something about BP and SG. Maybe they aren't as awesome as they think they are.

I love my glycine combat quartz so much ive ordered the automatic,best watch for the money nothing imo comes close for what you get gor the cash.

I would go step further and say any alternative is a better alternative to the swatch plastic chunk… It would be one thing if the price point was $149. At that price I could see taking a flyer on it and enjoying the fad that it inevitably is.. with that said, the glycine is an awesome watch!

SwatchPain is the magical way of owning blancpain without paying for the total cost of owning a blancpain, it’s original complications and heritage. The collaboration is welcomed and the colors are fun. We wear watches to enjoy them then realize they can tell time and tales of human resilience in watch making as tools and finesse craftmanship during quartz crises.

I’ve owned a Combat Sub and it is a legit, quality Swiss watch. I can’t disagree with your recommendation. I am waiting for my Thrifty Fathoms Antarctic to arrive from Switzerland- bought on Chrono24 for $646 all in. I know it’s a cheap plastic watch, but like my MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon I also bought on Chrono24 for $475 all in, I think they are fun and a social moment in time that I wanted to participate in. Hype hell yeah. Cash grab duh. Marketing genius - kinda.

I own a pre-Invicta Combat Sub [along with a pre-Invicta Airman Base 22 [both ETA movements]. I love the Glycine brand for its heritage, reliability and value. The Combat Sub started out as Glycine's field watch and that's what I use it for... Swiss ETA 2824 movement, 10.5mm thin, drilled lug holes, sapphire crystal, 200M WR with a timing bezel makes it perfect. I'm a retired US Marine [and aviator, also dive trained], and I've spent years in the field. I think I l know what is required of a great field watch. My Marathon automatic USMC GSAR and my Rolex Sub fill the dive watch category.

I like the Swatch Blancpain cooperation. Especially because more people now learn about the fifthy phatoms history. But, the disposable movement and bioceramic puts me off. And as you say there are some amazing real Swiss watches or Seikos to buy at that price point! 😎 Besides the Glycine is a steal anyways. Very underrated watches.

totally agree! I love this brand, hopefully Invicta doesn't ruin it. I did grab a black SwatchPain in Spain last week and love it for what it is.

The Glycine Combat Sub 36 is amazing. I don't think you can be beat on value.

amazing look it has that Glycine Combat. Definetely, but no "pain" for me thanks

i actually love the swatchpain indian ocean. most watch companies do not do to good a job with the color green. ( looh at the omega seamaster 300 in seaweed green ) this indian ocean green is amazing.

I throw in the 2 weeks old Hamilton Khaki Scuba i reeled out of eBay for 270 Euros some 12 years ago.

Thanks! The Glycine is very nice. Pick metal over plastic!

I got my Glycine at Costco! Love it !!

Consider me influenced. Now trying to find the glycine in the uk - it’s so beautiful

Would suggest trying on the Glycine first, I bought one from Massdrop and the crown kept digging into my hand so I sold it.

I have the Glycine quartz GMT- it’s pretty decent. It has one QC flaw, the cyclops is crooked. Seems solid otherwise, and worth more than the price for a Swiss watch.

I like the sistem 51 fathoms. I understand all of the criticism but just to have for the collection. Btw just picked up a Moonswatch. If anyone is looking for a “real” watch and not a fashion piece the Swatch store is the wrong place to look.

I love how swatchpain reads differently to those unaware

Is EU able to jump on the $299? The euro prices I find are almost twice the money. Cheers to the owners, it looks like a great iconic watch!

The Combat Sub is a tremendous watch. I’ve owned one but it wears large so it never fit me comfortably and I ultimately sold it off.

Best under $500 watch for me is still the Seiko 5 Sports GMT SSK

Orient. Great movements for the price

I bought the same reference Glycine from my local Costco for $240. Certainly the best value purchase I’ve made in watch collecting, including my far more luxurious purchases.

I'm looking forward swatch's take on the casio f91. Maybe the next release, the casiswatch? The cheapest of the bunch at something like 150 bucks, built with their incredible bioceramic material.

Which camp am i in? I found myself looking for alternatives to a throwaway fun piece that is the Swatchpain but i wanted at least a bit of the BP look. I ended up with a fairly inexpensive look-alike of the Fifty-Fathoms with a clone of a Miyota 8xxx series movement that i enjoyed swaping for a real 9xxx. Now i had my fun tinkering with the watch and i enjoy wearing it, knowing what's inside.

I wear my Costco Combat on a mesh bracelet and had someone wearing a Speedmaster ask me if it was a 300m No Time To Die. For the "on the internet" price, it's pretty hard to beat.

Great video. I like the SwatchPain... except for the fact that it will eventually end up in the landfill. Why not make a serviceable or replaceable movement? So much respect for Glycine.

Where can I find at those prices? Thanks for the video

Glycines are way underrated.

I purchased a Combat Sub as my return to watch collecting perhaps ten years ago. It’s built like a tank, no doubt but in the end, it’s just decent if unspectacular. Once you’ve experienced nicer watches, its shortcomings are pretty obvious. At that price, I’d go for a Seiko Turtle.

Have you seen the Glycine GL0390? It's the Combat Sub in Bronze!! Killer!

Swiss Made™ - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

I’m not much into vintage but I really want a no radiation dial

I own that Glycine “Phantom” and still bought the Black Thrifty Fathoms. 😂 While long-term cost-performance of the Glycine is unquestionable, the Blanc Pain X Swatch collab has way better lume and a 2X+ longer power reserve, so not everything is better on the combat sub. Love them both for different reasons.

The Glycine is a great buy. I first switched out to a NATO band that matched the color scheme-gold yellow and black. Looked very nice, but then I got a gold yellow genuine crocodile band from Vietnam and it looks terrific. I am glad for the Swatch collaborations that raises awareness of the heritage of high end Swiss watches for a generation that doesn’t understand or even wear watches.

I recently saw the bronze combat sub and was on the fence because they were taken over by Invicta, but after seeing this video and looking at the comments I think I’m going to pull the trigger and get one

I own a few glycine watches. Very good quality watch. Can't get my hands on the Swatch blancpain watch due to resellers.

The Glycine combat sub is THE best value Swiss diver available. So much to love about this watch. Invicta's purchase of Glycine has only made it more affordable, and I view that as a good thing. I've owned one now for about two years and am still amazed at how nice it is. The Swatchpain looks like a high priced piece of plastic trash.

Glycine blows any plastic watch out of the water. The most underrated swiss brand. Bar-none. Absolute value for money. No other brand can give you so much watch, for so little money.

Wow the 39 looks amazing but some quick googling seems to suggest its impossible to find! (unlike the 42 which seems easily available). Who are the official North American sellers?

What do you think about the airman No1 in 36mm size?

very nice watch

each to their own, the blanpain feels more robust & durable but the difference is that the blanpain model is one time use only (due to using mechanical sistem 51) while the omega uses replaceable battery..

Did you say beater? I got Casio GW-M5610. Probably the best beater I've ever had, and I have a handful of beater watches.

love Glycine.

Hey boss, what IWC is yours? It it Pilot? And where did you get the green strap please? Thank you 😊

Where could I get one? Could you guys recommend me some websites to buy one?

I reached the point where I would rather save and buy a quality watch I really want (and there are many of them!) than spend 300-400€ on a disposable fashion statement. An actual beater costs 50-100 max

Hell might as well buy a Aragon DiveMaster.

Where can I find Glycine at $299?! Link please!!

I bought the Moon-Swatch because I thought it would look cool to have it side by side with my Speedmaster. The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms is one of my Grail watches that I've yet to obtain. I will buy the Swatch Collab to scratch the itch for the time being. The Antarctic is hot and not because of climate change. At first glance, the Nato on the Blancpain looks much nicer than the one on the Moon-Swatch. That doesn't matter because I will put a decent strap on it just like I did with my Moon-Swatch. You put a nice sail strap on one of these pieces and you have a hell of a good-looking timepiece.

Why is the watch on a fence?

The Swatch X Blancpain looks nice, but the Sistema 51 is not accurate having owned one. I will still give it a miss. Great video though, as always. When you think though, that for a similar price you can get a Seiko 5 GMT!

Nice Glycine. I can think of a dozen other watches that cost less and are better than the swatchpain. And don't get me started on value for money

One can easily find a seiko turtle or seiko samurai around this price range

100% Max! The Glycine Combat Sub is such a better value for money!