Tuseno Shellback V2: The Goldberg Report

Eveyone seems to be reviewing the Tuseno Shellback and although I'm late to the party, I did want to give you the Goldberg Report so you would know whether this microbrand diver has the Goldberg Stamp of approval or if I condemn it to the trash heap of watches.

Stay tuned.

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[TeaJayRabbit]

So I got my Production Shellback V2 2 months ago and here is my experience:

The case and dial design is what drew me to this watch on it's first release and I held off to see how it did in that first run. When v2 came out with the small improvements I knew I had to spring for it and it does not disappoint in real life. The proportions, the design choices...I mean really well thought out.

I bought it in black like the one in this review and what I will say is, do not limit your imagination to the bracelet. This thing is a strap monster without a doubt.

- Shellback Bracelet: It's comfortable however I'm not a fan of the thickness of the clasp (which has been downsized from the original...still doesn't sit right when I have other watches with more proportional clasps). I have it packed away never to be used. That's a personal thing. I just have other watches with bracelets I like that fill that role.

- Tuseno Rubber Strap: Very comfortable and good quality with a branded buckle which is a nice touch. I'll keep it as a standby but it's not my first choice as it's a slightly more faded black than the pure black of the dial and bezel which puts me off slightly.

- Nato Straps: This watch in my eyes looks its best on Natos. I have it on a jet black Nato and it's honestly been stealing wrist time from my other daily's at the minute it's that pretty. I could totally see this on Red, Khaki, Olive Green you name it and it'll still look classy.

Quality out of the box?

The bezel and crown feel incredible. With a Blackbay 58 (60 click and probably my favorite bezel action even compared to Yachtmasters and Subs for me) to compare it to...the 120 clicks on this still feel solid, smooth and snappy with perfect alignment and zero play. Polishing, fit and finish are great.

However...Hopefully it was just my unit but the watch would stop randomly and on shaking the rotor it'd resume again. When it did run consistently it seemed to be very well regulated.

This brings me on to what I think is the best sales pitch for this watch apart from design and price...Customer Service.

What you see in these videos, the responsiveness, the attentiveness and the care is all 100% true. I sent my unit back and got it back to me within 2.5 weeks. The whole way through Alex was very responsive and kept me updated. Needless to say it is now fixed and it runs beautifully and is just as well regulated as before.

At the end of the day, in that price bracket, there's a lot of these small brands out there. We've heard the horror stories from Baltic for example who get a lot of love on YouTube. For me the real joy of more affordable watches is your willingness to wear them on holiday, on adventures, get them knocked about but STILL not feel like you're wearing a piece of mass produced crap off of Wish or Temu. And in the event something goes wrong, you hope it's a relatively established brand with good customer service incase you need something fixed.

I genuinely think these are a great option for that nice looking "beater" that has enough design in it to make even watch snobs appreciate it. For me it's my one and only sandwich dial and that alone gives it a special place in my watch box.

Longwinded comment, but I hope it is helpful and offers some perspective on the final production units and after sales service you can expect which to a lot of people watching these prototype / demo piece reviews on YouTube (including myself) is the part of the picture that holds us back from pulling the trigger.

[roamy]

Mine just arrived yesterday. Great diver design with little to no homage features. Just a good quality watch! I'm loving it.

[nedflanders]

Received mine yesterday. I didn’t get the cookies though! But I haven’t checked my mailbox lol. The watch is really amazing!

[hourgmtchannel]

Going through this phase now. Collected all my Rolex's years ago and recently have been buying homage watches like the Seestern Sub 300t Doxa homage for a hundreed bucks and I am blown away. According to Doxa owners who bought it for a banger it's better than thr Doxa in some ways. I'm now getting into the vintage Seiko divers like the Captian Williard and the short run slim case 6105-8000 that ran only two years in between the 62MAS and the Captain Williard 6105-8110. Bought the reissue SPB317 for $700 last week and love it and it's refresing to be so satisfied for lesser expensive watches for a change.

[Rosscozippo]

Hi Marc, great to see you again….missed your chat! Take care and hope to see you on another video soon👍

[Sasquatchi]

Good to see you Marc!

I agree about your larger point on affordable watches…. After years of only collecting Rolex and other similar brands, I’ve just picked up a GW5000U (The nicer Gshock Square) and it’s hardly left my wrist. It’s been cathartic!

[broadaccent]

The name means “Thousand Island” (singular), by the way.

[BoboacaDoxaras]

It's sad that watches that look good cost over 1k+. amzwatch watches are REALLY well made, and it just shows how a brand name on a watch can make its price 10x higher. I understand that if you look under a microscope, you'll find the difference, but just how many of you really inspect a watch at that level when you see someone with a watch?

[TruthProphet]

Nice watch from a micro brand. Love the lume

[auert]

Tu-sun-er..
I think kcabllehs should have been written backwards. So the hand spells shellback correctly in the right order. That would have been a sweet edition to V2..

[michaelbradley]

Trying to wait patiently for my no date version.

[Mrr.London]

Hey Marc, we all your fans are not talking to you!!!! Why you not coming every week
We will love to see you often please 🙏🏽

[drbobsnightmare]

I like the magnum watch but I want the cookies Nao.

[nato]

That crumb on your nose really knew how to hang on 😄

[harleyjamesorchard]

Remeber this guy said daytona going to 100k 😂 he been real quiet since the market tanked

[greggorgone]

Mine came earlier this week. I got the first run. Great looking and a great value. I have the blue face and put on the blue strap. Super nice looking. Good weight and feel. But I am not a reviewer, so no cookies! Bummer. :-)

[simonwright]

Good looking watch but do scratch your Rolex watches on glass table tops like that? It was making me cringe 😬