I'm a Watch Snob
- Thread starter RBBailey
- Start date
chris snell said:
I have that same watch, except mine says invicta on it. I need a watch for work, to see how long the drunks can hold their leg up off the ground. I don't want to wear an expensive watch when it may get broken, but i'm not a fan of digital watches.
Seiko SKX dive watches. Incredibly durable and robust. Plus, there's a ton of aftermarket for the Seiko watches. I have several that are pure customs, assembled from parts. For years my daily wear/beater was a Seiko SKX009. It's been covered in grease, pounded on while shooting, in general worn for almost every activity I do. In fact, I have it on right now.
The watch addiction is a dangerous thing. I could have done a lot of Rover upgrades for what I have spent in watches. If you combine it with the guns, I could probably have a reasonably nice Defender 90 by now... The current watch collection sits around 20 at the moment. Mostly mechanicals, with a couple Citizen eco-drives thrown in for good measure.
I have a Seiko kinetic, but wouldn't buy another one. They are great for someone who only has one or two watches, but in a large collection they don't get enough wrist time to keep them charged. I have to sit with mine while I watch tv and swing it back and forth to keep it charged.
If you want a don't worry about it, grab it and go timepiece, get a quartz. If you want a cool machine to wear on your wrist, go mechanical. Almost any mechanical can be regulated to keep good time, just keep in mind that every five years or so, the movement will need to be serviced to keep it in top form. I have a Rolex homage watch that keeps +/- 15 seconds a day, and it has a cheapo $9 chinese mechanical movement in it.
Watches are really cool, but nice ones are really expensive, and once you start building/modifying it can get really bad. If you have no inclination toward collecting watches and tinkering with mechanical things, stick with the Casio. Watches can be a slippery slope....
The watch addiction is a dangerous thing. I could have done a lot of Rover upgrades for what I have spent in watches. If you combine it with the guns, I could probably have a reasonably nice Defender 90 by now... The current watch collection sits around 20 at the moment. Mostly mechanicals, with a couple Citizen eco-drives thrown in for good measure.
I have a Seiko kinetic, but wouldn't buy another one. They are great for someone who only has one or two watches, but in a large collection they don't get enough wrist time to keep them charged. I have to sit with mine while I watch tv and swing it back and forth to keep it charged.
If you want a don't worry about it, grab it and go timepiece, get a quartz. If you want a cool machine to wear on your wrist, go mechanical. Almost any mechanical can be regulated to keep good time, just keep in mind that every five years or so, the movement will need to be serviced to keep it in top form. I have a Rolex homage watch that keeps +/- 15 seconds a day, and it has a cheapo $9 chinese mechanical movement in it.
Watches are really cool, but nice ones are really expensive, and once you start building/modifying it can get really bad. If you have no inclination toward collecting watches and tinkering with mechanical things, stick with the Casio. Watches can be a slippery slope....
I got my first nice watch about a year ago-a Tag aquaracer chrono automatic-love it. I'd like to get an automatic field watch and looked at the Hamilton mechanical field watch but found it a little too small. I giess I've gotten used to the 43mm face of my Tag. The Hamiton wasn't very bright either. They make some larger, brighter field watches that are also more $$. I've also heard about Lum-Tec watches that are very bright but still kind of pricey for a field watch. I also like what I read about Marathon watches but haven't seen one in person yet.
ptschram
Well-known member
I don't see the attraction in uber-expensive watches.
My brother-in-law's personal colection exceeds a mil and is stored in the vault of the jewelery store where he works.
A friend of mine from college who is now a high-powered physician has a fetish for Rolexes with exciting provenances, POW watches, observatory certified, etc.
Having expensive watches in a safe makes no more sense to me than un-fired guns in a safe. Kinda like having a 90 or 110 that sits in the garage.
My brother-in-law's personal colection exceeds a mil and is stored in the vault of the jewelery store where he works.
A friend of mine from college who is now a high-powered physician has a fetish for Rolexes with exciting provenances, POW watches, observatory certified, etc.
Having expensive watches in a safe makes no more sense to me than un-fired guns in a safe. Kinda like having a 90 or 110 that sits in the garage.
ptschram
Well-known member
Wander said:
You want one of these:
http://www.ballwatchusa.com/collections/EngineerMasterIIDLCPABKYE.asp
ptschram said:
I know what you mean. I recently sold my "safe queen" HK P7M13 pistol for a nice chunk of change. Paid my property taxes with it and then some. It was too nice to beat on at the range, but I figured it was doing nobody any good in the safe, so it was time to let it go. I still have a like-new early P7 "PSP" that I'm keeping as a safe queen. That thing is a work of art. In the meantime, I'll beat the shit out of my Bundewehr P7 trade-in.
I will admit it. I also like watches... I wear a two-tone Tag professional automatic day to day since I don't care about it. It is also what I use to dive in since once again if I loose it I won't care as much. Then again I don't look at my watch too much now that I have a dive computer, nor do I go on complicated dives anyway so I would never get close to any limits.
That being said, I also like some of the new G-shocks, I would wear them.
I have a Rolex two-tone Sub with the Serti face, haven't dove with it since I would hate to loose it. Plus where I usually dive I wouldn't want a local to steal it. This is the watch I wear with a suit. Nice and classy. Keeps great time, you just have to get them serviced every 5-7 years of so.
I have a Panerai Luminor with a rubber band that I think looks cool, usually wear it going out, same with the U-boat Flightdeck.
Next one is going to be a Hublot Big Bang.
Anyway nice watches really don't go down in value if you buy them used so I could think of worse things to buy. In fact the Rolex has gone up with gold prices.
That being said, I also like some of the new G-shocks, I would wear them.
I have a Rolex two-tone Sub with the Serti face, haven't dove with it since I would hate to loose it. Plus where I usually dive I wouldn't want a local to steal it. This is the watch I wear with a suit. Nice and classy. Keeps great time, you just have to get them serviced every 5-7 years of so.
I have a Panerai Luminor with a rubber band that I think looks cool, usually wear it going out, same with the U-boat Flightdeck.
Next one is going to be a Hublot Big Bang.
Anyway nice watches really don't go down in value if you buy them used so I could think of worse things to buy. In fact the Rolex has gone up with gold prices.
Funny, I own a couple of "real" watches, but am sitting here with my China-Town Rolex on my arm. If you ask around the vendors and tell them you are looking for something nicer, you can buy some really nice fakes there. I once bought a Tag there, and a couple years later, the band broke. I took it to a jeweler in the mall that sold the real version and dropped it off to get fixed. When I went back a couple weeks later to pick it up, he explained that he had sent it back to Tag who had fixed it and returned it!!! I still have that watch eleven years later, and it still runs....
I figure they are disposable fun and I don't panic if I bang them into something....
I figure they are disposable fun and I don't panic if I bang them into something....
Attachments
There are some really nice Rolex clones out there right now. So good that unless you actually take it apart, you'd never know the difference. Some of them even run a higher end Swiss movement. There are even some high beat Chinese movements that run quite well. Most of the good clones in the $400-500 range are exceptional. At that price point you have moved away from the backstreet junk and getting into some high end stuff. Personally, I choose to buy components and assemble a sterile clone. I just feel too dirty to wear an outright fake.
ptschram said:
Yep I had the disease BBAAADDDD!!!!!!
Now for anyone that just absolutely has to have a bomb proof automatic watch get a Sinn with the tegimented coating.
My favorite
http://www.watchbuys.com/store/pc/Sinn-U2-Black-EZM-5-on-Bracelet-6p901.htm
But they make plenty more
These watches are serious and Sinn has a unique marketing model. They do not sell in retail stores. There is but one official dealer in the USA and that is watchbuys. You can beat on these watches like you would a Casio and they don't scratch.
I'm not feeling it on the Sinns. They seem to be a copycat type watch company.
http://www.amazon.com/IWC-IW371417-Portuguese-Chronograph-Automatic/dp/B000YNG68I
http://www.watchbuys.com/store/pc/Sinn-6100-Regulateur-in-Steel-Blued-Hands-19p400.htm
That Sinn looks just like the IWC. The prices on the Sinns are obviously attractive when compared to some of the higher end watches, but I just couldn't get one if it was an obvious rip off.
http://www.amazon.com/IWC-IW371417-Portuguese-Chronograph-Automatic/dp/B000YNG68I
http://www.watchbuys.com/store/pc/Sinn-6100-Regulateur-in-Steel-Blued-Hands-19p400.htm
That Sinn looks just like the IWC. The prices on the Sinns are obviously attractive when compared to some of the higher end watches, but I just couldn't get one if it was an obvious rip off.
Mike_Rupp said:
Helmet Sinn wasn't a copycat. Matter of fact the German watchmaking industry as a whole is much different than the Swatch Group Swiss. As you know the Swatch Group has a monopoly on the Swiss watch industry and basically with exception of a very few watch companies all use the same ETA movements. Swatch Group has driven many movements to extinction eg. Lemania 7100 which is one of the most robust automatic movements ever made.
http://www.watchlife.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=263
jrose609 said:
I don't even portray it as a Rolex. It's just a sub style watch. There are no Rolex markings and I wouldn't try to pass it off as a Rolex. It's just a watch with a look I like. I have built a Tudor homage, and a vintage Seadweller homage. The difference is that I would never claim it to be a Rolex or Tudor, just a good looking watch.
Seadweller homage
Tudor homage
Seiko built from parts
Here's a few of the watches I have built. The first two are homages and the last is a collection of parts that make what I think is a good looking timepiece.
Nomar said:
Canal Street is so yesterday.
My wife grew up outside NYC, and always thought that was the place. Now, with the internet, she get's her stuff straight from the "source."