Talk to Me About Wrist Watches

[troutface]

I literally wear this 24/7, it doesn't leave my wrist. I beat the crap out of it and it just hums along. Only time it comes off is for formal occasions when I wear a vintage Seamaster Deville that was passed to me from my uncle.

 

[troutface]

Sorry about the double image. Still learning the new format.

 

[ssjones]

Love the Seamaster GMT - lets see the Deville as well.

 

[troutface]

Here you go Al. I had to send it to Womble for a restoration because I don't think my uncle ever had it serviced. I believe it's a caliber 565 movement. Roughly 1970 or so.

 

[troutface]

Here's another nice watch, this one from my father. It was a gift from my father's in-laws when my folks left Austria and moved to the USA in the 50's.

 

[ssjones]

Fantastic, your dad had great taste! (has?)

 

[Spinkle]

View attachment 6962
Here you go Al. I had to send it to Womble for a restoration because I don't think my uncle ever had it serviced. I believe it's a caliber 565 movement. Roughly 1970 or so.

Love those old “pie pan” Omegas.

 

[seldom]

This thread is now 6 pages long so apologies if this has already been addressed.

I'm unhappy with the trend toward larger wrist watches. I think an oversized wristwatch looks ridiculous . Most modern wrist watches are just too damn big. It's not a good look. Sorry fellas, but if your watch diameter exceeds your wrist it looks unsophisticated in my eyes. Watch makers ought to take note that there are still men who don't feel the need to compensate via a watch that is too big. An oversized watch is just gaudy. Most watches are oversized.

 

[troutface]

[ An oversized watch is just gaudy. Most watches are oversized. /QUOTE]

I agree. The Seamaster 300 in my first photo is a 38mm and that is the smallest they come. Most divers are 42mm or bigger. It's difficult to find smaller case sizes these days.

 

[tobefrank]

I’m not a big fan of humongous watches either. My watch is 39mm, which is pretty much perfect to me.

 

[jaytex1969]

So, I made an impulse purchase on that damned auction site and my first thought was, "Ask the pipe guys about watches.", which led me to this thread.

I filtered my search to just show mechanical watches. I'm not sure if this one actually is, but I found it appealing enough that I'm flexible on the action.

I'm not very knowledgeable on watches, so anyone with any insight, please let me know what I have coming and share any pro's and con's.

Thanks.


Auction Link

 

[Jack T]

I enjoy watches for the same reason I enjoy pipes--they are things of craftsmanship and beauty if you get good ones. I own several watches. Lately I have been wearing my Bell & Ross GMT watch. It is beautiful and can keep time for three time zones. GMT watches have a second hour hand and a movable bezel that can be set up to track one or two additional time zones. In addition to the Bell & Ross, I own two Oris watches, one Longines, and a Tissot. I like them all. I prefer automatic watches over quartz watches, although quartz keep better time, of course. I am a fan of Swiss watches, and not much else.

 

[craig61a]

I have 3 watches, a Swiss Army, Pulsar diver, and a Seiko diver.

Pulsar is my regular watch, Seiko was worn for years, but now it’s retired, and only gets worn on rare occasions.

It was disassembled, cleaned, oiled, dial relumed, reassembled by Jack Alexyon at IWW several years ago.

I got it years ago when I was in the service.

 

[ssjones]

@jaytex969 : I don't know much about Citizens, but for an older, hand-wind watch, I think you did well.

@Craig : that Seiko is very collectible and a sought after model, probably good that you retired it! (although I'd wear it occasionally)

 

[craig61a]

I just recalled that it didn’t spend most of its time on my wrist when I was in the service; Since I worked in electronics/radar, rings, watches, jewelry were verboten while working. I would just attach it through the button hole on the pocket flap of my fatigue shirt. ?

 

[lawdawg]

I wear a Tissot Le Locle automatic to my office every day. I've had it for about six years or so, have had it serviced once, and it's held up great. I'm very happy with it. These are mechanical watches (no battery, runs entirely on springs and gears like the old days) and they use mass-produced "ETA" brand mechanical internals (which are known as "movements" in the watch world). Lots of watch makers in fact use ETA movements in their mechanical watches. This makes the watch less unique, but also less expensive. If you want a classic all-mechanical watch and aren't concerned about having a unique "in-house" movement, then watches that use ETA movements are a great bargain. I paid around $400 for it, and you can still find them for around that price on discount sites and on sale.



I also have (and really like) a Seiko SKX which another forum member posted earlier in this thread. Seikos are a great deal, and the SKX is a legit dive watch. There are plenty of relatively inexpensive "dive watches" that aren't ISO certified, and so they aren't true dive watches. "Real" dive watches like the SKX will be ISO-certified which involves pressure testing each individual watch to determine that it is really water proof to several hundred meters or more, depending on the watch specs. Most comparably inexpensive "dive watches" aren't tested on an individual basis, and it's not been determined exactly how waterproof each watch will be.

I've also got a Hamilton quartz (battery-operated) field watch that I really like. Also, I've got a Timex Weekender quartz watch as well that I really like. The Weekenders only cost about $30 and you can buy a bunch of different nylon straps for them. They are great casual knockaround watches.

I've also got a Timex Expedition, which is similar to the Weekender, but with a slightly more military-inspired "field watch" look and a better waterproof rating. It's my go-to adventure watch for the outdoors, especially fishing and paddling. It's a cool looking watch and I'll try to remember to post a pic later.

 

[lawdawg]

I also wanted to take a moment to comment on the whole "why wear a watch when you've got a cell phone" thing. Depending on your line work, watches can be much preferred over just using a phone. If you're in a line of work where "business professional" attire is the norm, a nice watch is part of being well-dressed for the job. As a matter of practicality, it can appear quite rude to pull out your phone and check it in the middle of a meeting on a delicate / high-stakes type of matter. However, it's easy to quickly and discreetly check your watch if you need to keep track of the time. Legal matters in particular are by their very nature delicate, and each client deserves full attention and deserves to feel that he has his attorney's full attention. As an aside to all of the above, in law, there are some judges who do not allow electronic devices (cell phones, laptops, etc.) in their court rooms, and if you want to know what time it is, you better have a watch.

 

[Spinkle]

I'm not very knowledgeable on watches, so anyone with any insight, please let me know what I have coming and share any pro's and con's.

It looks a bit thin to be a mechanical, as they are usually bulky due to the innards. The best test is when you get it to check the seconds hand - if it "jumps" forward to count the seconds then its a quartz movement. Mechanicals in general will have a more smooth sweep to the seconds hand.

 

[Spinkle]

I have 3 watches, a Swiss Army, Pulsar diver, and a Seiko diver.

Pulsar is my regular watch, Seiko was worn for years, but now it’s retired, and only gets worn on rare occasions.

It was disassembled, cleaned, oiled, dial relumed, reassembled by Jack Alexyon at IWW several years ago.

I got it years ago when I was in the service.

Absolutely stunning. I've read a bit about these watches and apparently they were very popular with GIs in the Vietnam war due to the fact that the normal service watches they would be given were terrible with water resistance.

Seiko still makes variants of this called the "Turtle" - they also fairly recently released a special edition that was a type of homage to this that sold out very very quick.

 

[lawdawg]

I filtered my search to just show mechanical watches. I'm not sure if this one actually is, but I found it appealing enough that I'm flexible on the action.

I'm not very knowledgeable on watches, so anyone with any insight, please let me know what I have coming and share any pro's and con's.

Citizens are generally considered to be good "bang for your buck" watches. Citizens and Seikos are both very popular in that price range / category of watches.

It looks a bit thin to be a mechanical, as they are usually bulky due to the innards. The best test is when you get it to check the seconds hand - if it "jumps" forward to count the seconds then its a quartz movement. Mechanicals in general will have a more smooth sweep to the seconds hand.

Agreed. It's probably a quartz (battery-operated) watch. Nothing wrong with that at all. In fact, I'd be weary about buying a mechanical watch used anyhow. Quartz watch though, no problem. Quartz watch internals are much simpler and cheaper to replace generally speaking if anything goes wrong.