Time for another watch thread?

[M3ta7h3ad]

Re: Time for another watch thread?

£500 service on watch indicates more money than sense. There isn't enough goodies in a watch to warrant any servicing beyond a battery change.

The sort of watches that require servicing don't have batteries... in fact the lack of a battery is the reason they require servicing in the first place.

Still, I agree, it is a lot of money... I don't think I'd be buying anything requiring that sort of fee for servicing any time soon.

http://youtu.be/6f5MOHOQc6g

The above details a service. Can understand the cost now.

[Clock'd 0Ne]

Re: Time for another watch thread?

Yeah I've heard plenty of people say they pretty much restore your watch to the condition it was when it left the factory. Considering the costs of servicing a car properly I'd say it's not bad at all.

[Dave]

Re: Time for another watch thread?

£500 service on watch indicates more money than sense. There isn't enough goodies in a watch to warrant any servicing beyond a battery change.

The sort of watches that require servicing don't have batteries... in fact the lack of a battery is the reason they require servicing in the first place.

Still, I agree, it is a lot of money... I don't think I'd be buying anything requiring that sort of fee for servicing any time soon.

There is very little reason not to go for a battery watch, mine generally last several years without any problems or needing a replacement battery. The longest went seven years before the battery ran out, the strap broke before a second replacement was needed. Environmental cost is minimal. I have one which uses a radio time signal to keep accurate to a fraction of a second, although it isn't the one I normally use. Still it means that accuracy is no longer a reason to buy an expensive watch, the only reason to do that is having too much money and wanting to show off.

Absolutely, accuracy hasn't been a reason to buy an expensive watch since the 1980s... inexpensive quartz watches will be more accurate/keep time better than mechanical watches. I agree too that plenty of people who buy expensive watches will do it as a status thing, to try and show off etc.. and brand names will play a part too and some brands (especially TAG... will play into this)

There are however people who appreciate them though... not so much for the bling factor but rather for the craftsmanship that's gone into them. If someone has the disposable income to spend on one then why not... tis like having a portrait painted (minus the narcissism factor that would take)... a painting tend to be a much less accurate reflection of reality than a photo... and is essentially using a out-dated method for reflecting reality - much like a mechanical watch used an out of date method for keeping time. People still appreciate the art, craftsmanship that's gone into a painting - its probably better to think of a mechanical watch as jewelry/art than a device for telling time.

[Dave]

Re: Time for another watch thread?

£500 service on watch indicates more money than sense. There isn't enough goodies in a watch to warrant any servicing beyond a battery change.

The sort of watches that require servicing don't have batteries... in fact the lack of a battery is the reason they require servicing in the first place.

Still, I agree, it is a lot of money... I don't think I'd be buying anything requiring that sort of fee for servicing any time soon.

http://youtu.be/6f5MOHOQc6g

The above details a service. Can understand the cost now.

Bearing in mind that's a marketing video - for most models they just use ETA movements bought from swatch group... which aren't expensive at all... in fact they could simply replace the whole movement relatively inexpensively. Even when the brand has its name on the movement and it looks more polished than a standard ETA movement... those are just options that ETA offered the brand... for most TAGs and Breitlings the expensive looking case is the bit they've manufactured - the watch itself is from swatch group... see the below link

http://www.watchtalkforums.info/forums/general-discussion-forum/49600.htm

[Dave]

Re: Time for another watch thread?

@Zpyder... I'm actually in a very similar situation to you - gran passed away last year and I'm considering spending the £1k I've been left with on a watch... have been reading rather a lot and still haven't made my mind up.

one that I'm considering is a Nomos



face is a bit simple/plain so probably isn't what you're after... it is a watch they essentially manufacture themselves though and they don't spend loads on marketing etc... so you get a bit more watch for your money.

I'd also looked at Stowa... these are made to order - they do buy in the movements but do spend a lot of time finishing them etc.. Though this brand used to make watches for the Germans in ww2 so prob best not use Gran's money buying one of their watches... (as worn by Luftwaffe pilots etc.. )...

Perhpas look at something by Longines (obviously uses ETA movements as its part of swatch group)... since swatch is hiking prices and turning Omega into a rival to Rolex I guess Longines is going to fill that gap...

the Longines legend diver looks pretty awesome IMO:



alternatively they also offer this diver:





Could also look at Christopher Ward or Steinhart, both use swatch/eta or Sellita movements albeit at a more reasonable price than most...

And swatch group's own Tissot and Hamilton brands have a few nice watches in them. - Hamilton Jazzmaster looks nice

[Clock'd 0Ne]

Re: Time for another watch thread?

There are a lot that don't use their own movements but some of the premium brands still do or tweak them a bit (so naturally some are rated much better than others) but you have to bear in mind that in many cases that's akin to recreating the wheel. If something works well with little room for improvement there is no point changing the movement or replicating it yourself, so unless you're a real aficionado its not really a priority as the movement cost is never reflected in the end product (the same way car manufacturers will use engines from other brand marques and reshell/rebadge I guess). As you pointed out though Dave, most watches of this value aren't sold on the movement except maybe to the collector's but more on their demand for brand, availability and aesthetics/craftsmanship.

That Longines diver watch looks lovely


Probably still my fave CW watch which I think represents better value than most http://www.christopherward.co.uk/men/view-all-mens-watches/c600ipk.html

[addictweb]

Re: Time for another watch thread?

[zpyder]

Re: Time for another watch thread?

One thing I really do like is being able to see the mechanism. I've seen a few watches with a crystal back so you can see everything. Sadly I imagine they're at both ends of the spectrum, either really expensive, or very cheap chinese products.

As to cost and it being showing off, I don't know. Maybe I just have "expensive tastes" but if you were to present me with a selection of watches of different price brackets, without any makers marks on them, I'm pretty sure I'd pick out the more expensive models as being my favourites.

I don't know what it is, cheap products often try and copy expensive ones, but 9/10 times they just lack something, be it in the feel of the material or the finish.

It's weird, I don't know why, but plain watch faces with just time and date on just seem really old fashioned and basic, yet I find the over engineered and funky watches like those tokyo ones worse!

[zpyder]

Re: Time for another watch thread?

Wasn't too keen on that, till I saw it had a clear back.

Then I saw it comes in black, picture is funnily enough from a "If you had 1k to spend" thread:

[zpyder]

Re: Time for another watch thread?

I've realised the Hamilton is a bit of a beast in terms of size. Popped into a jewellers today and had a bit of a browse, was quite good fun being able to drool over the watches that I've only been able to look at from the window.

I'm slowly closing in on a watch. I agree Stowa look quite nice:



But in the jewellers I was shown some ORIS watches. Not a brand I've heard of before really so was a bit dubious. Some of them looked quite ugly, but one looked quite nice, and was quite a good shape too. I've ended up looking up ORIS on the net to see what the brand is like and it does seem to be a good value, high quality brand, just not well known.

These all look quite nice:

(This is the one that I liked in the shop)


These divers look nice too, not sure which face I prefer

[Dave]

Re: Time for another watch thread?

Sinn could be worth a look too if you like the pilot style watches as per that stowa one

http://www.sinn.de/en/Instrument_Watches.htm

also the guy who bought Stowa has his own line of watches - though they cost a bit more AFAIK:

[M3ta7h3ad]

Re: Time for another watch thread?

that is a beautiful watch.

[zpyder]

Re: Time for another watch thread?

It's huge though, 48mm diameter I think. There's no way I could get away with wearing it on my smallish wrists. If they made a version that was 42mm it would ideal.

Though I'm moving away from chronographs as having the big second hand not move in "normal time" bugs me. I'd much rather they did what my citizen does, and have it move to 0 if you want to time something, and then work normally the rest of the time.

[M3ta7h3ad]

Re: Time for another watch thread?

It's huge though, 48mm diameter I think. There's no way I could get away with wearing it on my smallish wrists. If they made a version that was 42mm it would ideal.

Though I'm moving away from chronographs as having the big second hand not move in "normal time" bugs me. I'd much rather they did what my citizen does, and have it move to 0 if you want to time something, and then work normally the rest of the time.

Second hands are dependent on the movement. Mechanicals can have constant or a stepping seconds movement, quartz have the stepping seconds.

So it's not just chronographs you have to look out for.

[Eggtastico]

Re: Time for another watch thread?