Let’s Talk Watches

[rookieforever33]

Never been a watch guy, but this definitely has my gears turning. It's hard for me to get past the feeling that wearing a watch worth more than a few hundred bucks is anything other than a status symbol which I am not interested in. The craftsmanship is definitely appealing. Reading the historical ties between Omega and NASA is also appealing to me as my grandpa worked at NASA. I could see myself picking up a used piece at the right price.

My daily wear is only worth a few hundred but I would have no problem spending more. To me its not the flashiness of a pricey timepiece, it's the fact that anytime I look at my wrist the correct time is there, no fuss, no muss, no worries. Lesser watches often scratch and fade, a nice watch cleans up quick whether its construction dirt, fish guts, deer guts, or a wild night with the wife. Considering you can wear it every day for decades with little maintenance, its probably a cost per day inexpensive item.

 

[Rusty Shackelford]

Seiko Solar. Pretty Bombproof Piece.


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First of all, you didn’t have to go diving and take this picture just for this thread. Second, what’s the model number? I dig it.

 

[Choupique]

I like having a nice automatic watch just because I like the idea of having that little complicated gizmo ticking away for years and years with precision and nothing but springs and gravity running it.

An analog watch really does work best for quick glances at the time as well. Nothing else is simpler.

 

[betelgeuse]

I like having a nice automatic watch just because I like the idea of having that little complicated gizmo ticking away for years and years with precision and nothing but springs and gravity running it.

An analog watch really does work best for quick glances at the time as well. Nothing else is simpler.

I agree, the mechanisms fascinate me. Kind of like trains, they keep going even when you are asleep. Digital watches aren't interesting to me. They work great, but boring.

 

[eamyrick]

First of all, you didn’t have to go diving and take this picture just for this thread. Second, what’s the model number? I dig it.

It’s this one. 39mm which I don’t think they make anymore. There is also a 41.

Seiko Prospex – Siegers Jewelers

siegersjewelers.com

I’ve taken a variety of watches diving and flooded one also. I dig the dive watch history even though it was actually a pretty short era before digital.

 

[betelgeuse]

Dug this one out this morning. I bought this when I traveled overseas a lot. You can change cities and time zones by rotating the inner bezel. I need to get a new battery. I think I am just going to get the tools to do it myself. They are cheap at Harbor freight.

 

[betelgeuse]

I wore this one when I was in to surf fishing to track the tide. It worked good, but had to be reset every moon cycle. It is a pain to set with only the one crown dial. It's also sitting with a dead battery.

 

[BoilerBowHunter]

Henry archery and traska are both prime examples of what you stated, in house designs with basic, proven cheap movements,

The micro scene is awesome right now with what ya get for the money. Ginault is another one, his watches easily compare to the 4-6k subs on the market for a fraction of the cost.

@bowhuntercoop How are you comparing value/performance without getting super technical? It looks like most of these tool watches have similar functionality and are rated to 200-300M. Outside of that, what are you looking for when evaluating a lesser-known brand like Orient vs the Tudors/Rolexes/Omegas of the world?

 

[S-3 ranch]

I got a Ironway field watch ( been very very accurate so far)
And a flieger aviation watch love them both
Thinking hard about ditching my Timex explorer for a solar seiko ( Timex has terrible luminosity and size so I have put on my glasses to see what time it is )

 

[bowhuntercoop]

@bowhuntercoop How are you comparing value/performance without getting super technical? It looks like most of these tool watches have similar functionality and are rated to 200-300M. Outside of that, what are you looking for when evaluating a lesser-known brand like Orient vs the Tudors/Rolexes/Omegas of the world?

Build quality, attention to details, 316 stainless, some companies like traska put a scratch resistant coating on that is mind boggling good.

The feel of Rolex 904 oyster steel is super smooth and much more corresion resistant compared to 316 stainless but it does scratch easier imo. Most Rolex bracelets are 2-4k just for the braclet.

Movments are where the fine details come down too. A lot of the micros are using higher end myota or higher end grade movments in general for the top tier micros. Most are using very cheap, not worth servicing 100-200 dollar movments that just won’t last beyond 5-10 years before they need compeletly replaced.

Ginault is a prime example. His build quality is better then any 5 digit Rolex ever made, no question. It’s basically a modern day 5 digits with the newest upgrades, except he’s using a 350 dollar Stelleta s200 movment where Rolex in the 5 digits was using the 31 series of their in house movments. Those movments alone are 4-6k and worth servicing every 10-20 years. They are world renowned as bullet proof, tanks. My 23 year old 3130 movement in my explorer has been serviced 2 times in 13 years and gains less then 1 second a day. No micro is gunna come close to the accuracy of a Rolex, omega, Tudor, etc. most at 10-30 seconds a day when regulated. With some fine regulation you can get them lower though.

The Ginault isn’t even worth it to service, when the movment breaks you swap out the movment for a new one. Just little things like that. I will say Ginault get a tooooooon of hate in the watch world, look up the history.

Butttt if Rolex made those same specs today they would be the most popular watch of all time. His modern day 5 digit homage is truly unreal. If I didn’t own my explorer and wanted a dive watch it would be a Ginault silent service 2.5 hands down. I may end up with one someday once I give my explorer to my son when he’s old enough. He’s 15 months haha. So I still got another 20 or so years of wearing it.