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.


View attachment 1030620

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.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

For guys that want the Rolex look as bad as it is, the clones or reps are incredible for the money.

I have a vsf replica that they only way to tell it’s a fake/rep/ clone is remove the back and inspect the movement lol. Scary good. Very good friend of mine is a watchsmith at Rolex, I had him regulate the movement and service it. He mentioned to me he’s blown away that a 600 rep is that accurate and close to a gen. The overall movement isn’t as machined or finished like a Rolex and I’m sure cheaper internals, but hard to justify a 12-15k sub compared to a 500-1000 clone.

That’s another reason I wouldn’t buy a used Rolex online, wayyy to many fakes and guys loosing 1000s. You gotta really know what you’re looking at to telll the difference from a gen and the super clones.

That said if any one wants a vsf replica of a 116610 submariner date pm me lol. I will make ya a deal since it’s a rep and I have my gen explorer.

I sold my gen sub last month and was gunna keep this for when I got the sub itch but I literally never take my explorer off. Been that way for the last 23 years since I bought it.

 

[Reburn]

For guys that want the Rolex look as bad as it is, the clones or reps are incredible for the money.

I have a vsf replica that they only way to tell it’s a fake/rep/ clone is remove the back and inspect the movement lol. Scary good. Very good friend of mine is a watchsmith at Rolex, I had him regulate the movement and service it. He mentioned to me he’s blown away that a 600 rep is that accurate and close to a gen. The overall movement isn’t as machined or finished like a Rolex and I’m sure cheaper internals, but hard to justify a 12-15k sub compared to a 500-1000 clone.

That’s another reason I wouldn’t buy a used Rolex online, wayyy to many fakes and guys loosing 1000s. You gotta really know what you’re looking at to telll the difference from a gen and the super clones.

That said if any one wants a vsf replica of a 116610 submariner date pm me lol. I will make ya a deal since it’s a rep and I have my gen explorer.

I sold my gen sub last month and was gunna keep this for when I got the sub itch but I literally never take my explorer off. Been that way for the last 23 years since I bought it.

And this is why I sent my zenith and IWC that I bought second hand off to be authenicated at the authorized service center. This is why I also pay via amex and not ach draft. I can claw a amex payment back but you will never get a ach back.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

And this is why I sent my zenith and IWC that I bought second hand off to be authenicated at the authorized service center. This is why I also pay via amex and not ach draft. I can claw a amex payment back but you will never get a ach back.

I’ve seen first hand to many guys even on chrono 24 get burnt. Guys are putting in full balance bridges in the clones since all the gen Rolex parts fit. You gotta use a loupe and know what you’re looking for. No way I would buy one on the secondary unless it was face to face at a reputable dealer. European watch company is highly regarded. They bought my patek during the COVID hype and I picked up some pieces from them over the years. All 100 percent left and serviced as well.

 

[Reburn]

I’ve seen first hand to many guys even on chrono 24 get burnt. Guys are putting in full balance bridges in the clones since all the gen Rolex parts fit. You gotta use a loupe and know what you’re looking for. No way I would buy one on the secondary unless it was face to face at a reputable dealer. European watch company is highly regarded. They bought my patek during the COVID hype and I picked up some pieces from them over the years. All 100 percent left and serviced as well.

I would think that sending it to the factory service center in the states to get authinicated would reveal fake internals. Do you think this is not the case?

I dont know that I even trust a reputable dealer as they could have passed a fake and not it inspected it close enought to catch it.

 

[Ajsomp]

Watches are easy to get lost in. In order of watches most worn to least worn

Casio GW-M5610U-1ER https://amzn.to/3MZoL0V

Citizen Promaster

Amazon.com

Casio F91WG-9

Amazon.com

Steeldive “Willard” (Chinese clone of the Seiko Willard)

Amazon.com

As guys have said, you can spend a ton on watches. I’ve owned several Tudors, seikos, custom seikos, citizen and Casio. The square body gshock gets the most wrist time because it is the most accurate and has a ton of features that fit what I need. The citizen pro master is great, super accurate and sits lower on the wrist than an automatic. The Steeldive Williard clone surprised me. I had a Seiko king turtle and that watch, and the Steeldive was better all around except for the namesake. I sold the king turtle because my watch collection got a little out of hand.

If you want an automatic watch, go with a Seiko SRPE93 https://amzn.to/4cDYRu9

It’s the most recent version of the Seiko turtle. It’s slightly outside your price point but shop around. Good movement, cushion case, everything you need from a dive watch. After that, save up for a luxury brand if you really want to scratch the itch. I love watches but I won’t buy another one because I have what I need now. I only really wear the gshock and almost feel “obligated” to rotate because I have the others. I’d honestly sell the rest if I thought I could.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

I would think that sending it to the factory service center in the states to get authinicated would reveal fake internals. Do you think this is not the case?

I dont know that I even trust a reputable dealer as they could have passed a fake and not it inspected it close enought to catch it.

Rolex no longer does authentication on used watches. If you send a watch in and and it’s clone they keep it. Even a lot of local ad won’t take a watch in to tell of it’s legit or not, gotta use a 3rd party or trusted watch maker that knows their stuff.

European watch co, 1916 company, Davids, etc have been grey dealers for years. If they sold a fake it would cripple them. A lot of retired Rolex watch smiths work for these companies. You always, always buy the seller, not the watch.

Like I said very few secondary dealers i trust unless then have been in the game for decades and built the reputation. Not a chance I would buy one second hand unless it was family or a close friend and I know 100 percent the watches history.

What’s even crazier is when you get into the 100k plus watches almost all of them are sold on the secondary since they are super limited on supply.

Unless you want a gen or a family heir loom with today cost, I wouldn’t even buy the current gen Rolex with the 32 series movements. They are still have amplitude issues and no real fixes have been released, of course Rolex isn’t say anything about them either.

31 series will go down in history as prolly the greatest movements they ever made. The early 2000s during the 5 digit era was peak Rolex imo. Now they are an over priced piece of jewelry compared to the tool watch company they were founded on.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

Watches are easy to get lost in. In order of watches most worn to least worn

Casio GW-M5610U-1ER https://amzn.to/3MZoL0V

Citizen Promaster

Amazon.com

Casio F91WG-9

Amazon.com

Steeldive “Willard” (Chinese clone of the Seiko Willard)

Amazon.com

As guys have said, you can spend a ton on watches. I’ve owned several Tudors, seikos, custom seikos, citizen and Casio. The square body gshock gets the most wrist time because it is the most accurate and has a ton of features that fit what I need. The citizen pro master is great, super accurate and sits lower on the wrist than an automatic. The Steeldive Williard clone surprised me. I had a Seiko king turtle and that watch, and the Steeldive was better all around except for the namesake. I sold the king turtle because my watch collection got a little out of hand.

If you want an automatic watch, go with a Seiko SRPE93 https://amzn.to/4cDYRu9

It’s the most recent version of the Seiko turtle. It’s slightly outside your price point but shop around. Good movement, cushion case, everything you need from a dive watch. After that, save up for a luxury brand if you really want to scratch the itch. I love watches but I won’t buy another one because I have what I need now. I only really wear the gshock and almost feel “obligated” to rotate because I have the others. I’d honestly sell the rest if I thought I could.

Hardlex crystal though. Super easy to scratch. I’ve tried numerous seikos and it sucks having to replace the crystals in them since that voids the warranty, like eveything about them besides the terrible crystals they use.

For the op and amount of money not much is gunna touch an orient for 250 bucks!