Any watch (timepiece) fans here?
- Thread starter 41Dude
- Start date
Oh my gosh. For about the first 25 years of my life I was obsessed with watches. I could not walk past a watch display at a department store without gazing at every watch in the display case. I probably have purchased over 40 watches in my lifetime. Finally with the advent of cellphones and wearing fit bits etc. I have finally gotten over it. I still have several battery powered wrist watches that I still buy batteries for even though I do not wear them, that's kind of crazy I know. I inherited my Grandfathers Seth Thomas mantle clock that was made in the 1860's and I ordered some clock oil and tools and I take it apart every 2 years and clean and oil it and it still runs. I get enjoyment out of that.
ProfessorWes
Hawkeye
First summer out of the Army, just before entering college, I found a nice, conservative Citizen Eco-Drive watch on sale at a jeweler's that was going out of business. Best $125 I ever spent. Still wearing it, over 30 years later.
Man! Do you watch the video about the watch makers? The one guy spends a year making custom watches that sell after market for several million dollars. Incredible!
Ahhh, I guess i’ll never get to own one of those.
I love watches....own many from $19.99 to $2500........nowhere near a collector or connoisseur ...but there is in my opinion something of a difference between a watch being worn and a phone......
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There is a YouTube channel called wrist watch revival. I highly recommend. He takes them completely apart cleans repairs and reassembles them. It’s very relaxing to watch and listen to him.
I have always been a fan of pocket watches. Primarily antique. Sadly I don't wear them much anymore. Between the phone and getting the chain caught on things as I work I have fallen into the convenience mode of most Americans. My favorite is my 1883 Waltham.
I agree with you, Dan. I love pocket watches. Especially the older ones. I have a dozen or so in my collection and occasionally get one out and wear it for a while. Now that I am retired, I am out working in the barn or on the farm and I find this work to be a bit rough on them and the chains. So, mostly when I go out.
Killer Bee
Advanced Level Novice
I like mechanical watches and only wear analog if battery.
I have couple of citizen eco drives that were gifts that are nice.
my current daily is a Hamilton 25 jewel khaki open back. actually due for another band, both loopers broke and the end flops around
Swiss movements are works of art.
my favorite is grandpa's Hamilton retirement watch. looking to get it restored so I can wear it occasionally, even though I'll never look as cool as he did
I have couple of citizen eco drives that were gifts that are nice.
my current daily is a Hamilton 25 jewel khaki open back. actually due for another band, both loopers broke and the end flops around
Swiss movements are works of art.
my favorite is grandpa's Hamilton retirement watch. looking to get it restored so I can wear it occasionally, even though I'll never look as cool as he did
My Wife bought me display case with trays for mine. I swear I can impulse buy a watch the same as I can a gun. Drives my Wife nuts. Of all the watches I own......the most worn is a average $100 G-Shock......sometimes I will throw on a Luminox or if going out a shiny Citizen Pro Master. But the cheaper G-Shocks you can bang around and not worry about.
coachk64
Single-Sixer
I've always worn a wristwatch, but most of my life they were gimmicky, rather than stylish. I had one of the first Casio Databanks I ever saw. Imagine, a watch that worked as a calculator and would store up to 10 phone numbers, what a world we lived in 
. My favorite was one that had a butane cigarette lighter built in to it, but that was lost or stolen years ago.
Now my daily wrist watch is a made by Samsung and I can read emails and texts, get calendar reminders, and even make and receive phone calls on it. More technology then I would have ever thought I needed, but it is a real time-saver at work.
I do have a gold Omega Seamaster from around 1970 that was given as a retirement gift to an ancestor from Fairbanks-Morse. I wear that when out on special occasions.
. My favorite was one that had a butane cigarette lighter built in to it, but that was lost or stolen years ago.Now my daily wrist watch is a made by Samsung and I can read emails and texts, get calendar reminders, and even make and receive phone calls on it. More technology then I would have ever thought I needed, but it is a real time-saver at work.
I do have a gold Omega Seamaster from around 1970 that was given as a retirement gift to an ancestor from Fairbanks-Morse. I wear that when out on special occasions.
Yaworski
Hawkeye
I wear a watch because my cell is usually nowhere near me and I find people who are constantly looking at their phone to be irritating. I have no desire to have a FitBit. I was given one about seven years ago and found it irritating to have to recharge it on a regular basis. Then the damn thing broke. As for the new ones, I have no desire to answer my phone on my wrist or to read text messages on my wrist. I find the continual intrusion of the phone into our lives to be obnoxious.
My daughter wears a fitbit. Wouldn't wear a watch but wears a fitbit. They last about three years and then she needs to upgrade. I'm currently wearing a Pulsar that I got back around 1993.
I'll stick with regular old analog watches.
My daughter wears a fitbit. Wouldn't wear a watch but wears a fitbit. They last about three years and then she needs to upgrade. I'm currently wearing a Pulsar that I got back around 1993.
I'll stick with regular old analog watches.
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IKE
Single-Sixer
I very seldom ever wear a watch and when I do it's one of two quartz Citizen's I have.
I had my VN bring back watch gone through a couple of years ago and it now runs great.
I kicked around the idea of scrubbing the band or getting a new one but ended up feeling like that would take away from it's meaning to me.
I had my VN bring back watch gone through a couple of years ago and it now runs great.
I kicked around the idea of scrubbing the band or getting a new one but ended up feeling like that would take away from it's meaning to me.
captn-tin`
Bearcat
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- Jun 17, 2010
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- 17
40 years ago I used to collect what I considered "old" railroad pocket watches. Got into the restoration and repair of them. Great hobby til everyone who had one for sale figured it was worth 10 times the actual value. Sold my whole collection for.....wait for it......bout 10 x it's value. HA!
Mentioned this before, always liked watches since I was a kid in the 60’s. Then Jacques Cousteaus specials became popular at the same time. I knew then that I wanted to be a diver and a dive watch was a necessity piece of equipment. My first dive watch was a Bulova Accutron but that was ruined by someone who wasn’t qualified to change the battery in it. Still gets my steam up thinking about decades later. Anyway about 2008 I finally got the timepiece that I coveted since a boy, a Rolex Submariner no date( Bond)
Haven’t worn it too much recently. It’s overdue for a tune up but it’s over 1,200 clams and I don’t want to have it shipped, I want to go in person to Rolex in Manhattan and drop it off face to face. I’ve been negligent in doing it but going to do it this spring. We’ll drive in, drop it off and make a day out it. In the meantime I use an Apple Watch and a cheap Casio waterproof. Sub is my only Swiss mechanical I’ve owned. Still thinking hard about an Omega Speedmaster though
Haven’t worn it too much recently. It’s overdue for a tune up but it’s over 1,200 clams and I don’t want to have it shipped, I want to go in person to Rolex in Manhattan and drop it off face to face. I’ve been negligent in doing it but going to do it this spring. We’ll drive in, drop it off and make a day out it. In the meantime I use an Apple Watch and a cheap Casio waterproof. Sub is my only Swiss mechanical I’ve owned. Still thinking hard about an Omega Speedmaster though
I did see that 60 Minutes episode; it was GREAT. I don't think that anyone who owns one if his works of art really enjoys a fine watch as we (here) do; I believe it's all about "who's the biggest Gorilla in the jungle".
Me? I own three: my daily Timex that has delivered unbelievable accuracy for the past half-million years: my Omega Seamaster that I've owned for 60 yrs.; my father's Bulova that he wore daily. I did receive a Rolex as a gift and promptly sold (NIB) for half-value and bought a Colt 1911 and S&W 686 (for my wife). I really love watches, but I KISS.
p.s. YES, I covet that Rolex SubMariner...
J.
Me? I own three: my daily Timex that has delivered unbelievable accuracy for the past half-million years: my Omega Seamaster that I've owned for 60 yrs.; my father's Bulova that he wore daily. I did receive a Rolex as a gift and promptly sold (NIB) for half-value and bought a Colt 1911 and S&W 686 (for my wife). I really love watches, but I KISS.
p.s. YES, I covet that Rolex SubMariner...
J.
lol. How did you explain to the person who gifted the missing Rolex to the person who gave it to you? Although, I can understand the motivation for the two pieces you got in the deal.
I have not watched 60 Minutes for YEARS. This video popped up on my YouTube feed.
Very interesting video, and thanks for posting it.
I'll admit that while I wear a watch every day, it is an electronic gadget, i.e. an Apple watch. Just as one can be amazed at the intricacy of a fine mechanical watch, I am amazed at the ability of this little gadget on my wrist to do so much.
I will also admit that one of the regrets of my life was my NOT buying a Rolex when I was in Vietnam from '70 to '71. The basic Rolex was about $150 at the PX, right about the same price as a good 35mm single lens reflex camera. I REALLY wanted a good camera, and could not afford to get both the watch and a camera so I bought the Pentax camera which has long ago disappeared. When I think that if I had bought the Rolex I would likely still own it, even if I would not likely wear it instead of my Apple watch.
Same idea for me. In the Air Force in '71
Local gun dealer had Colt Pythons for 175.00 Colt Troopers for 150.00
Bought the Trooper (long gone)
I refused to pay the extra 25.00 for the Python.
I am not the sharpest tack sometimes.
Yaworski
Hawkeye
About $200 in today's money.
Love wearing nice watches; mostly automatic, few battery. They're more like jewelry in a sense, to me, along with belt buckles. Nearly impulse bought the silly Seiko 50th Anniversary "Jaws" watch last week; took quite a bit of self control to keep my wallet in my pocket!
KIR
Sparks, NV
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- Mar 2, 2022
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For 25 years I worked in a job where I wore a vest and always wanted a pocket watch/chain. I don't wear vests anymore (except during warm weather), but after 10 years in my last job, I was gifted a Skagen wrist watch from Denmark. I gave it to my oldest, because my ex-GF gave me her deceased hubby's Seiko. I changed the face from a white to a black one as the marks for the numerals show up better. The band does not pull on my wrist hairs now. I am very hirsute. Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls!
Still would like to get a watch and chain...
Short answer Yes....
I know more about them than I care to own. I have a mechanical self winding and it's nice for its cost. I had to have one in my price range. Trouble is... Even though I have worn it, and like it... 2 major things were learned. 1. A cheap quartz is more accurate, even if it's a Certified Chronometer, and 2. I still do things working were it's too hard on the watch to risk messing it up, so I have to take it off.... oh let me add #3. They will loose power over a weekend and then it's back to setting it and getting going again.
Big deals, not really but when you spent 30 years plus in a stainless steel diver that just works.... it's hard to change.
That's my .02
But I do so love to see and understand the workings of a micro mechanical device... it's a thing of beauty from the simple to the expensive.
I know more about them than I care to own. I have a mechanical self winding and it's nice for its cost. I had to have one in my price range. Trouble is... Even though I have worn it, and like it... 2 major things were learned. 1. A cheap quartz is more accurate, even if it's a Certified Chronometer, and 2. I still do things working were it's too hard on the watch to risk messing it up, so I have to take it off.... oh let me add #3. They will loose power over a weekend and then it's back to setting it and getting going again.
Big deals, not really but when you spent 30 years plus in a stainless steel diver that just works.... it's hard to change.
That's my .02
But I do so love to see and understand the workings of a micro mechanical device... it's a thing of beauty from the simple to the expensive.
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- Apr 3, 2012
- Messages
- 10,870
I have a couple Waltham pocket watches and 1 Waltham wrist watch. I grew up near the old factory. It’s still there next to the Charles River in Waltham Ma. The building is narrow and long, it has massive windows for light and the river kept the dust down.
I like Citizens dive watches for wearing
And old field watches
I like Citizens dive watches for wearing
And old field watches
Just got this one
In 1986 I was admitted as a partner in a Big 8 accounting firm. To celebrate the occasion, my dad gave me a 1984 Rolex Datejust he had taken as payment from one of his customers. I wore that watch daily, trouble-free, for many years. It started losing time, so in 1995 I took it to a Rolex repair shop. Whew!!! $500 for a complete cleaning, gasket replacements, etc. Talk about sticker shock! That's the price one pays for such watches.
I gave that watch to my youngest son when he was promoted to Sr. Manager with his Big 4 accounting firm. He rarely wears it.
In the late 1990s I bought a ladies' Datejust at an estate sale for $2,000 and gave it to my bride for X-mas. She never wore it. So we finally gifted it to my daughter when she was promoted to high school principal. She rarely wears it.
About 10 years ago I bought another Datejust (built in the 1970s) and occasionally wore it. I gifted it to my eldest son when he was promoted to CW 3. He rarely wears it.
I also bought an "all-stainless" Datejust (built in 1980) for myself. I rarely wear it.
My every-day watches include a 2002 Seiko titanium chronograph ($200 new) and a 2005 Victorinox ($125 new). Those two watches are bullet-proof. The only problem with them is that they are now so old the manufacturers don't supply repair parts for them. Oh well.
I gave that watch to my youngest son when he was promoted to Sr. Manager with his Big 4 accounting firm. He rarely wears it.
In the late 1990s I bought a ladies' Datejust at an estate sale for $2,000 and gave it to my bride for X-mas. She never wore it. So we finally gifted it to my daughter when she was promoted to high school principal. She rarely wears it.
About 10 years ago I bought another Datejust (built in the 1970s) and occasionally wore it. I gifted it to my eldest son when he was promoted to CW 3. He rarely wears it.
I also bought an "all-stainless" Datejust (built in 1980) for myself. I rarely wear it.
My every-day watches include a 2002 Seiko titanium chronograph ($200 new) and a 2005 Victorinox ($125 new). Those two watches are bullet-proof. The only problem with them is that they are now so old the manufacturers don't supply repair parts for them. Oh well.
