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Who's got a nice watch? Traditional watches only, no smartwatches please.

Shaun.P

Shaun.P

macrumors 68000
Jul 14, 2003
1,601
24
Omicron Persei 8
I like that first one you linked too, but it says it's a diving watch... is it not silly to buy a diving watch if I'm not diving?

What different types of movement are there? I don't want anything bling or cheap looking, but like you say something classy. I preferably don't want a leather strap.

I don't want a Formula 1 watch, I can't stand Formula 1 :)

I know nothing about watches. Is Tag and Omega like your Mercedes, BMW of watches? Is Rolex your Rolls Royce? :p

Why are these brands of watches expensive? Do they keep time remarkably well?

I like the following:

This

This

and This

Edit: I really like that first one I've linked too. I seem to like ones with black faces. Why does it have "20", "30", "40", "50" on it though? Is that one of those things that turn around? What are the point of those? I like the idea of something that tells the date. I had a watch like that before and found it handy.
 
niuniu

niuniu

macrumors 68020
Mar 29, 2009
2,311
1
A man of the people. The right sort of people.
ShaunPriest said:
I like that first one you linked too, but it says it's a diving watch... is it not silly to buy a diving watch if I'm not diving?

What different types of movement are there? I don't want anything bling or cheap looking, but like you say something classy. I preferably don't want a leather strap.

I don't want a Formula 1 watch, I can't stand Formula 1 :)

I know nothing about watches. Is Tag and Omega like your Mercedes, BMW of watches? Is Rolex your Rolls Royce? :p

Why are these brands of watches expensive? Do they keep time remarkably well?

I like the following:

This

This

and This

Edit: I really like that first one I've linked too. I seem to like ones with black faces. Why does it have "20", "30", "40", "50" on it though? Is that one of those things that turn around? What are the point of those? I like the idea of something that tells the date. I had a watch like that before and found it handy.
Click to expand...


The first one you linked is also a 'diver', and no it's not silly to have a 'diver' if you don't dive :) Many of the watches you will see will either be race, divers, or pilot functioned watches.

The features on these watches will be similarly related, such as rotating bezel for timers etc. I also like the Omega you linked, and the black face is very 'in' right now. The one you linked in a special edition James Bond model, which you may or may not fall out of favour on. Personally I wouldn't jump in and buy a special edition like that as my first good watch..

The second watch you linked is an automatic, and the third is a chrono, but again it has a tachymeter on the bezel which you may not like. I actually think you'll put aside your prejudices against divers as you do more research - they might grow on you.. As for the automatic and chrono, you'll have to decide what movement you want..
 
renewed

renewed

macrumors 68040
Mar 24, 2009
3,068
7
Bemalte Blumen duften nicht.
Arran

Arran

macrumors 601
Mar 7, 2008
4,928
3,935
Atlanta, USA
Nice choices, but you are aware that expensive watches can be expensive to maintain?

Ask the jewellers what they recommend in terms of annual service, replacement of water seals, etc. Ask also about how long repairs can take (mine had to go back to Switzerland once - for over a month). Think also about ongoing insurance costs.

Personally, if could do it all again, I'd buy a couple of £100 Swatches and put the rest of the cash in a long-term investment.
 
Shaun.P

Shaun.P

macrumors 68000
Jul 14, 2003
1,601
24
Omicron Persei 8
Arran said:
Nice choices, but you are aware that expensive watches can be expensive to maintain?

Ask the jewellers what they recommend in terms of annual service, replacement of water seals, etc. Ask also about how long repairs can take (mine had to go back to Switzerland once - for over a month). Think also about ongoing insurance costs.

Personally, if could do it all again, I'd buy a couple of £100 Swatches and put the rest of the cash in a long-term investment.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I must seem naive, but isn't it just a case of popping in a new battery? Why do they need serviced? Do they need serviced every year?!
 
Kwyjibo

Kwyjibo

macrumors 68040
Nov 5, 2002
3,809
0
ShaunPriest said:
Sorry, I must seem naive, but isn't it just a case of popping in a new battery? Why do they need serviced? Do they need serviced every year?!
Click to expand...

depending on the watch there may be a special seal that needs to be maintained to keep its waterproof/resistant rating. Some companies / manufacturers make this very complex to its impossible to do in a store or by yourself, hence the reason it would need to be sent in or taken to a high end shop.
 
Arran

Arran

macrumors 601
Mar 7, 2008
4,928
3,935
Atlanta, USA
ShaunPriest said:
Sorry, I must seem naive, but isn't it just a case of popping in a new battery? Why do they need serviced? Do they need serviced every year?!
Click to expand...

Mine's automatic and has to be serviced every couple of years when it slows down. I had this naive idea an automatic would save me a ton on batteries over my lifetime. Haha.

Even the battery ones need cleaning/servicing/new water seals every couple of years. Now, you could just take it to, say, Debenhams and have some raw trainee "pop in a new battery" instead, but would you really trust them to crack open your £1-2k watch? So that leaves you at the mercy of an authorized dealer and, boy, do they know it :)
 
kellen

kellen

macrumors 68020
Aug 11, 2006
2,389
68
Seattle, WA
Definitely go to watchuseek, they have a forum seller that is a certified dealer and can get good discounts.
I have an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra. I opted for a quartz (battery operated) vs. an automatic. Since it was my first nice watch and only one I wear, I didn't want to have to worry about winding it up before I ran out the door.

Services aren't that expensive on quartz. Don't take it to a mall place, unless they are authorized. Just replacing the battery is around 50 bucks, but they do the seals and pressure check it to make sure its in good shape. My last battery lasted 3 years or so.

Rolls vs. Omega vs. Tag is your personal opinion. I bought an Omega because I liked the simple styling. I didn't want a rolex due to price and also due to it seems like a show off brand. The omega gets compliments, but only from people who like watches. I think everyone knows a rolex. Tag was my second choice.

They are all nice. You are buying marketing and quality when you buy a nice watch, just really a matter of how much you want to spend.

Don't buy on ebay unless you know a lot about them. Sometimes a fake is difficult to check.
 
Abstract

Abstract

macrumors Penryn
Dec 27, 2002
24,889
921
Location Location Location
ShaunPriest said:
Are these watches expensive because of the intricacies when building them, or are you paying for the name?
Click to expand...

Mostly, yes. It's men's jewellery, and one of the only types a man always pulls off. They're charging you for brand, not time accuracy. Even a £30 watch can keep time more accurately than a £2000 automatic, and is equally good compared to a £2000 quartz watch.


ShaunPriest said:
Sorry, I must seem naive, but isn't it just a case of popping in a new battery? Why do they need serviced? Do they need serviced every year?!
Click to expand...

Let's start with types. There are quartz watches and mechanical watches. A quartz watch always works on battery power, and the price ranges from free to thousands of ££££.

Mechanical watches don't need a battery. Instead, they need to be wound up every day by hand, and if you don't wear it every single day, you'll need to wind it up AND set your watch to the correct time because it'll stop keeping time completely when it runs out of juice. An 'automatic' is the only type of mechanical watch you need to worry about (the other is 'manual'). An automatic needs to be wound up, but it gets slight recharges throughout the day some from the everyday motion of your arm. Some mechanical mechanism stores this energy for later, just like when you purposefully wind up your watch in the morning.

There's a third type, which is what a Seiko Kinetic is. There may be other brands (Citizen?) that do the same. They're like an automatic watch I think because they need to be wound up, and they store motion energy. However, it stores it in a battery instead. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, because this is what I figured out on my own rather than reading about it. :eek:

Now can you understand why an auto, with all its tiny moving parts, needs more maintenance?

Generally, all the cool kids wear an automatic and would never pay £1000 for a quartz (battery) watch even though they keep time better. Why? There's no cachet wearing a battery watch. These companies want to sell you the feeling you (should) get from owning something that accurately keeps time through the motion of over 100 miniature cogs and other random moving bits rather than new-school batteries.


Just my opinion, but brands to consider are: Hamilton, Raymond Weil, Omega, and Oris.
 
E

ethical

macrumors 68000
Dec 22, 2007
1,661
1
Check out the advert at the bottom of the thread.....Rolex for $49 :p
You could buy 20 of them!
I'm glad you've gone for a watch and not a pen though. In my mind a pen is way too easy to lose, and a watch makes a much nicer gift!
 

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codymac

macrumors 6502
Jun 12, 2009
449
2
Kenzembo1 said:
Wow, very impressive! I've been wanting to get an IWC for a long time now.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm quite partial to IWC and Omega although this has been monopolizing my wrist for a long time and I think that's about to change.
;)

Playing with the camera in 4.0b... and it's really buggy.
 

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AndyJ710

AndyJ710

macrumors newbie
Apr 19, 2010
4
1
My girlfirend's a trooper

showtimeapp4.JPG


Doing her best Flava Flav with my app.
No, she doesn't rock this out of the house....
 
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diacritic

macrumors regular
Mar 11, 2010
131
2
^^^wipe the fingerprints off that phone! Then lose the phone. Then retake picture, same background.... Thanks in advance.
 
TheYellowAudi

TheYellowAudi

macrumors member
Jun 5, 2008
98
103
DFW, but could be anywhere on the planet.
I wear 1 everyday:

breitlingemergency.jpg


A Breitling Emergency. I wear it everyday, and I love it. When I get back to the US this summer I'm planning to get another Breitling, this time the Navitimer World.

I also have a Tag Professional series, but I haven't worn it in probably 5 or 6 years. It IS in really good shape, though.
 
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