Your Wristwatches

tangled_metal

Seems to me a lot on here have more money than others. Omega, Breitling, Patek and Rolex. I know watches can be investment pieces to pass down the generations. But I reckon if you own those watches I bet your garden shed contents and watch collections cost more than my house.

Those same people with nice watches seem to have the nicest bikes, cycle clothing. etc. It's great that you've got the success to be able to buy yourself the luxuries. Jealous!

My luxury is a £700 bike and it's getting hammered on the commute. Still I'm happy with my lot and my Seiko rip off from H Samuel. Perhaps I'll splash out on a polar m400 and / or a Casio for work one day. More luxuries.

specialized_nick

Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean, Orange bezel, 42mm.
Only comes out on special occasions though.

veronese68

It's the boy's 18th in 3 weeks so we might buy him a watch. Problem is he's lost 2 watches already. The plan is to buy something cheap for everyday use and something a bit nicer for best as an 18th present should be something he can keep. But at the same time we can't spend too much as with a party and everything else it's quite expensive. What make do we reckon is the best buy in the £300-£500 range.

Anonymous

My mother comes from quite a interesting family in NL so every 18th my grandmother gets the grandchildren a signet ring. I had no interest in one as I don't really like wearing jewellery and it would be a nuisance while sailing/windsurfing.

Got a watch instead and bang on budget was a Tag Aquaracer. It's automatic and is terrible at keeping time which really pisses me off, especially how much the servicing costs, but I love it and by some miracle still have it 10 years later.

sniper68

I have this for everyday,Festina Chrono Bike TDF.


Old one of these for work/riding,Seiko Tachymeter.

Anonymous

What's everyday if not work/riding?

Sleep?

sniper68

coriordan wrote:

What's everyday if not work/riding?

Sleep?

I wear the Seiko when I'm at work or riding.
I wear the Festina when I'm not at work or riding.
I don't think it's that difficult to understand?!

Anonymous

Jesus lighten up it was a joke.

sniper68

coriordan wrote:

Jesus lighten up it was a joke.

Maybe I should've used a smiley...fixed

coriordan wrote:

What's everyday if not work/riding?

Sleep?

I wear the Seiko when I'm at work or riding.
I wear the Festina when I'm not at work or riding.
I don't think it's that difficult to understand

bbrap

I use a Citizen Titanium eco-drive. I hate heavy watches and this is very light. Had it for 15 years or so and as it uses sunlight for power has never required a new battery. Only issue is the titanium strap gets a bit gunky from sweat so needs removing every 6 months or so and putting in a sonic cleaning bath. Comes up like new though.

homers_double

I only have day to day watches, a Fossil Titanium and an orange one from Superdry.

The day I got married I borrowed my dads Rado.

vimfuego

I'm another with a TAG F1 for most days (had it since a significant birthday a while back).

I also have one of these that I wear sometimes at the weekend etc (though I quite often ditch a watch altogether on non work days)

veronese68

My Dad has an old Jaeger Le Coutre with an alarm on it. If it's on a bedside table it rings like an old fashioned alarm, it it's on his wrist it sounds like a violent fart.
My cousin has an old watch as issued to Russian cosmonauts like this:

Found it in an auction in a box with a few other old watches, realised what it was and thankfully he was the only one in the room that knew what it was so got it for a steal. Once he'd sold the others on he'd made on the whole batch so it was better than free.

mrfpb

Why are so-called "nice" watches so ugly. I can't imagine wanting to wear such a chunky heavy bracelet on my wrist, and thoe overcrowded faces ae just too "busy" to look at. I appreciate the engineering involved, it's like having an F1 engine on your wrist, but they just don't appeal to me.

Save's me lots of money I suppose.

Anonymous

Nice watches can be as simple of sophisticated as you want.

Also, beauty is always very much in the eye of the beholder.

drlodge

I've had this Tissot T-Touch Titanium for around 10 years, wear it every day for work, got other watches for the weekend and DIY. It matches my silver cufflinks. And yes, it is a touch sensitive screen.

seanoconn

Tangled Metal wrote:

Oh I wish I could afford more watches. I'm death to them though.

My watch collection started at about 7 years old with a wind up Sekonda (still got it and I believe it still works). Then a Casio digital which broke. At 18 my parents spent a bit on an Accurist moonphase watch. That lasted almost 2 years before every watch repairer said the mechanism was dirty inside and probably couldn't be repaired.

Then I got given a Casio 200m rated digital as a leaving present. Still got that 20 years after.

Bought myself a Tissot watch for £160 at half price from a shop run by an old fella who was retiring without anyone to pass the business on to. I felt guilty but I didn't have much spare cash and needed a new watch. I can't be without one. It was a lovely steel bracelet watch with a white face IIRC. It failed in 9 months but I didn't have the retailer to go to and there was another reason why I didn't go for a replacement or fix.

Went for a few years with that old Casio divers watch after that until I got myself a Seiko for £110 in a h Samuels half price sale. It's still going after 3 years. That's unusual for me as the only watches that survive my careful use are cheap watches less than £50. I am very gentle and care for all my watches but they somehow die. Just seen that Seiko has out still at £125. Annoyed with h Samuels and their stupid half price sale that's not really half price. They must have sold it at almost twice the market value for some time before the "sale" .

http://www.seiko.co.uk/collections/men/other/sne095p2#.V88eNqXTXqA

Looks like a copy, as many watches have done, of the Military A11, the watch that won the Second World War.

Ben6899

Just a note on sending watches to TAG for servicing / batteries.

I just got my Monaco back from TAG - it was badly in need of a service and had actually stopped (it's an automatic). They basically took it to pieces, cleaned all the parts, fitted new glass and sent it back. All done via the middle man, my jeweller.

The third battery in my F1 (since 1993!) was fitted by Timpsons for £75. Sealed. That £75 is a lifetime guarantee so when this battery eventually runs out, Timpsons will fit another for free.

seanoconn

Veronese68 wrote:

It's the boy's 18th in 3 weeks so we might buy him a watch. Problem is he's lost 2 watches already. The plan is to buy something cheap for everyday use and something a bit nicer for best as an 18th present should be something he can keep. But at the same time we can't spend too much as with a party and everything else it's quite expensive. What make do we reckon is the best buy in the £300-£500 range.

Would the boy appreciate something vintage? If not for that price range you would find a lovely watch from Seiko, Citizen and Tissot.

While not my cup of tea looks wise, that Soviet cosmonaut watch is pretty cool and I've read good things about the vintage brand.

DeVlaeminck

Not really a watch person, I wear a G-shock for all occasions, well all occasions where I wear a watch. I like the Panerai though and the Chromachron is rather nice too.

veronese68

seanoconn wrote:

Would the boy appreciate something vintage? If not for that price range you would find a lovely watch from Seiko, Citizen and Tissot.

While not my cup of tea looks wise, that Soviet cosmonaut watch is pretty cool and I've read good things about the vintage brand.

That's pretty much my thinking on both. I should worry if I'm thinking like you. :P

Tashman

I have several, a Seiko i wear day to day at work, a sportier Casio ediface which is my current favourite, my grandads old wind-up that I had restored, a "genuine" Breitling i brought back from Hong Kong and several others that i need to replace batteries in.

seanoconn

Veronese68 wrote:

seanoconn wrote:

Would the boy appreciate something vintage? If not for that price range you would find a lovely watch from Seiko, Citizen and Tissot.

While not my cup of tea looks wise, that Soviet cosmonaut watch is pretty cool and I've read good things about the vintage brand.

That's pretty much my thinking on both. I should worry if I'm thinking like you. :P

Definitely cause for concern

Garry H

I usually wear a Casio 8 quid digital thing from Argos, but also have a Nite MX10 (Military style NATO issue thing with some kind of radioactive glow in the dark thing) that needs a new battery, which I haven't got round to replacing yet.

tangled_metal

seanoconn wrote:

Tangled Metal wrote:

Oh I wish I could afford more watches. I'm death to them though.

My watch collection started at about 7 years old with a wind up Sekonda (still got it and I believe it still works).
<Snip>
Then a Seiko solar from rip off H Samuel half price sale.

http://www.seiko.co.uk/collections/men/other/sne095p2#.V88eNqXTXqA

Looks like a copy, as many watches have done, of the Military A11, the watch that won the Second World War.

My first watch, the Sekonda, was closer to that A11. The curved class rising up from the bevel, the plain black face and luminous in the dark hands and 5 minute dashes. The Seiko has a flat glass not really rising up from the bezel, with a day and date. Interestingly the day is available in French and English. Good if I go on holiday to France next year.

verylonglegs

I have three with automatic movements, an Oris Titan C that I wear every day, an Omega Seamaster (the model Bond wears in Casino Royale) and a Baume & Mercier Riviera chronograph.

The only issue with the Oris is that the titanium case and strap scuff really easily so after years wearing it at work is does look rather worn. It's due a service though so I'm hoping a lot of marks can be buffed out then.

capt_slog

This looks quite beaten up in a photo, it doesn't look quite the same in real life where you don't see the scratches so much.

This was my dads watch, it was his retirement gift from work. He used to have it on a chunky bracelet strap which didn't really suit it.

My mum gave it to me by his hospital bed about 15 minutes after he'd died. I didn't see him alive as I was late getting there to visit him that evening because I'd lost my car keys (not because I didn't know the time, which would have been ironic).

It was a long while before I I felt comfortable wearing it. I realised the other day that I've now owned it for longer than he did which was a sobering thought.

diamonddog

I have three with automatic movements - Omega Seamaster ( with the blue dial) an Oris BC3 and a Baume & Mercier Millais plus a Breitling Colt with their Super Quartz movement. The Breitling is 8 years old and no battery required yet, I know it's about £160 for a battery and service so hopefully it will last a bit longer.

seanoconn

Capt Slog wrote:

This looks quite beaten up in a photo, it doesn't look quite the same in real life where you don't see the scratches so much.

This was my dads watch, it was his retirement gift from work. He used to have it on a chunky bracelet strap which didn't really suit it.

My mum gave it to me by his hospital bed about 15 minutes after he'd died. I didn't see him alive as I was late getting there to visit him that evening because I'd lost my car keys (not because I didn't know the time, which would have been ironic).

It was a long while before I I felt comfortable wearing it. I realised the other day that I've now owned it for longer than he did which was a sobering thought.

Classic, beautiful and personal. Wear it with pride Sloggy.

type:epyt

The original F1 has likely had well over £1k spent on it over the years (originally cost £170 including the stainless strap) and now just gets a £8 battery change at the local clockmakers as £65 a pop is just not sensible for something that almost never gets worn ...

The strap on the BR is annoying as my wrist is between sizes so I end up wearing the newer F1 most of the time ...