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A bit of wrist action

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Piggybacking off hedgepig’s Shoes thread I thought I’d kick off another on a sartorial accessory.

Your watch. What, if anything, is strapped to your wrist?

It’s a very recent interest of mine that seems to have sprung up from the tedium of lockdown and home working. I’ve liked watches for quite a while, and my wife has periodically bought me interesting Swatch pieces. Those strikingly designed quartz watches aimed at a rather younger demographic than me at this stage in my so called life.

I’ve developed an interest in mechanical and automatic watches, those with non-quartz movements. The ones you have to wind up a tiny bundle of cogs, springs and escapements. It’s almost beguiling to me that these small and delicate arrangements actually keep time. Even though they did adequately for some hundreds of years before quartz accuracy arrived at the end of the ‘60s. Fascinating things.

I’ve bought a couple of automatics recently, a Seiko 5 and an Orient Ray II. The former a cheap dress/everyday and the latter a cheap Divers watch.

Wonderful things. At just over £100 each. I’d love a Tudor Black Bay, a Longines Hydro Conquest or a Hamilton Chronomatic but each of those tip into the Swiss made over a £1000 sheets arena. From that point pricing becomes unimaginable and frankly ridiculous.

But anyway, anyone else here with an interest? Watcha rockin’ as a timepiece?

I suspect this one might die a death. As noted frequently on Watch Blogs it’s a truth that no one really needs a watch anymore. And no one gives a monkeys about which one you have on anyway.

2

Comments

  3. I have several watches ranging from a lovely, simple Seiko automatic that I’ve had since I was around 12 to a Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso Duo. Never serviced, the Seiko runs faultlessly and accurately. The JLC is running a little fast at the moment, but again it has never been serviced and I’ve now had it for nearly 20 years. It’s the one with two faces – one black and one white – so that you can have it set to different timezones. In between are several quartz items including an Omega Dynamic from the 80s and an Alessi Momento.

      • I shall have to investigate. I’ve been meaning to buy a watch to celebrate / mourn hitting 60 and I’ve always liked the idea of an Omega Speedmaster (the Moon watch). But they look a bit dull in reality. There are a couple of IWCs that look nice in photos, but may be huge in reality.

        Anyway, for real watch obsessives, Hodinkee is a must-read.

        • I like IWC but, if money was REALLY no object (eg, lottery win or something comparable), I’d go for an A. Lange and Söhne Lange 1 Moonphase…makes the JLC seem achievable…

          Despite evidence to the contrary, I’m really not an obsessive – I am more than happy with my Hamilton…

  5. No, I don’t wear a watch as an ornament, nor a sun dial as a hat. Neither do I carry around a 1940’s rotodial Bakelite telephone, on a really long lead, or a wind-up record player and a loudspeaker, because that would be ridiculous posturing.

    Until recently I wore on my wrist a thin strand of red wool given to me by a monk at Lumbini in the Terai plains of southern Nepal, the birthplace of the Buddha. It was there for about four years, but two weeks ago I realised it had fallen off. I’ve got another on my ankle, but it’s the one off the wrist I miss.

  6. Advice to young male learner drivers. An unhealthy amount of time spent frequenting the wristwatch disco will play havoc with your number plate recognition awareness.

  8. A R+lex Submariner I bought brand new in Saudi Arabia in 1982 for around £300 with the first salary cheque I received after I paid off all the money I owed my Mum and Dad.

  9. A 40-year old R+lex Submariner.

    Bought the watch brand new in Saudi Arabia in 1982 for around £300 with the first salary cheque I received after I paid off all the money I owed my Mum and Dad from Uni.

      • Nope, it’s kosher*

        bought it tax free from the official dealer in jeddah
        For around a third of the price it then cost in the UK.

        Bear in mind this was 40 years ago.

        * Halal more like

          • I always think of it ss being worth the £300 I paid for it to cheer myself up for spending two years working – the fabled ‘one for need, ons for greed’ – in that awful place.

            Having survived nights in more than a few sleazy foreign bars in the intervening years, i finally got the watch insured about five years ago..

            Horrified to learn its market value, i try to think of it as being worth the comparatively low cost i paid in 1982 or I’d probably never wear the thing again

  10. I can’t leave the house without a watch on, it just feels wrong.

    I’ve got about 14 or 15, most of which mean something – an anniversary gift that my wife got me in Paris, an old Swiss mechanical watch that I bought from a shop in the former Yugoslavia, etc. I do have a rather fancy mechanical watch that cost me a fair bit, but given the way things are right now, when I only leave the house to go shopping or to take the kids to school, it seems like even more overkill than usual.

    Right now I’m wearing an Apple Watch, which is a moderately expensive way of reminding me that I am a lazy sod.

  11. My personal fave is the Mondaine black face (day & date) I treated myself to about 10 years back.
    I consider it beautiful & it’s luminous. Haven’t seen one I prefer aesthetically.
    I wear a £16 Seiko analogue to the pool & I have a chunky Seiko automatic SKX007 Diver, that sits in a drawer.
    Had a TomTom runner for swimming a while back ( it counts lengths which is v handy) but it had charging issues & then just died. No plans for another sports watch – don’t feel the need at all.

      • They sure do get a lot of love on those rather odd watch forums, where blokes (they must be blokes) bang on about ‘modding’ & ‘opting for a James Bond NATO strap’.
        Quite nice to look at & didn’t break the bank, but very heavy & doesn’t keep great time TBH. Maybe I should have gone for an orange Monster!

        • I couldn’t imagine leaving the house without a watch on. It’s part of the mental checklist I perform every time I leave the house:

          * Watch
          * Keys
          * Wallet
          * Phone
          * Flies done up

          I do like a nice watch, but I don’t have anything posh. And thankfully, I don’t even really crave many of the posh ones either.

          My SKX007 (on a NATO, as it happens) recently came out of the drawer to which it was banished a few years ago after becoming a bit unreliable. The plan was to get a new movement put in it but much to my amazement, it’s been running perfectly. So that’s what I’m wearing right now. Incoming however is a Vostok 420526, AKA the Vostok Zissou, as worn by Bill Murray in The Life Aquatic, which I’m very excited about.

      • Why why why did you have to go and do that??? No, it’s a company called Dust!, who I’d never heard of, but it’s officially licensed by DC/Warner Bros. and just looked cool, although I wasn’t totally convinced when it arrived, as the clock face is quite small and my eyes aren’t what they used to be. But it’s different, limited edition and everyone I asked said it’s nice (I didn’t tell them it was a Batman watch!), so I kept it.

        But now I’ve Googled Invicta watches…

        • I know. What on Earth possesses them?

          Despite the rankness of some (most) models they’re well made and well regulated. Their obvious Rolex Submariner-alike, their Pro Diver, sells for loose change in comparison and ticks along like a bastard. Watch repairers and jewellers hold them in some regard as bargains.

          • @beezer – I now have an amazing looking Invicta Batman watch and my son is counting the days until I let him have the other one. I’ve been flogging a load of stuff on eBay recently, so I added some more to my sale to fund it, although I got it for a good price. Difficult to get hold of too. There was one available from a dealer in the States through eBay, but the Invicta Store in Portugal had it in stock and in their sale. The setback was that they don’t deliver to the UK. Sodding Brexit. A few emails and 3 days later and the last one they had in stock is now sitting on my wrist! They’re classy looking watches, although I imagine the Batman logo removes a certain amount of class for non-geeks.

            My son really needs to up his interest in Batman though, because when I shuffle off there’s a lot of stuff to leave to someone!and my daughter isn’t interested. Although if she knew the value of it…

            But thanks so much for the tip off. I’m really pleased with it. And it’s helped clear some space with the Lego sets I flogged to pay for it!

  13. I haven’t worn one since the battery went on the latest of a line of watches, always very cheap, shortly into lockdown.

    I shall be in the town where I spent my youth for my father’s funeral next week. I asked my mother if she still had a lovely silk scarf of his which I once borrowed for a party as I would have liked it as a keepsake. I can’t recall him every wearing it himself, and I was under the strictest instructions that it mustn’t pass from his wardrobe to mine. Anyway, she has no idea what happened to the scarf but does have what looks like a brand new watch of his that I can have instead.

    I have no idea what it looks like except that it’s ‘in a nice blue box’, so I will at least soon own a watch again. Actually,I do own several – but all broken and sitting in a jar. One pocket watch even works on the rare occasions that I wind and wear it.

    • I am now on the train home with the watch on my wrist and the nice blue box in the suitcase. It’s a Swiss made Ark Royal automatic by Sewills of Liverpool, with a black leather strap and a crystal back to show the mechanism. Sewills are defunct so all I have been able to find out about it is that the company made timepieces for the Fleet Air Arm in WW2, and sold later copies.

      Very nice it is too and I’m glad to have it. I also have the gold ring with a little chip of ruby in it which my father received for his 21st birthday and wore every day. I don’t wear jewellery of any kind so the ring will stay in its box, but the watch I shall wear when I’m out and about. Unlike the ring I don’t ever remember my father wearing it, and I suppose the lesson I take is that if you have nice stuff you should use it rather than saving it for a best which might never arrive. My x ather had a variety of lovely pens (which have gone to my sister) and other objects which never saw the light of day after he acquired them, and stuff, even or perhaps especially the really nice stuff, you own is for enjoying.

  14. Garmin Vivoactive 3. Absolutely love it. Great for tracking my walks/runs/bike rides. I can get app alerts so I’m not having to fumble looking for my phone. The alarm works by vibration so I can get up without waking up the GLW. The only downside is needing to charge it every 3-4 days but it’s not a big deal.

  15. About 3 months ago I bought my first watch in many years. A not particularly snazzy smart thing with which to measure steps, sleep etc. But it felt a positive move as part of a vague let’s be fitter before I hit 50 project. Within a week my back went again, for no particular reason and worse than ever, and since then my daily steps have been in the hundreds (with stick) rather than thousands. Plus sleep is now so random due to medication and pain that I’d rather not know. So it’s currently sitting there uncharged and unloved and definitely not on my wrist… Bloody watch I say.

  16. I have two watches, one €5 from Aldi, the rather more expensive from a nice chap in Budapest who assured me it was a genuine Tag. I wear neither, except on Thursdays when us old guys battle it out on the Molkky court. Someone needs to be able to announce “It’s noon, time for a glass of wine perchance?”

  17. I have a Fitbit given to me by Mrs thep, understandably worried that I might not be getting in my daily 10,000 while she’s not around to keep an eye on me. It tells me how much sleep I’ve had and what sort. It also tells the time, extraordinarily. Lucky really, because I always feel a bit of a tit fishing my phone out to see what the time is. I also have an old Pulsar Kinetic I’m very fond of given to me by the previous Mrs thep. The elves of Instagram are constantly reaching out to me with suggestions for watches I might like to buy, but so far I haven’t succumbed.

  18. I’ve never liked wearing a watch, I haven’t worn one since the strap broke on my Swatch when I put my bag in an overhead luggage container at the start of a holiday – That must have been 15 years ago. I bought a new strap but never fitted it. The idea of wearing a heavy watch as a piece of jewellery seems like madness!
    I’ve got a clock in my pocket all the time and one on each screen on my desk during the working day.

  19. Fnnr, arf, yurkk, and fnix! Moose very quiet given this thread’s title. Obviously the treatment is working better for him than me.

    I bought a genuinely fake Rolex in Hong Kong for the equivalent of £20. It lasted 10 years and worked very well. A wealthy mate could tell the difference, but nobody else could. Don’t quite understand having “business class” accessories that can be lost and have the same function as a more modest item. Some of us still don’t dig consumerism, man.

    • @Vincent

      The first way you can tell is by the weight,

      Real Rolexes weigh a ton., while the fakes are very light.

      The second way to tell is by the second hand.

      The ones on genuine Rolexes sweep continuously around the watch face.

      The ones on the fakes inch forward second-by-second.

      • Ah, well. All automatic watches will sweep. That being a trait of the movements. Most at six beats or ticks per second. Which provides that sweep rather than the single per second of a typical quartz movement.

        Having said that Rolexes and most other high end watches have significantly higher beat rates per second, so said sweep is virtually smooth.

        A lot of fake Rolexes these days contain high beat movements to provide that sweep. But they’re usually shonky ones that will go phut sooner rather than later.

  20. I may have mentioned in a previous post: for most of the last 25 years or so, I’ve worn a relatively inexpensive, military-faced, automatic Seiko 5 every day. My dad has always had a thing for vintage Hamilton watches and, when I retired, I bought myself a Hamilton Khaki military-face wind-up mechanical. Now also own a Hamilton Khaki military-face automatic on a vintage “Bond” NATO strap, which has become my every day watch. I like the typically smaller case size and “no nonsense” vibe from a military-face watch.

          • I must apologise for a potentially disparaging reference to blokes & James Bond NATO’s, higher up in the thread. Not intended as a dig, but establishing my nerd credentials. It’s just not really me, the world of ‘timepieces’ but I confess I would like to get my CWC G-10 refurbed & replace the acrylic with sapphire. This would unfortunately cost about 3 & a half times what I paid for it, so it’s not going to happen.

            • Apology? What on earth for? I do actually own a James Bond NATO in full cognisance of its total pointlessness in attaching an equally pointless collection of glass, numerals and cogs to my wrist.

              Looks good though.

            • No problem, Jim. In fact NATO straps make a watch more practical, being cheaper and tougher than leather; and waterproof (hence their use in “service issue” watches). The Bond NATOs appeared in the movies – presumably Bond (a naval officer) is used to wearing a NATO, so puts one on his fancy Omega when he goes to work…

              Also, I don’t think of Hamilton Field watches as effete “timepieces” – they’re very much from the “synchronise watches, gentlemen” school of toughness and reliability. Hamilton watches used to be standard issue for the American forces – I suspect they’ve been superseded by a Casio G-Shock these days, presumably one big enough to contain a small thermonuclear device…

                • Strengthened nylon, seatbelt material really, of some length that’s fed through the springbar strap retainers on your watch. You can double it up in ways that even if one retainer becomes detached in the course of your stealthy, active double agent/ military duties the watch will still hold on to your wrist.

                  They were originally designed by the MOD. The NATO name derives from the original supply catalogue listing code Nothing actually to do with NATO itself.

                  The James Bond NATO refers to the striped one first glimpsed on Sean Connery’s wrist in Goldfinger.

                  https://www.watchgecko.com/premium-seat-belt-nato-watch-strap-vintage-bond

                  • Also Chrisf, a small but crucial detail is that a lot of military watches have ‘solid bars’ i.e. they don’t ping out for attaching one’s watch strap, meaning they can’t ‘give’ regardless of what they are subjected to & the watch would have to be smashed/ the strap physically cut off/ or the limb of the wearer busted off for the watch to come off.
                    Very handy in rough situations. Thus the NATO strap goes through the bars & under the back of the watch & is folded back on itself on the wearer’s wrist.

  23. When I was about 4 my Mum gave my Dad a Tissot watch for his birthday. She took it out of the box to wrap it, but best laid plans and all, I took then empty box and handed it to him as a joke present when he came in. Of course the surprise was somewhat lost. Fast forward a lot of decades. When clearing out my Dad’s house after he died I found that old watch which he wore for as long as I can remember, though by then it had stopped working, seemingly irreparable.

    Anyway, a bit later I decided to get a decent watch, and spotting the Tissots I remembered that story and bought one which I wore for 20 odd years before it also stopped working. So last year after a decent bonus I replaced it with another Tissot. Not that I’m remotely brand conscious, but it’s a nice watch and it reminds me of my Dad.

    I have a cheapo Seiko for biking, skiing etc too.

  24. A few years ago I bought a Panzera Fleiger 46 automatic watch. It’s very nice, looks manly and has a black leather strap and a see through back. I wear it for going out to nice places (not much use of late).

    I also have an Apple watch 3 which is my everyday. It has a black leather strap as well. It’s great – mainly for paying for things in shops, reading texts and emails surreptitiously in meetings and having the Mickey Mouse face on.

  25. Haven’t worn a watch for nearly 40 years. My wrist used to sweat under the strap and I soon found there was always a work clock/computer screen/church clock/cycle computer/kitchen clock to hand. I still possess the only watch I have ever had, bought for me when I started catching the bus to school. I’ve no idea what would happen if I wound it up.

  28. I’ve got a Danish Design watch with a nice simple face, although I really bought it for the back, which is made of Titanium. My previous watch had a stainless steel back, and I developed an allergy to it which gave me a very irritating rash, which in turn had the odd knock on effect of rotting the leather strap. Apparently, it’s the nickel in the stainless steel, not the steel itself which causes the allergy. Titanium is not known to produce an allergic effect. If you’d told me before this that you could be allergic to a metal, I would have thought it was a crank belief, but it turns out to be true, and very itchy.

    • Most of the rounds I did at Rustington were 30k steps but one was 37k. I swear they gave the newbies that one as it was not only long but difficult to navigate too. Best one I did was around the private estates: no traffic and hardly any flats.

  32. I have two Skagens. I bought them both online to mark my 50th birthday and couldn’t decide between them. Having scanned eBay world to find what I wanted, the seller actually lived around the corner from my mother. One of the watches is a light neat titanium job with day, date and time. I bought it to replace a similar Seiko that I can’t seem to find right now. The other Skagen is a minimalist black metal watch with analog hands – my dressing up watch for weddings and the like. Of course I wear neither of them regularly as I have a €30 Huawei fitbit clone that does so much for me that I wouldn’t be without it – timer, phone finder, weather reports and most importantly recording how little sleep I get. I’m happier wearing low cost watches day to day as I got through a few in my first few years at work before I learnt the lesson.

    My favourite watch was a square faced analog Seiko I found in London in 1987. It was on the seat beside me when I woke up in Harrow bus station having already been from Central London to Watford asleep on a train before sleeping through my NW10 stop and waking up in Harrow. I got home at dawn, better off to the tune of a watch. Anyway readers, I wore it for years until it stopped working the very day I moved back to Ireland in February 2000, resisting any attempts to reanimate it. I loved that watch.

  33. I have a TAG that my wife bought me for my 50th, which I wear everyday. I’ve also inherited a few from my dad (a Rolex, an Omega, a Certina and his army watch (Tevo)), none of which work. They were given replacement values of a lot of money, and I rather suspect that it would cost me an arm and a leg to get them fixed. Thinking of perhaps getting one fixed, as the TAG is a bit bulky for smart wear – I think I prefer the Omega of my dad’s, but don’t know whether to trust a local jeweller or a posh jeweller. Needless to say, none of them counts steps or sleep patterns.

    • They sound lovely. I’d advise getting them valued and insured. Some collectors will hand over pleasing amounts of beer vouchers for items in all states of repair.

  34. I had a £10 Leather Lane Market “Tag” bought from a bloke with a scar from ear to chin. It kept great time, had a decent weight to it, & lasted fifteen years. When it died, I bought a Swatch from a charity shop, but treated myself to a pukka TAG that has served me for the last fifteen years & I’m wearing now.

  35. I do actually need a watch at the moment as I’m not allowed access to my phone at work, apart from lunchtime (I work in a school.) Over the years I’ve tried a couple of pricey, for me, ones but none of them have lasted. Skagen I’m afraid, look gorgeous but not reliable. Maybe I’ve been unlucky.

    So I’m on the look out for something plain, a clear analogue dial.

    • Sounds like a job for one of the Citizen Eco-Drives. A good selection of tasteful styles and solar – or any light source actually – powered so you’ll never need a battery.

      Or, if you fancy something mechanical, a Seiko 5.

      • I have a Citizen Skyhawk. 12 years in, still works like a treat, no battery, and synchs every night by radio wave to the correct time. The display is fairly busy but the dual time zone display was really useful when i was travelling a lot.

        I have a Tag languishing in a drawer. Lovely watch but a total pain to get the battery changed. I also have a Samsung Galaxy 3 smart watch which I’ve downloaded dozens of watch faces for – you can set the watch to select a new one at random every hour. I’m easily pleased.

  36. I have a Fitbit Charge 4. I like the Fitbit app very much so I want to stick with it, but I also want a proper running watch. Currently saving for a Garmin Forerunner 945 but not sure what I’ll do when I get it. One on each wrist maybe.

  37. My son bought me a Skagen about 15 years ago, lovely flat piece of work. He’d be upset if I changed it before it breaks, and so I have always thought of a watch, probably only ever owning six lifelong, all one at a time.

    • I don’t think I have ever bought a watch for myself, they’ve only ever been gifts (the same is also true for wallets). I currently have two watches- a silver Skagen and a dark blue Bering (with orange hands). Both gifts from my wife. Oh, she gave me a watch at Christmas too. A nurses fob watch, in honour of my nursing/vaccinating over the previous year. Not had to wear that so far in 2022.

  38. Haven’t worn a watch since I was at school. For many years, until cell phones came along, I never had much idea of the time. I don’t like the asymmetry of having a weight only on one wrist.

  39. I’ve always been fascinated by watches, and had a few old ones I pulled apart as a kid. But, I’ve never really been able to afford or justify spending big money on a watch. I had a nice Sekonda for my 18th which just meant the world to me. I still have it, but it no longer works.

    During lockdown, and feeling a bit relieved that I was still working, and even more relieved I was not wasting £50 a week travelling, I bought a Tissot Le Locle Powermatic. I like the Roman Numerals on the face, and the second hand movement is really nice too.

    https://www.bing.com/shop/product?oid=17830405125&offerid=IiGMfryG3T2ELMe8eKIrxPmQ7C&storeid=16&blid=8177802594172&q=tissot%20le%20locle%20powermatic%2080&originIGUID=50664DB3CE2D4568A226EEF0D1354772&form=LIASTR

  40. I’ve always liked a divers watch.
    Currently I have a blue Christopher Ward Trident 600.
    A treat from some money I inherited, replacing a base model Tag.
    Currently furrowing my brow a little, as it occasionally loses a couple of minutes almost overnight, as far as I can tell, whilst keeping time pretty well at virtually all other times.
    I tried a Liv GX at the same time, but found one was enough. That was a nice watch too, to be fair.

    • How long have you had your Christopher Ward? Which way does it lie overnight when you take it off? Some automatics prefer a certain position when at rest. Crown down, crown up and all that mullarkey.

      Depending on how it’s left some will speed up or slow down. Even so I’d have someone look at it if it’s out by a minute or so overnight.

      • Re: “Some automatics prefer a certain position when at rest.”

        Doesn’t a tourbillon overcome this problem? (not that I own a watch with a tourbillon, though).

        • Good question. I’ve been pontificating like an a-hole left right and centre but on this one I don’t really know.

          You assume it would, wouldn’t you?

          • Erm, yes. You would think it would. But I’m not certain.

            Come on all you Afterworders who own a watch with a tourbillion. Give the full details on all the wonderful benefits…

        • Not at all. I just assumed you did. Wear it as much as you want.

          I find it remarkable that an automatic will run potentially for years on end as long the main spring stays wound.

          But yes, when not in use and lying on a bedside table the movement will react to the angle it’s sitting at and possibly slow down or speed up. Marginally. By a few seconds.

          High end kit like yours are properly adjusted by the watchmaker to compensate for that kind of thing. That attention to detail and the additional time it takes is part of the reason nice ones like yours cost so much more.

          If you’re losing or gaining a minute or so over 24 hours even intermittently I’d have a word. All it would take is an expert tweak. I don’t think your watch is shonky or broken.

  41. SEIKO ,automatic, metal band.
    Last one – SEIKO automatic, metal band.

    I get the “I use my phone” argument. But that does involve getting your phone out and clicking on a button if the display is not on. And if you are bored shitless and want to know “how long has this/will this go on?” a furtive glance at one’s watch is easier to effect.

    • I agree. Especially if you became used to wearing a watch as a matter of course long before smartphones. A glance down at your wrist is a natural tic when checking time. My phone spends much of its time blank screened or in a pocket.

  42. Ok this is an apposite thread. My father has just given me his Omega watch from the 1940s that was given to him by his father. It’s not an automatic. The hands move and the watch winds but it stops after an hour or so. The glass is scratched but otherwise it looks to be in reasonable shape.
    So @beezer et al on this thread, he’d like to get it serviced so it works properly again (I will be doing this for him). Is this feasible and how would I go about finding someone to do so. Have a romantic notion that in the Jewellery Quarter there would be some magician..

    • 1940’s. Mechanical, then.

      Any reputable High Street jeweller could easily have a go but I would hope that if they are reputable they advise you take it to an Omega authorised dealer for an examination. Any Omega watch from that era will be sought after by collectors depending on its condition now and after the full service they should recommend and cost for you.

      I couldn’t rightly guess what they might charge but it will be 3 figures from the mid-point on.

      EDIT: I’d also think about having it valued and insured. I’m guessing again here but Omega, Rolex, and high end watch collectors covet the older models. Some prefer them in the authentically aged (and authentically knackered) state. Rare models will change hands for the low thousands even if not running in any way. If you do opt for a service, which will undoubtedly entail parts replacement, make sure you ask for the old parts to be given to you. A collector will want those original bits too.

    • There’s a little place called Tupra Jewellers tucked away in a Bath back street that would be my choice in this neck of the woods. The chap there fixed two (stopped) pocket watches for me that came from my paternal grandfathers belongings, a man who was a chain and waistcoat type of fella. My phone (which also shows the time – who knew?) tells me their phone number is Bath (01225) 464481.

  43. I have a few, including an automatic Hamilton bought in the ‘seventies, but may favourite is a Carronade (from, I think, about the same era). A winder-upper – I need the exercise – with a 17 jewel Incabloc movement, Swiss made. It has a handsome, sunburst face (like its owner hahalol), sweep second hand, and on close inspection, the letters T T bracketing the “Swiss made” at the bottom of the dial. This indicated the presence of radium in the luminous hands. The movement itself is plain rather than decorative, under an antimagnetic stainless steel back in a steel case, poss. nickel plated, but you can see the Incabloc and some jewels winking in there, and it is a genuine Swiss movement that keeps very good time.

    The curse of the Carronade is that it was a brand of the infamous Ratners high street jewellers, and not a watchmaker per se. The brand has escaped (SWIDT) the collectors’ market because watch collectors are notoriously snobby, but mine is a beautiful thing (bought by my mum for my dad) and I’m very fond of it. I’ve dressed it up in a tan leather strap, with a deployment clasp I found on a Bangkok street watch stall. These guys have tiny little mobile kiosks with a glass showcase and a rack of grotty-looking tools to replace straps and batteries, and I think the clasp had been literally hanging around for decades, possibly because nobody knew what it was. If you have a leather strap and want it to last forever, fit a deployment clasp.

    • There’s that Hamilton name again. And you’re right about deployment clasps.

      Display case backs. I love them. Even looking at a bog plain NH35 through one can keep me diverted.

      • A deployment clasp adds to the click factor (a very attractive feature of a watch), and its subtly different appearance gives you an effortless superiority over the common buckle-up crowd.

          • Yes. Most leather straps are fitted with a buckle. The repeated fastening of which will over the years weaken and fray the leather.

            Fitting a deployment clasp to the two ends a la a metal bracelet means that doesn’t happen and the strap should last for eternity. Standard laws of physics notwithstanding

              • Is it so very wrong of me to loathe with the intensity of a thousand burning suns people who wear *shudder* buckled straps? To want to set them alight and bulldoze them into a lime pit? Buckle straps are laughingly known as “quick release” by watch sellers. Quick release MY ARSE. My deployment strap enable me to get one off the wrist in a couple of seconds. Takes some beating!

  44. I have a Tissot gathering dust as I haven’t had an occasion worth wearing a “nice” watch to. I’ll be getting my son one in July when he turns 18.

    Day to day I wear a Timex Weekender with brown leather strap.

    (One of the reasons I wear it is that I wear a medical ID bracelet on my right wrist and I feel unbalanced without something on my left. Similarly, when I referee, I wear two)

  45. I got me a Rolex Oyster (rhodium face, I’m not a savage) with some of my Mum’s inheritance. Because I’m worth it and it reminds me of her.

    For a single-function device it doesn’t keep fabulous time (gains about a minute a week), but I can live with that.

  46. I haven’t worn a watch for years. The Tag Heuer my parents gave me for my twenty first birthday lies unworn in my wife’s jewelry box. I don’t need to wear it around the flat and I’m rarely anywhere else anymore so it languishes shut away in a box. It’s a Carrera I believe. A very good watch. Wasted on me.
    When my Father retired his company gave him a gold Omega upon the rear of which they had engraved the wrong name. He was highly amused at this remarking that despite having worked amongst these people for forty years they obviously didn’t hold him in enough regard to get his name right. He sold the watch and took my Mum on holiday with the proceeds.

  47. “You never actually own one of our watches. You merely look after it for the next generation. So, really, I don’t know why we bother to advertise them. Because presumably you either already have the one your father left you or you’re patiently waiting for him to die. Oh. Unless… ghastly thought! Your father doesn’t have one! I’ve heard there are such people. Possibly he’s a hopeless drunkard and he sold the one his father gave him to buy gin. (gasp) Or perhaps he never even had one! Perhaps he was a… costermonger or something. Oh the shame of it! Whatever can you do? You appalling little counter jumper! Well. I suppose you could… buy one of our watches. I know, unspeakably vulgar but what choice do you have. Then, with a bit of luck, everyone will assume you’ve inherited it. Like a proper person. Oh yes. And I suppose your kid can have it once you’re dead. As if that’s the reason anyone’s ever bought a watch.”
    John Finnemore

  48. I find it interesting how many of you don’t wear a watch any more. As understandable as it may be in the age of smartphones, I simply don’t feel completely dressed without my watch – it’s a feeling akin to getting in the car and not putting on the seatbelt.
    I have a Polar M430 that I use for sport (it has a heart rate sensor that I find very instructive) and a Luminox Recon Team Leader that I use every day on a (as I learnt above) khaki NATO strap.

    • Also, it’s one of the few legitimate bits of bling a bloke can wear. Unless you’re into body piercing (like Chiz) or chest medallions (Bingo), what else is there? A wedding ring. Cufflinks if you’re the type who needs to link his cuffs. That’s it.

      • Somewhere I have a pair of Tateossian cufflinks that feature fully functioning watch-faces and long since gone flat batteries. Been around 3 years since I had occasion to wear any, but I would treat myself to a pair every once in a while.

  49. Gul CC-40 (blue face option) from surfing days around the year 2000.

    View post on imgur.com

    It’s on a snazzy blue leather strap these days. I also own a nice Tissot that was my dad’s, just like @Twang does, and a cheapo Lorus with a blue face that I picked up so that I could wear a good looking watch that wasn’t my Gul when I am working with sharp things and power tools. But I haven’t worn a watch regularly for some years now.

  50. Always wear a watch, always worn on the left wrist. Have a not particuarly expensive Tissot (a PR50 I see), and then a Garmin which I wear when running or out for a walk to give me lots of fascinating statistics that essentially tell me I am getting older and slower.

  51. Main watch is my 1949 Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date but the increasingly regular service costs are becoming prohibitive. So I tend to default to my small collection of Sewills – a now defunct British watchmaker who deployed ETA movements in their designs. Servicing is cheap and easy and they are incredibly reliable.

    Beezer – you seem interested in the Rolex Sub (but understandably not at the king’s ransom beer vouchers). Have a look at Time Factors website. The owner has resurrected a few of the Sewills designs including their Professional Diver. I have one and it is the best ‘homage’ I’ve seen.

      • It seems to be very nearly impossible to actually buy anything from Time Factors these days – it’s a very small operation with very limited production capabilities, so rather than be swamped with orders for stuff they don’t have they just open the web store at Sunday lunchtime once a fortnight and shut down again when they’ve sold, I think, 200 items, which is pretty much within fractions of a second.

  52. I have a Tag and a Seiko that I haven’t worn for years – I gave up wearing a watch like many in the age of smartphones.

    Nowadays, I’m back to wearing a watch, but it’s an Apple Watch – mainly for swimming (I did try a Fitbit but that was so inaccurate on laps that I gave up). When the Apple Watch first came out, I was convinced that I would never want or need one, but now I have, I feel I would be lost without it. It tells the time too.

  55. I still use a watch, but they’re not floating my boat anything near as much as the displayed enthusiGasms of the Afterworders reveal on this thread…it’s just practical: I need to tell the time several times a day, and I don’t own a mobile phone. So a mid-range Seiko.

    When I was younger I used to wear one of those dainty “lady” wrist watches, the ones that looks like a lovely artistic bracelet but only tells time reliably at mid-day and midnight – the rest of the time I was guessing, ballpark style. Would drive me nuts these days, so it rests in the jewellery box.

  56. I had a Tag, but one day it started not moving the date on at midnight on the 7th. Every other day was fine, but it would get stuck on the 7th if it didn’t get manually adjusted.
    Adjust it and it worked fine until the 7th of next month, when it “stuck”. Repeat as necessary.
    Almost certainly not worth “mending”?

    @Beezer seems to know his onions on matters wristy?

    • It’s all bollocks,mate. Made it all up. 😁

      The dates, unsurprisingly, go round on a circular plastic or ceramic wheel. I would surmise the wheel has picked up a dent or crack at some point in its life. Just something to snag the smooth change over at that date.

      If that is the case then the entire wheel would need to be replaced. Not a major thing at all but certainly a faff. I’d be happy to leave it and accept it as a bit of ‘character’ if it was mine.

  58. All this ^ and no-one has had the good sense to point out the correct sort of timepiece to carry is an enormous clock around your neck.

    YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH and furthermore BOYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

  60. Typical – I make a mocking comment about watches, and guess what my other half presented me with this morning! It’s a Fitbit, but it goes on the wrist and tells the time. Rolex next.

        • If you really want news @Beezer – and His Bobness isn’t responding – I could tell you about my new (to me) watch: a Longines Evidenza automatic; engine-turned face, Arabic numerals, seconds on a sub-dial…

          It’s a beautiful Art Deco look and far away from my usual military taste…a second hand (arf!) purchase, but running very well after a service from Longines.

        • @Beezer
          Hello!
          Sorry, been busy with stuff…

          It’s been behaving lately. I’ve started syncing it to the second with my phone at a given date, then monitoring it, and last time I looked it gained about 15 seconds in a month, so happier now.

          One thing, what is the idea behind a “GMT” watch? Is it just that the bezel is numbered like 24 hours not 60 minutes? If so, why is that? (I get the feeling I’m missing something simple here…) I could Google but would rather have a “chat”, if that’s OK?

          PS I coveted a Tudor Pelagos in blue, but got the CW instead (I may have already said that). I’m really warming to the CW, I’ve a #tide strap on it, and it’s a different watch now. It’s recently been dunked in the Pacific in the Galapagos twice a day without any sign of any hiccup at all. (Which should be expected, I know, but one wonders how much of these watches are “show” and how much are actually practical.)

          PPS I may well now get the date-sticking Tag (it’s a 40mm Aquaracer from about 12 years ago I think) re-batteried and see what to do with it?

          • @bobness oh that sounds far better. 15 seconds a month? Good Lord that’s brilliant.

            A GMT – it’s a watch with an additonal and adjustable hour hand that rotates only once over 24 hours. So you can track time in another time zone. Originally made for Pan Am pilots in the 1950’s as they began to traverse the Atlantic regularly. They would adjust the watch to local time at destination but keep the GMT hand set at US time. So they knew at a glance what time it was back at base, with the help of the 24 hour graduated bezel.

            It’s a nice little complication and you don’t need to be a pilot to want one.

            GMT does indeed mean Greenwich Mean Time, being the standard point of origin of time zone change.

            • @Beezer
              See, I told you I was missing something. I’d never noticed the extra hand at all…

              And my latest notes confirm a 41 second gain in the month of June. As just measured, it’s maybe lost 10 seconds overall since 1 May, so 51 seconds since 1 July. Is that sort of thing “usual”?

              Tell you what though, in the sun at Trent Bridge last Sunday it got almost too hot to touch and the glow in the night bits nearly lit the room up all night!

              • It sounds fine to me. It’s lost just under a minute in just over 2 weeks then? That’s fine. Really. Most mechanical watches will lose or gain about 6 to 10 seconds a day easily. More, somtimes.

                At my end of the spectrum, the cheap end, the manuals tend to state loss or gain tolerances of ‘between -25 to +45 seconds a day’. Which can you make you start a bit if all you’re used to is quartz or smartphone accuracy. Though most, even the cheap ones, perform much better than that.

                • Maybe when I retire I’ll treat myself. But it will never be as cheap as it is now. But I already have a watch. But I love it. But I’m not a diver, so the release valve thing is just fluff. But it’s so shiny and lovely.

  63. On the budget end of this discussion – I bought a Seiko 5 a few years ago, and after numerous attempts at getting it to run accurately (budging that little doohickey a gnat’s one way, then the other) gave it up as a Regret Purchase. Recently I decided to give it one more try, and accidentally (there is no other way to adjust a watch) got it bang in the middle of the note, as musicians say. It’s now the perfect little timekeeper it was meant to be, and I like to think we’ve established a bond.

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