The Watch Appreciation Thread (Reviews and Photos of Men's Timepieces by Rolex, Patek Philippe, Brei

[in stitches]

glad its ok. please never bike with a nice watch on. thanks!

as to low impact things and shock, i never really worried about it, maybe im too careless. but i would never wear a nice watch when i could take a spill and destroy it.

 

[no frills]

I love that combo NS. Where did you happen to come across that NATO by the way? I have been looking for NATOs with gold hardware for quite some time.

Also, on a different note, does anyone ever ride their bike with a mechanical? Today I was biking with my Speedy Pro, and I decided to bike with one hand

. Then again, the New Orleans streets can be fairly bumpy.

I think Belligero does a whole lot of biking (and motorcycling) with his watches, but I'll let him weigh in on this. Glad the Speedy Pro turned out OK.

I wear my 114270 to the gym as I like using the sweeping seconds hand to time rest between sets. But then I basically just lift things up and put things down. And it appears the critter can take it. I have yet to rub its case vigorously against a knurled barbell handle, though.

Good luck with the exam review!

 

[no frills]

also noteworthy, the lack of depth to the calendar dials on the first patek. basically, i really dont like that first patek because its dead looking. give some depth to the dials add a date border and bam, a whole different watch.

i feel so nit-picky

+1 to this. It's all about the subtle use of depth and variations, say, in texture or color that differentiates fantastic design from one that looks dead, as you might say.

It's good to be nitpicky. And at the price points of those Pateks, it kind of demands nitpicky-ness. I just don't see any room for feelings that you're compromising in any way once you're shelling out that much.

 

[Dino944]

I'm totally picturing a low-level Italian or Russian mafia guy, like Pacino's character from Donnie Brasco or Roman and Maurice from Rounders in their fake Armani and Versace sweaters with a big old solid gold sub right now, in head to toe matching velour track suit. Gives me LULZ.

Got a good laugh from your description, but once I thought about it I could picture the scenes from those films.

Thanks! Hehe, I do bring it out of the house, don't worry. Although it seems to have become my choice for relaxed and casual evenings.

Not every dressy event requires a dress watch, I agree. I won't hestitate to pretend to be James Bond and wear a steel Sub on a Nato to any fancy party

It's only the full gold bracelet look that I'm not comfortable with. (On me, that is. Others will surely pull it off.) I will however happily wear my gold GMT on a strap with anything

Love the vintage gold Sub and GMT...I particularly like the photo of the one on the green strap. Also, glad to hear the gold ones are only get wrist time when you are home in sweats. On the bracelet, yea they can be a bit blingy...but once you get used to it, you forget about it being all gold...or as they say in Donnie Brasco...fugeddaboudit.

Some amazing gold watches in here! Never fancied a Daytona but that gold one is lust worthy.

Thanks. I'm not such a fan of the newer models in all gold (although I wouldn't mind one in rose gold with black dial), but the older ones in gold are kind of cool, especially when the gold oxidizes a bit and really starts to look vintage.

I know it is unlikely to get a lot of TWAT love but I have a secret obsession with the AP ROO Diver. I find the layout harmonious and really like the squares on the face (not sure what they are called). Im not sure I would shell out $20K for a diver but I do love looking at it.

I'm not generally an Offshore fan (I prefer the original ROs), but the Scuba is a cool watch. Although, I prefer it on a SS bracelet. I know lots of high end companies put watches on rubber straps, but I don't care for how it looks.

I'm going to join you in this very small boat - I too like the AP ROs (divers and offshores) a lot. And like you would have a hard time justifying their price (- to myself. Though I admit in person their quality and craftsmanship really do stand up to their reputation), but I really like looking at them..

It does start to become a lot of money for a diving watch, but the quality on their pieces is exceptional. When you look at one up close and you see the perfectly beveled edges, the complex curves, the mix of polished and brushed surfaces, and you consider how labor intensive it is, you begin to understand why one costs so much.

mimo - yes, its called a waffle dial, but i was wondering if its stamped or guilloche, i would guess stamp, as i think guilloche requires turning, and i dont see how that box pattend could be accomplished with turning, as opposed to wave or circular patterns, but i dont really know for sure.

Hi Stitchy. In addition to it being called a waffle pattern many people refer to it as Clou de Paris or petite tapisserie. The dials are not stamped, they are guilloched. Back in the 1970's when the original RO was being conceived, AP developed a machine to allow them to engine turn the dials to form this specific pattern. I've seen photos of the machine and the description of the process in some of my older AP catalogs and reference materials.

I like the Aquanut as well but prefer the ROO Diver. I think the signature octagonal bezel really lends itself to a diver type application like this one.

Hmmm the "Aquanut"...you should definitely propose that name change to Patek. Just kidding. I've tried on the Aquanaut and its nice, but something just didn't do it for me. The ROO Scuba is just a better execution IMHO.

When I was bashing the giant ROOs, it wasn't really this I had in mind. After all, the RO it's a sports watch in nature and origin, so making a chunky version with a rubber strap and other dive-y accoutrements is no more ridiculous than Patek making the Aquanaut. Sure, it's true that $20k is a lot for a diving accessory, and you'd probably be upset were you ever to scratch that lovely brushed case. But then it's all a matter of degrees. It's a bit much next to a Sub or a Seamaster, but a lot less silly than a gold one.

And that's really what I (and if I might take His Royal Highness's name in vain, Dino) was railing against: making a watch like this out of rose gold with a tourbillon in it, still in diver proportions with diver functionality on a diver's rubber strap, for $200k, is what's silly. Making endless Skittles-coloured limited editions with fake carbon flanges and luminous extraneous twattery, for $50k. That's what is silly.

At the end of the day, this is a dive watch, so it's big, on a rubber strap, and heavy-looking. And it's an AP so it costs quite a lot. I can't say I have anything really to criticise about either of those things. This is the one that makes sense. It's the brothers and sisters I can't quite rationalise, but then since when was any of this rational?

+1

Couldn't help but laugh out loud..."His Royal Highness" Thanks I'll take that as a compliment

I agree with all of the above. Its definitely a lot of money for a dive watch, but it really works well. Its one of the few Offshore models that I can admit I like. I'm not sure I'd buy one, but the workmanship on these is really exceptional. As I previously mentioned, if you inspect one up close, it quickly becomes evident how labor intensive it is to make a RO/ROO, and that its fit, and finish are second to none. I think this is a watch that fits in with the genre of the ROO, it never loses sight of its purpose, nor does it seem like some strange contrived experiment to stuff high horology into a super sporty case simply to say we made something contradictory to its design and still people bought it. The ROO Scuba just a great watch.

 

[Dino944]

Oh the watch is A-OK. I think I will just bike with beaters. I guess my question was generally posed in regards to the shock ability of watches. I have heard that you should take off your watch before playing tennis and such, and I was wondering just how susceptible watches are to low impact shocks.

I did take a nasty spill on a bike once and put a gash in my Mako. That thing is a tank.

Depends on the watch. I certainly wouldn't wear a Patek Calatrava, Nautilus, or AP RO Jumbo to play in any kind of rugged sport, they are all a bit expensive if you damage them, and I wouldn't want to subject them to the possible dings or deep scratches watches can pick up during rugged activities. However, I've worn Rolex watches for lots of high impact activities and never had a problem.

 

[in stitches]



It's good to be nitpicky. And at the price points of those Pateks, it kind of demands nitpicky-ness. I just don't see any room for feelings that you're compromising in any way once you're shelling out that much.

could not agree more.

Hi Stitchy. In addition to it being called a waffle pattern many people refer to it as Clou de Paris or petite tapisserie. The dials are not stamped, they are guilloched. Back in the 1970's when the original RO was being conceived, AP developed a machine to allow them to engine turn the dials to form this specific pattern. I've seen photos of the machine and the description of the process in some of my older AP catalogs and reference materials.

i thought so, but i wasnt sure, so i erred on the side of wrong. thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Belligero]



Oh the watch is A-OK. I think I will just bike with beaters. I guess my question was generally posed in regards to the shock ability of watches. I have heard that you should take off your watch before playing tennis and such, and I was wondering just how susceptible watches are to low impact shocks.

I did take a nasty spill on a bike once and put a gash in my Mako. That thing is a tank.

I think Belligero does a whole lot of biking (and motorcycling) with his watches, but I'll let him weigh in on this.   Glad the Speedy Pro turned out OK.

I wear my 114270 to the gym as I like using the sweeping seconds hand to time rest between sets.  But then I basically just lift things up and put things down.  And it appears the critter can take it.  I have yet to rub its case vigorously against a knurled barbell handle, though.

Good luck with the exam review!

Yes, I've been riding a bicycle and/or a motorcycle daily for over five years now while wearing a mechanical watch — occasionally with the more complicated stuff. No problems so far, and that's including frequent commuting over a fairly long and sometimes bumpy route. I've had my vintage GMT on a mountain bike ride that was originally intended to be relaxed and then turned into something with rocky descents at high speed, but I felt kinda bad afterwards. The watch was fine; I just would have felt pretty stupid if I'd crashed because I really like that one. Obviously, the key is "don't crash". It's probably logged the most road distance of any watch I have.

Off-road, I'll sometimes wear an ETA-based watch if it's a long trip where I have to carry the bike over rocks a lot, even though the movements are less durable than Rolex (yes, I said it) simply because I figure that's what they're for. No regrettable incidents yet, fortunately. I should really get a G-Shock sometime, but I'm foolish and vain enough to want to wear a mechanical watch for my various adventures. For just ripping around the local trails, I usually just don't wear a watch. To me, the memories offset the risk on the big rides, though. I'm wearing this watch in these photos:

i am not a huge nomons fan.
that looks to me like a less awesome stowa.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

also, flat date windows, meaning, no stepping/layering on the dial cut out, with no border make me so mad.
i think this patek, while not great, is not turrible, for example. but the date window really ruins it for me. its a really flat dead looking watch, and i think a little border on the date window would make a huge difference.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

as opposed to these, that at least have a little border that makes all the difference for me.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

also noteworthy, the lack of depth to the calendar dials on the first patek. basically, i really dont like that first patek because its dead looking. give some depth to the dials add a date border and bam, a whole different watch.

edit - clicked nomos for large size. date window is slightly stepped, and there is some nice guilloche on the sub dial. not a terrible watch. still would go stowa over that though. would like a wider strap too.

i feel so nit-picky

Aside from looks, you can't really compare the two companies. Present-day Stowa just takes a generic movement and puts it into a case, whereas Nomos is a proper manufacture that makes their own movements. I'm not terribly interested in Stowa, but Nomos interests me a great deal.

 

[Dino944]

could not agree more.
i thought so, but i wasnt sure, so i erred on the side of wrong. thanks for clearing that up.

No worries. Glad I could shed some light on the subject of their dials.

Yes, I've been riding a bicycle and/or a motorcycle daily for over five years now while wearing a mechanical watch — occasionally with the more complicated stuff. No problems so far, and that's including frequent commuting over a fairly long and sometimes bumpy route.

I've had my vintage GMT on a mountain bike ride that was originally intended to be relaxed and then turned into something with rocky descents at high speed, but I felt kinda bad afterwards. The watch was fine; I just would have felt pretty stupid if I'd crashed because I really like that one. Obviously, the key is "don't crash". It's probably logged the most road distance of any watch I have.

Off-road, I'll sometimes wear an ETA-based watch if it's a long trip where I have to carry the bike over rocks a lot, even though the movements are less durable than Rolex (yes, I said it) simply because I figure that's what they're for. No regrettable incidents yet, fortunately. I should really get a G-Shock sometime, but I'm foolish and vain enough to want to wear a mechanical watch for my various adventures. For just ripping around the local trails, I usually just don't wear a watch. To me, the memories offset the risk on the big rides, though. I'm wearing this watch in these photos:






Aside from looks, you can't really compare the two companies. Present-day Stowa just takes a generic movement and puts it into a case, whereas Nomos is a proper manufacture that makes their own movements. I'm not terribly interested in Stowa, but Nomos interests me a great deal.

First, very cool photos! So thanks for sharing them.

I think you really nailed the issues when you said, the watch was fine, but you would have felt pretty stupid if you crashed because you really like that one. Many watches can handle whatever punishment we can dish out, however, it becomes a matter of how we would feel about seriously damaging the watch case, particularly, if its a vintage watch or something that is very difficult to replace. I don't mean if if got some scratches, but what if it got a serious ding or you hit some rough rocks and the case got some very deep gouges.

I don't do really high impact activities with good watches on as it is rarely worth the risk of what it may do to the watch's condition. But everyone has to weigh the risk in their own mind. Someone might feel after the watch gets some deep gouges and dings that now their watch "Has had an adventure and has a story to tell." I prefer to enjoy my watches, in environments where I am pretty certain no harm will come to them.

 

[apropos]

Put it this way, if earlier, cruder, mechanical watches - often without specific shock protection - could survive being brought aboard piston driven propeller engined planes (as opposed to the turboprop types we see today), or for that matter survive the vibration of a Saturn V launch, then their modern counterparts should be fine during jaunts on modern bikes (motorised or push).

 

[Kaplan]

My sub has stood up to work outs, mountain biking, rafting, tennis, horse back riding and daily bicycle commuting for 20+ years. No movement related issues, but cracked the crystal once (totally my own fault).

 

[in stitches]



Aside from looks, you can't really compare the two companies. Present-day Stowa just takes a generic movement and puts it into a case, whereas Nomos is a proper manufacture that makes their own movements. I'm not terribly interested in Stowa, but Nomos interests me a great deal.

solid point, i guess i just dont know enough about nomos. to me, they are both watches i would buy purely for looks, and for that, the stowa appeals more to me. but obviously, personal tastes vary when it comes to looks.

 

[forex]



My sub has stood up to work outs, mountain biking, rafting, tennis, horse back riding and daily bicycle commuting for 20+ years. No movement related issues, but cracked the crystal once (totally my own fault).

Damn it man, how old are you?

 

[in stitches]

21?

 

[Kaplan]

Ancient.









I bought it when I was 19

 

[in stitches]

anyone need a belated mothers day gift?