first watch? - Page 8

Never mind what I said about thickness. Apparently, subjective opinion and human memories aren't always correct.






To find the Orient on Amazon.com search for "Orient multi-eyes". Pay a little extra to support longisland.com and you'll get an "authorized dealer" warranty (I think; you better double-check this fact, I don't see any mention about being an Orient AD on the index page right now).


Here's what the Orient looks like on the native bracelet that it ships with.



and after my fine tuning:



Here is what a "display back" looks like. Sorry I didn't clean it before taking the pics.





For a decent introduction to the Hamilton line, check out Authentic at

http://www.authenticwatches.com/hami...ster-mens.html
http://www.authenticwatches.com/hamilton-watches.html

Thanks again. I guess I have a lot to consider! I hate making decisions. What do you think you would do in my situation? Oh, two more questions while I'm at it. First, what is your experience with ebay? Do you think I could get one of those watches on ebay for much less? Second, I've heard that you cannot self-wind cheaper automatic watches or something like that, making it harder to regulate them with the 10 or 15 seconds lost each day. The Spirit apparently has "hand winding" and "hack" functions. What exactly does this mean? And is it a big deal? By the way, what wrist band did you get for your Orient? Sorry to be bombarding you with questions. Thanks again.

Ahhhh. Excellent questions. And very, very relevant. I forgot to tell you what you trade off for the cheaper Orient. It does not hand wind (nor hack, I think). That means you can't wind it up by turning the crown like most watches (nor stop the second hand from turning while synchronizing your watch to some other time source). This leaves you three options:

1) wear it all the time so that the "automatic" feature keeps it charged (i.e. from the movement of your arm)

2) buy a winder (http://www.orbita.net/pages/12133.htm)

3) set the time, date & day of the week every time you put it on (wow, look at all of those complications you get for just over $100 !!!)

I chose (2), but this is a non-issue for you since it will be your only watch. Just wear it every day and it will run for as long as you do.


I have bought watches over ebay, but I can't recommend it to anyone else. Especially, a newbie buying his/her first real watch. Sounds like a bad idea to me.


If I were in your situation, I would buy something cheap to tide my cravings over until I could figure out the landscape. Then, a year later I'd look up and find that I own ... +40 watches. Egads! I can't really recommend that path either (snicker, snicker). Ultimately, you'll just have to make your own decisions. If you're not sure yet, there is no real reason why it has to get done "today", is there (figuratively speaking)? If you're willing to risk the 40 watch syndrome, go find the watch forums (as opposed to the fashion forums).

Hope that helped. Now somebody go comment on my "shoulder fitting thread". ;-)


Cheers,
Chris

So, in other words, the "wind" feature allows you to power the watch up when it stops working from not being worn? How would you power up one that does have the wind feature? Start wearing it until it works? Also, how would you deal with the lost time (10 or 15 seconds a day I hear)? Just set the time again each week? How does the "wind/hack" feature make that any easier? Thanks.

1) That's correct. With no-wind autos, you can simply give it a few shakes while holding the watch in your hand, and it'll come back to life. Then, put it on your wrist and your back in business. I forgot what the power reserve of this watch is. I'd guess about 36 hours. That means you could even wear it every other day, and it would still keep wound enough that it would never stop working. 2) You're going to be dealing with lost/gained time no matter what unless you go quartz. I have a couple that are amazingly accurate, but not in your price range. If you're using your watch to catch trains, then 10 seconds a day isn't really going to be that much of an issue. Just adjust it every Sunday or some such policy. As for hacking, you will need that when you and your Navy seal buddies synchronize your watches before the big mission.

After you set the time, of course.


Well that pretty much seals the deal.

Do you guys know if there is anywhere else to buy the Seiko Spirit besides http://www.seiyajapan.com? I was reading around and heard of people getting them for about $250, but they go for $350 on seiyajapan and I can't seem to find any other websites that sell them. This seller has it for buy-it-now on ebay for $306, but the shipping is like $25 so it's not that much of a difference. I've also read that the particular model (SCVS013) being sold over at seiya has "blued" hands, but they look black from all the pictures I've seen. I ask because I'm curious how blue would match with clothing or a brown strap if I ever replace the black one. Thanks.

I used to have one, hands are blue. They are also small and thin, so I doubt you have to worry about matching them

Higuchi

I didn't see any Spirits on their website.

Know much about watches?

I'd definitely go for a Tissot at entry level - good classic styling and Swiss engineering, gets you on the ladder to a good Swiss later on. They have some very decently looking and priced watches. Armani are also making some watches that stand out in value and looks - particularly if you like that square-faced, brown leather strap Italian style. Good luck.

I bought the Seiko Spirit SCVS013 a few weeks ago. Great watch but be warned the default band looks and feels cheap.

My first real watch: a Rolex Sub No Date: (not my pic)

The 'blue spark' pics above have blue hands. They aren't noticeably blue, and I don't think are are "blued" in the traditional, watchmaking/metalworking sense of the word. Here is a more obvious pic :