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

[jeff13007]



 Understood jeff   I like these guys they are all very smart! Dont you think? I have learned some things, but in the process you gotta have fun! I think some have forgotton how! Or maybe I'm wrong and this thread is blowing off some steam (testosterone)! "Shake it up a bit," I do this at work as well (yes I punch a clock and occasionally 2)! Most important thing is that we all wake up in the morn.  Now enuff of that boring crap, lets get back to the watches, agreed

   

Lol gotcha and agreed.

 

[ant702]

Hi, ant702 - yes, it certainly felt like an end game watch to me when I got it. Any other piece seemed like it had drawbacks that would outweigh its appeal, whether it's because something about the aesthetics would not be quite right (I am attracted to the retrograde function of the 5059 but not by the thickness of the officer's case) or the price is prohibitive given my current resources (the 3970 or 5970 perpetual calendar chronograph has a "next step" appeal but I am not sure about the chronograph's addition to functionality or aesthetics for me, and it's a six figure piece).

Everything about this piece was just right for me: slimness, amount and look of complications, price point (got it pre-loved).

I havnt been keeping up with the price of precious metals! What do you think the price difference would have been if it where white gold? This maybe fruitless info for me, because its well above my pay grade! I think with most of my belongings + my soul wouldnt be adequate

but I'm curious and I'm sure others are 2

 

[jeff13007]



I havnt been keeping up with the price of precious metals! What do you think the price difference would have been if it where white gold? This maybe fruitless info for me, because its well above my pay grade! I think with most of my belongings + my soul wouldnt be adequate

 but I'm curious and I'm sure others are 2    

The price of precious metals is one thing, but with gold currently where its at i think the main contributor to platinum timepieces being very expensive is the fact that watchmakers have to replace their tools after every 3 or so watches they make in platinum because of the nature of crafting the material.

 

[no frills]



I havnt been keeping up with the price of precious metals! What do you think the price difference would have been if it where white gold? This maybe fruitless info for me, because its well above my pay grade! I think with most of my belongings + my soul wouldnt be adequate

 but I'm curious and I'm sure others are 2    

There's precious metals, and then there's Patek and their eye-watering suggested retail prices for their timepieces:

3940j is $56,900
3940g is $59,500
3940p is $71,300

I traded in one of my Calatravas to acquire the 3940p, but despite this and the 3940p being pre-owned it still cost me a pretty chunk of change. So yeah the 3940p was kind of an end-game watch... For my wallet haha!

 

[Dino944]

Have ogled this thread for a long time - figured it was time to make a submission (humble as it may be compared to most here). Not a dressy watch by any means - but ends up on my wrist more often than not in casual/sw&d situations. Sorry for the low-light pic, its all I got right now.

Welcome! Nice choice, hope to see more photos soon.

 

[no frills]



I have always liked these s. oceans! I have not handled it physically, that screw-in crown, ist it smooth? 

Welcome! Also emerged from lurking recently. Nice piece! Omega makes some fine chronographs, imho.

 

[in stitches]

gold is actually presently trading higher than platinum is, per ounce, pure. the difference being that platinum watches are .950 plat and .050 other metals (occasionally .900/.100), and the gold in watched is usually .750 gold and .250 other metals (if its 18k, 14 would be .585/.415). but more importantly, as stated above, platinum is a much more difficult metal to work with, and as well, it is also an image thing.

 

[ant702]

There's precious metals, and then there's Patek and their eye-watering suggested retail prices for their timepieces:

3940j is $56,900
3940g is $59,500
3940p is $71,300

I traded in one of my Calatravas to acquire the 3940p, but despite this and the 3940p being pre-owned it still cost me a pretty chunk of change. So yeah the 3940p was kind of an end-game watch... For my wallet haha!

Shocking, but interesting! There goes the Ole' 401

 

[Dino944]

But i think his point was they are copying the designs and just released this to compete with the Milgauss. I don't think he was trying to say that rolex invented everything

Exactly!

"NO" just seeing who associates himself with Rolex (brand junkies

), now I know! I myself, have owned many brands, new, never pre-owned( nothing against pre-owned)! But if you talk to a watch maker he will not laugh at what you wrote! There is no Rolex patent that was'nt already thought of, or that was already being produced, nothing special, other companys would have come to the same conclusions, Rolex just got it patented first! This qoute came from a watch maker(not verbatim) 70+yrs old who still gets commissioned from these 2 brands(think Johns lying? I doubt it)! Also, he did mention Omega has a better movement( he explained,but my memory sucks)! I know people dont like to hear that they have been duped, sorry! How many Rolexes do you own? I dont know what to tell you, sell'em? I did, glad I did, liberate yourself Dino449, now go purchase that overrpriced ss seamatser, and dont forget to post it here ! If this debate is all about the looks, please disregard, not very pleasing 2me either

I think you need to switch to decaf and go back and read my original post. As Jeff mentioned, there is nothing in my post about patents and who invented what. I simply said, Omega seems to follow Rolex's foot steps. You have overlooked that I said Omega makes some very good watches and they should stick to making things that show their own DNA.

As for watch makers not laughing at what I wrote, well maybe the truth just isn't that funny. You seem worked up about my discussion of the colored bezels Sub LV vs Planet Ocean orange bezel, the PN Daytona style dials on Speedy Pros, and the Milguass and the New AT with dotted second hand (rather than lightning bolt) and the clearly "mimicked Oyster bracelet'" but in your post labeling me a Rolex brand junkie, you did not actually argue that I was wrong about Rolex making these items and then Omega following them. Not to mention, throwing an Oyster bracelet on that new antimagnetic AT ....really? How original !

As for patents, most brands have several patents for a variety of things, but your explanation that everyone thought of it first but they didn't patent it... its just Rolex patented first ...please spare me the BS. Its like saying who cares that someone won the 100m dash at the Olympics...the sillver medalist gets there right after him. And the idea that Rolex got there first but others would have thought of it, with that line of thinking... who cares that Galileo and DaVinci had certain ideas...modern scientists would have come to the same conclusions eventually.

Yes I do own a few Rolex watches. But before you label me a Rolex brand junkie, I have own several other brands and I have owned an Omega Seamaster. My Seamaster was fine but uninspiring, basic ETA movment, and eventually it just wasn't what I wanted. So I sold it to fund another watch. I probably would not buy another Seamaster. However, if you have read some of my other posts, I have regularly praised the Speedy Pro as that is one watch I would like to own. I also like the vintage Flightmaster of the 1970s...kind of intersting retro watch. In additon, my friend's experience with Omegas Seamaster waws far from perfect. Several years ago one of my best friends owned 2 Seamasters and had quality control problems with each. He bought an outgoing Seamaster and a few days after purchasing it noticed that there was a small feather floating around between the crystal and the dial...this added entertainment was at no extra cost!

So my buddy brought it back and traded it toward a new generation Seamaster. Within six months he noticed the extension part of the bracelet clasp kept opening from the back. It went back, Omega replaced the bracelet and clasp twice for the same issue. He gave up and got a Speedy Pro...that ran perfectly. He mistakenly sold his Speedy pro when he fell for another watch...but several years later bought another Speedy Pro that he still has.

If you are going to tell me Omega has a better movement, you need to be far more specific as to what watches "Your watchmaker" is comparing and why. In what way is he saying they are better? A generalization coming from some unknown watch maker doesn't mean much...are we talking a 1980s Rolex Sub to a 1980s Seamaster, a modern Daytona to a current Speedy Pro, vintage vs. current? Keep in mind that for many years Omega went the route of basically putting ordinary ETAs in most of their watches, which is acceptable but not impressive. In recent years Omega has gotten into making their own movements...and Rolex has made improvement to their own movements which were already made in house, so each comany stepped up its game. And lets be honest, most movements in Rolex or Omegas may be very good, but they are far from the standards used by PP, AP, ALS, VC, JLC or Piaget.

Also before you label me as a Rolex junkie, perhaps you should also consider your own prejudice against the brand. Seems you prejudge those of us that have a Rolex and if I'm not mistaken I've seen you refer to them a Borlex and now you think buyers were duped. So you seem to wear your dislike maybe for the brand and/or owners on your sleeve. As for being duped with my Rolex watches, I could sell any of mine for a profit tomorrow...I couldn't say that about my experience with selling my Omega...nor could I say it about the 1st Speedy Pro my friend sold.

As I've said in the past no one brand or watch can be everything to everyone. If we all agreed on brands & models to buy it would be a boring place. Maybe you and I will always disagree about brands, but I have enjoyed our debate.

 

[ant702]

Exactly!
I think you need to switch to decaf and go back and read my original post. As Jeff mentioned, there is nothing in my post about patents and who invented what. I simply said, Omega seems to follow Rolex's foot steps. You have overlooked that I said Omega makes some very good watches and they should stick to making things that show their own DNA.

As for watch makers not laughing at what I wrote, well maybe the truth just isn't that funny. You seem worked up about my discussion of the colored bezels Sub LV vs Planet Ocean orange bezel, the PN Daytona style dials on Speedy Pros, and the Milguass and the New AT with dotted second hand (rather than lightning bolt) and the clearly "mimicked Oyster bracelet'" but in your post labeling me a Rolex brand junkie, you did not actually argue that I was wrong about Rolex making these items and then Omega following them. Not to mention, throwing an Oyster bracelet on that new antimagnetic AT ....really? How original !

As for patents, most brands have several patents for a variety of things, but your explanation that everyone thought of it first but they didn't patent it... its just Rolex patented first ...please spare me the BS. Its like saying who cares that someone won the 100m dash at the Olympics...the sillver medalist gets there right after him. And the idea that Rolex got there first but others would have thought of it, with that line of thinking... who cares that Galileo and DaVinci had certain ideas...modern scientists would have come to the same conclusions eventually.

Yes I do own a few Rolex watches. But before you label me a Rolex brand junkie, I have own several other brands and I have owned an Omega Seamaster. My Seamaster was fine but uninspiring, basic ETA movment, and eventually it just wasn't what I wanted. So I sold it to fund another watch. I probably would not buy another Seamaster. However, if you have read some of my other posts, I have regularly praised the Speedy Pro as that is one watch I would like to own. I also like the vintage Flightmaster of the 1970s...kind of intersting retro watch. In additon, my friend's experience with Omegas Seamaster waws far from perfect. Several years ago one of my best friends owned 2 Seamasters and had quality control problems with each. He bought an outgoing Seamaster and a few days after purchasing it noticed that there was a small feather floating around between the crystal and the dial...this added entertainment was at no extra cost!

So my buddy brought it back and traded it toward a new generation Seamaster. Within six months he noticed the extension part of the bracelet clasp kept opening from the back. It went back, Omega replaced the bracelet and clasp twice for the same issue. He gave up and got a Speedy Pro...that ran perfectly. He mistakenly sold his Speedy pro when he fell for another watch...but several years later bought another Speedy Pro that he still has.

If you are going to tell me Omega has a better movement, you need to be far more specific as to what watches "Your watchmaker" is comparing and why. In what way is he saying they are better? A generalization coming from some unknown watch maker doesn't mean much...are we talking a 1980s Rolex Sub to a 1980s Seamaster, a modern Daytona to a current Speedy Pro, vintage vs. current? Keep in mind that for many years Omega went the route of basically putting ordinary ETAs in most of their watches, which is acceptable but not impressive. In recent years Omega has gotten into making their own movements...and Rolex has made improvement to their own movements which were already made in house, so each comany stepped up its game. And lets be honest, most movements in Rolex or Omegas may be very good, but they are far from the standards used by PP, AP, ALS, VC, JLC or Piaget.

Also before you label me as a Rolex junkie, perhaps you should also consider your own prejudice against the brand. Seems you prejudge those of us that have a Rolex and if I'm not mistaken I've seen you refer to them a Borlex and now you think buyers were duped. So you seem to wear your dislike maybe for the brand and/or owners on your sleeve. As for being duped with my Rolex watches, I could sell any of mine for a profit tomorrow...I couldn't say that about my experience with selling my Omega...nor could I say it about the 1st Speedy Pro my friend sold.

As I've said in the past no one brand or watch can be everything to everyone. If we all agreed on brands & models to buy it would be a boring place. Maybe you and I will always disagree about brands, but I have enjoyed our debate.

I am deeply impressed that I could upset a guy I don't know through this pc about watches, Incredible! I really like most brands, hell, I even own digitals, this would probably be a crime to most on this thread! You really pay that much attention to me, shame on you, old boy! Now, the watch maker qoute was true the rest, hype, all hype, remember what I said; I say things sometimes absurd to generate dialogue! Not to get you vexed! Damn it dino, I think your a smart dude, dont give a hint your shallow! You'll be stressed all the time( while I'll be laughing)! SF isnt suppose to be work, ok, no more huge essays

(truth is I bought &sold my last Rolex and 1 of my Omegas,years back, No more for me!) WOW, how long did this take to write, amazing, really!

 

[Dino944]

Hi Ant,

No stress for me. I write all week long and i enjoy it . When I get to write about watches for me it's pure fun. It took me about 30 minutes so no big deal.

 

[rnguy001]

Nice Breitling!

Have ogled this thread for a long time - figured it was time to make a submission (humble as it may be compared to most here). Not a dressy watch by any means - but ends up on my wrist more often than not in casual/sw&d situations. Sorry for the low-light pic, its all I got right now.

 

[mimo]

Thanks, man.

To be quite honest, this is a nearly completely useless field of knowledge if it's taken in isolation. There's little appeal in most (90%+) contemporary watches for me, as there's just so much crap out there. What I like about good watches is the application of form, function and design in a well-thought-out example. I get the same satisfaction out of finding out and appreciating what constitutes a great bicycle/motorcycle design, an appealing architectural work, or an excellent piece of music. The same principles apply.

Trust me when I tell you that you're not missing out on anything that special if you don't have an "expensive" watch. You're far better off spending your money — and especially time — going places and doing things. That said, a no-excuses watch is a great travel partner. If you ever feel like spending some extra cash on a watch that you won't regret, won't be affected by trends, and won't lose its value, get a non-blingy steel Rolex and you're set for life. There, now I've freed up hundreds of hours of your lifetime for more useful activities.

We are on the same page, my friend.

In an age where we all carry an auto-updating cellphone, or an extremely accurate quartz digital watch costs $5 from the gas station, the act of buying a really expensive, maintenance-hungry, fragile and overtly-stealable means of telling the time, seems utterly stupid. The watches in this thread are cumbersome, expensive unnecessarily complicated to make, and essentially unnecessary at all.

But that's the point, isn't it? Personally, I have one "proper" watch - a scruffy manual Omega that my mother gave to my father around 1970. It needed some fixing up, and is probably worth about $200 at best if I stick it on eBay. But I like it. Not just because of sentimental history, but because I like the fact that it's a machine. Old fashioned, full of moving parts that some Swiss person with thick glasses put together and made work by the power of a tiny spring, that I have to remember to bend a little each day with a tiny wheel. It's a tiny, complicated little machine from another age, that I carry around on my wrist. And that's neat.

I totally get how people can obsess about these things. In an age where everything is increasingly mass-produced and disposable, the hand-made, complicated, labour-intensive and unusual, is all the more precious. Personally I kind of like shoes. I restrain myself from the most expensive excesses, but the passion for that old-fashioned artisan effort is there. Thankfully, I'm still just about able to resist spending a fortune on a watch, but the fascination is definitely growing - the more I know, the more I am absorbed! For every additional bit of engineering genius, or hideously demanding human effort, the interest deepens. Like you said, whether it's a one-off modified Ducati, an innovative piece of architecture, or a hand-stitched wing tip, it's the beauty and what goes into it that makes it special.

The member "No Frills", above, appears to have gone from quartz utility, to BMW-priced awesomeness after a mere three months of reading this ****. That PP is what, $60k or thereabouts? Damn! I can put one of my kids through college for that! But having read all this for the last six months or so (I only joined to sell a pair of shoes!), I can't call him crazy. This is a madness that I totally get. I only hope I can hold back for the sake of my children/pension/sanity!

Anyway, thanks again for sharing this engaging information - I'll probably succumb one of these days, but for now I'll keep doing weird things in weird places and order some more shoes. And reading all these awesome posts, for later...



(Added for completeness, as I've shared before some time ago: my scruffy old Omega - new glass, hands and crown to replace non-original 1970s repair, a service and a cheap practical strap. No bling, but it still gives me pleasure.)

 

[no frills]



We are on the same page, my friend. In an age where we all carry an auto-updating cellphone, or an extremely accurate quartz digital watch costs $5 from the gas station, the act of buying a really expensive, maintenance-hungry, fragile and overtly-stealable means of telling the time, seems utterly stupid. The watches in this thread are cumbersome, expensive unnecessarily complicated to make, and essentially unnecessary at all. But that's the point, isn't it? Personally, I have one "proper" watch - a scruffy manual Omega that my mother gave to my father around 1970. It needed some fixing up, and is probably worth about $200 at best if I stick it on eBay. But I like it. Not just because of sentimental history, but because I like the fact that it's a machine. Old fashioned, full of moving parts that some Swiss person with thick glasses put together and made work by the power of a tiny spring, that I have to remember to bend a little each day with a tiny wheel. It's a tiny, complicated little machine from another age, that I carry around on my wrist. And that's neat. I totally get how people can obsess about these things. In an age where everything is increasingly mass-produced and disposable, the hand-made, complicated, labour-intensive and unusual, is all the more precious. Personally I kind of like shoes. I restrain myself from the most expensive excesses, but the passion for that old-fashioned artisan effort is there. Thankfully, I'm still just about able to resist spending a fortune on a watch, but the fascination is definitely growing - the more I know, the more I am absorbed! For every additional bit of engineering genius, or hideously demanding human effort, the interest deepens. Like you said, whether it's a one-off modified Ducati, an innovative piece of architecture, or a hand-stitched wing tip, it's the beauty and what goes into it that makes it special. The member "No Frills", above, appears to have gone from quartz utility, to BMW-priced awesomeness after a mere three months of reading this ****. That PP is what, $60k or thereabouts? Damn! I can put one of my kids through college for that! But having read all this for the last six months or so (I only joined to sell a pair of shoes!), I can't call him crazy. This is a madness that I totally get. I only hope I can hold back for the sake of my children/pension/sanity! Anyway, thanks again for sharing this engaging information - I'll probably succumb one of these days, but for now I'll keep doing weird things in weird places and order some more shoes. And reading all these awesome posts, for later... (Added for completeness, as I've shared before some time ago: my scruffy old Omega - new glass, hands and crown to replace non-original 1970s repair, a service and a cheap practical strap. No bling, but it still gives me pleasure.)

It is a peculiar form of madness, isn't it? I chalk it up to a midlife crisis, and a bit of luck that I've been able to save and grow my family's money over the last 15 years so that I'm not necessarily impoverishing my children (and I have two) from doing this. In the process, my wife also received a couple of fine timepieces. So I guess that's how I got away with these last few purchases haha! But it is not something I recommend for everyone. P.S. The "upgrade" I went through also included shoes. I went from deals at DSW to Corthay, Gaziano and Girling and Edward Green. Sigh. Madness.

 

[ant702]

Hi Ant,

No stress for me. I write all week long and i enjoy it . When I get to write about watches for me it's pure fun. It took me about 30 minutes so no big deal.

Good to know, good typing, I'm a vanpire, time to sleep, take it easy