Poor man's watch thread

[DorianGreen]

Back in April of '23 I posted about my Seiko Brightz HAQ chronograph that I had been looking for and finally found a good deal on... only to have the crystal pop off and the chrono hand get all twisted around itself a couple days after I received it.

Well, it's finally back from the spa and work as good as new! My very trusted local shop was able to re-tool the chronohand rather easily but then the hard part was sourcing a correct-sized gasket. I wasn't really hounding the shop so maybe if I did we would have found one a bit faster but they were able to find one around Thanksgiving (of course right around the time they shut down for the rest of the year to go spend time in South America with their family) and I got the watch back last week.

(The guy I bought the watch from covered all the repair costs without any questions)

I've been happily wearing it since Friday. I had forgotten how lightweight this titanium watch is!

View attachment 2121953

Glad for you. I like the shape of the case and also those, would say, very Japanese numerals. The dial is a bit busy, but it's a nice watch overall.

 

[Jazzmenco]

Interesting I have eco drive, other solar and battery quartz watches.

One is a Seiko from the late 1970s. It’s never given me any trouble. A bloke down the market replaces the battery for a couple of quid.

I would have thought battery replacement was small potatoes given the amount you are spending on watches. If you had said avoid mechanical watches I could understand.

How much is a couple of quid??? My place prices are based on the value of the watch, the more expensive, the higher the cost and I have to drive 25 miles . My wife's watches are all quartz. I took about ten of hers and mine for battery change and paid almost $300. Ouch. I can do strap changes and bracelet sizing myself but I don't have the tools to open the backs.

 

[barutanseijin]

How much is a couple of quid??? My place prices are based on the value of the watch, the more expensive, the higher the cost and I have to drive 25 miles . My wife's watches are all quartz. I took about ten of hers and mine for battery change and paid almost $300. Ouch. I can do strap changes and bracelet sizing myself but I don't have the tools to open the backs.

Not hard to get the tools & batteries.

 

[Jazzmenco]

Very comfortable strap, easy to adjust. One of my favorite travel watches.

 

[Nealjpage]

My $45 Eterna-matic, circa 1952. Was an absolute wreck when I bought it. Full service, new crystal, and a NOS leather strap and it's got a great place in my collection.

 

[Kingstonian]

How much is a couple of quid??? My place prices are based on the value of the watch, the more expensive, the higher the cost and I have to drive 25 miles . My wife's watches are all quartz. I took about ten of hers and mine for battery change and paid almost $300. Ouch. I can do strap changes and bracelet sizing myself but I don't have the tools to open the backs.

£7 from a stall in Sutton market. It had gone up since four years earlier when I last changed the battery.

I could pay more in a shop, but the man in the market does the job just as well.

 

[DorianGreen]

My $45 Eterna-matic, circa 1952. Was an absolute wreck when I bought it. Full service, new crystal, and a NOS leather strap and it's got a great place in my collection. View attachment 2122369

It looks great. I certainly would consider a re-edition of it.

 

[Jazzmenco]

If I remember correctly this guy was in the $300 range. I upgraded the strap.

 

[Veremund]

My place prices are based on the value of the watch, the more expensive, the higher the cost and I have to drive 25 miles . My wife's watches are all quartz. I took about ten of hers and mine for battery change and paid almost $300. Ouch.

That’s nuts. I’m totally with you on having solar watches. I don’t bother buying quartz watches if they’re not solar.

 

[Kingstonian]

That’s nuts. I’m totally with you on having solar watches. I don’t bother buying quartz watches if they’re not solar. View attachment 2123207 View attachment 2123209

Well I have the square G shock solar with automatic time function.

However, the Casio W-218 has a bigger, more legible face with no space allocated for solar. It also has a louder alarm function and it is simpler to update than a G shock. It is also as cheap as chips. So it gets a lot of use.

 

[DorianGreen]

Well I have the square G shock solar with automatic time function.

However, the Casio W-218 has a bigger, more legible face with no space allocated for solar. It also has a louder alarm function and it is simpler to update than a G shock. It is also as cheap as chips. So it gets a lot of use.

Can't really see any issue in replacing the battery every few years, if you're fine with quartz.

 

[DorianGreen]

Seriously attracted by this Farer Mansfield.

 

[am55]

That’s nuts. I’m totally with you on having solar watches. I don’t bother buying quartz watches if they’re not solar. View attachment 2123207

It's likely the battery in a standard DW5600E will outlast the solar module. I read an analysis of it at some point I can't locate now. The added complexity reduces (probabilistically - you might be lucky) the life of the solar watches.

However, assuming you are in a region covered (alas, I am not) the radio time is definitely useful as the quartz movement by itself is quite inaccurate over the months-long intervals I leave my DW5600E in the drawer.

Casio is very good at making the solar actually useful, in part because these watches don't actually do very much. My Fenix 7X or whatever it is merely gains a few hours on a multi-week battery life from its massive and visible solar cell. Garmin did manage to squeeze "infinite" battery life out of the Instinct Solar 2 if you live somewhere sunny, though, so they're catching up.

I have many other solar watches and found that in the case of those with a greater power draw, getting them to recharge was a PITA. With the Citizen Stiletto especially I find myself wishing for a standard battery; it's annoying once every few years vs their sort of "slow time" breakdown as they approach the bottom. Recharging requires a strong lamp for a couple days, or the willingness to walk outside with the wrong time or a "dead" watch (I'm thinking especially of a chronograph that refuses to wake up until 5% charged).

 

[Jazzmenco]

Keeping with the Eterna theme.

 

[Jazzmenco]

Great bang for your buck on this Audaz