Poor man's watch thread

[BostonHedonist]

repost deleted

 

[BostonHedonist]

My non-beach beater. From the last line of pre-Fossil Skagens.

 

[mco543]

What are the thoughts on the 21 jewel Miyota movement? I recently bought a watch on eBay that has that movement and I'm curious as to what I can expect.


Thanks

 

[DerangedGoose]

What are the thoughts on the 21 jewel Miyota movement? I recently bought a watch on eBay that has that movement and I'm curious as to what I can expect.


Thanks

Miyota makes many movements, all of them just fine.

 

[caspersauer]

I'd like some suggestions for a dressier watch for special occasions. Either an automatic or a hand-wind mechanical watch, not a quartz movement. Probably a white face, but I'm open to other options. Bracelet or leather strap. Matte stainless preferred.

My current criteria:
Design: minimalist / simple, ideally: no logo, no numbers, no text, no day, no date, simple indices...
Hands: 2 or 3, no sub-dials
Price: $100 to $1,000
Complications: none

Thanks to everyone who helped me with my decision (by replying directly, and everyone who's ever contributed to this thread). I ended up getting myself a HMT Janata:



It fit most of my criteria, with the largest exception being the price -- $25 on eBay. I'll keep my eyes open for a nice vintage Longines (or a sale on Max Bills or a Nomos Orion 38). For now, it joins my modest watch collection:



One for painting, one for daily wear, one for wearing with a sport coat.

My next decision: what leather strap to put this on. I'd like a traditional leather strap with a minimum of embellishments. I don't think I can justify the $150 Hodinkee, but it sure is nice:


Island Watch and Worn&Wound have Horween straps that look nice, but IW doesn't carry it in 18mm, and the W&W one has a huge black loop bugs me:



If I can't find the right version of that, maybe a leather Nato?



That doesn't feel very dressy though. Any other suggestions? Thanks again.

- jim

 

[Dagon]

Have you considered a nomos strap?

the Orion (regular size) straps are shell, they're a great price with free shipping and 18mm lugs.

I've ordered one last week, expecting it very soon.

http://www.nomos-store.com/en/Watchstraps/Orion/Horween-Genuine-Shell-Cordovan-brown.html

 

[DerangedGoose]

Good looking HMT. I have been looking for a dress watch on a black strap for some time. My vintage Longines was supposed to be that watch, but then I realized it looks perfect on a brown strap so now thats the brown strap dress watch...unfortunately the HMT is too small. Ive realized I cant really go below 36mm, and even then Im not sold on it. The longines at 38 is perfect. The search continues...

 

[BostonHedonist]

Spent the day hopping between ocean and pool. My new impulse beater, a Seiko SNE109, has been great. It's got a fun, stylized bezel of brushed and mirrored stainless. It's easy to operate, screw-down crown and it's nice and cheap, so I can beat the everliving sh*t out of it with impunity. Wouldn't go that with my everyday watch:

The ratcheting bezel does turn rather easily, but not as much as many reviewers would have you believe. The date and day line up enough for a $150 watch (the $350 msrp is BS). The second hand ticks at 1 second intervals, which is boring. But the strap is just awful. It's too thin, shows injection molding lines from the manufacturing process, and is far too long. It wraps around my wrist and almost reaches back up to the case again. But that is easily replaced.

Full view:

 

[Isolation]

At <50 pounds this should fit the "poor" part of the bill.

 

[submatrix]

At <50 pounds this should fit the "poor" part of the bill.

Sweet design, deets?

 

[DerangedGoose]

Keep in mind those "mushroom" brands as they are known often use shoddily assembled movements that have a very limited lifetime before requiring service. The movements themselves may be of passable or decent quality, but they are usually assembled quickly with little care for proper lubrication (some have none or are literally given a quick spritz all over the components), or are grey market stock that has been sitting for some time before being installed.

While I cant personally attest to them, manufacturer/assemblers like Akribos and Stuhrling probably have stronger QA departments, I might consider those instead.

 

[Isolation]

Yeah, I've read reviews on the brand on watchuseek and I believe they are slight different and hold up acceptable, and actually found out about it there. Still even if it doesn't last it looks sweet and different enough I don't mind too much.

The watch is "YH.W8752-03" and available on amazon if you're interested.

 

[caspersauer]

Have you considered a nomos strap?

Thanks for the suggestion Dagon -- enjoy your new band and post a photo when you put it on your watch.

I like the idea of a Nomos strap, and that's a nicer "dress watch" strap than anything I came up with, but for now I'm going to hold out for something with less stitching.

- jim

 

[Isolation]

The Nomos straps look great actually.

 

[easy_golfing]

I have it, and can confirm it is a nice strap - varying lengths, great price, and good quality.