The Watch Appreciation Thread - Part two (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger LeCoultre,

[Dino944]

The latter. The orientation of the screws presumably implies that, like the AP, they are decorative; vintage version ones were not aligned. The IWC uses fewer screws, and their odd number gives a completely different type of symmetry. I see what you mean about Hublot but the relative lack of care with which these are put together immediately sets them off - a bit like the Polo vs the cohesion of the Nautilus or the AP RO. With a simple design it is all in the proportions. Not that the new AE is simple, but it plays with them right, in person anyway. I was never convinced by the photos.

I see what you mean about feminine in the St Moritz but funnily enough as an engineer by training seeing functional screws makes it more "manly" or whatever you want to call it, than the decorative "screws" of the new one. But it works on the latter one as a postmodern touch, which is clearly intentional given the rest. To be honest the new AE reminds me the most of.. the Moser frankenwatch PR stunt

never forget

View attachment 1693656

Just to clarify, I'm not sure one can completely say the bolts in the AP bezel are just decorative as they receive the bolts that screw into the back of the watch. ROs were designed with solid case backs and threading the screws into the hex bolts locked everything down to keep the watch water resistant. In addition, that vintage IWC, doesn't use bolts, those are actually holes and you use a special tool that fits into those holes to open the watch.

Perhaps feminine wasn't the best choice of words with the original St. Mortiz, perhaps the bezel on that seems more delicate than later versions.

The new Chopard AE, has a few nice elements like the bracelet and dial color/texture. They just need something that is more of their own brand elements and values, and looks less cobbled together with influence of other watches.

I recently received a recommendation of Nesbit's Fine Watch Service to service and repair IWC and JLC watches. Sadly they no longer do. According to a Nesbit's phone representative, neither watchmaker will provide (sell) parts. Sending my 25+ year old Flieger back to IWC.

Most companies have gone that route, and will no longer sell parts to outside watchmakers.

 

[RSS]

Not comparable to JLC.

JLC is clean and crisp.

Just for fun - we all know that this is the day of the luxury sports watch. I decided to amalgamate all of the iterations I could think of outside of the "big 3 or 4" (Patek 5711/5164; AP 15202, etc.; VC Overseas). What are your favorites? Which are the best executed? As a side note, it is kind of amazing watching the extreme proliferation of what was an incredibly niche subsection of the market 5 years ago.

I never really cottoned to the luxury sports watch to be worn with tailored clothing. If I wear a sports watch, it's very much a sports watch and I'm casually dressed sans coat. I like my Breguet Type Xx Transatlantique but am particularly partial to my mid-90's IWC Flieger. I still recall the first time I saw that model of IWC. I was on Speedbird 002 from JFK to LHR and the man across the aisle was wearing one. A few months later I was in HKG and picked one up.

For some odd reason I did buy a Royal Oak. I never wore it and passed it along to the next generation.

 

[Woofa]

My wife’s birthday is coming up,

 

[Omega Male]

Explicit content!



Ban.

 

[UnFacconable]

I'm not really into the whole luxury sport watch genre - I generally prefer the Explorer to all of them. That said, if I were to choose a blue dial lux sport watch, at this point I would go for the new Nomos entry: Club Sport. Has great proportions (only 10mm thick), a nice somewhat interesting movement (bidirectional quickset date with protection for the movement, among other things), and my preferred style of bracelet.

I know Nomos isn't everyone's jam and that's totally cool, but this would be my pick. As a dude who is now committed to WFH possibly for the rest of my career, the only thing I need less than all of my business wardrobe is another watch, but when I saw Nomos' email about this piece come through this evening I thought to myself "I really shouldn't, but if I did, this would be the one."

 

[pmeis]

I'm not really into the whole luxury sport watch genre - I generally prefer the Explorer to all of them. That said, if I were to choose a blue dial lux sport watch, at this point I would go for the new Nomos entry: Club Sport. Has great proportions (only 10mm thick), a nice somewhat interesting movement (bidirectional quickset date with protection for the movement, among other things), and my preferred style of bracelet.

I know Nomos isn't everyone's jam and that's totally cool, but this would be my pick. As a dude who is now committed to WFH possibly for the rest of my career, the only thing I need less than all of my business wardrobe is another watch, but when I saw Nomos' email about this piece come through this evening I thought to myself "I really shouldn't, but if I did, this would be the one."

As a Nomos fan, I like the look of this watch a lot, but this is a large watch That will absolutely wear big. 42mm with slightly over 52mm lug to lug length, it’s not for the slight of wrist or even an average sized one.

 

[Ebitdaddy]

Not mine but some crazy finishing on Lang & Heyne

 

[NakedYoga]

I was on Speedbird 002 from JFK to LHR

Underrated flex.

 

[NakedYoga]

Just for fun - we all know that this is the day of the luxury sports watch. I decided to amalgamate all of the iterations I could think of outside of the "big 3 or 4" (Patek 5711/5164; AP 15202, etc.; VC Overseas). What are your favorites? Which are the best executed? As a side note, it is kind of amazing watching the extreme proliferation of what was an incredibly niche subsection of the market 5 years ago.

Bvlgari OF S:

View attachment 1692914

GP Laureato:

View attachment 1692917

Parmigiana PF:

View attachment 1692908

Moser Streamliner:

View attachment 1692910

Jurgenson One:

View attachment 1692911

Czapek Antarctique:

View attachment 1692912

Lange Odysseus:

View attachment 1692913

Lang & Heyne Hektor:

View attachment 1692915

Piaget Polo S:

View attachment 1692944

Of those, for me it's the Czapek, with the Laureato close behind and the rest of the field very far behind those two. However, as I've said before, I find the Laureato chronograph to be in the running for best looking luxury sport chronograph (or whatever term you want to use). And also the Parmigiani Tonda chronographs are, to me, incredible looking.

So… went to a party over the weekend. It got crazy. Long story short, I dropped my 116520 Daytona on the concrete from like 4 feet. Bezel is chipped. Crystal is scratched. Bracelet is fucked. Sent it to Rolex today to have them look at it. This is likely going to hurt.

Ugh. Thoughts and prayers.

@smittycl , of those watches you posted I think the JLC Ultra Thin wins the day. Keep us posted.

 

[smittycl]

Of those, for me it's the Czapek, with the Laureato close behind and the rest of the field very far behind those two. However, as I've said before, I find the Laureato chronograph to be in the running for best looking luxury sport chronograph (or whatever term you want to use). And also the Parmigiani Tonda chronographs are, to me, incredible looking.
Ugh. Thoughts and prayers.

@smittycl , of those watches you posted I think the JLC Ultra Thin wins the day. Keep us posted.

Will do! No hurry here so I casually pursue one.

 

[RSS]

Underrated flex.

… and this is very much a FLEX thread.

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

… and this is very much a FLEX thread.

"I was at my second home in the Scottish countryside when I felt a chill. The house did not have a modern heating system, as it was built in the 1700s for Scottish nobility. Plus it was on 500 acres nowhere close to a gas line. There being no fresh firewood in the house and the help long since having left for the day, I put on my Valstar shearling coat and stepped outside with an axe to face the vast expanse of forest behind my home. I looked down at my wrist and it was naked. 'This cannot do,' I thought to myself. I went back inside and strapped on my trusty beater, a Patek Philippe perpetual calendar that I bought at a Sotheby's auction a decade earlier. I stepped back outside and felt complete."

 

[NakedYoga]

… and this is very much a FLEX thread.

True. I half expect someone to eventually unironically post something like this about their childhood:

My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low-grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a fifteen-year-old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. My childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When I was insolent, I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds- pretty standard, really. At the age of twelve, I received my first scribe. At the age of fourteen, a Zoroastrian named Vilma ritualistically shaved my testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum... it's breathtaking- I suggest you try it.

 

[RSS]

Will do! No hurry here so I casually pursue one.

Another who appreciates the JLC Master Grand Ultra Thin. It's beautifully sized at about 34mm.

 

[smittycl]

Another who appreciates the JLC Master Grand Ultra Thin. It's beautifully sized at about 34mm.

I've tried 34mm before and they just seem too small for me. Might be because I'm used to sports watches at 39-42mm? I've seen JLC MC in 34mm, 37mm, 39mm, and 40mm so far.