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

[TheFoo]

Related to our discussions on Lange and others: https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe...is-proving-critics-wrong-20210722-p58bz9.html

… yep.

 

[double00]

there is a town in florida called celebration, it was built by disney in the 1990s.

there are other notable, ambitious (even utopian) planning developments including Unwin's garden cities and of course Irvine CA, the mother of american planning/design export.

it's an interesting comparison, i find irvine super distasteful but is an undeniable success.

 

[patrick_b]

Related to our discussions on Lange and others: https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe...is-proving-critics-wrong-20210722-p58bz9.html

Interesting read. I wonder if Poundbury Residents Association is anything like a suburban HOA here in the states. I'd like to think/hope the Brits would be at least be more polite and less power crazy.

 

[Neville Southall]

Happy Sunday.

 

[Drek Galloche]

Related to our discussions on Lange and others: https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe...is-proving-critics-wrong-20210722-p58bz9.html

Fantastic. I am surpised I have never heard of this. I have more respect for Charles. Embracing canons of European Aesthtics is what the West needs more of.

 

[Journeyman]

Related to our discussions on Lange and others: https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe...is-proving-critics-wrong-20210722-p58bz9.html

An interesting article - I wasn't aware of it. I'm not sure whether I'd want to live in a master-planned community such as that, but I do wish that we could be more protective of architectural heritage, and try to ensure that development is more sympathetic to it.

However, of course, that's all subjective - some people strenuously dislike older designs and love newer designs and so would vehemently disagree!

Where I live, the "traditional" housing (much of which was built from the 1880s through to the 1930s-1940s is predominantly timber. Our local council planning provisions state that pre-1946 houses cannot be torn down (unless they are derelict and permission is obtained). However, there's no provision against cutting them up and taking them away. Being timber, and usually sitting on timber piers, it's possible to cut them into two or three pieces, load them onto trucks, and take them away. As population density increases and so does land value, this has been happening more and more frequently - we've lost at least ten houses around my area over the past few years. In the place of these century-old or more houses which were designed for our climate with wide eaves, wrap-around verandahs and breezeways through the house, we're getting cheaply-built but very expensive blocks of apartments that are largely designed to be pumped full of air-conditioned air and have little to no protection against the sun.

It's all rather depressing... and is probably better suited to the architecture thread!

 

[watchguy1234]

Cartier Prive on this slow Sunday.

 

[Dino944]

View attachment 1644250
Cartier Prive on this slow Sunday.

That's a real beauty! Tanks and their variations are some of my favorite watches!

 

[Newcomer]

View attachment 1644250
Cartier Prive on this slow Sunday.

That is so, so awesome.

 

[Thrift Vader]

Related to our discussions on Lange and others: https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe...is-proving-critics-wrong-20210722-p58bz9.html

I'm waiting to see how the "Toyota City" progresses. City of the future!!

 

[chanoch]

A couple of (unhappy) thoughts on Nomos. Bought a Metro back in 2014. Had it cleaned and adjusted in 2019: took them two tries to get it right, as the first time they returned the watch running as slow as when I sent it to them for cleaning. After 16 months, the watch simply stopped and needed servicing again. For those three trips to and from Nomos, I was without the watch for 11 months. Email and calls to Nomos were never returned and even Tourneau couldn't find out what was happening with the watch for weeks and weeks. (I sent the Metro through Tourneau, as I wanted the additional year of post-service warranty and given that I needed to send it back after 16 months am glad I did).

Bought my wife an Orion five years ago as a 25th anniversary present, two years into my time with the Metro (when I was still happy with it). Was planning to send it in for cleaning/adjustment this year as we approached our 30th, albeit with trepidation given my experience with Nomos service. Last week she told me that the winding mechanism was broken -- just turns free, no winding at all.

I'll send it back, but at almost $500 or more for servicing am very hesitant. Still, it was an important anniversary present and feel obligated to get it fixed.

For sure, would never buy another Nomos watch: the build quality isn't there, and their customer service is awful. All well-and-good to have interesting, award-winning designs, but if the watch only lasts five years, what good is it?

 

[Texasmade]

For sure, would never buy another Nomos watch: the build quality isn't there, and their customer service is awful. All well-and-good to have interesting, award-winning designs, but if the watch only lasts five years, what good is it?

Very clever of them on implementing planned obsolescence

 

[mebiuspower]

A couple of (unhappy) thoughts on Nomos. Bought a Metro back in 2014. Had it cleaned and adjusted in 2019: took them two tries to get it right, as the first time they returned the watch running as slow as when I sent it to them for cleaning. After 16 months, the watch simply stopped and needed servicing again. For those three trips to and from Nomos, I was without the watch for 11 months. Email and calls to Nomos were never returned and even Tourneau couldn't find out what was happening with the watch for weeks and weeks. (I sent the Metro through Tourneau, as I wanted the additional year of post-service warranty and given that I needed to send it back after 16 months am glad I did).

Bought my wife an Orion five years ago as a 25th anniversary present, two years into my time with the Metro (when I was still happy with it). Was planning to send it in for cleaning/adjustment this year as we approached our 30th, albeit with trepidation given my experience with Nomos service. Last week she told me that the winding mechanism was broken -- just turns free, no winding at all.

I'll send it back, but at almost $500 or more for servicing am very hesitant. Still, it was an important anniversary present and feel obligated to get it fixed.

For sure, would never buy another Nomos watch: the build quality isn't there, and their customer service is awful. All well-and-good to have interesting, award-winning designs, but if the watch only lasts five years, what good is it?

That sucks.

But this does bring back the argument if in-house movement is better than ETA/Selita. If Nomos use ETA (or even modified ETA) they probably wouldn't have those issues.

 

[classicalthunde]

Of all the case restorers in Italy (who are responsible for the world’s seemingly impossible supply of “unpolished”/NOS vintage watches)

Can you share which case restorers can bring a watch back to a NOS-like state?

I like a few vintage watches, but I also want the watch to be "mine" and I think that a service and a restoration to NOS-like status would be an interesting way to hit 'reset' on a watch. Also for what it is worth, I don't intend on ever reselling any of my watches, so this would just be for me and not any sort of NOS "forgery" for re-sale

 

[Dino944]

That sucks.

But this does bring back the argument if in-house movement is better than ETA/Selita. If Nomos use ETA (or even modified ETA) they probably wouldn't have those issues.

Some of it may speak to the quality of lack thereof, but also what I find disturbing is the customer service - lack of contact/lack of follow up - essentially leaving the owner in the dark. Any watch (or other product) can have a problem/and or need a repair, but it is how the company handles it, and how good their repair department is at dealing with it that helps me determine if I would ever buy another product from them.