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

[Dandy_dapper]

[

Please excuse the slightly commercial tone of my post, but I am super, super excited to tell you that we (Atelier Wen) will be launching (on Kickstarter) in les than 12 hours! I have been working on the brand for the past year and a half, and it is amazing to finally see it come to life!

So rendez-vous tomorrow (19/10) at Noon GMT+2!

A few old pics that I really like!

Thank you,

Robin.

wow, thats so cool

 

[Lumaca]

Nice, but that is yellow rather than rose gold.

Oops! I forgot that the rose gold was paired with the green bezel.

 

[Medwed]

I think my guilloche-but-otherwise-austere-dial search has narrowed in on the Seiko Sakura Hubuki Limited Edition and the Oris Artelier Date Silver (even though at 40mm they're larger than I really want). How does everyone feel about those, quality-wise? Is ~$550 too much for a Seiko? And these listings I'm seeing for the Oris NIB @ ~$650 (under half of retail) can't be legit, right?

Am I wrong to be looking at new watches rather than looking for a deal on something vintage? Especially since I'm interested in smaller size?

IMO, you are going to regret the purchase of 40mm 'dress watch'. I have 7.5 wrist and would not dream of wearing 40mm watch without 4mm bezel. These dress watches are all white dial ,so they are going to look gigantic. Also, I 'd like to add that none of them are real guilloche, I had experience with Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece coll. which retails for 5 times these models and even that watch was stamped varnish finish imitating guilloche.

 

[LA Guy]

I think my guilloche-but-otherwise-austere-dial search has narrowed in on the Seiko Sakura Hubuki Limited Edition and the Oris Artelier Date Silver (even though at 40mm they're larger than I really want). How does everyone feel about those, quality-wise? Is ~$550 too much for a Seiko? And these listings I'm seeing for the Oris NIB @ ~$650 (under half of retail) can't be legit, right?

Am I wrong to be looking at new watches rather than looking for a deal on something vintage? Especially since I'm interested in smaller size?

I think that vintage watches are generally more interesting, and many fewer of them have the look of having been designed by a marketing committee, ticking off all the boxes but looking sterile.

I don't know about getting guilloche, but there are tons of old Omegas, Universal Geneves, and Jaeger LeCoultres out there in your price range. It is a game finding one in the right condition though, and most of them are 34-36mm.

 

[Dino944]

Yeah, it's the Apollo 15, 35th anniversary edition. ...@Dino944[/USER] if you have one where you are right now, PM me!

Sorry, don't know of any near me. While I like rose gold with steel, I wish the bracelet matched the watch with some rose gold . I find it sort of mismatched when a watch has gold on various parts around the watch case (Say bezel, pushers, crown, and dial) but there is no gold on the bracelet to tie it together.

Personally, I'd just go for a regular Speedy Pro...I find the special editions a bit pricey for what they are and Omega makes too many of them. They make special edition Speedmasters all the time...so to me there isn't much that is special about them. If you miss this edition, wait 3-6 months and the next special edition will be released.

 

[LA Guy]

Sorry, don't know of any near me. While I like rose gold with steel, I wish the bracelet matched the watch with some rose gold . I find it sort of mismatched when a watch has gold on various parts around the watch case (Say bezel, pushers, crown, and dial) but there is no gold on the bracelet to tie it together.

Personally, I'd just go for a regular Speedy Pro...I find the special editions a bit pricey for what they are and Omega makes too many of them. They make special edition Speedmasters all the time...so to me there isn't much that is special about them. If you miss this edition, wait 3-6 months and the next special edition will be released.

I hear you. I just don't love the normal Speedy Pros. To me, they are boring, though at least honest. This one just jumped out at me.

Though I am not a huge Omega fan, I do appreciate the clunkiness of some of their offerings, especially the limited editions. At least it's something interesting to look at. For example, I am amused by this, "Franklin Mint x Omega" looking watch:

I mean, all of the subdials are basically useless, and it's actually hard to read the time (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Omega-Spee...wsClbeE33:sc:UPS2ndDay!83843!US!-1:rk:10:pf:0 - from Swiss Watch Expo)

Or this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Omega-Spee...SwYHtbpqNg:sc:UPS2ndDay!83843!US!-1:rk:6:pf:0

To me, the clunkiness of some of these designs are endearing. While I don't have the cash to buy a bunch of watches just because they are endearing and silly, they appeal to me a lot more than umpteenth models by "microbrands" who seem to all share the same "I was conceived in a tech incubator somewhere in San Franciscio" look.

What do you think about the size of the Speedy Pro vs. the Speedy reduced on the wrist? There is another example of someone at Omega being really bad at marketing. They could have easily called the thing the "Speedmaster 40" or something. "Reduced" is generally not a great selling point. That said, I really do appreciate that level of clunkiness and maybe inadvertent honesty, once again.

 

[Texasmade]

Looking for a NATO strap, what are some of the favorites here?

I have a couple of Omega watches and like to use the Omega NATO straps for them. They're pricey but actually really good quality.

 

[Dino944]

What do you think about the size of the Speedy Pro vs. the Speedy reduced on the wrist? There is another example of someone at Omega being really bad at marketing. They could have easily called the thing the "Speedmaster 40" or something. "Reduced" is generally not a great selling point. That said, I really do appreciate that level of clunkiness and maybe inadvertent honesty, once again.

A good friend of mine has Speedy Pro from before the days when companies were increasing case sizes to keep up with the "Big Watch" trend. He's 6' tall and about 200 lbs and IMHO, it always looked good on him. So I didn't see a need for a bigger Speedy. However, I agree with you "Reduced" sounds like better marketing for a food item...reduced fat, reduced sodium, reduced sugar etc.

Overall, I like the classic Speedy Pro, but I've never felt the urge to pull the trigger on one.

 

[steveoffice]

I’m a big fan of 57 60th anniversary speedy tho not crazy about faux patina...

 

[clee1982]

Reduced speedy just looks off though the sub dials are too far apart, something to do with how they stack the auto movement?

 

[cchen]

I already have a Daytona, albeit one that looks pretty much the opposite of that colorwise. I'm not even a huge Omega fan, but I liked the look of that particular piece, and a few other rose gold containing Speedies. I guess that there is a rose gold Daytona that is pretty great, but $23k prices me out.

pic?

 

[Dino944]

Reduced speedy just looks off though the sub dials are too far apart, something to do with how they stack the auto movement?

The automatic Speedmasters have never done anything for me. The dial layout just isn't appealing to my eye. If I were buying a Speedy, it would be a Speedy Pro.

 

[Lee Saxon]

IMO, you are going to regret the purchase of 40mm

I tend to think you're right (so I'm paying attention to return policies), but I haven't found an alternative yet. We need more small watches dangit!

 

[LA Guy]

pic?

I need to get to the storage unit. I am about 90% sure that when we had some issues at the house last year, it got out into a box with a bunch of other things I never use and put there. It's climate controlled, etc..., so I'm not too, too, worried.

Hmmm... I actually really like some of the Japanese released Speedmaster reduced models, like this:

 

[Medwed]

I tend to think you're right (so I'm paying attention to return policies), but I haven't found an alternative yet. We need more small watches dangit!

How about; 36mm, brand new, 10.8 mm thick, GMT. Not exactly a dress watch your were looking for, but decent and thin Swiss Auto, until you find that perfect watch.
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/glycine-airman-no-1-automatic-watch?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ftp_v2a_[[URL="http://]&referer=S75YA5&mode=guest_open&iterableCampaignId=429119&iterableTemplateId=612392"]]&referer=S75YA5&mode=guest_open&iterableCampaignId=429119&iterableTemplateId=612392[/URL]