The Watch Appreciation Thread (Reviews and Photos of Men's Timepieces by Rolex, Patek Philippe, Brei

[PapaRubbery]

Hi gents,

I've come into a Nomos Tangente from the fiancee as an engagement present. How would one best care for the shell cordovan strap? Saphir cordovan conditioner and brushing? It's a small area to brush, haha!

Cheers,

Alex

 

[DerekS]



i really hope kate upton stumbles upon my penor some day.

me too stitch. me too.

 

[DerekS]



Hi gents,

I've come into a Nomos Tangente from the fiancee as an engagement present. How would one best care for the shell cordovan strap? Saphir cordovan conditioner and brushing? It's a small area to brush, haha!


Cheers,


Alex

congrats! ive owned a few cordo straps...but never did anything other than wear em. Theyre durable as hell...but if you WANT to put something on it...some conditioner definitely wont hut it. Post some pics when you can!

 

[RogerP]

The boring JLCs are the ones I like best. It's when they go all special ops ninja that they lose me.

 

[mimo]

Congratulations! Nomos looks like great value to me - a lot of cool design and originality for a respectable amount of dough.

I can't see that such a little piece of shell would need too much care. I wouldn't bother with any kind of polish - if you use a renovator of some sort for shell shoes, a touch of the same once in a while would probably be enough I should think. I use a vegetable based renovator called Renapur for pretty much everything. But really, your strap shouldn't take much care at all beyond wiping itself on the cuff of your shirt!

You should get engaged more often; well done.

 

[DerekS]



The boring JLCs are the ones I like best. It's when they go all special ops ninja that they lose me.

agreed.

 

[ModernMansWorld]

The boring JLCs are the ones I like best. It's when they go all special ops ninja that they lose me.

Another JLC man here!

 

[in stitches]



me too stitch. me too.

--

great book, NS. i love watch books.

 

[jbarwick]

I respect the Reverso but don't think I could live with one.

As for the discussion on would you have owned the same watches if it were more about the looks than the resale? Since I have only owned two, I would say yes. My cheap Hamilton is disposable to me in that for <$500, I have an ETA movement, a design I like, and the more scratches it gets the more I love it.

On the other end my (future) GMT is great. The blue is subtle but more pop than the previous Black/green hand version but not as loud as a Pepsi bezel. In regards to the GMT vs a Sub, I like the bezel on a GMT more. This watch was more based on long term wear than resale as it is a wedding gift. Buying it myself on the other hand I would have considered resale and/or buying a different watch on the pre-owned market. A used TT Sub would have been high on the list or an IWC Portuguese. I would have waited for the 2nd hand market before I picked up the BLNR.

 

[RogerP]

Quote:
I've had a Nomos with cordovan strap before, and my wife still has one of her own. Those straps require zero care and freakin' last forever. No, seriously. Congrats on engagement and watch.

 

[rnguy001]

One from each end of the spectrum. Love em both, honestly the MC is the watch I wear the least (I guess due my lifestyle/occupation). RP - you know I love you brother and I respect your opinion as always. As for me - it's okay to have the NSA since I'm a quarter Ninja on my dad's side But I have also mall ninja'd the hell out of other things (golf clubs, cameras, MMA gear etc..) Personally as long as the branding is not too obvious (on the front or side of the case or dial), it wouldn't deter me too much if I really liked the watch. Never liked the 'fighter pilot' hand on the Top Gun and I"m glad they removed it from the side of the case in their most recent iteration. But it got me to thinking about a lot of the major brands out there that have offerings that are both classy and elegant all the way to sporty and monstrous. I think many brands do it well: AP, IWC, JLC and Omega for example. I wonder if they lose some of the diehard supporters by offering the sportier models. I know a lot of AP guys here hate the Offshore models, as well as the Navy Seals' line from JLC for example and the Top Gun line from IWC etc etc. Many feel these brands are diluting their history or taking the 'easier' way out by trying to sell more to the masses. When I watch golf and I see the AP branding on players I actually like it. I'm a huge watch advocate and I think good publicity like that helps to create interest in not only AP, but higher end watches and horology in general. I mean I started my fascination with watches after seeing an ad for ORIS in Men's Health.. To me, I've always liked the brands that have been able to 'flex' and offer different types of watches for the different owners out there. At some point however I'm sure a brand can over-reach itself and end in disaster (Panerai with their Ferrari watches )

The boring JLCs are the ones I like best. It's when they go all special ops ninja that they lose me.

 

[mimo]

A few things mentioned above that I was looking at recently, but in commemoration of PR's German-themed engagement:



I like this maker. I seem to be a fan of most things German, and some of GO's designs are very individual and unusual, but still tasteful somehow. My local AD has all of two GO watches, so to see a boutique full of them was an opportunity I didn't miss. What I was hoping to see was a Panograph - something truly different, and to me the watch that I always think of first when I hear the name. Alas, they didn't have one. But a couple of other things did catch my eye - within my "no gold" restriction, my first attraction was to this:



The similarities with the Lange 1 are obvious, although in some ways I like this more than most of those (even though I love Lange more than any other - we'll come to that too!). The reason is the asymmetry of the dial, whereas most Lange 1s are very symmetrically asymmetric. GO's own iconic version of the big date (is "iconic" used a little too much about watches?) really pops, and is a "day counter" worth its salt in aesthetics and engineering alone. And I love the power reserve. In general, it's a most useful function on a manual wind, and it looks great. Small seconds always appeal to me, and this slate grey dial is pretty cool too.

One thing I forgot to mention: the GO boutique was one of the most interesting in itself. They have some unusual art about the place, and jazz as the background music. I checked with the sales assistant, and it was definitely company policy and not his choice! I speculated as to whether they'd done some market research and found that a certain demographic liked straight ahead jazz and certain styles of watches. Perhaps. Or perhaps someone at GO just associates the two. Either way, the black/white/grey theme, wall art and music all reinforced the feel I had for the brand as a whole, and made visiting them more memorable.

Now, back to the Pano reserve. It's big for a dress watch (I seem to be saying that a lot), but it's a bold design and I suppose that works. It feels wearable though, and being steel, is a lot more accessible than its cousins from ALS. One extra bonus is the incredible strap. A couple of months ago I mentioned a visit to my new local Panerai boutique, and one thing that left a lasting impression was the "Jules Verne" sueded croc strap on the 343. This is something similar - fat, padded, sueded croc that feels totally luxurious. The bluish grey colour here is original and distinctive too. It certainly gives an added feel of value and specialness about the whole package.

Edit: how could I forget the rear end? Glashuette stripes, unique hand-engraved balance cocks...not bad at all.




So the Pano Reserve is definitely one that I won't forget quickly. I did say "a couple" of watches caught my eye, the other being the PR's tourbillon-toting case sister. Well out of my league, and I forgot to take a picture. But here's some blurry video, just because I love you:

 

[jbarwick]

What is up with the middle portion of the bezel on that Navy Seal? Does it rotate for direction or to show you which way is "down"?

 

[DLJr]

God I love GO's big dates.

 

[in stitches]

Great post, rnguy.

I love the branding on my watches. Would never buy a watch without a brand logo on the dial. I like to count how many times on the dial, case, band, clasp and movement, I can find the brand name or logo.



Im a whore.