Who Watches the Watchmen (Our Chit Chat Thread)

ironictoaster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120677612#Comment_120677612

I ended up going up with the Mission to Pluto. This is my first time owning a chronograph. I keep thinking the third hand is the minute hand! I’ll be looking to get my first watch on a bracelet after this!

C0N0R

Excellent choice, I grabbed a nato for mine which helps I think, never really tried it with the original strap

ironictoaster

What nato strap colour did you go with?

C0N0R

Maybe not a perfect colour match, but good enough for me.

H_Lime

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120682401#Comment_120682401

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mPmAgIC

Very in keeping with the watch in every respect, bar price;)

DuckSlice

Since I’ve started browsing most days for my next watch purchase I’m getting a lot of adverts for Catawiki. Is this a genuine site and safe to purchase from?

James Bond Junior

I just can't bring myself to spend €200 odd quid on one of them or whatever they cost. They are the cheapest piece of crap I've ever seen. €20 would be a push in my mind.

H_Lime

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120683502#Comment_120683502

Yep!

Changed the battery on one and it's a fifty euro watch max.

ironictoaster

Sorry if this was discussed before,

Just wondering if anyone has experience buying a luxury watch on the grey market e.g. Chrono24 etc?. it seems like a mixed bag from my research. Not sure if the hassle is worth the savings. The warranty aspect makes no sense to me. Manufacturer warranty seems to differ between dealers

Looking at buying my first luxury watch towards end of the year. Then I can stop looking at watches 😂

Looking at the Longines Zulu GMT, Black Bay GMT or a used Seamaster on a bracelet.

mik_da_man

I bought one from the gray market recently, the seller had good feedback, but it was a bit of a long process as the watch was on order.

However the watch arrived, got it verified by a local AD and all was good, warranty stamp was sorted by the gray dealer and it's valid. I saved 1,500 off list so it was definitely worth it

ironictoaster

Thanks for this. Stupid question. How did you verify the warranty is valid. Still figuring everything out !

mik_da_man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120684486#Comment_120684486

No probs, it was stamped by an AD, numbers matched up and was confirmed by the gray dealer and local AD

Justin10

Odd guestion.

Looking at getting a few watches over the next few months.

Going to get the Christopher ward 12.

In between a Tudor black bay, super popular watch but think I prefer the unpopular Royal date only.

But oddly my question is regarding the cheapest watch. I'm looking for a Seiko "Tank" probably female version as I prefer the dial shape, strap length will be an issue, they appear not to be in stock in most places.

Does anyone know stores in Dublin that have these or website's that offer free return's?

Thanks

banie01

Remember that Omega Speedmaster that sold for $3.4million back in 2021? It was 20 times auction guide price, absolutely smashed the estimate. The watch was purchased by Omega itself as a centrepiece of a planned museum.

Anyway, it turns out that the watch is a Franken-watch, a fake made in the main from Omega components.

If the actual manufacturers can be caught out?

What hope does the average Joe have in not getting stung 😳

https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/fake-omega-watch-record-auction-intl-scli/index.html

For posterity's sake, the original Philips listing.

https://www.phillips.com/detail/omega/CH080221/53

Wibbs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120706971#Comment_120706971

Sadly not a big shock. the big name auction houses have long had dodgy descriptions, frankens and outright fakes in their sales. One in particular who shall remain nameless is very well known for it. Plus you have way more consumer protection buying off somewhere like ebay or dealers than at auction.

A fair number of vintage Daytonas are very dubious. Vintage Panerai can be a bigger minefield than the one the original wearers had to navigate in WW2. I'd reckon a third are dubious or outright fakes. A few years ago you could pick up the right Rolex, or rather Aegler branded movements for a couple of hundred quid, skim off of the serials, stamp new ones and Rolex, ready up a case and you were off to the races. They were even faking the sandwich dials with vintage radium to set of Geiger counters(That's quite commonly done. To the degree that at one time NOS vintage radium hand collections that would fit feck all were getting suspiciously high prices on ebay).

Certain Omega's like early Speedies and Seamaster 300's are cut through with fake dials patina, new parts, wrong movements, dubious serial numbers. The same Phillips last year auctioned off a fake as feck Cartier Crash. There are a few of those about. Funny enough you can usually spot them because the dial is of higher quality printing than the originals, as are the cases. They're usually decades old fakes so look like they have provenance. Cartier offloaded their manufacture to outside jewellers and since demand always exceeded supply by some margin , they were a basic watch with easily available movements, so there was a lot of room for some of the same jewellers to go "off the books".

Italy is one source for these hyper accurate and expensive to make fakes. Poland was for a time too. Ukraine ditto, but they were more at the lower end of the market.

FlubberJones

I’ve now got four watches (Raymond Weil black strap, Suunto sports watch black plastic, Alpina 4 brown leather and Omega PO on steel bracelet) and like to try and wear them all, depending on what I’m wearing. I read somewhere that a decent baseline for a watch collection should have black, brown sports and steel bracelet / strap, whether this is true or not who knows but it seems to work with when I dress.

But the thing I’ve come across is how often I have to ‘start’ the watches back up again, the Omega and Alpina are almost always stopped due to running out of power and I’m really not sure about getting a winder, they look naff and indulgent.

Not really sure of my point here but out of interest, would date adjusting and fiddling with the watches to reset the time every other day cause any concerns?

OmegaGene

In my opinion a watch collection should be based around watches you like not a guide written by someone claiming to be an expert, if you don’t mind changing the date and time then carry on if you can’t be bothered then by a winder, neither will cause issues one you don’t change the date between 10-2 which I always avoid

FlubberJones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120708595#Comment_120708595

I think it was GQ or something like that, rather than someone claiming to be a watch master'... But yeh I suppose that would be the way to do it, put up with it, wind and date change or simply get the winder. I do tend to wear the PO most of the time anyway and its the Alpina that gets most 'fiddled' with

o1s1n

Never really 'got' dates on watches myself, it's not something that's going to change throughout the day so I don't really see the point in having it there. You read the date in the morning and that's your information gleaned for the day.

Only watch I have with a date field is my Seiko Prospex Arnie and half of the time I have the digital section set to time.

Never even occurred to me that you'd have to keep resetting the date on an automatic if you had a few watches in rotation. That would drive me mental!

Cienciano

I like a date, i find it handy. In fact, I like weekday too if possible. Setting it only takes a few seconds.

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120709214#Comment_120709214

I have to say I do too, not having a date is a pain and takes a few seconds to set on modern watches

griffin100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120709214#Comment_120709214

I usually don't like date windows as I'm too blind to see them, and then I got a Seiko Prospex with a date bubble / cyclops and now I like the love the fact I can read the date even with no glasses on (and I don't need to take my phone out)

mailforkev

My daily is a Sub with no date, I still find myself looking at my wrist for the date at least once a week. Then remember, curse its sexy symmetrical lines, and reach for the phone in my pocket.

It is handy putting it back on after wearing something else for a few days and not having to worry about setting the date, but that’s not really much of a chore anyway.

Fitz II

Problem with an auto watch date is you look at it and always double guess whether you set it right and when, has it turned over the month correctly? Was the AM/PM set right the other day? You just end up checking on your phone anyway and then continuing on pretending that low accuracy mechanical watches are useful and not just pretty.

Cienciano

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120709239#Comment_120709239

Yeah, doesn't take long. I never found it a big deal, sure you're setting the time anyway. I have a couple of watches without the date and they annoy me no end

o1s1n

My wife asked me what date it was this morning when we were cycling into work and I actually glanced at my Seiko to see. Not sure if it's the first time I've ever relied on a watch for the date but it made me very aware of this thread. 😁

banie01

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120712371#Comment_120712371

The only issue I really have with a date? Is that if you're in a rotation of 4 or more watches, that it can take longer than a few turns to jump a quickset date.

My Omega GMT doesn't have a quickset date, rather the hour hand jumps so it's advance the jump hour to set date. It does have the benefit of allowing you to roll back the date too, which is handy.

mailforkev

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120713582#Comment_120713582

Hope it wasn’t a subtle hint that it’s your wedding anniversary or her birthday!

Wibbs

I can't recall if I ever had a mechanical watch with a date. The only ones I have with dates are battery driven, electronic or quartz. And some of them can be a pain when they have the day as well as that's not quickset. Half the time I never bother as the day I forget what day it is I'll sign myself into a home for the bewildered. 😁

garrethr

Hi,

I'm looking at a tool watch for a present.

Something like the Sinn 556 but my budget doesn't extend that far (max €750).

I like the Hamilton Khaki but wondering would anyone have any other suggestions.

tia