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Do you wear a watch?
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Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,732 Mod ✭✭✭✭
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Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,075 Mod ✭✭✭✭
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Feckin' comedians, the lot of ye.
Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.
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Yep, I’d be pretty lost without a watch and checking my phone just doesn’t cut it.
I have a Rotary analogue watch, a beautiful royal blue face, silver hands and leather strap. It was a gift from my OH for my 30th birthday back in 2005. I love it.
My very first watch was a LED digital watch where you pressed the button to check the time. My godmother got it for me in the States, I think. I was about 6 at the time, so early 1980s. Thereafter I had an assortment of digital watches over the years, including calculator and radio watches.
No plans to change my watch anytime soon, but having the replace the leather strap every couple of years is a bit of a pain.0 -
Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,075 Mod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 59004
I hear you. They both tick, but the mechanical is generally a quieter ticktickticktick, rather than a one tick per second. Some quartz can be very loud, but I reckon that maybe it's the once per second tick that is what can be irritating? Then there are some early electronic(tuning forks) that hum, same with some very early quartz that also have the smoothest seconds hand that glides. I've one from 1970(the first Swiss quartz to be announced, but Seiko beat them by actually selling one, though it cost the same as a family car from Toyota) that buzzes and loudly, you can actually feel the damn thing on your wrist if you think about it and good luck with sleeping through it.The DayDream wrote: »I have 2, an automatic (seiko) and a vintage hand wound wristwatch. For years I avoided them as I thought all watches make a ticking sound which always annoyed me when i wanted to sleep. Had no idea only quartz watches ticked until a few years ago. When I was a small child and couldn't sleep my dad used to put oneof his watches under my pillow and the ticking would rock me to sleep. Many years later in the 90's I found out the radium on the dial was scarily radioactive. :eek: I suppose glowing in the dark has helped me during power cuts... I still have it, though got the atomic stuff removed.
You know your stuff. Good list alright. Though personally I'd avoid Rolex like the plague at the moment. Massively overvalued and a price bubble going on there.I have my eye on a few different ones now, Longines, Omega, Junghans and Nomos just to name a few. And hopefully someday a Rolex...
Very much so. One of the earliest attempts at climbing mount Everest was by a team led by an Englishman by the name of George Mallory in the early 1920's(the actor and all round lovely mad bastard Brian Blessed attempted a recreation of that climb a few years back). They had a few goes at it, but the final attempt was to be their last and him and another chap whose name sadly escapes perished near the summit(they may have made it to the top), where their bodies remained undiscovered until 1999. On George's wrist was his WW1 era Trench watch. The hands had rusted in the 80 years in that hellish environment, but when the watch was examined and the remains of the hands removed, it started to tick... Now the design was an early attempt at waterproofing, but still, the inners looked like new. Slap on a pair of replacement hands and that watch could be still used today. No way in hell would an Apple watch be still going after 80 years in similar circumstances.Like all digital devices they are destined to be nothing but landfill waste in a few years.Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.
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Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,075 Mod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 59004
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Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,075 Mod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 59004
Funny enough JK, when I was looking at and sometime buying old watches when I was a kid, by far the most common "good watch" I saw were from Rotary. My maternal grandfather had one and was very proud of it. Usually gold or gold plated, very classic design and not shouty, hours, minutes and seconds, maybe with a date. And back then they got the same price in auctions and antique shops as other brands more known today. They were a really popular brand here. You really don't hear of them on most people's radar these days, so great to see someone is keeping the faith.JupiterKid wrote: »I have a Rotary analogue watch, a beautiful royal blue face, silver hands and leather strap. It was a gift from my OH for my 30th birthday back in 2005. I love it. Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.
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Funny enough JK, when I was looking at and sometime buying old watches when I was a kid, by far the most common "good watch" I saw were from Rotary. My maternal grandfather had one and was very proud of it. Usually gold or gold plated, very classic design and not shouty, hours, minutes and seconds, maybe with a date. And back then they got the same price in auctions and antique shops as other brands more known today. They were a really popular brand here. You really don't hear of them on most people's radar these days, so great to see someone is keeping the faith.
Apparently Rotary watches became the standard watch for the British Army in 1940.
As WW2 was going on at the time, the brand became very well known in UK households ever since.
The company was run by the Dreyfuss family & their upmarket brand is called Dreyfuss & Co.0 -
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In my experience anyway guys not wearing watches isn't that much of a recent thing. When I was a teenager in the 80's very few of my friends wore a watch. I can even remember a couple saying they couldn't be bothered wearing one and there was nothing particularly fashionable to them in that age group. Though the Swatch watches had caught on a bit with those who were decked out in Benetton. You'd see the occasional Casio calculator watch but it was mostly dads and older guys.
I was always into them. My dad was into watches so I kinda got that from him. Plus I could never get the hang of reading digital watches which were all the rage. Oh I can read them, but it takes longer and the time doesn't quite register for me compared to an analogue watch. So I used to look in junk shops, and the like and a mate's family was in the auction game so general auctions too. All for pocketmoney too. Well it was way before "old watch" became "vintage collectible". So old wind up watches could be had for 20 quid and the like, even some well known brands in the game today. I once got a shoebox full of them for 40 quid. Mostly tat, but some Rotary, Tudor and Omega in the mix. If I had a time machine and a thousand old quids I'd come back a millionaire I kept collecting them since, but have really dialled back in the last few years as the prices went nuts.
Other than a couple of family heirlooms, the one I would have the longest is this one I got the early nineties and am wearing today. A so called "Trench watch" all the way from 1916 and an example of the early wristwatches for men(previously they had been consider too "feminine" but the needs of mechanised war changed that, because pocket watches were too cumbersome).
Still a great timekeeper over a century later.
Funny how we've gone from the pocket to the wrist and now back again to the pocket with phones. Now men's watches have become far more about jewellery than the function they once had(though they always had the hint of jewellery. The vast majority of old watches came in gold or gold plate). We take it for granted time and accurate time is all around us so...
I missed this photo on my first browse through, that is an absolute thing of beauty. Right up my street.
Out of curiosity (and feel free to tell me to mind my own business/do my own research) but what sort of ballpark would one expect to be looking at for a piece like that?0 -
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Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,075 Mod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 59004
A bit hairy, but not really.
if so..are you a gorilla? I gather on instagram watch photos many of the men shave their wrists to better show off the watches in question. Eeh... Wut?
It depends F. Watches of that era because of the age involved can have many problems. Usually the wrong winding crowns and wrong hands, worn out innards etc.I missed this photo on my first browse through, that is an absolute thing of beauty. Right up my street.
Out of curiosity (and feel free to tell me to mind my own business/do my own research) but what sort of ballpark would one expect to be looking at for a piece like that?
Another thing to be aware of in this vintage is that Swiss brands weren't known. It was the retailer that was far more known. So you bought a watch from Harrods, or Mappins or a famous jewellers. Kinda like if it was Ireland you'd buy a watch from say Brown Thomas, or Weirs, or Newbridge Silver with their name on the dial. The dials were blank of maker's marks. My one is seriously rare because it has the maker's name on the dial(more luck than judgement as in back in 91 when I got it I had even less of a clue). This was the case for most of Europe, retailer brands were far more important than the watchmaker brand. EG here's another I have from 1912 originally sold in Italy.
It has the brand on the dial near the the subsecond bit at the bottom, leaving the main top area free for the retailers name to be printed on later. Because it was printed on top of the enamel it wore away over the years. Americans were much more into the brand, though even there you could have the Brand X and Tiffany written on the dial as well. Whichever was more well known.
So if you see a "WW1 Trench watch made by Rolex" and it has it it on the dial? The ink on the Rolex bit is weeks old. never mind that Rolex of that era were meh. Look for Zenith, Longines, Helvetia, Hampden, Illinois, Waltham, Omega, movements. Way better.
TL;DR? Dealers can charge silly money for crap as you really have to be an anal bastid like me to know what to look for. One like that one of mine with all the correct original bits and bobs and a well known name, working like it should and ready to wear? Roughly between 800-1500 euro. But you have to know what you're looking for.Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.
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A bit hairy, but not really. I gather on instagram watch photos many of the men shave their wrists to better show off the watches in question. Eeh... Wut?
It depends F. Watches of that era because of the age involved can have many problems. Usually the wrong winding crowns and wrong hands, worn out innards etc.
Another thing to be aware of in this vintage is that Swiss brands weren't known. It was the retailer that was far more known. So you bought a watch from Harrods, or Mappins or a famous jewellers. Kinda like if it was Ireland you'd buy a watch from say Brown Thomas, or Weirs, or Newbridge Silver with their name on the dial. The dials were blank of maker's marks. My one is seriously rare because it has the maker's name on the dial(more luck than judgement as in back in 91 when I got it I had even less of a clue). This was the case for most of Europe, retailer brands were far more important than the watchmaker brand. EG here's another I have from 1912 originally sold in Italy.
It has the brand on the dial near the the subsecond bit at the bottom, leaving the main top area free for the retailers name to be printed on later. Because it was printed on top of the enamel it wore away over the years. Americans were much more into the brand, though even there you could have the Brand X and Tiffany written on the dial as well. Whichever was more well known.
So if you see a "WW1 Trench watch made by Rolex" and it has it it on the dial? The ink on the Rolex bit is weeks old. never mind that Rolex of that era were meh. Look for Zenith, Longines, Helvetia, Hampden, Illinois, Waltham, Omega, movements. Way better.
TL;DR? Dealers can charge silly money for crap as you really have to be an anal bastid like me to know what to look for. One like that one of mine with all the correct original bits and bobs and a well known name, working like it should and ready to wear? Roughly between 800-1500 euro. But you have to know what you're looking for.
Firstly, thanks a million for taking the time to share your knowledge, Wibbs.
I'm delighted to hear that price range....it is within the range the wife wouldn't go mad at me for!
I wouldn't usually be a fan of gold, but that second watch looks great with the brown leather. I'm curious on where you get your straps now too!
Would you mind if I sent a PM your way regarding where you'd suggest with regards to buying something like the first piece? I'd imagine on-thread recommendations may be questionable.0 -
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