Who Watches the Watchmen (Our Chit Chat Thread)

IrishPlayer · 24-10-2021 12:17PM

After having a great trip to the watch fair in Birmingham back in July, just after booking flights to attend the next one on the 28th November 2021!

Not staying over this time, getting the first Ryanair flight out that lands at 7:35am, the fair is held at the National Motor Cycle Museum which is only 5 minutes away, so should be there before 8 all going well. Getting the 7:35pm flight back so be a fun day trip! More information on the fair for anyone interested https://www.thebirminghamclockandwatchfair.com/

scwazrh · 24-10-2021 10:49PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118065259#Comment_118065259

Im away at the moment for 10 days and took 5 watches with me and most likely will buy one while away as well .

banie01 · 25-10-2021 06:27AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118069258#Comment_118069258

I'm only doing an overnighter but, the temptation was strong to bring 2 😂. I left it at the one I'm wearing even if the strap does make it...

A challenging aesthetic 🤫😂

The IWC and I will hopefully make it into a few spots in Belfast to peruse the watch stock and plan a purchase or 2, or maybe 3 if I can slip off the leash whilst the Mrs is shopping elsewhere 😁

unkel · 25-10-2021 04:34PM

Well? 😁

banie01 · 25-10-2021 04:59PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118071400#Comment_118071400

Not made it to anywhere other than the hotel just yet. Traveling didn't leave me feeling great so it was straight to the hotel for a lie down and a lot of painkillers 😣 Could barely manage walking from the station to the cab, so a wander around the shops this afternoon was off the cards altogether.

Not in the surgeon's until 1.30 tmrw, so I'm planning on having a stroll around Queens arcade and over to P&P before heading for the consult and depending what time I get out I may have some time to kill before the train back down too 👍

Blanchy90 · 25-10-2021 09:22PM

The father in law gave me this today, be thinks it's ww2 British military but doesn't have any other details.

It's not currently working so I'll have to do a bit of research and see what I can do. Either way it's a pretty cool piece

Wibbs · 26-10-2021 08:41AM

Well it's got the broadarrow stamp on the back so defo British military issue and around WW2 alright. These usually have a Lemania movement in them IIRC.

micks_address · 26-10-2021 11:46AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118069258#Comment_118069258

Do you not worry about them getting lost/stolen on holiday? how would insurance work out if they were?

banie01 · 26-10-2021 12:05PM

Made it in to P&P this morning. 1st off, the setting itself! Is utterly beautiful. If you enter via the stairway entrance and the Great Room.

That room alone, the plasterwork and stained glass is worth the visit to Belfast IMO. I am gutted I didn't book a night in the Merchant after seeing it's public spaces.

Great chat with Tim and gave him a little job in hunting for one of my next watches. I didn't take any photos of P&P other than that of the vault door.

Lunn's was a window shop as I found myself pressed for time 😉

scwazrh · 26-10-2021 01:41PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118074390#Comment_118074390

If one goes missing I don’t think there would be any issue with the insurance, if they all go missing I’m sure insurance would put up a fight. I’m in Tenerife and know the area I’m in very well , I’ve been a few times a year for the last 15 years so feel comfortable and obviously a good safe in the apartment.

There is a serious amount of Rolex been worn here. Went to a quite restaurant for lunch today and had my sub on , I counted 3 other subs , a hulk and a James Cameron.I wasn’t close enough to see if they were all real or not but they all had the Rolex glare and sparkle so would guess they are.

Ive had a couple of comments on my Panerai while here as well so watches do seem to be noticed and more prominent at the moment.

unkel · 26-10-2021 02:19PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118074390#Comment_118074390

As long as the watch is specifically mentioned with its value (official valuation or receipt) on your home insurance and is covered all risks, it is covered all risks. So it gets stolen on holiday abroad or falls off your wrist while swimming in the sea, it is covered.

VW 1 · 27-10-2021 09:31AM

I brought my gshock (G7900A) to a jewelers for a replacement battery this morning. They quoted me 75 euro as they'd have to send directly to Casio as it has to be resealed. Is this normal? The watch is 9 years old, so makes more sense to replace for 75 euro than pay 75 to get a battery. Is this normal for gshock?

unkel · 27-10-2021 10:38AM

€75 for a manufacturer replacement of the battery and a reseal (with receipt - this comes with an implied warranty) is a bargain 😂

But yeah if you don't want to spend that, go to your local jeweller, they will do it a good bit cheaper. Or just replace the battery yourself but don't go swimming with it any more. Or - hate to say it - if the watch is really cheap, just feck it out or give it away for free and buy another one.

27-10-2021 11:37AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118078872#Comment_118078872

They were clueless.

It's a panel-back case - 4 screws secure the case back. The screws in this model are obscured by the "wings" so most likely they took a cursory glance at the back, couldn't see the screws and gave up. Which would give me very little confidence in their experience.

You can change it yourself with a small screwdriver, it takes a CR2025. A child can do it.

If a watch is valuable or a safety item (eg dive equipment) then a pressure test after battery change is important. It's not necessary for a cheap G-Shock. Due to the panel-back design there is no twisting of the gasket, the chance of fecking it up is extremely low. You don't even have to lube the gasket, inspect it and if it's good then reuse.

FYI a cheap G-Shock is not pressure tested at point of manufacture either, the caseback is screwed on and that's it. If you are happy to swim with a brand new one then you should be equally confident to swim with one that you've changed battery on.

VW 1 · 27-10-2021 11:55AM

Interesting, thanks both. I'll order the battery and do it myself so. I don't generally swim, nor do I shower with a watch on, so the pressure test is relatively redundant anyway. Have had the watch 9 years and was the first birthday present I received from my now wife, so wouldn't want to chuck it for sentimental reasons!

27-10-2021 01:10PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118079721#Comment_118079721

Here's a video, it's self-explanatory. Some people leave the wings on and work around them but I would remove them for the sake of neatness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yll7NIp-sMU

To open the battery flap you need to pry a latch off it's retainer (0:21).

Don't use a conductive tweezers to handle the battery (guy in the video does...).

There's a tiny spring (circled), on this particular model I believe it can't fall out but keep an eye on it (and keep the watch level) in case i'm wrong.

At 0:27 he does the AC reset, which involves touch a metal tweezers (or paperclip etc) to back shield and to a particular pad. Reboots the watch. It's only necessary if the watch has booted up with a garbled screen. Most of the time you don't even need to do it.

Tighten the caseback screws in a diagonal pattern and don't overtighten them.

VW 1 · 27-10-2021 02:27PM

Thanks a million. This corner of the forum and the helpful advice/kindness that always follows gives me faith in humanity!

Cyclingtourist · 27-10-2021 10:12PM

New video by Adrian at Bark & Jack. I watched it and thought it was not the normal fare. Kind of wide screen hi-definition and then there's the content. Adrian inviting some guy into what looks like his country home for coffee and to tell him about his fascination with cool watches.

It's apparently some kind of promo for Ebay and their watch 'authenticity' service.

Favourite watches in my collection + new purchase - YouTube

Personally I find his videos rather boring and lacking in entertainment value.

Wibbs · 28-10-2021 08:56AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118083048#Comment_118083048

Yeah. I'd say the service is almost entirely aimed at current and recent models from Omega and Rolex, especially the latter to weed out the fakes and to keep confidence in the market. The vintage realm is far too deep a dive for such a service. Any such service would need a suite of experts and even then dodgy ones would get through. Plus outside of outlets like hodinkee that market is currently stagnant.

VW 1 · 28-10-2021 10:52AM

I took delivery of a letter on the 23rd about a customs charge on some Barton straps I ordered, letting me know I needed to make payment or the item would be returned to sender. The straps arrived this morning, is the customs charge a mandatory thing, or just something you need to pay to get an item released? Ie, do customs follow up for payment regardless?

banie01 · 28-10-2021 11:07AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118084536#Comment_118084536

I don't know, it is supposed to be mandatory and items not released until charges paid. That said, I have heard of lots of stuff generating the charge but being delivered without payment.

On a related note, I have an order from Amazon.de that was shipped from India, but! Which was charged VAT at the Irish rate of 23% and it's showing on the tracker as held by customs for a charge. Nothing has dropped for me just yet tho and when it does I'll fire on the VAT paid invoice.

It would seem everything with remotely incomplete or suspect declaration paperwork is being held and generating a charge or a Return to sender.

Blanchy90 · 28-10-2021 11:51AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118084536#Comment_118084536

Depends who delivered it, An Post are supposed to charge before they give it to you but Fedex pay it and send you a bill a few weeks later

Wibbs · 30-10-2021 08:15AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118092957#Comment_118092957

Oh sure OG, but it's going to be almost entirely aimed at the "I don't want to get stung by a snide Rolex" in the current market. That's where the market focus is. Now TAG are being faked alright, but the biggest fake market by far is Rolex and the fakers are getting better at it. Without such authenticity services the dealers know that market confidence could be a problem.

Just up the page Swarzrh on holliers(lucky bastid😁) said this: There is a serious amount of Rolex been worn here. Went to a quite restaurant for lunch today and had my sub on , I counted 3 other subs , a hulk and a James Cameron.I wasn’t close enough to see if they were all real or not but they all had the Rolex glare and sparkle so would guess they are.

"Rolex" and "fake" have become synonymous in the wider public's mind until proven otherwise. Given the cray cray price increases of late in what is an artificial market high mostly driven by dealers and flippers that association is one of the bigger threats to the market.

Wibbs · 30-10-2021 09:09AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118093100#Comment_118093100

Vintage is a complete minefield OG. I'd bet the farm their expertise in that area is not much above covering their own arses. When the Antiques Roadshow and their team of backroom experts can come out with howlers around vintage watches it's a problem. The list of frankens and even outright fakes that have passed through august auction houses* and top line dealers is a long one and those examples would be well known models for the most part. Go to speciality vintage forums and a topic like "how to spot a fake [insert model here] could run to a dozen pages and some grey areas. Plus you can have perfectly fine examples that because of age would have had crystals replaced(fine), dials replaced(not so fine). I would reckon that other than fashion and the market cycle changing one of the biggest reasons the vintage market is more stagnant of late is down to lack of consumer confidence.

*I would never buy a watch through an auction house speciality sale. That sales avenue is about the least protected for the consumer and is full of dodgy dealings. You've significantly more comeback as a buyer buying off ebay from a complete stranger.

Lorddrakul · 30-10-2021 12:45PM

Ordered 2 pairs of generic 20mm end links from a UK place, which, with postage, came to a total of €24.42

Curiously, An Post delivered it alongside a "customs" charge. The charge was actually VAT at €5.61, and An Post admin fee of €3.50.

Now, all the info on this is about how your item won't be delivered if you don't pay the fee etc, and yet they both came through the letter box at the same time.

Also, it's a bit **** rich charging €3.50 to collect a fiver in VAT, when it is done online via card. That should be a maximum transaction fee of 50 cents.

Gouging feckers! It's almost as if they don't want us trading with the UK anymore.

Cyclingtourist · 31-10-2021 11:00AM

Quartz Crisis? What crisis, it was a f€cken revolution.

Top left is the Steinhart automatic (€480) just out of the watch winder and it's an hour + a couple of minutes fast. Top right is a Citizen Eco-Drive (€98) that was lying in a watch box for 6 months and needed an hour or two on the windowsill and resetting. Bottom left is a Casio Wave Ceptor (€80) that shows the perfect time/day/date without any human intervention and bottom right is the Hamilton Khaki Field (€300) that needs hand-winding twice a week and only shows the correct time because I reset it using the watch to its left.

Quartz is great, low maintenance, lower priced, more accurate, can be adapted to show atomic time..........

Roycropper63 · 31-10-2021 09:11PM

ct i share the casio and citizen. nice to have as part of my small collection.

Cyclingtourist · 31-10-2021 09:49PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099569#Comment_118099569

Both fantastic watches, a perfect field watch and an atomic timepiece perpetual calendar that's got a light for viewing the time in the middle of the night.

Anyone on a tight budget would be doing well buying either.

Cyrus · 01-11-2021 08:23AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118093813#Comment_118093813

The couriers charge 15 I think

banie01 · 01-11-2021 08:50AM

Almost completely slipped my mind. P&P have listed my VC and now the wait to see if their confidence regarding price is correct? Begins 😉

I know they are pro's and selling is their game but, their photos really do make it pop. I think in our little corner, I'm the guinea pig for their consignment service? So I'll be sure to keep everyone abreast of how it goes.

https://chrono24.app/vacheronconstantin/overseas--id21292247.htm?SETLANG=en_GB&SETCURR=GBP

Who Watches the Watchmen (Our Chit Chat Thread)

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