Watches - Are These the Best of Times or Worst of Times?

[Ken1951]

Do I look at my iPhone on occasion to see the time? Sure, very occasionally. I look at my watch all the time. I love its look and the way it feels on my wrist. I've been looking at getting a new watch recently but really haven't found anything I like more than the one I wear every day since I bought it in August of 2001. It's a Breitling Super Ocean #A17340. It has a classic look and weight and even though I only snorkel, it has a rated depth of 1000 Meters!

But to state that nobody uses a watch and only uses their phone is simply foolish.

 

[Frank Dernie]

Why not?

I don't always bother to have my phone with me and my wife simply hates having anything that doesn't work if she forgets to charge it, which is always, and threw her mobile phone away and went back to the one bolted to the wall in our snug.

 

[blucupp]

I don't always bother to have my phone with me and my wife simply hates having anything the doesn't work if she forgets to charge it, which is always, and threw her mobile phone away and went back to the one bolted to the wall in our snug.

i have a huge collection of watches and cant really wear them all. So I’ll probably auction them off and give the money to a charity.

They were acquired through years of searching and collecting but I enjoyed the hunt more than actually owning them.

Same with my car collection. But that I will let my kids deal with when I pass on.

 

[Matias]

I don't care at all about watches since functionally I use my cell phone to check the time.

But the YT algorithm sent me this gem yesterday, I don't understand anything about this market, but it was entertaining enough. Grab your popcorn and hit play.

 

[Leon74]

Why not?

Not everybody carries his/her smartphone 24/7. Thank god.

 

[WillBrink]

I can't speak to the total numbers as I don't track them, but like LPs, there seems to be a resurgence in interest in mechanical watches due to various reasons. I always have on a mechanical watch, been a watch fan all my life. I try to limit the collection to 5-6 as to not get out of control as it's a very expensive hobby. I feel naked without a watch on, and have no interest in smart watches myself. My father always had a gold pocket watch his father left to him. Latest is fun micro brand using Fordite face:

 

[WillBrink]

Not everybody carries his/her smartphone 24/7. Thank god.

I'm sad to report I do even though I always have on a mechanical watch too.

 

[Leon74]

I can't speak to the total numbers as I don't track them, but like LPs, there seems to be a resurgence in interest in mechanical watches due to various reasons. I always have on a mechanical watch, been a watch fan all my life. I try to limit the collection to 5-6 as to not get out of control as it's a very expensive hobby. I feel naked without a watch on, and have no interest in smart watches myself. My father always had a gold pocket watch his father left to him. Latest is fun micro brand using Fordite face:

Really nice! I'm still dreaming of acquiring a jump hour watch:

 

[Dialectic]

i have a huge collection of watches and cant really wear them all. So I’ll probably auction them off and give the money to a charity.

They were acquired through years of searching and collecting but I enjoyed the hunt more than actually owning them.

Same with my car collection. But that I will let my kids deal with when I pass on.

Like expensive cars, expensive watches are often a PITA. I live in a wealthy suburb of NYC. Even here, it is difficult to find a technician competent to service a mechanical watch.

I have a few "nice" watches but always default to wearing a solar Casio G Shock, which never requires service and is indestructible in my everyday activities.

The phenomenon of low-status people buying mechanical watches with credit seems to have diminished the allure of these trinkets to the affluent. No one seems to be judging me for wearing the Casio.

 

[Joe Smith]

I think it was Bill Clinton who sported a Timex Ironman all during the campaign season in '91 and '92...as President, he wore more expensive models...but I still own an Ironman, I thought they were cool at the time (kind of a poor man's G-Shock).

I have a number of current basic steel & plated resin Casio digitals, which I use as my knockaround watches...the one with the good nightlight comes in handy sometimes.

I have a bone to pick with Casio...it seems they just WON'T do a modern digital in an all-steel case for less than $150 MSRP. I just won't pay that much when you can get a lovely Roman dial watch with a VH31 movement in all steel for $50-60. I think if they did a $70 all-steel version of their A158 or A168 basic digitals, they would sell very well.

I also find the quartz movements in the inexpensive Casios gain or lose about a second a day, which is far more variation than I am getting from the inexpensive Chinese quartz watches I bought recently. It's not bad for a $20 watch, but the competition brings the heat as far as accuracy.

 

[Leon74]

I'm sad to report I do even though I always have on a mechanical watch too.

I got used to it I always used to ask my husband if he is a doctor and needs to carry his phone all the time for his patients, but I have given up... somehow it really annoyed me and sometimes still does when he thinks he has to answer messages from his pupils or colleagues at 23 hrs or when we are eating, but implementing the rule "no phones while eating or drinking a coffee together" works well. I myself can't imagine carrying "the monster" with me 24/7. That would feel like a serious assault on liberty. My husband uses his phone for everything, even as an alarm clock. I'm too old-fashioned or conservative for that. He is 60, I am 50

 

[WillBrink]

Like expensive cars, expensive watches are often a PITA. I live in a wealthy suburb of NYC. Even here, it is difficult to find a technician competent to service a mechanical watch.

I have a few "nice" watches but always default to wearing a solar Casio G Shock, which never requires service and is indestructible in my everyday activities.

The phenomenon of low-status people buying mechanical watches with credit seems to have diminished the allure of these trinkets to the affluent. No one seems to be judging me for wearing the Casio.

In 40+ years of owning mechanical watches cheap and expensive, not a one has required service. Two, there's tons of people in NYC that can service one, especially if the watch is using usual third party movements, which is the norm. Can't speak to your particular location in the burbs. If the watch contains an inhouse movement, then yes, you have to find someone with experience working on that movement, or send it to the maker for service. There's debate among watch owners as to whether any watch requires servicing and most lean toward not bothering unless the watch stops working. Modern materials, lubes, etc means watches will run longer than their owners. Back in the day, you sent your expensive watch out for service every X number of years. Most don't bother any more.

 

[Multicore]

i have a huge collection of watches and cant really wear them all.

I have started trying to wear two at a time, both on the left wrist, one face out and the other face in, so I didn't have to twist my arm so much or to give me a choice of which way to twist it. It looks odd but many of my watches look odd anyway.

Give it a go. You might enjoy it.

 

[Multicore]

I have a bone to pick with Casio...it seems they just WON'T do a modern digital in an all-steel case for less than $150 MSRP. I just won't pay that much when you can get a lovely Roman dial watch with a VH31 movement in all steel for $50-60.

Now you got me thinking. I want a Casio G-Shock that displays Roman numerals.

 

[pablolie]

Do I look at my iPhone on occasion to see the time? Sure, very occasionally. I look at my watch all the time. I love its look and the way it feels on my wrist. I've been looking at getting a new watch recently but really haven't found anything I like more than the one I wear every day since I bought it in August of 2001. It's a Breitling Super Ocean #A17340. It has a classic look and weight and even though I only snorkel, it has a rated depth of 1000 Meters!

But to state that nobody uses a watch and only uses their phone is simply foolish.

I look at my watch very often. Naturally to tell the time (to look at one's wrist is immediate, grabbing a smartphone out of my pocket is not), but also because I *like* looking at my mechanical watches. Nothing with batteries need apply on my wrist.

The high-end watch industry went through a similar phase in the 1970s, when quartz watches became the rage. Most high end brands came out with quartz movements, Blancpain was one of the few stalwarts surviving on mechanical only... until the appreciation for the art of watchmaking returned. I don't think smartphones and watches -especially mechanical ones- truly compete.

 

[Multicore]

I don't care at all about watches since functionally I use my cell phone to check the time.

But the YT algorithm sent me this gem yesterday, I don't understand anything about this market, but it was entertaining enough. Grab your popcorn and hit play.

That is ... entirely incomprehensible. I have no idea what this maniac is gibbering about. None. How is that entertaining?

 

[WillBrink]

FYI, the bubble seems to have popped for those interested. And yet, AD by said there's no faster time if one is on "the list" for a Rolex. The crazy bubble of people paying well over retail for used Rolex and a few others may have popped, does not seem to have impacted demand for those watches new from what I'm seeing. Secondary market may have softened and that's a good thing! I only purchase new myself.

 

[JiiPee]

I look at my watch very often. Naturally to tell the time (to look at one's wrist is immediate, grabbing a smartphone out of my pocket is not), but also because I *like* looking at my mechanical watches. Nothing with batteries need apply on my wrist.

The high-end watch industry went through a similar phase in the 1970s, when quartz watches became the rage. Most high end brands came out with quartz movements, Blancpain was one of the few stalwarts surviving on mechanical only... until the appreciation for the art of watchmaking returned. I don't think smartphones and watches -especially mechanical ones- truly compete.

Well, actually the original BlancPain did not survive. It became part of SIHH in 1971, and SIHH decided to discontinue BlacPain as a watch brand in 1975. Eventually, the brand was completely dissolved, and the assets were absorbed under the Omega brand.

In 1983, SIHH sold the brand name to Jean-Claude Biver and Jaques Piguet, who started a new operation with the Name BlancPain SA. This is not uncommon in Swiss watch industry, because an old brand name is seen as adding prestige to the company. For example, Breguet is another venerable band name with somewhat similar history.

Afaik, The BlancPain slogan that they have never made a quartz watch is true as such, however...

 

[blucupp]

I have started trying to wear two at a time, both on the left wrist, one face out and the other face in, so I didn't have to twist my arm so much or to give me a choice of which way to twist it. It looks odd but many of my watches look odd anyway.

Give it a go. You might enjoy it.

I’ll stick to watches with military provenance and exotic cars.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

I wear a watch. It comes from nearly 70 years experience starting with a Mickey Mouse watch. It's a reflex for me to look at my left wrist. I could use my phone. For many years I used my grandfather's Howard pocket watch before going to quartz on my wrist. I find looking at my wrist more convenient than getting the phone out of my jeans pocket. Because I love fountain pens I understand the love of high end mechanical watches. There's a combination of engineering and design excellence there. Mechanical watch movements are cool. Aside from the aesthetic appeal of an elegant engineering design, good mechanical watches can be a pleasure to look at.