Watches! What do y'all have on your wrists?

[A Surfer]

For my birthday a Citizen Eco-Drive Super Titanium Armor (model CA7058-55E with movement B642).

This was the outcome of a long process of dealing with requirement specs, product research and failed trials.

• I prefer Citizen Eco-Drive and probably don't need to explain myself on that.
• I needed
  • Highly legible time display. I've a Citizen Absurd Atomic Everything Promaster that's great but not legible enough. In good light with my reading glasses I can get the time out of it in a few seconds. That's not good enough for the application in hand. I need something I can take a momentary glace under almost any conditions at and know the time.
  • Protected crown. My most elegant watch is a Hamilton Jazzmaster which is great. It's superbly legible too but from time to time and for no reason it stops because the crown got pulled out a click, dunno how but it's happened a few times. That makes it essentially unreliable.
  • Smooth integration of the band and case. I've a highly legible Citizen Garrison Weekender that's great with a partly protected crown and is excellently legible but the strap attaches with conventional lugs and spring pins and one time the strap detached under a tricky condition getting a J/M shelter dog through a door. I got it in my pocket and was able to put it back together later with a utility knife blade but...

This new one is big for my girlish wrists and hands but I'm getting on really well with it. It's more comfortable than all my other watches, which I cannot usually wear all day for comfort reasons. That's a well protected crown, wouldn't you say? Rotate the bezel, which has 4 detents, 90 degrees to reveal the half-recessed crown and chrono buttons. It's 105g, a good bit lighter than my Absurd Atomic Everything Promaster and light enough to ignore.

Bezel in normal position:

View attachment 553156


Bezel rotated for crown and button access:

View attachment 553161

It's a very well styled and appointed watch. I would absolutely love to wear one. Great choice. I used to sell Citizen Eco Drive watches as well as the Seiko Kinetic line many years ago as a young man working in a small family jewellery chain of 5 shops in one city.

 

[Soundproof]

I'm having my late father's watch serviced. It is a Longines Conquest Munich 1972.
Seems to be a collector's item of considerable value. (est. 2-4 K Euro) But it is defective now, so in this state no value.

View attachment 530380

A good one for keeps

Believe SInger are using the same base caliber (restored Valjoux 236) in the Singer reimagined?

Valjoux 236 – Singer Reimagined

The chronograph Valjoux 236 is more than a movement. It is a voice from the golden age of watchmaking. Restored and reimagined the Singer way, every component is dismantled, examined, and hand-finished using classical techniques to high horology standards.

singerreimagined.com

 

[xanalog]

I feel no shame after last repair of ~$500 which failed again in the 13th month.

 

[bogart]

A good one for keeps

Believe SInger are using the same base caliber (restored Valjoux 236) in the Singer reimagined?

Valjoux 236 – Singer Reimagined

The chronograph Valjoux 236 is more than a movement. It is a voice from the golden age of watchmaking. Restored and reimagined the Singer way, every component is dismantled, examined, and hand-finished using classical techniques to high horology standards.

singerreimagined.com

I wasn't familiar with Singer and briefly got excited about their designs. Quick check on Chrono24 told me it's a "look don't touch" option Thanks for sharing it!

 

[Soundproof]

I wasn't familiar with Singer and briefly got excited about their designs. Quick check on Chrono24 told me it's a "look don't touch" option Thanks for sharing it!

By chance, I was able to connect some dots, glad you enjoyed it. Entirely disregarding certain aspects of it all, there's fun to be had at most levels. I find watchprosite pleasant, A LOT of way beyond great watches, and bad style to talk about pricetags.

 

[xanalog]

OpenAI founder Sam Altman is also a watch guy, whose wrist has sported styles including a roughly $650,000 piece from Swiss maker, Greubel Forsey.
Another watch in Altman’s arsenal is more personal—a custom design with OpenAI branding that was created earlier this year by Vanguart, an eight-year-old Swiss watchmaker. Altman ordered seven to be made.

Modeled after Vanguart’s titanium Orb watch, which starts at $180,000, the OpenAI timepieces were for select company personnel. Roughly a third of Vanguart’s 33 employees worked on the OpenAI pro ect, said Mehmet Koruturk, chairman and co-founder of the watch company. The timepieces have the ability to switch between automatic and manual winding. Several geeky flourishes were added, including a quote attributed to Altman, “COMPUTE IS DESTINY,” which was engraved in capital letters around each watch’s rotor.

 

[pablolie]

View attachment 555714
I feel no shame after last repair of ~$500 which failed again in the 13th month.

Weird, my Bell & Ross BR-01 Big Date hasn't needed a service in close to 20 years, uses a good reliable ETA 2896.

 

[Soundproof]

OpenAI founder Sam Altman is also a watch guy, whose wrist has sported styles including a roughly $650,000 piece from Swiss maker, Greubel Forsey.
Another watch in Altman’s arsenal is more personal—a custom design with OpenAI branding that was created earlier this year by Vanguart, an eight-year-old Swiss watchmaker. Altman ordered seven to be made.

View attachment 556086
Modeled after Vanguart’s titanium Orb watch, which starts at $180,000, the OpenAI timepieces were for select company personnel. Roughly a third of Vanguart’s 33 employees worked on the OpenAI pro ect, said Mehmet Koruturk, chairman and co-founder of the watch company. The timepieces have the ability to switch between automatic and manual winding. Several geeky flourishes were added, including a quote attributed to Altman, “COMPUTE IS DESTINY,” which was engraved in capital letters around each watch’s rotor.

Don't know about S.A. but some of these guys aren't really lifelong horologists. It's a fashion and a bit of competition between those with funds making this petty cash. Some of them got their watch-guys curating their collections for them. It's a peacock thing and not much else. The true horolgists aren't really that impressed I believe.

 

[Kremmen]

OpenAI founder Sam Altman is also a watch guy, whose wrist has sported styles including a roughly $650,000 piece from Swiss maker, Greubel Forsey.
Another watch in Altman’s arsenal is more personal—a custom design with OpenAI branding that was created earlier this year by Vanguart, an eight-year-old Swiss watchmaker. Altman ordered seven to be made.

View attachment 556086
Modeled after Vanguart’s titanium Orb watch, which starts at $180,000, the OpenAI timepieces were for select company personnel. Roughly a third of Vanguart’s 33 employees worked on the OpenAI pro ect, said Mehmet Koruturk, chairman and co-founder of the watch company. The timepieces have the ability to switch between automatic and manual winding. Several geeky flourishes were added, including a quote attributed to Altman, “COMPUTE IS DESTINY,” which was engraved in capital letters around each watch’s rotor.

"Another watch in Altman’s arsenal is more personal—a custom design with OpenAI branding that was created earlier this year by Vanguart, an eight-year-old Swiss watchmaker."

That kid has real talent!

 

[Soundproof]

"Another watch in Altman’s arsenal is more personal—a custom design with OpenAI branding that was created earlier this year by Vanguart, an eight-year-old Swiss watchmaker."

That kid has real talent!

You should have seen me in action at 6. I could take apart a watch in 3 minutes. Needed 1 hour for a tube radio. Did I mention I could run fast?

 

[pablolie]

OpenAI founder Sam Altman is also a watch guy, whose wrist has sported styles including a roughly $650,000 piece from Swiss maker, Greubel Forsey.
Another watch in Altman’s arsenal is more personal—a custom design with OpenAI branding that was created earlier this year by Vanguart, an eight-year-old Swiss watchmaker. Altman ordered seven to be made.

View attachment 556086
Modeled after Vanguart’s titanium Orb watch, which starts at $180,000, the OpenAI timepieces were for select company personnel. Roughly a third of Vanguart’s 33 employees worked on the OpenAI pro ect, said Mehmet Koruturk, chairman and co-founder of the watch company. The timepieces have the ability to switch between automatic and manual winding. Several geeky flourishes were added, including a quote attributed to Altman, “COMPUTE IS DESTINY,” which was engraved in capital letters around each watch’s rotor.

Not a fan of these new age unreadable designs. Form before function at such a price point seems a travesti to me.

 

[xanalog]

Weird, my Bell & Ross BR-01 Big Date hasn't needed a service in close to 20 years, uses a good reliable ETA 2896.

My DOA BR03-92 was originally confirmed to have the (2009) ETA2892-A2... before B&R moved to rebranding that movement "BR-CAL.302".
For all I know, B&R service (FL) stuffed the later BR-CAL.302 movement, during one of the repairs.
(No, you don't get the replaced movement back (...even upon request)).
I know I am hard on watches, but I used to not buy them for vanity' sake.

 

[xanalog]

Not a fan of these new age unreadable designs. Form before function at such a price point seems a travesti to me.

It just says ""Ich habe den großen Schwanz"...

Don't know about S.A. but some of these guys aren't really lifelong horologists. It's a fashion and a bit of competition between those with funds making this petty cash. Some of them got their watch-guys curating their collections for them. It's a peacock thing and not much else. The true horolgists aren't really that impressed I believe.

I am thinking that most Formula1 drivers get their watches from sponsors au gratis and they can't really say the above.

 

[pablolie]

My DOA BR03-92 was originally confirmed to have the (2009) ETA2892-A2... before B&R moved to rebranding that movement "BR-CAL.302".
For all I know, B&R service (FL) stuffed the later BR-CAL.302 movement, during one of the repairs.
(No, you don't get the replaced movement back (...even upon request)).
I know I am hard on watches, but I used to not buy them for vanity' sake.

There are many great independent shops that do better work (and much cheaper) than the official service shops. Find a good one and trust them after.

Official brand shops are stupidly overpriced. It's like 2k these days to do very little on a Panerai, which they "recommend" to send in every 3 years. No way.

 

[JiiPee]

Don't know about S.A. but some of these guys aren't really lifelong horologists. It's a fashion and a bit of competition between those with funds making this petty cash. Some of them got their watch-guys curating their collections for them. It's a peacock thing and not much else. The true horolgists aren't really that impressed I believe.

"It is the business of a wealthy man to give employment to the artisan." - Hilaire Belloc

Most super-expensive stuff - be they watches, cars, HiFi gear, or whatever - do not go to knowledgeable aficionados, but to rich collectors, who acquire them as investments, status symbols, conversation pieces etc...

One can think it is kind of shame, but then again, without those rich guys, many of the beloved high-end watch makers could not survive.

 

[Soundproof]

"It is the business of a wealthy man to give employment to the artisan." - Hilaire Belloc

Most super-expensive stuff - be they watches, cars, HiFi gear, or whatever - do not go to knowledgeable aficionados, but to rich collectors, who acquire them as investments, status symbols, conversation pieces etc...

One can think it is kind of shame, but then again, without those rich guys, many of the beloved high-end watch makers could not survive.

Breguet would have known that for sure, and that aspect of the Medicis is nothing but fantastic. I have no problem whatsoever with it, I just wanted to point it out as a phenomenon.

For luxury brands, this is also about brand building. These exclusive sales strategies defines the pricing of what's sold to the average millionaire. Ferrari have been doing this for a few years now. So has Rolex, Patek Philippe have been doing for much longer. Both which not that long ago cut back their production to protect the inavailability.

Meanwhile, enjoy what's on your wrists.

 

[Vl_Po]

Old Swatch watches. More than 25 years with me. I like them

 

[PatentLawyer]

I wasn't familiar with Singer and briefly got excited about their designs. Quick check on Chrono24 told me it's a "look don't touch" option Thanks for sharing it!

This looks like the same Singer that “restomods” Porsche 911s? A guy in my neighborhood has one and I got lightheaded when I looked that up.

 

[Soundproof]

This looks like the same Singer that “restomods” Porsche 911s? A guy in my neighborhood has one and I got lightheaded when I looked that up.

It's a branch of the same company, yes. The watch branch is based in Geneva. Still a youngster though, approaching 10.

 

[JiiPee]

On wrist today: IWC 3714-32 Laureus Edition with an aftermarket strap for casual summer usage.

The original leather strap will soon be back for cooler days and smarter attire.