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

[watchnerd]

Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Black Dial Men's Watch H70555533 H70555533 - Watches, Hamilton - Jomashop
View attachment 100694

Does it hack?

Edit: Yes, the ETA C07.111 hacks.

 

[michaelahess]

I vary it up a bit. My EDC is a Garmin Fenix 5s.

Then I go solar sometimes with my Seiko Excelsior or new Star Wars Citizen, love you honey!

Then I go mechanical from time to time with my Stuhrling or Perigaum automatics.

My fall back for doing rough stuff is of course the unkillable G-Shock.

 

[watchnerd]

I vary it up a bit. My EDC is a Garmin Fenix 5s.

Then I go solar sometimes with my Seiko Excelsior or new Star Wars Citizen, love you honey!

Then I go mechanical from time to time with my Stuhrling or Perigaum automatics.

My fall back for doing rough stuff is of course the unkillable G-Shock.
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I once found a G-shock at 8 meters under water inside a shipwreck.

It was crushed under a piece of rusted metal with a cut strap. I guess some diver got stuck and cut if off.

Watch looked busted, but when I took it to the surface, it was still operational after who knows how long it had been down there.

 

[MRC01]

...If there are fewer total beats due to traveling at relativist velocities, the total error rate should change relative to more beats in the earth frame.
Obviously, yes, within their own reference from frame its moot.

Exactly. With relativistic time shift, the beats slow down exactly as much as time itself slows down so it doesn't change. It doesn't matter whether it's a mechanical oscillator or vibrations from a quartz crystal.

... Does a purely mechanical watch drift more in 1 day* than a quartz watch drifts in 1 year? ...

The short answer is no. The difference in accuracy is only about 4:1. That is, the best mechanical watches are +/- 2 sec per day, quartz around +/- 0.5. That's plus or minus, they can speed up or slow down on any given day, so I don't see how relativity could play a role.

 

[watchnerd]

Exactly. With relativistic time shift, the beats slow down exactly as much as time itself slows down so it doesn't change. It doesn't matter whether it's a mechanical oscillator or vibrations from a quartz crystal.

Oh, I know.

I'm just trying think of all those guys who allegedly got captured in the Bermuda Triangle and kidnapped by aliens wearing pre-quartz watches.

Screenplay fodder.

 

[MRC01]

Ah, I just thought of a difference. Mechanical and Quartz watches have different weaknesses. For mechanical it's mainly physical accelerations, whether gravity or motion, and how much it affects accuracy depends on the strength & orientation. For quartz it's mainly temperature. And each of these "weaknesses" doesn't affect the other as much.

One nice thing about mechanicals is that they should still work after a powerful EMP. So if somebody lights off a nuke in the upper atmosphere, those of us with mechanical watches will still be able to keep time during the aftermath.

 

[raistlin65]

I vary it up a bit. My EDC is a Garmin Fenix 5s.

Then I go solar sometimes with my Seiko Excelsior or new Star Wars Citizen, love you honey!

Then I go mechanical from time to time with my Stuhrling or Perigaum automatics.

My fall back for doing rough stuff is of course the unkillable G-Shock.
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We need wrist shots!

 

[watchnerd]

One nice thing about mechanicals is that they should still work after a powerful EMP. So if somebody lights off a nuke in the upper atmosphere, those of us with mechanical watches will still be able to keep time during the aftermath.

Yeah, I've thought of that, as well.

And then I realize that, under those circumstances, a sundial may be good enough.

 

[milw50717]

The workhorse

 

[MRC01]

Some day I want to get a watch with bronze and meteorite elements. One to honor history, the first metal (actually, alloy) humans mastered. The other to wear a piece of the distant universe.
Something like this, but less blingy: https://zeloswatches.com/collections/mako/products/mako-v3-300m-bronze-meteorite

 

[watchnerd]

Some day I want to get a watch with bronze and meteorite elements. One to honor history, the first metal (actually, alloy) humans mastered. The other to wear a piece of the distant universe.
Something like this, but less blingy: https://zeloswatches.com/collections/mako/products/mako-v3-300m-bronze-meteorite

The SS version isn't too blingy.

 

[milw50717]

One nice thing about mechanicals is that they should still work after a powerful EMP. So if somebody lights off a nuke in the upper atmosphere, those of us with mechanical watches will still be able to keep time during the aftermath.

EMP could affect mechanical watches if the movement gets magnetized. Some mechanical watches are effectively faraday cages - Rolex Milgauss or the Omega 53 6B/542 watches that were used by RAF.

 

[watchnerd]

EMP could affect mechanical watches if the movement gets magnetized. Some mechanical watches are effectively faraday cages - Rolex Milgauss or the Omega 53 6B/542 watches that were used by RAF.

View attachment 100716

Yeah, my Sinn watches also have magnetic protection features.

 

[MRC01]

EMP could affect mechanical watches if the movement gets magnetized. Some mechanical watches are effectively faraday cages - Rolex Milgauss or the Omega 53 6B/542 watches that were used by RAF.
...

True, also some Ball watches are designed to be less affected by magnetic fields. Either type (quartz or mechanical) can be shielded against EMP. However, an unshielded mechanical watch is more robust against EMP than an unshielded quartz watch. The quartz will be destroyed (at least its circuit will be), while the mechanical will still run. It will be less accurate until it's demagnetized.

Related question: can you demagnetize a watch with a regular old wand-style tape deck demagnetizer?

 

[SinnerSaint]

The Bulova 23 "USA 1956":
just like me!

B-day gift to myself this year.
Don't like numerals nor date on dial; not even second hands [didn't find a '56 w/o; though at least it doesn't have a separate dial for seconds either].
Sunburst dial was a bonus.

Luminous hands no longer glow...
just like me as well!!

 

[watchnerd]

View attachment 100718
The Bulova 23 "USA 1956":
just like me!

B-day gift to myself this year.
Don't like numerals nor date on dial; not even second hands [didn't find a '56 w/o; though at least it doesn't have a separate dial for seconds either].
Sunburst dial was a bonus.

Luminous hands no longer glow...
just like me as well!!

You just reminded me I have a Bulova Accutron lying around somewhere.

It was the first electric watch.

 

[milw50717]

Related question: can you demagnetize a watch with a regular old wand-style tape deck demagnetizer?

I'm not sure about wand style demagnitizers, but certainly the ones like this work

 

[MRC01]

Yes, they [spring drive] are different.
Which is probably why mine broke -- generation 1 of a new technology.

I was thinking about Spring Drive...

Nothing in the movement ever reverses direction or stops. Everything is continually spinning, even the balance wheel. This should promote longevity because it should keep all lubricated bearings and pivots hydrodynamic (due to relative motion & film strength). That means no physical contact. In contrast, a conventional balance wheel and hairspring reverses direction several times each second. This means it is momentarily stopped, which causes physical contact because lube film strength relies on relative motion. Like waterskis hold you up only when moving; when the boat stops you sink back into the water.

Since everything in Spring Drive is always rotating in the same direction, never slowing or stopping, it should last pretty much forever. And the perfectly smooth second hand sweep is a natural result of this. It's a brilliant idea, powering a quartz watch by a mechanical coil spring, having no battery or capacitor.

PS: explanation how it works, for those who are curious. At 4:30 he explains the piezoelectric effect. At 7:50 he starts the spring drive specific part.

 

[Frank Dernie]

I was thinking about Spring Drive...

Nothing in the movement ever reverses direction or stops. Everything is continually spinning, even the balance wheel. This should promote longevity because it should keep all lubricated bearings and pivots hydrodynamic (due to relative motion & film strength). That means no physical contact. In contrast, a conventional balance wheel and hairspring reverses direction several times each second. This means it is momentarily stopped, which causes physical contact because lube film strength relies on relative motion. Like waterskis hold you up only when moving; when the boat stops you sink back into the water.

Since everything in Spring Drive is always rotating in the same direction, never slowing or stopping, it should last pretty much forever. And the perfectly smooth second hand sweep is a natural result of this. It's a brilliant idea, powering a quartz watch by a mechanical coil spring, having no battery or capacitor.

PS: explanation how it works, for those who are curious. At 4:30 he explains the piezoelectric effect. At 7:50 he starts the spring drive specific part.

I like nicely made engineering so looked into Grand Seiko, when I read how spring drive works a while ago I just thought "why bother?".
It may work well but it seems to me more complex than either a traditional escapement or a solar powered quartz so it left me with a resounding "Meh".
I also am no fan of a case which is simply an arc with a tangential line to the strap lug, which ruled out almost all their designs from a styling pov, so I haven't bought a Grand Seiko and now probably never will.

 

[TSB]

(garmin fenix 6s)