Watches

[SkeletonLips]

I'm here right now to talk about watches. Who here still even wear the darn things? I mean with cell phones practically able to tell you anything, time included, and let you communicate at a whim nowadays, why wear one?
I'll tell you why. Because I love just being able to take a peek at my wrist and know that it's almost break-time at work, than to take out my cell phone, and look like I'm fucking around on the clock in front of my boss. To be able to just glance down when someone asks the time, instead of fumbling around for my phone and making an awkward moment out of such a small question. And just because I goddamn can.
This thread was inspired by my recent aquisition of a low price, high caliber chronograph. The Casio Data Bank. Model #DBC32-1A. Yes, it is an extremely dorky calculator watch. I've wanted one since the 80's and now I finally have one. Girls will be amazed when they go to give me their phone number and instead of me whipping out my cell phone, I will simply raise my wrist and ready my other hand to type, then look at them inquisitively. I think they'll swoon when I whip it out to calculate the tip, at some fancy restaurant, too.
So just as there is no perfect vaporizer, there is no perfect watch. I love my new nerd timepiece. I also want to get a fancy hand made, all "analog" pocket watch from some fine craftsman someday. What is your opinion on watches? And if you wear one, what kind? Yep, you guessed it, I'm vaped. And curious.

 

[momofthegoons]

This brought a couple of thoughts to mind.

Firstly, I needed to get a quick refresher vape in.

Secondly, I wore a watch for years. I've gone through several, expensive and cheap. I'm so glad I don't have to wear one anymore. But it took me a while to stop looking at my wrist.

And third, it blows my mind how many kids cannot read an analog clock. In this digital age, they have almost become obsolete.

 

[lwien]

Was really into mechanical automatics. Just something about all those springs and gears spinning around on my wrist kinda appealed to me.

Had a Rolex Sub, a Breitling, and an Omega.

Now, the only watch I wear is when I go running and it's a Polar Heart Rate Monitor. LOL. Times have changed.

 

[SkeletonLips]

Yeah, lwien, those spinning gears get me too. Just the amount of detail and knowledge that goes into those types astounds me.
I notice that I am usually the only one who wears a watch in my group, and I'm really not all that concerned with time, nor am I considered "punctual" by my friends (but my job thinks I am). I just really like wearing watches. The cheaper, the better. My last watch was an ironman that I wore for these past three years, and it was free. I found it on a walk of mine, and it served it's purpose.
I found that I was in constant need of a simple calculator for my job, doing inventory, that I finally caved in and looked for the kind of watch I thought was so cool as a kid. Got it for 24.99 with no tax and no shipping cost. I love it. I know one of the alarms will be set for 4:20. I wonder what I can set the others for...

 

[jeffp]

I wear a cheap watch when I'm outside but not when I'm home. Wearing a watch gives me the illusion of purpose, and it's easier to look at your wrist then to open up your cell phone.
But yeah i do get the absurdity of watches, the the further absurdity of expensive watches that are accurate to the nanosecond. I don't know anyone in the day to day world who needs to be that punctual, and even if they exist, you would have to assume that the person this busy person is scheduled to meet has a similarly accurate watch. The absurdity is further compounded by the fact that the computer clock and the cable TV clock are often off by a minute - so in truth until this is resolved no one really knows for sure what time it is.

 

[SkeletonLips]

... no one really knows for sure what time it is.

Does anybody really care (about time)?

 

[jeffp]

I'll tell you one thing, time takes too long.

*edit**

it is interesting to contemplate the relationship between space and time - the distance of moments and the distance of space - and the faster you travel through the distance of space at a certain point you transcend space into the realm of sound and then light. Or so I'm told.

 

[Purple-Days]

I went through about 5 Timex watches in about 3 years. Don't waste your money on them IMO, thinking they are like the old Timex watches. Anybody remember John Cameron Swayze ? straping them to boat propellers or something crazy? Of course those were mechanical watches, pretty amazing for a cheap watch back then. Not amazing anymore.

 

[jeffp]

Right. I went through a few old school analogue Russian military watches which you can get cheap on Ebay and they look super cool but they don't last; they're not built like the old Timex's.

 

[lwien]

But yeah i do get the absurdity of watches, the the further absurdity of expensive watches that are accurate to the nanosecond.

But ya know, the really expensive mechanical automatics are less accurate than a cheap 10.00 digital.

 

[SkeletonLips]

jeffp, I was actually thinking about getting an Invicta men's Russian diver watch about a year or so ago, but it cost too much, and I realized the case diameter was 52mm, which is fucking huge. I love how they look though.

 

[jeffp]

yeah those watches are really a strong statement - like the wearer is about serious business, blues brothers handcuffed briefcase on a mission from god, etc., until the winding mechanisms crap out.

 

[indigal]

I used to wear a stainless steel thinner dive-case watch. It had a decent swiss movement and wasn't expensive. I swam in it all the time.. it's now stashed in a drawer along with half a dozen other watches. I can't deal with wearing a watch anymore. I'd started checking time too much, didn't feel right. I do love watches and timepieces in general though, and like the idea of having one that isn't a phone and that's out of sight.. I got this at a gun show..

When I was working in a jewelry shop, I was able to get our 89yr old watchmaker to restore it. Works great & I know how to adjust it, and lube when needed- every few years..

It's not a work watch, but beats a Movado anyday for me.

 

[SkeletonLips]

That is beautiful, indigal! Do you have any idea how old it is? I could get lost looking at the insides of that. So much delicate handi-work. Definitely heirloom stuff right there.

 

[sour]

I'm down to 1 watch: a Casio G-Shock. It's solar powered and a heck of a lot more reliable than I thought it would be. I've got two other watches which are a little nicer but they need new batteries. Between my cell phone and the Casio I'm on time pretty much all the time.

 

[wunderkind]

+1 for CASIO

 

[vtac]

I like watch porn.

If you like fancy movements check these out. Only a few hundred thou each.

Gotta buy an Aston Martin DBS if you want to buy one of these. Hey it unlocks the doors!

Most accurate watch? Citizen Chronomaster +-5 sec year.

Something for the rainy season...

Back to reality...

I wear a G-Shock for any kind of activity. Comfortable and it's still got some geek cred; solar powered, syncs with the atomic clock in Boulder 5 times a day, 200m water resist.

 

[lwien]

Some more watch porn: http://stylecrave.com/2009-05-29/luxury-watches-10-of-the-worlds-most-expensive-watches/

 

[SkeletonLips]

Few hundred thousand, each?? Wow, I need to become a watchmaker. Those sure are beautiful though. Are the purple and blue accents a Jaeger LeCoultre thing?
I wonder what the build time is on those kinds of watches? I will probably never have an expensive watch like that, but you have to admire the workmanship.

 

[Purple-Days]

I saw those watches (a month or two ago) in a less condensed article. I think (memory) that watch #2 is a replica. The original 1932 watch dissapeared, this one was built from the original drawings and is not the original. And this replica is 11 mil. (I believe)

Also can't remember what the function was called but some of these have a special compensator.

Just looked up the Geneve website, http://wwr.patek.com/patek-philippe.html?pageId=1043&backgroundId=2&lang=en&

In the bigger article the tourbillon chronometer was explained a bit. This thing (and a couple others listed) is so complicated it compensates for Gravity.

Oh, and if you have one of these type watches...

You might have to stay someplace like this.
http://www.leenks.com/link266725.html

 

[Bruce@Zephyr]

I just received a watch I purchased a couple weeks back. I used to always wear a watch,... I guess like someone said, it made me feel important. The past couple years with having a cell phone, I quit wearing a watch as how many accessories does one grown man need? ( Answer,.. all of them!)
My new watch is analog and digital, has blue tooth on it so I am an official nerd to be sure,.. but it vibrates when I get a cell phone call (or text) and displays the caller id. I can refuse a call from my wrist without pulling out my cellphone and making a scene wherever I am..
I think watches are far more polite than cell phones,.. I will get into another thread where I point out how I think cell phones are the anti-Mrs. Manners....... no etiquette baa,.
but back to watches,.. yes I think they are great!!

 

[Lo]

Oh my word! Bluetooth/caller ID watch! Bruce - I've never even heard of it but lol, too funny!

Don't get me started on cell phone etiquette

 

[lwien]

Yeah. Besides telling time, they can definitely be a mechanical work of art.

 

[jeffp]

Shows you how Dick Tracy, The Jetsons and Batman have really charted the course and created archetypes of what the future should look like.

 

[420xtoomanyx420]

I own a gold Tag Hueuer that I bought 5 years ago. Awesome watch. Chronograph, no battery, all 18K gold. Notice what time it is?