The Watch Discussion Thread
- Thread starter Silverzone
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I don't normally wear watches, but when I rarely feel like putting one on I use this one:
I bought this one at the airport before I left New York from my visit there. I love swatch and it was for souvenir purposes but looks classy so I put it on every once in a while.
I bought this one at the airport before I left New York from my visit there. I love swatch and it was for souvenir purposes but looks classy so I put it on every once in a while.
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- 5,551
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- GTP_RogerTheHors
Just to make things clear, the watch tells me the time, not the little Swiss flag.
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New arrival 
- 26,626
- OREGON
- a6m5zero
And I usually don't even care for leather band on watches! Beautiful design..... Pure class! đź‘Ť
Little update on my Seiko 5 Sports. I don't think I told you guys this, as I don't remember you guys making fun of me. I didn't know what "automatic movement" was, or that the watch I ordered was a automatic watch.
Initially, I'm like "cool, it basically rewinds itself. money in the bank!". Then I think I took it off Friday, put it on again Monday. Watch's stopped, time's all screwed up & it says "Sunday".
I still like the watch, but it's gonna be bit of a hassle having to wear it, at least every other day!
That is pretty cool! đź‘Ť
- 6,041
- Puget Sound
- Crash852
a6m5Little update on my Seiko 5 Sports. I don't think I told you guys this, as I don't remember you guys making fun of me. I didn't know what "automatic movement" was, or that the watch I ordered was a automatic watch.
Initially, I'm like "cool, it basically rewinds itself. money in the bank!". Then I think I took it off Friday, put it on again Monday. Watch's stopped, time's all screwed up & it says "Sunday".
I still like the watch, but it's gonna be bit of a hassle having to wear it, at least every other day!
I think you briefly mentioned that you didn't know what an automatic movement was when you purchased the watch, but I assumed that you had looked all that up by that point, but yeah, autos have no battery in them.
Essentially, the movement winds a spring, which stores potential energy. The spring then releases the potential energy stored as the watch ticks, converting into kinetic energy, ie, the movement of the gears and hands. The amount of energy released is finite and consistent to allow for the accurate keeping of time. [/nerd rant]
I think there are some hybrids out there that incorporate a battery into an auto movement so that also gets charged for the non-use days. After being fully wound, each movement will have take a different amount of time to fully convert the stored potential energy, thus, different movements will die after different amounts of disuse. For you, it sounds about right. Your Seiko has a very similar movement as mine, and mine dies at around the same time.
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Just for interest's sake, here is a short addition to what Crash mentioned 
.
There are generally 4 types of watch movement:
1) Quartz (battery powered). These are either solar powered or require the button battery we all know and 'tick' once per second. Obviously the most accurate movement you can get, especially the thermo regulated variety and have the advantage of offering very small componentry, so the watch can be designed to be thinner/ smaller if so wished.
2) Manual/ hand wind: Basically, a main spring is coiled by winding the watch crown, and as it slowly releases its energy, gears and cams transmit the energy to the watch hands in a regulated and predictable rate. The 'ticking' you hear is the seconds hand stopping and moving a few times a second, so although the seconds sweep is almost continuous, it is actually just the seconds hand moving between 6-8 times a second, to complete '1 second'. Not all movements have the same beats-per-minute; some watches tick slower/ the seconds hand moves 6 ticks a second, per second (less smooth seconds hand sweep) whilst others have higher, 8 or above. The problem with having more beats-per-minute is that the power reserve of the watch suffers. A typical modern hand wind will only keep ~40hrs of energy in the spring on a full wind. More B.P.M. means the spring's charge is used more rapidly.
Below is a rather amusing (60 year old) clip of how a manual movement works, from the Hamilton watch company đź‘Ť (start at around 5mins...)
3) Automatic movements: Same as manual, except there is a rotor built into the movement that rotates as you move your hand around (its the round thing you can see at the back of my watch, and will be visible in the Seiko too). It means that as long as you are moving your hand around and getting the rotor to rotate, it is continually winding the main spring and your main spring will not run out of potential energy. When you stop wearing an auto, it basically becomes a manual watch, and would require hand winding to keep it going - again, typical autos retain ~40 hours of charge in the mainspring once taken off the wrist. a6m5, to wind your watch manually, just turn the crowd from 6->12 i.e. clockwise. đź‘Ť
4) Hybrid movements: Seiko developed a hybrid movement that uses both batteries and movements associated with mechanical watches to create 'Spring' drive. It is the smoothest movement in the world (think of a wall clock plugged into AC) and has no ticking. It does this by converting charge from the battery into movement using the mechanical components to ensure no break in the seconds sweep. Every expensive and I wouldnt want to think about whats involved in repairing one!!
PS: on the compliments!
.There are generally 4 types of watch movement:
1) Quartz (battery powered). These are either solar powered or require the button battery we all know and 'tick' once per second. Obviously the most accurate movement you can get, especially the thermo regulated variety and have the advantage of offering very small componentry, so the watch can be designed to be thinner/ smaller if so wished.
2) Manual/ hand wind: Basically, a main spring is coiled by winding the watch crown, and as it slowly releases its energy, gears and cams transmit the energy to the watch hands in a regulated and predictable rate. The 'ticking' you hear is the seconds hand stopping and moving a few times a second, so although the seconds sweep is almost continuous, it is actually just the seconds hand moving between 6-8 times a second, to complete '1 second'. Not all movements have the same beats-per-minute; some watches tick slower/ the seconds hand moves 6 ticks a second, per second (less smooth seconds hand sweep) whilst others have higher, 8 or above. The problem with having more beats-per-minute is that the power reserve of the watch suffers. A typical modern hand wind will only keep ~40hrs of energy in the spring on a full wind. More B.P.M. means the spring's charge is used more rapidly.
Below is a rather amusing (60 year old) clip of how a manual movement works, from the Hamilton watch company đź‘Ť (start at around 5mins...)
3) Automatic movements: Same as manual, except there is a rotor built into the movement that rotates as you move your hand around (its the round thing you can see at the back of my watch, and will be visible in the Seiko too). It means that as long as you are moving your hand around and getting the rotor to rotate, it is continually winding the main spring and your main spring will not run out of potential energy. When you stop wearing an auto, it basically becomes a manual watch, and would require hand winding to keep it going - again, typical autos retain ~40 hours of charge in the mainspring once taken off the wrist. a6m5, to wind your watch manually, just turn the crowd from 6->12 i.e. clockwise. đź‘Ť
4) Hybrid movements: Seiko developed a hybrid movement that uses both batteries and movements associated with mechanical watches to create 'Spring' drive. It is the smoothest movement in the world (think of a wall clock plugged into AC) and has no ticking. It does this by converting charge from the battery into movement using the mechanical components to ensure no break in the seconds sweep. Every expensive and I wouldnt want to think about whats involved in repairing one!!
PS:
on the compliments!
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- 26,626
- OREGON
- a6m5zero
As much as I'd appreciate a Lexus Christmas watch, I'm not gonna lie, I still prefer my Christmas bonus cash. 
How could you not!
P.S. Thanks for taking time to explain all that. Eye-opening stuff for me. đź‘Ť
Turn the crowd? In English please(I'm serious).
Un......believable. I have a whole new appreciation for the engineering & technology that goes into probably any analog watches.
How could you not!P.S. Thanks for taking time to explain all that. Eye-opening stuff for me. đź‘Ť
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Turn the crowd? In English please(I'm serious).
That should read 'crown'
... the little knob you used to set the time and date. When its pushed in all the way, if you turn it clockwise you should hear a very quiet ratchet sound. That winds the mainspring (dont worry, you cant overwind it, the ratchet system will either stop the knob from turning more or disengage the winding mechanism...but use common sense
). When you pull it out one click i.e. pull the knob out away from the side of the case and hear it click once, you should be able to set the day and date by rotating the knob. If you pull it out once more (so two clicks out from its pushed in position), you are able to adjust the time đź‘Ť. Just make sure its pushed in all the way when you are done 
.This is quite frankly what makes Seiko incredible value. An automatic watch, with a rock solid movement for under $100! Incredible!a6m5Un......believable. I have a whole new appreciation for the engineering & technology that goes into probably any analog watches.
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- 4,792
- Canada
I wear a Casio Illuminator with a Timex Expedition strap, I'm so cheap
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I could only dream of a Tag Heuer Monte Carlo
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I could only dream of a Tag Heuer Monte Carlo
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- 997
- Regina, SK
- Turboash
DKNY - Nice and heavy and dressy. I like how the face / bezel is the same width as the band.
Guess Steel Chronograph - Approx 14 years old. Seiko movement. Originally had a very cool black rubber strap, but it became brittle over time and broke. Replaced with a leather strap (not really happy with it but had no other options).
Seiko 5 Automatic - Military style. What I wear 80% of the time. I LOVE SEIKO!
BTW... Mike Rotch, I hate you.
- 1,237
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- ForzaTifosi79
I didn't even notice this thread existed, though I didn't have anything to post here until about 2 months ago.
TW Steel Grandeur Diver TW70 - 45mm case
I won it from TW Steel for guessing Romain Grosjean's fastest lap time during the Spanish GP. I actually had my choice from probably 85-90% of their collection, though only 2 had metal bracelets. I just happened to like this particular one the best.
TW Steel Grandeur Diver TW70 - 45mm case
I won it from TW Steel for guessing Romain Grosjean's fastest lap time during the Spanish GP. I actually had my choice from probably 85-90% of their collection, though only 2 had metal bracelets. I just happened to like this particular one the best.
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- ForzaTifosi79
The case is indeed quite cool. It's like a little mini chest. You can see the latch better in this image:
It came in an outer box as well.
The watch comes in at a hefty 6.8 ounces, though it doesn't feel that heavy.
My brother won one of their more basic models in a contest during the Aussie GP. His case is signed by Kimi Raikkonen and Romain. The outer box is signed by Kimi. TW is constantly running contests. They've had at least 4 already this F1 season.
It came in an outer box as well.
The watch comes in at a hefty 6.8 ounces, though it doesn't feel that heavy.
My brother won one of their more basic models in a contest during the Aussie GP. His case is signed by Kimi Raikkonen and Romain. The outer box is signed by Kimi. TW is constantly running contests. They've had at least 4 already this F1 season.
- 35,237
- Downtown North Dakota
- Cy-Fi
I'm considering a new watch as mine has decided that it didn't like being in the hot tub and had moisture under the crystal. What is the general consensus on the Invicta brand? My wife is on the laptop now and I can't recall which model I was looking at but it was a gunmetal chronograph going for between $90-125 USD, depending in retailer.
Edit: The watch in question is the Invicta 1328.
Edit: The watch in question is the Invicta 1328.
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- 26,626
- OREGON
- a6m5zero
I was wondering the same thing, as while I was looking for my last watch on Amazon, Invicta equivalent kept coming up on the suggestions.
I seemed to recall just average rating. Not a Citizen or anything, but not a second rate either? They had some really cool looking diver's watches at very affordable prices.
If I were you, I'd try reading all the 1 & 2 star reviews on Amazon, as they can be a decent indicator of any possible issues that their watches possibly have. I think they are really nice, but I know nothin' 'bout watches!
I seemed to recall just average rating. Not a Citizen or anything, but not a second rate either? They had some really cool looking diver's watches at very affordable prices.
If I were you, I'd try reading all the 1 & 2 star reviews on Amazon, as they can be a decent indicator of any possible issues that their watches possibly have. I think they are really nice, but I know nothin' 'bout watches!
Joey D
Premium
- 47,364
- Lakes of the North, MI
- GTP_Joey
- GTP Joey
My girlfriend bought me this watch and it's become the one I use daily:
It's a Skagen 750XLSTXM. The quality of it is pretty impressive, although I just recently whacked it against something and broke the crystal on it
.
Eventually I really want to get a Omega Seamaster because I want to feel like James Bond.
It's a Skagen 750XLSTXM. The quality of it is pretty impressive, although I just recently whacked it against something and broke the crystal on it
. Eventually I really want to get a Omega Seamaster because I want to feel like James Bond.
- 3,040
- The Netherlands
- MarcoM1972
DKNY - Nice and heavy and dressy. I like how the face / bezel is the same width as the band.
Guess Steel Chronograph - Approx 14 years old. Seiko movement. Originally had a very cool black rubber strap, but it became brittle over time and broke. Replaced with a leather strap (not really happy with it but had no other options).
Seiko 5 Automatic - Military style. What I wear 80% of the time. I LOVE SEIKO!
BTW... Mike Rotch, I hate you.
The DKNY looks like a ladies watch. The Seiko on the Nato however is pure win. What a nice combo.
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