The Watch Discussion Thread

[a6m5]

I'm coming across conflicting information, so I'll ask you guys for a suggestion.

I have a squeak from somewhere in the bracelet. Looking for the best way to rid myself of it, some suggest soap and water, others mineral oil or dry teflon and yet others say it goes away on its own with normal wear.

Thoughts?

I rarely experienced it, but couple times that I did, the watches were new & it lasted very briefly.

 

[a6m5]

Top is the design knockoff Casio I wore for probably over couple of years. They generally go for around $15 online, but it kept perfect time, and I was pretty happy with it. After I misplaced it couple of months ago, I've been looking at the Luminoxes on Amazon, but their mixed reviews did make me nervous.

At the bottom is the new Luminox 3001 Navy SEALS watch($190, shipped). I guess Amazon started throwing in 2-year in-house warranty, so I finally felt comfortable purchasing it, even with the shaky customer review rating.



You can see how closely Casio went for their "look". I'm very happy with the watch in that department. I just checked the time on it, and it seems little fast, but I hope that's just me. Right now, I'm not that fond of the super grippy rubber band, so I'll likely look into those NATO straps that seem to be pretty popular with the Luminox crowd.

 

[ScottPuss20]

I have a red ICE Watch, which actually looks pretty neat.

 

[Mike Rotch]

At the bottom is the new Luminox 3001 Navy SEALS watch($190, shipped). I guess Amazon started throwing in 2-year in-house warranty, so I finally felt comfortable purchasing it, even with the shaky customer review rating.

Good stuff mate, it fits your wrist perfectly 👍. Hope the running fast bit settles down, how fast are you talking?

I'm not sure if you've worn a NATO before but they are outrageously comfortable and cheap as chips 👍

 

[a6m5]

Good stuff mate, it fits your wrist perfectly 👍. Hope the running fast bit settles down, how fast are you talking?

I'm not sure if you've worn a NATO before but they are outrageously comfortable and cheap as chips 👍

Thank you, Mike. I have small wrist, so this watch at 43mm diameter does fit perfectly. 👍

I'm still not sure if it's running fast, it's probably just in my head. I reset the time just now, synchronized it with my desktop, so I'll know for sure by this time tomorrow.

I have zero experience with NATO straps. I have read before that they do get wet. I wash my hands a lot, so that may get to me, but we'll see. For now, I ordered a cheapie, also from Amazon. It was something like $8, shipped.

 

[Mike Rotch]

NATOs are nylon so they will get wet, but speaking for myself, when they do get wet they tend to breath more then leather bands which get damp on a sweaty hot day and then stay that way. It took me a trip to YT to know how to get a NATO onto a watch, so shout if you need help .

 

[a6m5]

@Mike Rotch - God bless youtube. They've walked me thru stuff on numerous occasions.

 

[Ettick]

Thank you, Mike. I have small wrist, so this watch at 43mm diameter does fit perfectly. 👍

I'm still not sure if it's running fast, it's probably just in my head. I reset the time just now, synchronized it with my desktop, so I'll know for sure by this time tomorrow.

I have zero experience with NATO straps. I have read before that they do get wet. I wash my hands a lot, so that may get to me, but we'll see. For now, I ordered a cheapie, also from Amazon. It was something like $8, shipped.

Use time.gov or a similar site for time syncing. The desktop clock can be inaccurate, I've seen mine be as much as 20 sec off.
That being said, a quartz watch should not be inaccurate by a noticeable amount of time per day. Maybe +/- 1 sec at the absolute maximum.

 

[a6m5]

@Ettick - Done. Thanks for the tip. 👍

Edit: I just checked the time & it is perfectly on time. 👍

 

[a6m5]

Well. About a week & half in, Luminox is now about a full second faster. I never monitored the accuracy of watch like this, so I have no idea if this is good, acceptable or poor.

The real reason for the post is my new NATO strap(before/after the trim):



I ended up trimming it tad bit shorter(small wrist). This video helped tremendously, but I still 🤬 it up, which surprised even me.



I really like the NATO strap so far. That soft rubber(silicone?) band was bit much.

 

[Ettick]

Well. About a week & half in, Luminox is now about a full second faster. I never monitored the accuracy of watch like this, so I have no idea if this is good, acceptable or poor.

The real reason for the post is my new NATO strap(before/after the trim):



I ended up trimming it tad bit shorter(small wrist). This video helped tremendously, but I still 🤬 it up, which surprised even me.



I really like the NATO strap so far. That soft rubber(silicone?) band was bit much.

1 second per week is pretty good for a quartz. Shouldn't be too noticeable for a few years, but you'd probably have to change the battery by then anyways.

 

[Kamuifanboy]

1 second per week is pretty damn good, I think my Omega goes about a minute per month. Or, I screw it up somehow, haven't got a clue

 

[W3H5]

My strap broke a few days ago. I don't expect it'll be too hard to replace the vinyl strap of a Casio Classic. Only trouble is my wife won't let me wear it while it's taped together until I find a new strap because there's a local superstition here that says wearing a broken watch leads to bad luck.

 

[Monatsende]

Swatch Automatic Chronograph (as shown in the purchase thread). Due to limitation I cannot wear it.

Anyone?

 

[Mike Rotch]

Anyone?

Why can't you wear it?

 

[Monatsende]

Why can't you wear it?

It would reduce the value dramatically. I would wear the unlimited version though.

 

[Joey D]

Does anyone have any thoughts on smart watches? Sure nothing beats the style of a normal watch, but I think as far as functionality goes a smart watch might be worth picking up as a daily, especially for work.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Does anyone have any thoughts on smart watches?

Creating demand for a product nobody missed nor needed until we were told we needed it.

It's a miniature entertainment device with a watchstrap on it, not a watch 👎.

 

[a6m5]

I could go either way, but honestly, I can probably come up with a thousand items I'd rather spend my money on. I'm not all that into latest techs or gadgets either though.

 

[Joey D]

I think my biggest thing is that my phone is my pager and I don't always like to have it out during meetings. I was thinking a watch might do the trick if I can see my text messages on it a little more discretely then looking at my phone. As nice as I think the LG G Watch R looks (since it looks like an actual watch and not a TV), it's a little pricey and I can get something more unique for $300. However, the Pebble seems to be about $100 (not on sale) which seems more like a price point I'd rather be at.

 

[Shaun]

The lg is the nicest looking by a long way, still not for me though. I can however see the attraction for some. Honestly if given one I more than likely wouldn't use it.

All my watch needs to do is tell me the time and occasionally act as a stopwatch.

 

[W3H5]

Got a new strap fitted to my Casio analogue classic last night, bit disappointed they didn't have an exact replacement so I got a generic strap for £3.
While I was there I spotted a Casio digital Classic (non metallic version) new for 750B (£15). It's payday tomorrow so I think I might have to pick that up, mostly because the analogue I have doesn't have a stopwatch or alarm which I find to be useful features.

This one for anyone wondering:

Also, why is it all these Casios say 'water resist' and not 'resistant'?

Current Casio with new strap:

 

[Robin]

Also, why is it all these Casios say 'water resist' and not 'resistant'?

It's one of those 'Chinglish' remnants from back in the day when Japanese companies didn't get English, specifically grammar. You see this a lot in developing parts of Asia particularly with tenses and plurals. Casio just stuck with it because it became synonymous with the brand.

 

[Ridox2JZGTE]

Got a new strap fitted to my Casio analogue classic last night, bit disappointed they didn't have an exact replacement so I got a generic strap for £3.
While I was there I spotted a Casio digital Classic (non metallic version) new for 750B (£15). It's payday tomorrow so I think I might have to pick that up, mostly because the analogue I have doesn't have a stopwatch or alarm which I find to be useful features.


Current Casio with new strap:
View attachment 316745

Wow, I had the same watch long time ago ( back in early 90's ), I had the straps changed almost every year . It's gone now

 

[Walrus76]

I bought this amazing Steinhart Ocean One (Submariner homage) couple of weeks ago, replaced the original steel bracelet with "James Bond" style Nato-strap and I must say this watch is slowly but surely becoming my favourite one in my small collection. For the price (350€) this is an absolute bargain! The ETA movement inside is a solid workhorse - the accuracy is actually very good, watch gains only about 3-4 seconds per day!

And here is the original one worn by Sean Connery in "Goldfinger", the watch was actually owned by producer Albert Broccoli:

 

[Mike Rotch]

I bought this amazing Steinhart Ocean One

I've come close on a number of occasions to buy one, they are a very well regarded brand that fly under the radar. Very nice watch 👍

 

[Walrus76]

Thanks Mike. My friend has a very nice looking big 47mm Steinhart hand-wound Aviator model (Nav. B-Uhr) with Unitas movement in it and he is also very impressed by the quality. I am not a fortune teller by any means, but I honestly think that within couple of years it is practically impossible to purchase a Swiss made good quality automatic watch at this price range. Is the watch a shameless homage? Yes it is, but at least it's not a some cheap Chinese made replica/fake watch. I must mention that I have also three times more expensive TAG Heuer automatic in my watch collection, and that damn thing still loses about 30 seconds per day even after service by the manufacturer.

 

[Mike Rotch]

am not a fortune teller by any means, but I honestly think that within couple of years it is practically impossible to purchase a Swiss made good quality automatic watch at this price range.

Yea, I'd have to agree. The only problem is that independent manufacturers also tend to increase prices - like Prometheus - over time. Hopefully there is just a good stream of independent brands though .

I have no issues with design homages, there are ulitmately only so many pleasing designs in watch dials, and many of them have already been hit upon. It's no less of a 'homage' than a Seamaster or Tag Acquaracer to a Submariner.

 

[Walrus76]

That's true. I've read somewhere that even the famous Rolex Submariner was at the time some kind of homage in 1950's. Was its design influenced by some Blancpain model? And like you said, these kind of diver watches are very well "homaged" by many watchmakers today. Victorinox, Christopher Ward, Invicta etc.

I also have no issues with homages: my nice cheap German Zeppelin quartz chrono is easily the best looking Omega Speedmaster style watch I've ever seen...and the price? Well, you can buy about fifteen Zeps for the price of one legendary moonwatch.

 

[Luminis]

Guess who's G-Shock broke, without exposure to any extreme circumstances?

The digital and analogue devices are out of sync and there's no way to fix this, apparently... Didn't take Long for what's supposedly a rather rugged watch.