The Official Watch Thread.

[Yorick]

An automatic watch winder.

WTF? Is it too hard to do yourself?

Yep

Both the watches that are in it spend most of the time in their cases as I don't wear them daily, it's good to 'exercise' the mechanisms which I rarely do unless worn. Agree it's a bit of an indulgence but it's my birthday and there's nothing else I need/want.

Oh, okay. Feliz cumpleanos.

[Potter]

WTF? Is it too hard to do yourself?

It's strictly not necessary, but neither is a new exhaust if your bike comes from the factory with a perfectly adequate one.
It's all part of the watch hobby.

[Horse]

How long does one run for when not worn?

[v8-powered]

How long does one run for when not worn?

48 to 72hrs normally for mine....

[slowsider]

How long does one run for when not worn?

48 to 72hrs normally for mine....

Do you need another watch to time that?

[v8-powered]

How long does one run for when not worn?

48 to 72hrs normally for mine....

Do you need another watch to time that?

Yep, best I buy a full on chrono to be more precise

[wheelnut]

Excellent - I’ve looked at the wolf winders a couple of times but couldn’t justify it. Like Potter I’ve got a cheap amazon one, but it doesn’t get much use tbh. I tend to wear the same watch for a couple of weeks and then swap so it tends to keep the right time.

[v8-powered]

Excellent - I’ve looked at the wolf winders a couple of times but couldn’t justify it. Like Potter I’ve got a cheap amazon one, but it doesn’t get much use tbh. I tend to wear the same watch for a couple of weeks and then swap so it tends to keep the right time.

I've always put off buying one due to their price but wife treated me for my birthday, so happy with that.
As I said previously it is a very nice piece of kit and does feel like it's worth the cost. I did wear my Seamaster daily for over 20 years and it has taken its toll, sending it away next week for a new bezel, hence both decent watches live in the case.

[Potter]

I don't wear my watch in bed, so I take it off and put it on the winder, then I know it's fully charged as soon as I put it on in the morning.
But I haven't been wearing a watch much and the last one I wore was the Calatrava and that's manual wind, so the winder is only really keeping my Seiko Kinetic alive and I'm only doing that because if you let it run down it knackers it - although it apparently takes up to 6 months to run down, so I've unplugged it for a couple of weeks.

The thing is though, all of these things (including the watches) are non-essential luxury bits of kit, so you can't justify any of it with logic, you just buy it because you like it. If you're fortunate enough to have disposable income then you might as well spend it on things that give you some pleasure, you're a long time dead.

[G.P]

OK Gents, looking for advice & Ideas.

A very old aunt (the last surviving member of my parents generation) died recently and there will be a little windfall coming my way. I'd like to allocate around a grand to £1500 on a watch which will ultimately go to one of my sons.
The market seems bonkers at the moment so it might be wise to wait for a slump, but it also may not be?

Anyway. looking for ideas of what to look for. New, used?

What's hot and what's not?

TIA

[v8-powered]

OK Gents, looking for advice & Ideas.

A very old aunt (the last surviving member of my parents generation) died recently and there will be a little windfall coming my way. I'd like to allocate around a grand to £1500 on a watch which will ultimately go to one of my sons.
The market seems bonkers at the moment so it might be wise to wait for a slump, but it also may not be?

Anyway. looking for ideas of what to look for. New, used?

What's hot and what's not?

TIA

A used Seamaster would be my choice in that price range....

[G.P]

A used Seamaster would be my choice in that price range....

Thanks, I thought a Seamaster would be out of price range but see the dress versions are in that bracket.
Coincidentally, she had all her sailing qualifications and used to spend April to October of most years cruising / sailing around the Greek islands with a small flotilla of friends, return to Malta for winter, so quite appropriate!

[moth]

OK Gents, looking for advice & Ideas.

A very old aunt (the last surviving member of my parents generation) died recently and there will be a little windfall coming my way. I'd like to allocate around a grand to £1500 on a watch which will ultimately go to one of my sons.
The market seems bonkers at the moment so it might be wise to wait for a slump, but it also may not be?

Anyway. looking for ideas of what to look for. New, used?

What's hot and what's not?

TIA

New:
Longines, Oris, Frederique Constant, Hamilton, Baume et Mercier. Anordain are made in Scotland and have an enamel dial, bit of an acquired taste though.

I'd go for Longines or Oris.

Used:
Omega Seamaster or Speedmaster. You might get lucky with a Brietling.

Tudor (poor man's Rolex) Black Bay 58 is becoming a bit of an icon, there's a photo of mine on this thread. It has an inhouse movement, and comes in at under 3k new. No idea what used prices are like.

I'd avoid TAG.

The trick is to look for an AD and browse their used stock. Avoid the High Street chains.

[G.P]

The trick is to look for an AD and browse their used stock. Avoid the High Street chains.

any recommendations?

[Potter]

I'd not limit yourself to any one avenue of exploration, some of the high street shops will give big discounts on watches in their display.
I'm a bit out of touch but it wasn't unusual to get 30% off one of the more run-of-the-mill Omegas.

Have a look on Chrono24 to get an idea, but to be honest the prices on there are always inflated, you can probably knock 10% off most things advertised on there, but it's a good resource to look at a huge number of watches.

I'm running a bit late, but e.g. https://www.chrono24.ae/omega/omega-wat ... 908884.htm or https://www.chrono24.ae/omega/omega-sea ... 309888.htm - if you don't mind quartz.
Or there are a few to be had in that sort of price range on ebay, a few Bond watches with mechanical movements, even a Speedy I just noticed.

Deals are there to be had privately, I've been recently thinking about trading a bunch of watches for something really nice and the dealer offered me about half price on my Omegas, so if I sold them privately I'd be somewhere just over that and other people will be the same if they just want a quick sale without any hassle or waiting for the right buyer to come along, so you could get a bargain on ebay or one of the sales sites from a private owner.

Have a look, then post the ads on here and people can tell you if it seems decent or not.

There will be a bunch of niche or unusual things you could pick up and we've all got the odd leftfield indulgence but if you're looking for something that will hold it's ground then the more obvious choices are the best ones to go with.

[moth]

The trick is to look for an AD and browse their used stock. Avoid the High Street chains.

any recommendations?

Local(ish) independent jewellers, many of them are ADs for Swiss watch brands.

I use these chaps, but they're probably not too handy for you

https://www.rudells.com/

[wheelnut]

OK Gents, looking for advice & Ideas.

A very old aunt (the last surviving member of my parents generation) died recently and there will be a little windfall coming my way. I'd like to allocate around a grand to £1500 on a watch which will ultimately go to one of my sons.
The market seems bonkers at the moment so it might be wise to wait for a slump, but it also may not be?

Anyway. looking for ideas of what to look for. New, used?

What's hot and what's not?

TIA

What Moff says. Also, look at Rado (captain cook is lovely), Sinn, Glycine and some of the Seiko Prospex if you like a chunky diver.

[G.P]

Thanks Chaps, plenty of food for thought

[Potter]

If I was buying a watch in that price range I'm fairly sure it would be one of these https://www.meistersinger.com/int/mechanic/automatic/

They make their own movements now, I almost bought one a couple of years ago and I wish I had, they seem to have gone up by about 50% now - or maybe that's just UK prices vs prices here, not sure.

Blowers have this in https://www.chrono24.ae/meistersinger/m ... 967668.htm and that's a good example of inflated prices on C24 because on their website it's cheaper https://www.blowers-jewellers.co.uk/pro ... uto-00179/

[moth]

Thanks Chaps, plenty of food for thought

Let us know what you get