Automatic Watches

[Evans, Marv]

I only wear a watch to tell time. I don't like flashy, large, mechanical looking watches and used the cheap, plasic Casio watches for decades. When I retired one of the things I was presented with was a nice Seiko watch (I think somebody had looked at my wearing of cheap Casios for years), which I used for maybe sixteen years and gave it away. The replacement is a nice, simple Sieko solar powered watch. For me, a watch is an appliance I want to wear and use without having to ever do anything like winding, cleaning, adjusting etc., etc.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by LEAKYSEALS951

Step away from the youtube!!!!

I just got a Hamilton spirit of liberty and a Seiko. I go to sleep every night with Teddy Baldassere reviewing watches in the background. I am getting all my uncle's vintage watches restored.

Dangerous.

LOL! And true. These videos are dangerous to the wallet. For the majority of my life, I was like Marv. Just buy something cheap, toss it when it acted up, or in many cases, I broke it. I'm pretty much still there. There's no logical reason to buy anything beyond the well made quartz watch range of $200 or so. Especially if you're not into watches, which I really wasn't. I bought the Hamilton because I'd scratched the crystal of a Seiko quartz I'd had for 20+ years...the scratch right above the day/date feature, annoying me.

That said, should my Hamilton King Khaki quartz give up the ghost? I might give the exact same watch a go, only this time mechanical. Yeah, I like the dial with it's military styling & readability that much. On the other hand, I'm kind of a stickler for accuracy, so might stick with quartz.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

LOL! And true. These videos are dangerous to the wallet. For the majority of my life, I was like Marv. Just buy something cheap, toss it when it acted up, or in many cases, I broke it. I'm pretty much still there. There's no logical reason to buy anything beyond the well made quartz watch range of $200 or so. Especially if you're not into watches, which I really wasn't. I bought the Hamilton because I'd scratched the crystal of a Seiko quartz I'd had for 20+ years...the scratch right above the day/date feature, annoying me.

That said, should my Hamilton King Khaki quartz give up the ghost? I might give the exact same watch a go, only this time mechanical. Yeah, I like the dial with it's military styling & readability that much. On the other hand, I'm kind of a stickler for accuracy, so might stick with quartz.

Fortunately, there's probably 1000 options for inexpensive, quartz or mechanical with military style faces.

[LeeH]

Have you considered Seiko solar or Citizen Eco Drive? Unless you're a complete hermit, they get enough light to run continuously. I bought my gf a Seiko solar and it can sit in the closet for 6 months and still be running strong keeping perfect time. So... not as interesting as the tiny machine that a mechanical watch it, but cool tech, and quartz accuracy.

I have quite a few autos, but find I don't wear them often as they have to be set and I usually grab a watch when heading out the door. I have been considering selling some of my more valuable vintage watches and buying a single, more expensive watch. But after kicking this idea around for a long time, I cringe at the thought of wearing a $5000 timepiece around for fear it would get lost, stolen or damaged. So... I may end up with a Seiko solar myself. What ends up on my wrist more often than not, is my Casio Pro Trek smart watch. Why? Well, it is cool tech and has lots of features, but the real reason is my health insurance company gives me $1 every day I hit my walking goal. If I wear the smart watch, this gets tracked automatically. Otherwise, I have to tell the app on my phone I'm walking. It was such a relief last year when I hit my max of $100 and could start wearing other watches!

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Originally Posted by LeeH

Have you considered Seiko solar or Citizen Eco Drive?

Ha! Just got a Seiko Solar in the mail yesterday. These things are so dirt cheap compared to automatics / even quartz, that I figured I'd give it a try. So far, so good. Heck of a lot cheaper than buying a Grand Seiko Spring drive at this point! I also like the 39mm diameter. My Hamilton is 42, which even with a 7 inch wrist, seems a little big. 39 is just right. Another unexpected bonus- sapphire crystal in a cheap watch, not acrylic.

[LeeH]

If this were black instead of blue, I would have ordered it already.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

^ That's a good looking watch. Too bad they don't have black. I'm a blue fan but trying on the black options, I'm going to need a black dial too. I got my Seiko from the Macy's Memorial Day sale last weekend.

I was going to do a sexy photo shoot of my Hamilton on a set of snow tires, but decided to go all TABS and use a pair of matching leather shoes instead. These are USED shoes, by me, but were a bit of a deal as they are two mismatched ebay shoes, so tabs would approve.





This IS a dangerous hobby. In my mind, I'm thinking Longines, Muhle Glashutte, Seiko Presage, and, even.... IWC. I will post this pic and step away from the computer for several hours. I didn't even know these words a week ago.

I need help!

In several weeks, I will be getting back my deceased uncle's 1966 Accutron, my grandad's 1958 Elgin (An engraved 50th b-day gift to him, which I will give to my other-still living- uncle) and will probably reband the Accutron. They are a little small on the wrist at 34? ish mm. I'll get some pics up when they come in.

Also considering a new crystal for my wedding day gift Bulova. It's trashed after working on cars. Go figure.

Another interesting movement is the new Accutron which supposedly runs off of static electricity? More options! Just great!

Just step away from the youtube.

[tdw28210]

Originally Posted by LeeH

If this were black instead of blue, I would have ordered it already.

That my daily for the last year. With a R,W and B Nato strap.

[tdw28210]

So you don't really need a watch, but your curious/considering a change. I get "cheap", but if you are looking for a change and won't be swapping watches a lot, get yourself a vintage automatic Seiko dive watch. Won;t have to fiddle with it much (it will keep ticking if you wear it consistently) AND if you buy it right, it will actually appreciate. Kind of like an air-cooled 911.

[pwd72s]

One fad I never did get...that is, people sporting HUGE and often gaudy/ugly wristwatches. A friend was gifted an Invicta like seen on the shopping TV shows...he wears it proudly. I don't have the heart to tell him what I think of it...

I just don't understand why people would think strapping something as large as an old alarm clock on their wrist looks cool. But then, I'm old...so I can remember back to the 60's when thin and smallish (34-37mm) mechanical watches were considered very cool. Ladies watches were really small then..amazing they could get accurate (sorta) movements in such small spaces. Cindy has a gold ladies Hamilton with some diamonds that was given to her mother by her father back in '57. Cost us more that it's worth to have it serviced, plus having a goldsmith replicate missing bracelet links and repair the clasp. However, it's priceless to Cindy for the memories & the inscription on the back. I'm amazed at the beauty and workmanship...

[Evans, Marv]

Originally Posted by LEAKYSEALS951

Ha! Just got a Seiko Solar in the mail yesterday. These things are so dirt cheap compared to automatics / even quartz, that I figured I'd give it a try. So far, so good. Heck of a lot cheaper than buying a Grand Seiko Spring drive at this point! I also like the 39mm diameter. My Hamilton is 42, which even with a 7 inch wrist, seems a little big. 39 is just right. Another unexpected bonus- sapphire crystal in a cheap watch, not acrylic.

That's the watch I bought a few months ago. I'm very happy with it. I believe mine is a smaller diameter though. Don't think my wrist is anywhere near 7 in.

[ShopCat]

Originally Posted by tdw28210

So you don't really need a watch, but your curious/considering a change. I get "cheap", but if you are looking for a change and won't be swapping watches a lot, get yourself a vintage automatic Seiko dive watch. Won;t have to fiddle with it much (it will keep ticking if you wear it consistently) AND if you buy it right, it will actually appreciate. Kind of like an air-cooled 911.

https://www.dcvintagewatches.com/all-products

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

That's the watch I bought a few months ago. I'm very happy with it. I believe mine is a smaller diameter though. Don't think my wrist is anywhere near 7 in.

Good to hear it's working. I feel like I'm doing something wrong on wrist measurement, but, if I put a string around my wrist at the watch point, it measures 7 again and again.

What is my wrist? I don't know. Just that a lot of kids with 6.5 wrist are wearing 42 mm watches and they look like Tone- Loke ridiculous big facsimiles.

Who knows!

[id10t]

Stopped wearing a watch when I got a cell phone with date/time display. NTP > anything

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by LEAKYSEALS951

Good to hear it's working. I feel like I'm doing something wrong on wrist measurement, but, if I put a string around my wrist at the watch point, it measures 7 again and again.

What is my wrist? I don't know. Just that a lot of kids with 6.5 wrist are wearing 42 mm watches and they look like Tone- Loke ridiculous big facsimiles.

Who knows!

Tone-Loke? Hell, some people wear those Diesel watches that are like 70mm.

[ramonesfreak]

Originally Posted by masraum

Fortunately, there's probably 1000 options for inexpensive, quartz or mechanical with military style faces.

like this
https://countycomm.com/collections/quartz-watches/products/gmt-watch-by-maratac


my tudor loses about 3 seconds a day. accurate enough for me

[Geronimo '74]

Originally Posted by ShopCat

Seiko is known for very good automatics at lower price points, how cheap was yours? Maybe it needed a service.

50 bucks, never ran true. (Wanted a beater watch for work)
It was a Seiko 5 miltary.



Bought it because I read that they make good automatics, even at base prices.
Mine was off (slow) a few minutes a day and that annoyed me to no end.
Instead of having it checked, I gave it away.
Maybe they could have fixed it but at that price, I didn’t bother with it.

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by Nick Triesch

Interesting to me that a $1000 quartz movement watch is more accurate than a $57,000 Patek Philippe. Also, I bet the men and women in special forces wear high end Quartz watches. Their lives depends on them.

I think they wear G Shock and Suunto.

[tdw28210]

Originally Posted by WPOZZZ

I think they wear G Shock and Suunto.

"While it is difficult to find any singular reason why the F/A-18 and F-35 fighter pilots we saw at MCAS Miramar tended to gravitate so heavily toward Garmin and G-Shock watches, it was interesting to see that this trend is so prevalent in the fighter community"

https://theaviationist.com/2019/10/18/which-wrist-watches-do-fighter-pilots-actually-wear-in-real-life/

[tdw28210]

Originally Posted by Geronimo '74

50 bucks, never ran true. (Wanted a beater watch for work)
It was a Seiko 5 miltary.



Bought it because I read that they make good automatics, even at base prices.
Mine was off (slow) a few minutes a day and that annoyed me to no end.
Instead of having it checked, I gave it away.
Maybe they could have fixed it but at that price, I didn’t bother with it.

Honestly, that is a lemon. I have a couple late '60's "MACV- SOG" Seikos that likely have NEVER been serviced and literally drug through the swamps and they keep better time than that.