I forgot to reply to your email! Apologies, I'll drop you a note in the morning.
Was out shopping earlier and popped in to a watch shop. Been thinking about getting a Longines Hydroconquest, tried a few watches on....
My Visodate has started to feel really rough when winding and I can see the rotor turning when I wind the crown which is a sign the reversers are sick. Any recommendations for a watchmaker that can fix? It's a 2824 and common problem. In fact my BB41 was fixed under warranty for the same thing. I don't wear it much, but it was my wedding watch so it's a keeper. Should I get it fixed or just spin it up like a Seiko
I appreciate the engineering, etc, but 99.9% of diver style watches look ugly as hell to me.
Aside from sheer decadence and bling, what are they actually for? I'm guessing most customers won't be flying to the moon or diving into the marriana trench?
Not all dive watches are decadent. My Seiko Miniturtle cost about £250 and I've got a Vostok too, £60. Don't wear that at the moment though, (and likely not for a couple of years TBH) because Russia.
Both are just robust, nice looking daily watches, not really bling.
What’s peoples thoughts on taking watches to holiday these days? I’ve just watched a Vid about a bloke murdered for his Breitling, and another whose hotel safe was emptied of watches, suspected to be by an employee with a common key. Its got me thinking; Its nice to wear nice things in nice restaurants, but actually should the good ones stay at home?
I wouldn’t take my Yema, or my TAG Series 1000, and possibly not my SPORK, not because they’re especially expensive, although the Yema has become very collectible and valuable as a result, and my TAG would be a lot more expensive to replace these days; the SPORK is my most worn watch, and might look more valuable than it is, and might put me at risk as a result, so if I was going somewhere like, say, New York, which I hope to do at some point, then I wouldn’t take any chances by wearing a watch that could be seen to be worth stealing, like a fake Rolex; that’s just asking for trouble!
I’ve got a £17 analogue Casio that keeps very good time, so I’d wear that, or my £70 analogue G-Shock, which is just as unlikely to attract unwanted attention. I wouldn’t be going anywhere, or doing anything that would have me thinking “oh, I must wear a watch worth umpteen thousand pounds to dinner tonight!”, I just don’t care enough what anyone might think or say to even consider it.
Alternatively, I might wear one of my Heimdallr homages, I doubt anyone would think of either of them as something s****y enough to steal.
I appreciate the engineering, etc, but 99.9% of diver style watches look ugly as hell to me.
Aside from sheer decadence and bling, what are they actually for? I’m guessing most customers won’t be flying to the moon or diving into the marriana trench?
I’d hardly consider a regular dive watch as either decadent or bling, unless they’re being specifically made and sold for very wealthy people to display their wealth by conspicuous consumption, ie Rolexes covered in baguette diamonds or multicoloured stones and a platinum case and bracelet.
A dive watch, by definition, is a tool watch, and by design should be as clear and uncluttered as possible for maximum clarity under challenging conditions. A Pilot’s watch is the same, because there is a legal specification for a watch on board an aircraft in the event of instrument failure. My SPORK is, technically sold as a dive watch, but its design is based on German pilots watch specifications, like Sinn and Laco. Laco have just introduced the new Hamburg DIN8330 specification pilots watch, which is not what I’d consider decadent or bling…
Here’s my Seiko, it could pass as a pilot’s watch, although it should have the triangle and two dots for 12 o’clock. Its entire point is to be as clear to read as possible, under all circumstances. But maybe my idea of decadence and bling differs from others - I don’t like or want anything that has ‘bling’ as part of its reason for existing.
Miss my SPORK. It's the one watch I regret flipping. Jealous!
Well I’ve seen more Rolexes in NYC than anywhere else.
Thinking of picking up one of these on Wednesday-
Nice, but I dont like the flat head screws... plus aligning them adds an unnecessary manufacturing complication (in my opinion)
I am also thinking what are those screws there for? Otherwise is looks well finished and although not my type of watch it instantly appeals. Price isn't bad either by the look.
The dial is a three piece sandwich. i reckon the screws are there to avoid slippage of the numbers that are the top of the sandwich or bonding which might discolour.
The screws hold the Sandwich dial together, it’s a form follows function thing apparently, and a deliberate design choice, not everyone’s cup of tea!! I’ve never really got the field watch genre, but there’s just something about these, especially the Steffany, that appeals 🙂
I like those. They don't seem particularly expensive either, considering the chronograph is 540€ with a 100€ (retail) Seagull movement in it. I've had that movement in a chrono, problem free and the Sellita in the 3 hander is a great movement too. Interesting they didn't go for an automatic caliber though.
This on the BBC today: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-67263438 ... Maybe there is a fine line between desirable, functional, investable, wearable, and jewellery that needs security!
If it wasn't for this news story https://www.richardmille.com/ wouldn't every have crossed my radar. Cav is one of my all time heroes, but if it's not an investment I'm sure not what these are for!
They're likely to have been gifts given to him as stage wins or sponsorship bonuses.
However, he writes about liking nice watches in one of his books, so maybe they're part of a legit personal collection. I don't like the look of them, but eye of the beholder and all that...
Cav is sponsored by Richard Mille. Officially they’d have been ‘on loan’ or gifts from Richard Mille. I doubt he ‘paid’ for them.
Can anyone recommend a good independent Omega watchmaker? My mother in law's been given a vintage Omega, she sent it to an official Omega watchmaker who want to send it to Omega Switzerland which I'm guessing will be very expensive.
Can anyone recommend a good independent Omega watchmaker?
Calibre Watch Repair. Have done some work for me and others on here.
I have put a watch to Omega for servicing and on top of cost, it was with them for a very long time.
Edit: beaten to it!
I used Calibre to service and refinish my Sub a few months ago. A*. 2 weeks and 50% of the cost of Rolex.
+1 for Calibre - did a great job of my hadn't been serviced for 12 years Aquaracer during the latter stages of the pandemic.
Thanks all, I've passed the suggestion of Calibre to my mother in law
PSA we’ve been told by Elliot Brown that they have found a box of 10 of our anniversary watch.
https://singletrackworld.com/product-highlight/product-highlight-elliot-brown-singletrack-watch/
hello
hello
testing
It’s reset when the article was linked?
Yes. Just measure the lug spacing and order something you fancy, don’t forget to order spring bars.
Exactly, most straps will come with bars these days but not all. Plenty of straps even have quick release bars (they have a little lever to pull, no faffing with tools needed). If you order bars don't do something silly like get shoulderless (can't be removed except by snipping the bar in two) Or Seiko bars (fatter, won't fit).
Most leather straps are straight ended so you'll have a small gap at the case but that's OK. You can get leather straps with curved ends though, or you can hunt out some smarty end links that might fit and fill the gap.
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/intro-zenith-chronomaster-sport-aaron-rodgers
Fugly, the green I could possibly get along with but not with the rest of that dial .... the worst bit is the numbers, it's taken a busy but beautiful dial and tipped it way way over the edge. Not for me.
A wrist roll collage of an rugged NATO I bought for the Arnie. Needs a bit of softening but it’s a great option IMO, and I’m really enjoying the Arnie currently:
Suitably blurry, I should really put my readers on when taking pics..... 😀
Liking this Timex. And finally, sapphire crystal. Decent spec' for £220.
You’ve done well with the last photo. Not a single element of the picture in focus. A rare skill in the autofocus age.
Houston we have a problem...
A couple of months back I left the chronograph running overnight and the next day it had stopped. It's only seven years old and was keeping good without the chrono running and the amplitude was around 300, but operate the chrono and the amplitude drastically drops, the line on the timegrapher starts wandering all over the place and then it stops. Obviously not right so time for a look.
I opened it up and on close inspection there's tiny black spots of dirt on the movement -
There's only one extra wheel running when the chrono is engaged which is the seconds recording wheel, which is the top centre wheel seen below -
I removed the bridge with the Omega logo, then the hammer and spring which allowed the seconds wheel to be removed an cleaned. I didn't see anything which would cause a problem, but after reassembly it was exactly the same. This was telling me the centre wheel, which is directly underneath the seconds wheel might have some dirt trapped inside the tube where the seconds pinion runs through, but to get at that the whole thing has to come apart, so that's what I did -
When I removed the train wheel bridge, and then the crown wheel which is attached to the underside I found the culprit -
I'm not sure what lubricant was originally used here, but it appears to have hardened and then migrated through the movement causing the problems. Happy that I'd found the cause, everything went into the cleaner for a full movement service and now with the chrono running it looks like this -
When I bought this I was thinking I'd send it to Omega when service time comes. Obviously I can do it myself, but the two year Omega warranty would add value and provenance if I were ever to sell, plus the case would be refinished to a standard I could never achieve. The only problem was the cost as Omega are now charging £825 to service one of these, so **** the provenance and all that, it's good for the next 6+ years, I can live with the scratches it's picked up, and it's only cost me about four hours of my time.
4hrs? Bloody hell. Fully dissembled, cleaned and reassembled in 4hrs. Dunno what you do for a living but would being a watch jockey pay a decent return on current evidence?
All the parts of that watch laid out like that gives me the fear!
I cannot imagine being able to take all that to bit and not mash/ mislay / lose some tiny tiny bit 😱
It took me 2h to take a hoover to bits and get it back together yesterday. Parts count is alot less than that!
UGOG! As always fudster, that is impressive!
boblo
Free Member
4hrs? Bloody hell. Fully dissembled, cleaned and reassembled in 4hrs. Dunno what you do for a living but would being a watch jockey pay a decent return on current evidence?
That is what I do.
It takes about 45 mins to disassemble as all you're doing is attacking it with a screwdriver and laying it all out on the bench. 20-30 minutes in the cleaning machine and I'll have a coffee break, then the remaining 2-3 hours on the rebuild as I'm going over the pictures I've taken working out how it goes back together and referencing the tech sheet to confirm where it needs lubricated and which lubricants should be used, plus doing checks on every operation as it goes back together and closely inspecting every part for wear.
That's on a seven year old watch which hasn't been messed with before so stuff like this is gravy. It's when you get the 40+ year old watches that've previously been through the hands of butchers where you need to know your s**t and it might require several hours on top tracing and remedying the problems, often with a break for a few days or weeks while you're waiting on parts from the internet to arrive. Then you total it all up at the end and sometimes you realise you've barely made minimum wage on that one.
tall_martin
Full Member
All the parts of that watch laid out like that gives me the fear!I cannot imagine being able to take all that to bit and not mash/ mislay / lose some tiny tiny bit 😱
It took me 2h to take a hoover to bits and get it back together yesterday. Parts count is alot less than that!
Just take lots of pictures as you strip it down and lay out the parts in order. A wooden floor for when you inevitably drop parts also helps, as does a golf putter with strong magnets attached for sweeping up the dropped parts .
That is what I do.
Well that explains a lot then ya cheat 😁 We (I) thought you were the mandatory STW stereotype IT Middle Manager messing about with watches in your spare time 👍
I always love Fudd's posts, great reading and photos
@Fudd amazing work. Just amazing.
Haven’t mentioned on this thread before as u don’t meed another watch, but always fancied a really good moon phase watch, I’ve absolutely no real idea why - as I can just look 👀 k upwards and see the moon phase, but no matter
so CW have this C1 moon phase that I’ve just got an email about and I really quite like it, but there’s something about it that I don’t - but I can’t put my finger on what - yet
Fudd, I doff my cap. Great post, as always.
