MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
@Kryton - If I was passing that jewellers I'd ask to see the Rado, just so I could sort that misaligned bezel out...:-)
I know, it’s a crime isn’t it.
@Kryton57 that's a decent discount on the green I think. You can currently get the brown for £1890 from Francis and gaye but I think the green isn't discounted often/ as much.
Ah my firend....for you, for you, very best price! 😉 I could do £1550. Tbf, if the green is the one then I'm guessing neither the the brown nor the blue will give you 'the fizz'. Although it sounds like the green isn't quite either.
That green/bronze Rado can be had from Ernest Jones for £1836 with extra discount code if bought tonight.
Good deal! You may be able to slap an extra saving with topcashback there too I think.
Francis & Gaye are doing the stainless, blue Captain Cook for £1575
I got the Trafford Centre inflicted on me today. Went into the Omega store to look at a 38mm Aqua Terra. No way I’m paying RRP for one, (£6k+!) but thought I might have a try on.
you did well to get in! I went to go the the Omega store in San Francisco today only to have the door closed and locked in front of me, no walk in - appointment only. Who do they think they are, Rolex?
Anyone have any thoughts on the Ceramic Rado cook line? Seem to be on good deals here, especially if I ‘lose’ the box and wear it home…
only to have the door closed and locked in front of me, no walk in – appointment only.
That’s another reason to move to internet shopping. Return it if you don’t like it.
any thoughts on the Ceramic Rado cook line?
The olive on rubber has just rocketed up my wish list. Also, the hyperchrome utc has a Longines Spirit GMT feel without the ***** employee of the week vibe.
Talking of Olive, does anyone have a Spinnaker watch? I quite the new Boettger limited editions and have a 20% discount code. Its looks of course get compared to a Sinn 809
https://spinnaker-watches.co.uk/collections/boettger
I like the Dark Olive.
have a Seiko Prospex with a knackered 4R35B movement. It's a Japan made watch, but I can only assume the QC was a bit off as there is dust/lume under the glass. The watch was pretty cheap grey import from Creation (which may explain the previous sentence). Seiko prices have shot up since I got it, so I'm considering whether it's worth bringing it back to life and swapping the strap. I CBA (and would probably mess up) replacing the movement myself . I'd also want the watch face cleaning and if possible a new glass (upgraded to sapphire if poss). Any idea on if this is possible and where/how much?
Thanks @Futureboy77. I've messaged him. I like the watch so if that's the ballpark price I'd go for it.
Then I get to choose a new strap...
Blazin, Rado have a strong history for using ceramics, its sort of their thing. So I would imagine they are well executed.
Another DUFA for the collection. Aalto Auto, steel Miyota Automatic with Power Reserve with Day, Date and Month, 40mm. This is the white one though face looks a very pale grey, blue hands, black seconds. Same movement as that lovely green Spinnaker Boetger!
Those olive Captain Cooks are fab!
Where are you seeing the Olive captian cooks? F&G have a brown onw but I can't see an Olive one?
that lovely green Spinnaker Boetger
Jnr left the house keys on the bus tonight, hence the remaining watch fund will go to a locksmith.
Not in stock though
In stock but full price.
I’d go go via Jura (they are the same store) there’s a 10% off tab bottom left https://www.jurawatches.co.uk/products/rado-watch-captain-cook-high-tech-ceramic-diver-r32130318
It looks brown to me but as I’m in the minority I’ll assume that’s my eyes…
Sellors is Jura, no?
I wasn’t looking to buy from them, I’m in the US at mo and Macy’s (of all places) had 25% off Rado at weekend. They are Green not brown, but I procrastinated for too long and the sale ended.
I know this thread is about the aesthetics of watches and watch ownership but has anyone else watched any of the YouTube content from "Wris****ch Revival"?
There are some really interesting, if slightly long, videos. Soothing and therapeutic to watch - hahahahahaha ;o)
Damn this thread!
I fancy a "Pepsi" diver's watch on a rubber strap. Would prefer quartz to automatic to avoid servicing costs and I'm not that bothered about the movement. Would like the date too as my latest doesn't have it and I miss it.
Budget would be low three figures rather than thousands.
Any thoughts?
Citizen Men's Promaster Diver Eco-Drive Pepsi Blue Dial Blue Polyurethane Strap
BN0168-06L
Not automatic but solar-powered so no battery
£270-ish
Edit: You may regret that Casio
You may regret that Casio
Its a Casio Duro, a very highly rated quartz Diver. Harry go and watch todays JOMW video - he links to a website full of quartz Glycine Combat Subs currently at about £150 delivered. There's a Pepsi bezel on the page.
Would prefer quartz to automatic to avoid servicing costs and I’m not that bothered about the movement.
TBH, it’s unlikely that most automatic watches would require a service any time within the first decade at least, and certainly with the mass-market Seikos, it would be cheaper to just buy another movement and get them swapped out. Different with an old watch with a history, like my Yema. My SPORK is somewhere around thirteen years old, and I’m not even thinking about servicing for probably another ten years.
Thanks. My comment about automatics is based on my Seamaster (that I'm wearing right now). Much as I love it I don't want another watch that has a big servicing bill. Interested to hear about the service intervals on Seikos/SPORK etc.
You may regret that Casio
Expand please?
Is this Pepsi enough? I’ve got a normal one as a beater - good watch
Casio Duro: if it's good enough for Bill Gates ..
Is this Pepsi enough?
I’d go a bit further and buy a Arnie re-issue, the 2019 although the Pepsi is not what Arnie wore. There’s so much hatred for the latest version they are starting to get a bit of status and might be good to have in the collection.
I’d be tempted to get this one from Jura using their standard 10% code. https://www.jurawatches.co.uk/products/seiko-watch-prospex-padi-divers-solar-hybrid-pepsi-snj027p1
Solar, no servicing costs as long as the module lives, becoming collectible/reputable, Diver, with the added functions of the Didgi.
Well it if its good enough for Bill Gates and with the added bonus of stealth 5G I even more tempted.
Not sure about the Seikos. The face to surface are ratio looks a bit off to me. Each to their own though.
Using the discount code I spent my Premium Bonds winnings on a toy:
You may remember I sent the prior "Utility" on a canvas strap back, and I've regretted it. Almost buying one again, I remember the second keeper is a loose arrangement which means the strap flops out, and decide on this ostentatious thing to better highlight a metal Casioak in all its detail, with the added advantage of non flappy plastic strap.
I also think this is the perfect watch for a City Centre break - Rome for me soon - as I'm unlikely to get robbed of it and if I do, there's no emotional attachment.
...is my justification (ROFL)
Interested to hear about the service intervals on Seikos/SPORK etc.
Seiko recommend 2-3 years. Personally, I would just replace the movement once it stopped working.
“Periodic inspection and adjustment by disassembly and cleaning (overhaul) is recommended approximately once every 2 to 3 years in order to maintain optimal performance of the watch for a longtime.” -Seiko
Seiko recommend 2-3 years. Personally, I would just replace the movement once it stopped working.
Which is why I'm averse.
Give me a cheap(ish) Casio with a battery over a cheap(ish) automatic that will cost if you want to keep it running. I have a nice expensive watch, this is just for everyday wear and will go in rotation with the 7 or 8 other everyday wear watches. I just like the colour of the bezel.
My quartz Omega SMP 300 is about 12 years old, and this year started to go wonky, it was pulsating/stuck on a particular second without moving forward. Even with a new battery.
I assumed quartz never needed serviced... I got 12 years out of mine.
It was sorted/serviced by Steven at Calibre recently.
Which is why I’m averse.
Just like fox forks, they don’t NEED to be serviced according to the manufacturers recommendation.
Futureboy77
Full Member
Interested to hear about the service intervals on Seikos/SPORK etc
Similar to every other mechanical watch - six to eight years is when the timekeeping will start to change and the amplitude drops, maybe four if you're unlucky and got a 'Friday afternoon' watch but you might not notice it unless you own a timegrapher. After ten years the oils will start drying up and you're risking a parts bill on top of the servicing cost when you do eventually service it.
In the case of Seiko they can be poorly assembled and regulated from new and so the timekeeping might even improve as it gets older, but at least they're cheap and you can just put a mew movement in for less than what a good watchmaker would charge to service the old movement.
Just like fox forks, they don’t NEED to be serviced according to the manufacturers recommendation.
Or just like a car, you can drive it for 50k miles without servicing and it'll still get you from A to B and you probably won't notice the gradual drop off in performance, but I'd rather service mine every year than save a few quid before eventually getting a bill for an engine rebuild.
Expand please?
You asked for a pepsi for a lowish 3 figures. I assumed something decent and recommended an eco-drive.... If you want a cheap watch for bike use the Casio is fine but lots better for your spec price
Do many people on here actually get sub-£1k watches serviced? Seiko Prospex and the like. Vintage and sentimental-value items obviously excepted.
Also, for automatics in a collection: if only work occasionally how much actual wear do they get? Lubricants may deteriorate but if the moving parts ain't moving?
@fudd with the greatest respect though you service your own watches whereas most of us have to pay for that service?
Makes a difference…
My planet ocean is 10 years old now. It runs at+1spd. I don't want to send it for a service when it's so reliable but I've do appreciate a few hundred for a clean and oil up is probably a good thing soon ish.
The CW C60 Elite I acquired is presently running 1-2 seconds slow. Twelve days after I set it. Or better than 0.1667 seconds per day.
That’s not too shabby.
Nothing to do with the watch servicing conversation, I just worked it out and had to say.
The CW C60 Elite I acquired is presently running 1-2 seconds slow. Twelve days after I set it. Or better than 0.1667 seconds per day.
One minute per year?
Very nice! It's largely luck I reckon, to get better than a couple of secs per day. The important bit is low variance. That let's you trust a watch as a good time keeper.
Oh and that accuracy beats my snr035.... which is spring drive! 8sp month for that.
I’ve been wearing my SPORK now for a couple of months or so, probably the longest unbroken period since a while after I bought it, and because of the faffing around to try to set the time exactly, I wasn’t sure how far out it was. I managed to set it dead on, using the hack of slightly winding the hands back to hold the second-hand still, and that was on Monday morning and it’s now 10 seconds fast, which isn’t too shabby. It’s about ten years old, I think.
The CW C60 I have is the COSC one.
Which comes with a test certificate.
The watch natural loses about 1-2 seconds a day if I just wear it and leave it overnight the way I’ve always left watches.
But the certificate effectively tells me the “fast”position to leave it in overnight to bring it back in line.
(Face down, so there’s a microfibre cloth gone on the dresser)
@CZ - yep, I think I’d take that too.
I have buyers remorse again, and I took some time to think about why that is. I’ve learned enough to know that a generic movement, piece of sapphire and ceramic bezel or polished dial - for example - does not make a relationship with a watch.
At a point, the “special” starts to look expensive; free learning like that video about omega movements, watching the refurbs, fudds assemblies, owning a true compressor or piece of history is more important. It can be enjoyed for free or awaited to be very expensive for a legacy time piece purchase, but the generic mid range is a whole net of sparkling jewellery ready to empty your wallet with a few exceptions of horological excellence or differentiation. Of course most people know this but I needed to remind myself.
Anyway…
On to more pressing matters.......
Did you buy a battery for the Kooogah yet?
Or are you researching if a watch winder can be retro engineered to keep the battery topped up?
Did you buy a battery for the Kooogah yet?
Now we are crossing streams 🙂
No, had a second opinion confirmed as the instrument cluster issue which could also be causing battery drain, one thing at a time. The same garage tested the battery and didnt think it needed replacing and its not the OEM battery although we don't know when it was replaced. Trying to contact the guy in the video that was posted, as a more local firm let me down this week.
We have driven it, twice cut into limp mode in traffic so its garaged for now.
Have you looked at the newish high end Citizen Series 8 automatics?
They look very nice to me
Kryton57
Full Member
@fudd with the greatest respect though you service your own watches whereas most of us have to pay for that service?Makes a difference…
Not really - oils still deteriorate, gaskets harden and moving parts will eventually wear out.
If it's any consolation I've seen 50 year old watches that've never been serviced that appear to be running just fine and needing just an overhaul and new gaskets to be running like new again, but then I've also seen 10-15 year old watches in for their first service and the bill more than doubles due to the amount of parts required.
But enough about that, here's my latest arrival -
Another non-running Seiko via Yahoo Japan in the shape of a 7549-7010 'Tuna'.
This is the first Quartz Tuna Seiko released alongside the 600m 7549-7009 in 1978, this one being built in August the following year. JDM model so you've got Professional on the dial rather than the SQ branding the rest of the world got plus the Kanji day wheel.
It's a bit battered looking but the dial and hands appeared perfect and I knew it would scrub up well. I ordered a new crystal and Hexad bracelet from Strapcode at the same time and hoped that the only other thing it would need would be a battery, but upon arrival I could see the coil was damaged, so while I was waiting for that to arrive I did the usual -
Flip it over to the back side and you can see why it was listed as a junk item -
When a quartz watch dies it's usually because of the battery, but if someone with fat fingers, two left hands and crap tools replaces the battery and the screwdriver slips... No biggie as a good s/h coil is only £25 and you need to expect these things when buying a non-runner. Sometimes the circuit can die for no reason, and when an old battery leaks it can be catastrophic but there were no more surprises with this one.
You can see the old crown gasket vs new where the old one has compressed into an almost square section -
And then ten minutes after the new coil arrived this -
I also fitted the MM300 ratcheting clasp that was on my SKX -
At 47mm it's a beast and the chunky bracelet adds to that, but with the relatively short lug to lug it's surprisingly wearable, even with my skinny 6.75" wrist. I just need to regulate it now as it was running over 1m fast per day and I don't have the equipment for measuring quartz accuracy, so I'll have to do it the slow way by adjusting the trim screw on the movement and timing it each day. I might end up sending it to my mate who has the kit to do it properly but we'll see how it goes.
Great work Fudd, and thanks for the detailed photos!
Awesome pics and right-up Fudd, a very enjoyable read over a post-work Friday beer. I'm going to swap to my Arnie* in tribute.
*yes I know its not the same.
Yes awesome! I shan't be dismantling my own watches, but it's interesting to see what you have done.
Dismantling is the easy bit.
@fudd - nice buy, and a nice, classic Seiko. Always rather fancied a proper Tuna, but I’d rather it was a mechanical than a quartz.
Your tear-downs and photos are amazing, rather easier to see details than with a video. 😎
Bravo Fudd, quality in every aspect.
Thanks chaps.
igm
Full Member
Dismantling is the easy bit.
100%. The hardest part is working out where all the left over screws are supposed to go.
CountZero
Full Member
@fudd – nice buy, and a nice, classic Seiko. Always rather fancied a proper Tuna, but I’d rather it was a mechanical than a quartz.
The only mechanical Tunas are in 600m or 1000m cases and they're just a step too far for my wrists unfortunately. There's a number of other Seiko's with shrouds and auto movements but they're not the same, even though they've all got that X on the dial these days (mutter, grumble etc).
Orient M-Force auto, the other shrouded diver...
Today's ebay delivery.
A no name watch with Seiko VH31 movement and a sapphire crystal.
Not sure the lume is up to much, but less than £50 to my door.
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New watch day.
SPB255J1 Black Series.
That looks nice, I thought it was my snr035 for a moment. What's the strap and lug width? The strap might find its way here.
New watch day. SPB255J1 Black Series.
That’s very nice, really like the strap - it’s a seichu strap IIRC, did look at buying it separately for one of my divers but it’s quite expensive.
Full disclosure I do have one of the previous run of seiko black edition diver specials and whilst I do love mine, I do really like the new run.
I keep looking longingly at the captain Willard one.
Anyone got any idea of how durable the dark coating on the Seiko cases is? Been eyeing one up but it would have a rough n tumble life, so maybe plain stainless would be better....
My Seiko is my mountain biking watch, been absolutely fine. I posted it a couple of pages back. It’s used extensively for day to day duties and it’s not overly noticeable. I have a lot of posher watches that get used a lot less looking a fair bit more neaten up.
(Not sure if mine is the type you are thinking of so apologies if it’s now)
Thts exactly whats I wanted to hear! Cheers.
@neilnevill
Lug and strap width is 20mm.
As mentioned above the strap material is Seichu which is a traditional Japanese weave used on belts for kimonos.
Apparently the strap by itself retails north of $200!!!!!
Nice that twohats
The only mechanical Tunas are in 600m or 1000m cases and they’re just a step too far for my wrists unfortunately. There’s a number of other Seiko’s with shrouds and auto movements but they’re not the same, even though they’ve all got that X on the dial these days (mutter, grumble etc).
🤣 Yes, the Prospex thing annoys me, too. I think I could live with the hefty monocoque case on the mechanical Tunas, in fact I would, just to have what are pretty much a Grand Seiko movement in a tool watch! I might even go as far as the gold TiN coating, for the subtle added bling…
@richpips - that’s a nice looking field watch you’ve got there, very much a Sinn-styled face, like my SP043RK1, yours has the military 12 o’clock marker with the triangle and two dots, though. For £50 that’s a daily beater of a watch, it looks great and a lot more expensive than it has any right to.
Mine for comparison of the face:
Just tried to get a shot of the lume, this is the best I could get, in full dark I couldn’t get a good focus:
I just climbed Mount Taygetos but forgot the obligatory wrist shot at summit. Should I climb again? Sat at Xirocambi plateia with a frappé now...
Well.... I did not climb again but I did visit two archaeological sites (that's my job). And am now back in plateia, really quite missed. Oh, and the Oris Propilot performed admirably
Enjoyed this vid...
WoW!
an interesting story BUT £80,000 - for a watch, even one that unusual? That's a very different reality to the one in which I live :o)
I get the 'investment' angle but even so...
...I'm struggling to spend £1500 on something as frivolous as a watch.
He has a few others aswell 😂
How does this work? I'm thinking of using chrono24 to buy a watch from Japan, so I am watching the pound to yen exchange rate. Boe increase rates today and give a positive forecast that recession will be avoided. The pound drops 2 yen. Wtaf!
After setting the SPORK two weeks ago, I’ve just checked it, and it’s running 28 seconds fast, which I think is fairly respectable.
Latest (and last for a while) addition to the fleet! Window shopping in US turned to eBay browsing too… you know the rest.
Need some suggestions for alternative straps for it please, I love the bracelet with the t-link adjustment, but something a bit less ‘scratchy’ is needed, I’m thinking maybe black sailcloth or canvass with yellow detail to pick out the GMT hand maybe?
