What watch do you wear?

CGrieves · 1 Dec 2023 at 11:59

Brand snobs look away :cool:

Decided to try some "premium" Chinese watches in the recent 11/11 sale on a popular Chinese retail site. Frankly I'm blown away by the build quality given the price. The only thing I've noticed is the end of the (quick adjust) clasp on the San Martin was a little sharp. And both are running around -2 seconds per day. I've had £1000 watches that arrived virtually unregulated.

Trick · 3 Dec 2023 at 19:14

Those Sugess watches are meant to be amazing. The YouTube vids of the tourbillon ones look astonishing for the price

Trick · 3 Dec 2023 at 19:16

Today‘s watch - the GMT

Marmot · 6 Dec 2023 at 14:00

Marmot said:
Found an old 1960s Breitling among my fathers possessions. He wants to get rid of it but not sure where to begin. It's clearly seen better days, although underneath the dirt the condition looks very good. It's not functioning and would need a service alongside a clean.

Any tips on selling?

Following a service:

Very shiny - maybe a bit OVER shiny. The blemishes on the face are unfortunately all the more visible. Still, the chap did an amazing job and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg either.

hughtrimble · 6 Dec 2023 at 14:08

Marmot said:
Following a service:

Very shiny - maybe a bit OVER shiny. The blemishes on the face are unfortunately all the more visible. Still, the chap did an amazing job and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg either.

Very good you're pleased - who did you choose to go with for servicing in the end?

Marmot · 6 Dec 2023 at 14:14

I contacted a few of the names mentioned in this thread but received limited or negative responses. I hunted around a bit locally, most places turned me down saying it would be too difficult to get parts etc. In the end I found an old chap in Wandsworth who had been servicing and restoring Swiss watches most of his life. Took him a month because he had a backlog, but only cost me 150!

hughtrimble · 7 Dec 2023 at 12:04

Marmot said:
I contacted a few of the names mentioned in this thread but received limited or negative responses. I hunted around a bit locally, most places turned me down saying it would be too difficult to get parts etc. In the end I found an old chap in Wandsworth who had been servicing and restoring Swiss watches most of his life. Took him a month because he had a backlog, but only cost me 150!

Great result. Not so good on the ones you contacted who didn't respond though.

Derek W · 7 Dec 2023 at 19:23

Something a little bit different. The Glashutte Original catalogue :cool:

240 pages with a hardcover. I was expecting maybe a brochure style magazine but instead it was more like a book.

mrk · 10 Dec 2023 at 20:58

2 years 8 months with the Vintage Bronze. The case treatment they use is still holding up on the case and crown, but where the caseback comes into constant contact with skin oils etc, and the buckle rubbing against all clothing and desk surfaces, these areas are seeing some patination.

Richdog · 11 Dec 2023 at 05:59

mrk said:
2 years 8 months with the Vintage Bronze. The case treatment they use is still holding up on the case and crown, but where the caseback comes into constant contact with skin oils etc, and the buckle rubbing against all clothing and desk surfaces, these areas are seeing some patination.

Bronze contains copper and it going green when in contact with skin and surfaces is the primary reason I would never buy a bronze watch regardless of how cool they look. It is for this reason possibly the least suitable workable hard metal to be used for watches, at least not without any modification that completely stops that process.

mrk · 11 Dec 2023 at 07:42

Well it's been nearly 3 years and the bronze treatment Stowa use has done its job of not going green/white that you normally see on other bronze watches after this length of time. Mine gets washed under the tap regularly too and still looks like the above. It's the only reason I chose a Stowa bronze, as nobody else seems to have a similar finishing, otherwise an Oris Big Pointer Bronze would have been mine long ago but after a mate bought one and returned it within a month due to how quickly the bronze gained patina, I thought "not for me" lol.

Demon · 11 Dec 2023 at 08:20

We had our Xmas party on friday, 3 long timers (20 years) that have been around since the company started got presented with a watch.. one of those was sat on my table and he was moaning about 'the token effort' the company made and how he's happy with his Apple watch..

I asked to take a look, even just taking the box out of the bag, I was a bit shocked.. this is the 'token effort' the company made:

I loved pointing out that it was a £7K thing of beauty (It looks stunning in person).. his face was a picture..

One of the other guys has worn his in today, absolutely over the moon, his Mrs told him to sell it, he's going to wear it everyday! Top bloke!

mrk · 11 Dec 2023 at 08:23

Demon said:
his Mrs told him to sell it,

Between Apple Watch guy and this mrs, these people exist only to sour the rest of our lives on a constant basis

CGrieves · 11 Dec 2023 at 21:47

Richdog said:
Bronze contains copper and it going green when in contact with skin and surfaces is the primary reason I would never buy a bronze watch regardless of how cool they look. It is for this reason possibly the least suitable workable hard metal to be used for watches, at least not without any modification that completely stops that process.

I've always regarded the changing patina as the whole point of a bronze watch....

hughtrimble · 11 Dec 2023 at 22:01

CGrieves said:
I've always regarded the changing patina as the whole point of a bronze watch....

It's a pretty gorgeous look without changing patina. I like the patina on things like lighters and pocket knives etc. but on a watch it's a bit mank.

Richdog · 12 Dec 2023 at 08:30

CGrieves said:
I've always regarded the changing patina as the whole point of a bronze watch....

Sure, if it didn't desposit green goop on your wrist and clothing?

CGrieves · 12 Dec 2023 at 09:49

Richdog said:
Sure, if it didn't desposit green goop on your wrist and clothing?

Roger that, if that's a no-go then a bronze watch just isn't the way to go. Like you say, due to its chemistry it's an unsuitable material if you want the same inert behaviour as say, stainless steel. Unless you coat the bronze in something that (in my opinion) negates the aesthetic appeal of bronze (raw or tarnished). If I wanted the bronze look without the bronze behaviour, I'd go with PVD stainless or anodized Titanium instead.

mrk · 12 Dec 2023 at 10:03

But you can have both of those qualities. Stowa and one or two other brands do a treatment that stops the green goop from forming. The bronze continues to have a bronxlzed aged look all the time only slightly changing hue if it gets washed etc but then settling back to it's factory finish which IMO is well judged and desirable going by online feedback.

As I said before, mine gets washed regularly and still looks like the above. No transfer on clothing or wrist to note either.

There are also a number of different bronze compounds used by watch makers which dictates how extreme the baseline ageing process is. Oris seem to use the fastest reacting compound, one half of the watch will look different to the other by simply being covered by a shirt sleeve within days, for example. That's super annoying and thankfully not an issue on Stowa cases.

CGrieves · 12 Dec 2023 at 11:07

I do love a bronze watch.

leemk · 12 Dec 2023 at 11:49

well my dhgate monaco turned up after 4 months , not quite what was pictured on dhgate , it was supposed to have no writing on the dial .

3 oclock dial is a 24 hr not seconds dial , chrono works suprisingly.
strap is genuine leather (genuine plastic leather).
dont know why they wrote quartz then put calibre 12 on there as well

got this to see if a square watch is for me and must admit it is , now just got to decide do i want the Heuer original with crown on left or the new Tag with it on the right.