Which watch??

Non-fashion, non-skirt, non-gender discussions. If your post is related to fashion, skirts or gender, please choose one of the forums above for it.
Post Reply
Stu
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1314
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 8:25 am
Location: North Lincolnshire, UK

Which watch??

Post by Stu »

My wife wants to buy me a really nice wristwatch as a belated anniversary present and she has narrowed it to a choice of two that she likes which she has seen in a local jewellery store. One is a very sophisticated smart watch (Galaxy) and the other is a very dumb watch but high quality (Explorer I).

The Galaxy has all the whistles and bells. The Explorer doesn't even tell you the date, but it is more robust and likely to last far longer.

So which would you choose? Hi-tech? Or High quality?

Stu
User avatar
crfriend
Master Barista
Posts: 14432
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: New England (U.S.)
Contact:

Re: Which watch??

Post by crfriend »

Stu wrote:So which would you choose? Hi-tech? Or High quality?
I feel the question here should be, "Which one fits my personality?" A variant on that is, "Which style best suits me?"

I'm immersed in the world of computers pretty much full-time, and almost all of my watches are mechanical analogue ones. I do have a couple of quartz-movement devices and one (restored) 1970s-style LED digital, but most of them are mechanical, and many of them pocket-watches. They do what I ask of them -- they tell me what time it is -- and they look good with what I wear.

The choice is yours; go with what your heart tells you.
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
User avatar
voodoomagic
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 159
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2018 2:50 am

Re: Which watch??

Post by voodoomagic »

Stu I'm old fashioned, my vote would be the high quality one over the smart one.
User avatar
r.m.anderson
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 2601
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 6:25 pm
Location: Burnsville MN USA

Re: Which watch??

Post by r.m.anderson »

Not being familiar with either of these watches and lazy not looking up info about them -
Let me get to the meat of the issue -
Chrome or Gold - Black or some other color -
Sized like a huge scuba or aviators watch or petite fancy jewelry -
and how does all that fit with what you are wearing or going to wear ?
Does the watch state more about your life style wearing skirts ?

Oh just wear the darn thing and get it over with - the skirt I mean ! LOL !
"YES SKIRTING MATTERS"!
"Kilt-On" -or- as the case may be "Skirt-On" !
WHY ?
Isn't wearing a kilt enough?
Well a skirt will do in a pinch!
Make mine short and don't you dare think of pinching there !
Stu
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1314
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 8:25 am
Location: North Lincolnshire, UK

Re: Which watch??

Post by Stu »

Thanks for your thought, gentlemen. It's given me food for thought. I'll probably go with the "dumb" watch as it's more likely to last and keep its value.

I don't tend to worry about the look with skirts/kilts/sarongs because I like a highly masculine look.

For anyone who is interested, these are the two I have been offered by my good lady:

Image
Image
User avatar
Sinned
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 5804
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2012 5:28 pm
Location: York, England

Re: Which watch??

Post by Sinned »

The Rolex will keep its value better. Anyway, if you want the bells and whistles you probably have a mobile phone that will provide those! I wear two watches for different reasons than Carl. On my left wrist I have a Citizen automatic watch that used to stop at indeterminate times ( and not because it wound down ) so I started to wear it to see if it still has the same problem. It hasn't but I have got used to wearing it so I continue to do so. On my right wrist I have a cheapie white England watch. It used to have the 3 lions symbols on the white strap but they have long since worn away. It is digital with a couple of other dials in the top left and top right of the dial. The left one shows the day of the week and the right is divided into six segments. Various combinations of segments darken which change each second. I don't know the make and I believe it is quartz but here is the strange bit and I am probably tempting fate here, I must have been wearing it for over 10 years, maybe even 15 and I have never changed the battery yet. MOH has a matching one and that's never had a battery change either. I wear this one because it has a habit of resetting itself occasionally so I use the watches as checks on each other. Maybe the resetting is a result of the battery running low but MOH's watch doesn't do it.

Anyway, after that diversion, I would go for the Rolex.
I believe in offering every assistance short of actual help but then mainly just want to be left to be myself in all my difference and uniqueness.
User avatar
Kirbstone
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 5571
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2010 7:55 pm
Location: Ireland

Re: Which watch??

Post by Kirbstone »

And in the post Harrison period the British recommended carrying three chronometers on board ship, the purpose being to compare them with each other, take the time of the closest two and eliminate the wayward third.

It enabled them to calculate longitude, map the World and paint most of it pink (Empire)

With advancing years a clear and easily legible watch face would be paramount. The illustrated Rolex is miles in front on that score.

Tom
Carpe Diem......Seize the Day !
Stu
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1314
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 8:25 am
Location: North Lincolnshire, UK

Re: Which watch??

Post by Stu »

Cheers, gents! You have helped me make up my mind.

Most of the time these days I wear a Casio G-Shock digital. It wasn't expensive, but it is extremely tough, reliable and dead accurate. Hard to fault, really. It's useful in my job, where I sometimes need accuracy to a second or two. The two issues I have with it, though, and the first is that it's purely utilitarian and, as such, in no way suitable as a dress watch. My wife hates me wearing it with a suit and she has wanted me to have something smarter for a while. The other is that it's complicated and fiddly to adjust the time, set dates etc, and I have to refer to the manual periodically to remember which buttons to press and in which order. Just like with mobile phones, many of us tend to buy watches these days with no end of functions we don't need and never use. I don't trust a watch to tell me the date because can never remember for sure whether I have adjusted it

I was always minded to go for the Rolex as both its quality and simplicity appeal to me, and my eyesight is becoming quite poor. There was a concern I had was when I saw the words 'SWISS MADE" at the bottom. The last watch I had with that legend was a quite expensive Tissot chronometer and that lasted a measly three and a half years. It can be repaired, but the cost of repairing it is over half what I paid for it when it was new! That isn't impressive in my book. Expensive watches should last longer than that. I still own a battered but perfectly functioning Seiko that's 20-years-old. But my research tells me that Rolex has a higher reputation than Tissot, so that's what I'll go for.

Once again, thanks for your input.

Stu
User avatar
Kirbstone
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 5571
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2010 7:55 pm
Location: Ireland

Re: Which watch??

Post by Kirbstone »

On a sailing trip on the Ijsselmeer in Holland with a group of old German friends in 2016, one of them admired my large copper/golden wristwatch, so I told him that my great-grandfather was Swiss and his name was Philippe. He took on a clever partner named Patek and they made timepieces. Their firm still do, of course, but this one on my wrist was handed down to me, a legacy from him.

I then told him that it was an ultra cheapie, bought in Lidl's for Eur 8.95, which was true!, but he had swallowed the first story!

Tom
Carpe Diem......Seize the Day !
User avatar
r.m.anderson
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 2601
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 6:25 pm
Location: Burnsville MN USA

Re: Which watch??

Post by r.m.anderson »

Kirbstone wrote:On a sailing trip on the Ijsselmeer in Holland with a group of old German friends in 2016, one of them admired my large copper/golden wristwatch, so I told him that my great-grandfather was Swiss and his name was Philippe. He took on a clever partner named Patek and they made timepieces. Their firm still do, of course, but this one on my wrist was handed down to me, a legacy from him.

I then told him that it was an ultra cheapie, bought in Lidl's for Eur 8.95, which was true!, but he had swallowed the first story!

Tom
but he had swallowed the first story!

Yup - Hook Line and S(t)inker - and I have a bridge to sell you too !

Good one Kirbstone !
"YES SKIRTING MATTERS"!
"Kilt-On" -or- as the case may be "Skirt-On" !
WHY ?
Isn't wearing a kilt enough?
Well a skirt will do in a pinch!
Make mine short and don't you dare think of pinching there !
Post Reply