The watch thread: pocket, wrist, sporty, showy? You name it!

I haven't actually handled a GS yet - for fear that 'the want' would take over - but I'd expect the overall quality of the case, strap and finishing to be a step up from the already good Sarbs.

Hard to articulate the differences properly, but the 25 year old Sub I have just all round looks and feels better finished, and a higher quality item than the Baby Grand. Much of it is I think, down to things you dont really see in photos, like the weight, the play in the links, sharpness of the machined edges, and even things like the action of the winding mechanism and date change. Come to think of it - those are probably the things that help you tell the difference between the real and fake mechanical watches too.

I have zero need whatsoever of one btw - just a growing admiration for the things, and I suppose an appreciation of the engineering and quality ethos within the company. Can't cost justify a purchase on any sensible basis whatosever either, but hey, this is a big boys gear forum, who would I be trying to kid

 

I just placed my SARB035 up for sale, great watch but I fancy a chance

 

I have a soft sport for GS whether spring drive or HAQ but haven’t succumbed, probably until their bracelets and straps properly have micro adjust. The Christopher Ward magazine dropped on the doormat this week and the sand coloured Aquitaine Dune on the cover is the first watch for some time I have actually wanted, until reading that you only get a COSC movement in the bronze version. Why on earth have they done that?

same with many Seiko watches for me, they look good until I read the +/- 20s per day and I switch off, I already have a Pagani submariner lookalike with a Seiko NR35 movement (if I have that right) with that innacuracy and spend my time wondering if I can change the movement for something more accurate, nice watch otherwise.

Which means the two watches I wear are my Mido Ocean Star Diver mostly and my Chris Ward C9 SH21 sometimes, both chronometers.

I’ll try and come back and add a picture two when I can as is customary in this thread.

 

From a horological point of view rather than aesthetic, I think the biggest thing you get from expensive watches is good adjustment.

My daily use SARB035's 6R15C movement is well regulated but badly adjusted.

In regular use it keeps very good time but if not regularly worn its timekeeping is much more variable. Its rate varies a lot across the different orientations, states of wind, on/off-wrist temperatures.

ISTM the technology and the manufacturing processes needed for good adjustment, applied to relatively small production quantities, is a key cost/pricing matter in expensive watches. Is good adjustment worth it? It's very much an individual choice and I don't find my SARB035's waywardness in irregular use a problem, but I do really appreciate its aesthetic elegance.

 

This is Seiko all new just released today Black Series Alpinist
I have a feeling this one is going to sell out pretty fast

 

Mm. Not to me.

 

I still prefer my older one

 

so do I. Better again is the Sarb 017, but the best of all is the red Alpinist, green face.

 

That silver version is much more elegant than the black one (imo). Reminiscent of the older Rolex Explorers.

Had never heard of the Red Alpinist before - again reminiscent of the older Red Subs. Whoever's on the marketing side at Seiko has done a damn good job in terms of working out how to create 'exclusivity' and demand for subtle variations.

They're almost like Hardly Davidson now in some ways - a couple of basic engines and chassis bolted together with different accoutrements and paint to create seemingly hundreds of variants of the same offering

 

They certainly have now. Time was that here was only one Alpinist at a time, albeit available in 3 colours. The red Alpinist was simply the model that preceded mine, the SARB 017. Mine no longer has "Alpinist" on the face, which is a shame. In its place it simply says "automatic".

True, but isn't this the case for all wristwatches? Movements are a simple bit of engineering, a weight/spring oscillator driving a gearbox. It's miniaturised, sure, but it's not a supercomputer. A pretty face, a metal case, done. I'm told that you can get a 6r15 movement, as used in my Alpinist, for about £100, from Seiko. The rest of it is jewellery, with plenty of scope to make a living.

 

One of the nice things about Seikos is how classic the designs are. They just don't really date but look elegant. The SARB035 shown further up the thread is a perfect example.

 

Seikos are my daily watch. Looked up one of mine and seems it’s quite rare, any idea why? Bought it from a jeweller on Kilburn High Road in the mid 90’s.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1318918381/seiko-sports-150-pepsi-bezel

 

I have no idea why that might be rare. An attractive watch from a known high quality manufacturer. Seiko diver - been around for ever. Pepsi colour scheme - likewise and a popular choice. Quartz movement - popular at the time and very reliable. Sold by Seiko at reasonable cost - you would imagine good sales volume. So rare, 25 years on? Maybe.

 

When I was a yoof - all Seiko's seemed to look like that - it was the classic design. Rare today perhaps only in the sense that they are mostly stuck in a drawer somewhere perhaps.

 

Possibly down to it being hard to open and reseal the back of a diver's watch properly to replace the battery with the result that few ever did, leaving lots of dead ones , or perhaps ones with very damp interiors ?

 

I'm not sure I go with this. If you need special tools, then for a relatively valuable item like this you'll go to a jeweller or watch repair shop for a fiver or so every couple of years. If not, and a market stall bodge or bad seal makes it no longer dive proof, few would notice. How many watches have you destroyed by water ingress? Me - none. Plenty will be lurking in a drawer in need of a battery, I have a few like this, but they'll work once a battery gets slotted in. They're not dead, just resting.

 

You’d think there would be thousands around. Mine is in better condition and always been properly sealed when a new battery fitted. It’s one of my favourite watches, cost me £80 new (for cash) in 1996 IIRC!

 

Watches with dead batteries should not be left 'resting' in a drawer. The big risk is that the battery will (eventually) leak and the acid will destroy parts and the circuit. If you don't want to use the watch, then remove the battery first before storing.

Long term Seiko aficionados have noted two things of late. First, Seiko has been moving the price point up for all their ranges of watches. Second, the quality of their watches has declined (with the possible exception of the very expensive ones).

 

The 10th/second hand on my Sun Moonswatch doesn't line up with the starting marker on the subdial. I've tried manual adjustment (using the top pusher nudge method) but even after nudging the hand all the way round one step at a time it just ends up back to where it was. I might be going back to Swatch for a replacement today. If this was a watch you could buy any day of the week then I'd take it back for sure, but odds are, they won't have one to offer me as a replacement so it'll probably be a case of refund or wait. In saying that, they might prioritise a replacement. I guess I'll just have to go back and see what they say.

 

I have fancied a "Pepsi" style bezel watch for a while, so yesterday cashed in some "points" from a work reward scheme for 200 Amazon pounds, and got myself a SRPD53K1.



I seem to be in a very small minority in wearing my watch on the inside of my wrist. Always have done, never feels comfortable on the outside.