Obligatory Wristwatch Thread

[That Guy]

So rolling around with a multi-thousand-dollar watch that keeps worse time (and has less features) than a $12 F-91W is rational?

I've been pretty agnostic when it comes to quartz vs. mechanical. That said, I have come to appreciate the fact that unless something goes very wrong, a decent mechanical watch won't just stop all of a sudden, unlike quartz watches in my experience tend to do. (I've had batteries die prematurely, a solar powered watch that "keeps working up to 6 months in total darkness" stopped within a month or two after long shirt sleeve weather started, etc.) The fact that the watch keeps ticking is a bigger priority to me than absolute accuracy. A watch that shows me it died at 10:34 does me no good, whereas if I know my watch is 6.5s fast per 24h, and I know how and when I last set it, I can figure out the correct time to the second if I really need to. Which, thus far, I haven't needed to. It's more important for me to keep track of the time in a more general sense - whether I'm a minute off is less important than knowing the approximate time.

Plus, in my personal opinion that F-91W would look real dorky on a grown man's wrist. Life's too short for an ugly watch...

[That Guy]

It's hard to beat a low end Seiko's bang for the buck if you want an inexpensive auto.

My 7s26b Seiko was a turd. Very inaccurate, and with a single bump against the edge of a table went from very slow to very fast - so it's not like you could regulate it and expect it to stay that way. A sample size of one, but it didn't leave me with a good taste in my mouth for cheap Seiko movements.

I guess my experience is contrary to most, judging by the number of Seiko fans in the world.

[ST911]

re: SKX007, mine maintains +2-4 seconds per day with everyday wear including range use. I was worried about the crystal, but it is resisting incidental contacts well.

I wear my SKX007 shooting and it's kept regulation. Not so after a day of mixing/shaking bottles of blood. I'd be curious to hear how much energy is actually transmitted to a watch by typical movement, sudden movement, and those associated with shooting. Less than we think, probably?

My 7s26b Seiko was a turd. Very inaccurate, and with a single bump against the edge of a table went from very slow to very fast - so it's not like you could regulate it and expect it to stay that way. A sample size of one, but it didn't leave me with a good taste in my mouth for cheap Seiko movements. I guess my experience is contrary to most, judging by the number of Seiko fans in the world.

Top post is from 2016, and my experience is still about the same. If I wear it about 8-10 hours and leave it face down overnight I gain somewhere between 0-5 seconds a day. The crystal has picked up a couple of scratches and the original rubber strap cracked at one of the holes, now wearing a jubilee bracelet.

[GardoneVT]

My 7s26b Seiko was a turd. Very inaccurate, and with a single bump against the edge of a table went from very slow to very fast - so it's not like you could regulate it and expect it to stay that way. A sample size of one, but it didn't leave me with a good taste in my mouth for cheap Seiko movements.

I guess my experience is contrary to most, judging by the number of Seiko fans in the world.

That’s a frequently ignored risk for affordable mechanicals. Should there be a problem the watch is instantly totaled, since even basic service work will cost more then the piece is worth. That’s well and good if all one does is wear it until it stops, but if a mechanical to last it has to be maintained periodically.

Better to order a singular expensive watch and have a mechanical that offers no excuses. Buy once,cry once

[That Guy]

Top post is from 2016, and my experience is still about the same. If I wear it about 8-10 hours and leave it face down overnight I gain somewhere between 0-5 seconds a day.

That's just crazy. It is very difficult to find the factory specs of the cheap Seiko movements, but from my previous research I seem to recall the acceptable rate for 7s26(b?) was somewhere around -40/+30 seconds per day. (And mine was pushing those figures, hard...) I'm glad some people have the sort of luck that gets them a cheap Seiko that passes COSC specs, but that simply can not be the norm, nor can you expect to hit that level of accuracy all the time considering the factory specs. (Or am I really the only unlucky watch buyer who gets the ones on the edges of tolerances...? )

Better to order a singular expensive watch and have a mechanical that offers no excuses. Buy once,cry once

That is the same conclusion I've come to. In my opinion, mechanical watches are kind of like 1911's. You may get lucky with a cheap budget model, or you may not.

[mtnbkr]

That's just crazy. It is very difficult to find the factory specs of the cheap Seiko movements, but from my previous research I seem to recall the acceptable rate for 7s26(b?) was somewhere around -40/+30 seconds per day. (And mine was pushing those figures, hard...) I'm glad some people have the sort of luck that gets them a cheap Seiko that passes COSC specs, but that simply can not be the norm, nor can you expect to hit that level of accuracy all the time considering the factory specs. (Or am I really the only unlucky watch buyer who gets the ones on the edges of tolerances...? )



That is the same conclusion I've come to. In my opinion, mechanical watches are kind of like 1911's. You may get lucky with a cheap budget model, or you may not.

My 2003-era Orange Monster needed regulation to get it into the sub-10sec/day range, but I did it myself. Once it was done, it was pretty consistent as a daily-wear watch until I stopped wearing it around 2014ish (was getting uncomfortable and I was tired of the look). Until then, I wore it constantly while shooting, biking, camping, working out at the gym, etc. It was my only watch. When I picked it back up in 2017, it had developed a problem where it wouldn't run overnight unless I religiously wore it all day every day. Even then, it might not be running in the morning. It probably needed a service, but not being crazy about the physical design, I didn't look into it. Now I wish I had because I've since learned how easy modding watches is. I could have replaced the movement myself for about $75 in parts and tools.

My other two Seikos, both based on the same movement, are in need of regulation. They're both off by about 20-30sec per day. One is fast, the other is slow. The fast one is getting an upgrade in the form of an NH36 movement (essentially a 7s26 that hacks and is hand-windable). The slower one will just get some regulation at some point unless I decide to upgrade it as well.

Regarding regulation, the little lever you have to move is fairly stiff. I would be surprised normal knocks and shocks would move it.

Being a DIYer, I can replace a lot of movements before I get to the price point of a significantly "better" watch. If I get a decade out of a movement before having to replace it (as was the example set by my OM), I wouldn't even spend $200 on the course of the rest of my life keeping a single Seiko automatic "alive". I'm not convinced you can get a more durable watch for $400 ($200 in replacement movements and a generous $200 for the original watch).

At least in the Seiko world, you have to get into the >$500 range to get better than the 7s26/4R3x watches (mechanically that is, cosmetics are a separate issue). That's not to say the nicer watches with the same movement aren't more accurate out of the box, just that they all have the same accuracy potential being equipped with the same movement.

Chris

[bofe954]

That’s a frequently ignored risk for affordable mechanicals. Should there be a problem the watch is instantly totaled, since even basic service work will cost more then the piece is worth. That’s well and good if all one does is wear it until it stops, but if a mechanical to last it has to be maintained periodically.

Better to order a singular expensive watch and have a mechanical that offers no excuses. Buy once,cry once

Might be true for having a less annoying experience, but I'm not sure buying a $2-10K watch and then paying $500 every 5-8 years to maintain it is actually saving money vs throwing out a $150-$500 watch every every couple years.

[Duke]

Might be true for having a less annoying experience, but I'm not sure buying a $2-10K watch and then paying $500 every 5-8 years to maintain it is actually saving money vs throwing out a $150-$500 watch every every couple years.

Eluded to earlier -

I made $19k in profit selling off some pieces recently.

The initial buy in is higher but the return is in no way comparable to “saving” by disposing of generic pieces.

The service fee is real but also overstated. Service it when or if it starts getting wonky or if you just like to service things. Unless you drop it on the bathroom floor and break a bunch of stuff (or you’re taking Complicated pieces )then service isn’t something I worry a ton with

[Depmur]

Might be true for having a less annoying experience, but I'm not sure buying a $2-10K watch and then paying $500 every 5-8 years to maintain it is actually saving money vs throwing out a $150-$500 watch every every couple years.

Prior to purchasing my Rolex I had an Omega Seamaster that I wore for 12 years, most everyday. It kept great time maybe losing a couple minutes a month when I sold it, never serviced or anything. I sold it for what I paid for it. I have a Vietnam era Tudor Submariner that my dad purchased in 1971 for a couple hundred dollars that he never had serviced in 46 years. It doesn’t keep the greatest time but it keeps time. At some point I’m going to have it serviced and give it to my son. I’m thinking though it might be worth a little more than that initial $200.00. Of course I also have a Seiko digital from 1981 that works and has only had maybe 10 batteries during its life.


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[mtnbkr]

Eluded to earlier -

I made $19k in profit selling off some pieces recently.

The initial buy in is higher but the return is in no way comparable to “saving” by disposing of generic pieces.

The service fee is real but also overstated. Service it when or if it starts getting wonky or if you just like to service things. Unless you drop it on the bathroom floor and break a bunch of stuff (or you’re taking Complicated pieces )then service isn’t something I worry a ton with

It's not that different than buying older S&W revolvers rather than Taurus or Ruger. S&W costs more, but in all likelihood, you can recoup your investment. I don't have a single S&W revolver that wouldn't easily sell for more than I paid, even after years of me shooting them.

Regarding service and lifespans, not even a low end Seiko should be used up in less than 5 years. I don't think my OM would have experienced issues at 11yrs had I not stuffed it into a drawer for a few years before pulling it out again. I think sitting idle is what caused my problems. It's one of the reasons I bought a watch winder, to keep my two automatics from going completely idle.

Chris