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Thread: Watch me watch watches.

  1. #121
    High Plains Luddite George's Avatar
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    What happened to NickT? Sorry if I should know, but I don't, and a search of his name didn't reveal anything.

    Thanks for the suggestions, Josh and YW. I really can't be bothered trying to sell a broken watch for peanuts, so I'll probably just recycle it, but I just hate to get rid of things like that. I always assume there's some guy somewhere wringing his hands and thinking, "Oh, IF ONLY I could find a part for this watch...", but as I saw one of these with a $30 BIN on eBay last night, I'm not going to lose too much sleep over it. I really did think that was a quality watch, but today on the forum that Josh linked I saw someone claim to have bought a similar Swiss Army watch for $5 at a flea market, so I guess I never did know anything about watches to begin with, other than what my college roommate told me about his Tudor, and from old Timex ads back when they were built well enough to "take a lickin' and keep on tickin'".

    I did some googling today and discovered Seiko 5 automatics. They're new to me, but apparently have been around for along time and have the things I like - they're said to be durable, surprisingly affordable, and I liked the classic appearance of most I saw.

    I do still have a late'-80s Casio that's styled like a scuba diving watch that I should probably have a new battery put in, while I'm thinking of watches. Trouble is, that one is just like the cheap Timexes I've picked up for nearly nothing recently at a nearby discount sporting goods store: too big to fit under a dress shirt cuff when it's time to look like a grown-up.

  2. #122
    Relaxing and enjoying life MR2 Fan's Avatar
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    The Seikos are very nice and so are the Orient ones, especially their dress watches like the Bambino and Symphony:


  3. #123
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    Yeah, seikos and orients are really good buys if you want an automatic. If the automatic thing isn't that important, I highly recommend Citizen - They're quartz, but powered by some sort of solar element in the face that charges a capacitor or something, so no battery. A lot of them are really tough - Mine hasn't missed a beat, and archaeological fieldwork can be like a torture chamber designed to break watches.
    -Formerly Stabulator

  4. #124
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    The Seiko 5s look good, especially for the price. I had one and it started to run slow by around 5 minutes after I wore it to a metal concert though, and I eventually had to bin it.

  5. #125
    Member Member 21Kid's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by George View Post
    What happened to NickT? Sorry if I should know, but I don't, and a search of his name didn't reveal anything.
    A lot of the old gang just stopped coming around. Nick, Nigel, Chris, Rob, etc...

  6. #126
    High Plains Luddite George's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JoshInKC View Post
    If the automatic thing isn't that important...
    I don't know if it is or it isn't. I'm so clueless.

    I do know that there seems to be an incredible number of dirt-cheap refurbished Seiko 5s on eBay coming from India with free shipping. If you sort to see the lowest priced ones first, there are some great candidates for Ugliest Watch Ever selling in the $10 and under price range.

    Orient watches look really nice. Thanks again for all the help.

  7. #127
    Quote Originally Posted by George View Post
    I don't know if it is or it isn't. I'm so clueless.
    With an automatic timepiece you won't have to replace a battery every few years. (The battery types are commonly known as quartz watches, as you guessed). Automatic watches all need some form of care in order to keep running. Three common options:

    - Solar. Many can store solar energy for weeks, maybe months. But leave it in the dark too long and it'll eventually stop. Indoor light is enough to keep it charged for a while. Citizen calls their solar watches EcoDrive and Seiko calls their line Solar.
    - Kinetic movement. A weight (sometimes visible through a clear case backing) moves in a circular motion inside the case as you move around during normal daily activity and the watch movement stores energy in a spring (someone correct me if my assumption is wrong). Leave the watch unworn for long enough (days or weeks I want to say) and it'll stop. You can move it around 'manually' for a few minutes in your hand to restart it.
    - Old fashioned winding of the crown. I've never owned one of these so I cant' comment on power reserve. Some fancier watches have a sub-dial that tells you how much power is stored in the mechanism.

    For me the solar watch is my favorite power option, but there are many other considerations when choosing a watch. Style, size, weight, cost, lume, just to name a few. I own more quartz watches than anything else, but I am a cheapskate who is picky about style.

    Also, some $10-20 watches can look cool in pictures on the internet but are not of very good quality when you see, touch, and use them in the real world. Something to be aware of. I do like my newest Fauxlex for what it is, though.

    I've become a Seiko/Citizen fan for their high quality, good value, and variety of well executed styles.

    And MR2 Fan, thanks a lot for posting that pic (sarcasm). That Orient in black is looking real good again. A dress watch is something I'm missing from the collection and I'm of the opinion a dress watch worn with a suit should be a proper mechanical time piece, not a quartz movement. Orients are relatively affordable, quality automatics from what I hear. Maybe that'll be next year's watch. Or an SKX009... I don't have any divers either.
    Last edited by CudaMan; November 10th, 2016 at 04:27 PM.

  8. #128
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    Quote Originally Posted by CudaMan View Post
    - Solar. Many can store solar energy for weeks, maybe months. But leave it in the dark too long and it'll eventually stop. Indoor light is enough to keep it charged for a while. Citizen calls their solar watches EcoDrive and Seiko calls their line Solar.
    - Kinetic movement. A weight (sometimes visible through a clear case backing) moves in a circular motion inside the case as you move around during normal daily activity and the watch movement stores energy in a spring (someone correct me if my assumption is wrong). Leave the watch unworn for long enough (days or weeks I want to say) and it'll stop. You can move it around 'manually' for a few minutes in your hand to restart it.
    - Old fashioned winding of the crown. I've never owned one of these so I cant' comment on power reserve. Some fancier watches have a sub-dial that tells you how much power is stored in the mechanism.
    Yeah, Citizen ecoDrives are great. Highly recommend.

    Minor clarification: When I was referring to "automatic," I was referring to mechanical automatics which store energy (gained from a weight moving around) in a spring - also referred to as "self-winding". This is what all of the Seiko 5 series watches are. And pretty much every other watch you see listed as "automatic." They need to either be worn regularly (like, once a week minimum I think, though it depends on the watch) otherwise, it'll wind down and have to be reset. They make cases for these that move them around to keep them wound up.

    Kinetic is slightly different - that's a specific product line produced by seiko. It uses a little weight to generate energy which, unlike an automatic/self-winding - is converted to electrical energy and stored in a battery which powers a quartz movement. Its a really cool idea.

    The old-fashioned 'turn the knob to wind a spring' type is usually referred to as either 'manual' or 'hand-wound'

    One thing to keep in mind is that while neither of the mechanical types require batteries, they do need periodic maintenance and cleaning. Also, the Citizen EcoDrives (and I think the Seiko Kinetics) don't take batteries either - like I said, they've got some kind of capacitor or something, which lasts like 20 years. I'm not sure if the Seiko solars are the same, or if they use normal batteries.
    -Formerly Stabulator

  9. #129
    Director Freude am Fahren's Avatar
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    I have/had a Seiko 5 and a Orient Pilot. The Orient blows the Seiko out of the water. Higher quality, better time, and much more durable. The Seiko scratched immediately, and broke on its first short drop. The Orient I've been wearing daily for the last year, bumping into things, etc, and not a blemish.

    Out of the box, the Seiko was way fast. Maybe 70 seconds a day? I forget, but it was a lot. Some tinkering and I got it down to less than 20 I think. The Orient gains about a minute a week, never adjusted it. All based on the clock we use at work (a TV station, so it's accurate).

    Seiko: https://www.amazon.com/Seiko-SNZG11J.../dp/B003BZ33NM

    Orient: http://www.longislandwatch.com/Orien...7c031e90dbcc99

    When I bought them, they were about the same amount ($140).
    Last edited by Freude am Fahren; November 10th, 2016 at 06:18 PM.

  10. #130
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    I did see the Orient BRZ watches for sale in Malaysia, but I couldn't bring myself to buy them. Not hating on the brand in general, just those ones. I did try and buy the Orient limited edition STI models via ebay but all the transactions failed.

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