Watches - another OCD problem
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Yeah those are rad. Aesthetically like Lange and Nomos had a baby but completely novel mechanically.
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When in Rome….
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Nice.
I'm not generally a fan of Disney themed merchandise, despite how much of our money goes to the House of Mouse, but that watch is just fun.
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That probably has more to do with Hirst than Disney.
Went to one of the nicer jewelers in town yesterday and gawked at their Grand Seikos. In terms of case fit and finish and dial beauty (aside from the loathsome upside-down power reserve indicators on Spring Drive models), they really did hold their own against everything else in the store perhaps excluding their PP selection.
Now that Grand Seiko have addressed some of their excessive dial verbiage issues, if they moved the power reserve indicator on this or that to the back of the movement, visible through the case-back as in this Credor, it would be very difficult to resist, especially if it were not rendered upside-down and backwards.
I've been admiring this beauty for a long time. In addition to the stunning dial, it has a bracelet I much prefer to the Speedmaster clones more generally in use across the line (though I enjoy the Speedy bracelet on my Speedy). As expected, in person, the dial is even more beautiful than in videos or images. The larger, but not gigantic, size is appealing too, and there are a couple of more 28.8k vph references in larger sizes using that larger movement, with a larger date and more OP / less Speedy bracelets out now too. The brand is becoming more and more attractive to me with their newer models.
Also saw a Pelagos LHD in person for the first time. Really nice, but the roulette date is off-putting to me–an all red date would be cool, but alternation triggers my OCD. So I think the blue Pelagos still is my favorite Tudor, though I couldn't refrain from complaining about the excessive text on the dial to the sales rep, who agreed and mentioned a similar annoyance with overly-badged cars, then indicated the Snowflake is next on his list. Of course I held my tongue on the power reserve indicator, and it is indeed a beautiful watch.
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Picked up this today: 1986 GMT Master II 16760 “fat lady”. Been toying with a modern Rolex but the lack of availability and the shiny polish of the new models made me look at the 5 digits.
This watch has had a dial and hand change, the original dial and hands would have been tritium but this dial is superluminiva I believe.
I was looking for something that I did not have to baby so ruled out the acrylic crystal 1675’s.
Been a long journey looking for this timepiece. I have to thank @graeme for all his input and listening to my watch purchase rationale.
Seasons greetings all!
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That's a helluva watch, wear in good health and congratulations @ddtrash !
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This watch has had a dial and hand change, the original dial and hands would have been tritium but this dial is superluminiva I believe.
I know nothing about the Rolex secondary market, but I know watch collectors can be a finicky lot- do those changes significantly affect the resale value?
Congratulations on a happy purchase, by the way.
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@ddtrash glad to see that you got a watch, and it looks good.
Have you still got your name down for the Root Beer?
I've not bought myself anything yet. There are a few things that I like, but nothing that's jumping out at me. I'll probably wait for SIHH and Basel to see what's coming next year.
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@Chris yes originality is everything with regards to vintage Rolex purchase / value etc. I have only just started getting more informed about this topic and realise how much of a mine field it is.
For my watch it worked out for what I wanted. I wanted a clean looking piece that belies it's age. Most collectors like the beaten up Patina look and will pay extra for these pieces. Having researched chrono24 website it became obvious that 16760 "fat lady" models fell into two camps, one with original tritium dials and hands and others with replacement dials and hands, split was fairly even. The original dial pieces do command more value however all models are going up in value regardless, so difficult to make a bad buy as long as it is a genuine piece. Problem with tritium dials was the that tritium would flake and potentially work it way into the movement, plus it starts to look a bit shabby.
I used the replacement dial and hands as a bargaining chip and got some extra discount out of the vendor who for a major pre owned dealer were scarily uninformed about the history of the piece.
I checked case and bracelet serial numbers to ensure it was a genuine fat lady. Checked the crown guards were bigger than a newer 16710. Once this was done I was pretty sure it was a new dial and hands that made the piece look "clean". The other giveaway for the older 16760 is the date wheel uses open font 9's and 6's compared to the 16710 which has closed 6's and 9's. This watch I believe also has the original serif fat font bezel.
The watch is supposed to function as a "single multi purpose watch". The hangover from my 2015 oilfield lay off mean the days of a multiple watch collection are probably over so a good all rounder was required.
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Personally I buy watches to wear them and enjoy them, and that looks like a win on those counts.
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Most collectors like the beaten up Patina look and will pay extra for these pieces.
Yeah, to me, clean and functional is more important than "authentic", even if that's detrimental to the resale value. The priority of having a reliable everyday watch is greater than having a special occasions "investment piece".
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Got this from the parents today
If you havent checked the Sistem 51 pieces out, they are a pretty cool little novelty. The watch weighs almost nothing but has a nice presence on the wrist. I like what Hodinkee did with the dial, it has a high end look to it IMO. It is a disposable watch which kind of sucks but it should be fun while it lasts.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I like that, @Anesthetist. Just read a little bit about Sistem 51, seems like a novelty worth of Swatch. What makes you say it's disposable?
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I like that, @Anesthetist. Just read a little bit about Sistem 51, seems like a novelty worth of Swatch. What makes you say it's disposable?
No doubt it’s a unique and noteworthy accomplishment for the company. However, the movement is “welded” together and then hermetically sealed into the plastic case. This creates a robust movement with limited parts but it is sadly unserviceable.
However, I’ve heard that the newest metal cased watches CAN be serviced. This gives me hope that Swatch figures out a way to also fix the plastic cased watches. Then we have the age old quandary wether a $150 watch is worth a $200+ service. I’ve seen a lot of old, broken Seiko 5’s at flea markets so I’m guessing most people would say not.
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Aha! Makes sense. Thanks for your response. They're making metal ones, eh? Interesting.
I remember loving my quartz swatch that my Dad got for me when I was 8. Wonder what happened to it? The band looked was an aquarium with fish swimming in it…
Do a search, they do re-editions all the time so you never know if it will turn up again. They are fun little watches and a good way to make sure that you dont take yourself too seriously!
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I've been eyeing up the Omega DeVille Hour Vision recently. They're more of a dress watch, but with a steel case and 100 metres water resistance, they're pretty tough.
They're available with an annual calendar. It adds a couple of millimetres to the case, and Omegas tend to be a bit chunky at the best of time.
This model has a part sapphire case, which is unusual.
As well as the white dial (no photo), it comes as a blue dial in a solid case.
And a bronze / brown dial.
My girlfriend is a big fan of the blue dial. Looks like I'll need to buy another watch for her to wear! :o
Oh, as a bonus, here's an Omega Speedy Tuesday Ultraman that I spotted in the boutique in Brisbane. It belongs to one of the salesmen, and he bought it before he got the job.
Incidentally, if you're looking for a rare watch that's unavailable at retail, you'll probably find it in a grey market dealer. Here's another Ultraman and a Pepsi GMT.
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Love it @seawolf !!!
Not that I could/would afford it, but I think Rolex made a mistake using the Jubilee instead of an OP bracelet on the GMT (the former IMO being too delicate and precious to match the case and dial), and while I like the color scheme of Ultraman, I find themed watches to generally be a major turn-off. Omega drive me crazy on that count, it seems so juvenile and transient, for example, to have a "007" logo marring a timepiece that is built to last. The DeVilles you showed are more "timeless.
