My 21st Watch thread!

[LeperousDust]

I'm 21 worryingly so in about a month or so. My mum in adamant she wants to get me a watch that i can keep and cherish for the rest of my years. I'd like that too, but i don't know where to start looking. Googling isn't helping me, i need some of the major retailers just to browse watching. But i think i'm pretty much gonna buy second hand to save some money :)
If Grandad or someone else with some watch finesse could give me a helping hand here i'd much appreciate it!

[Joe 90]

pfft, no need to worry about being 21... unless you don't like getting smashed... oh it was a drunked night(s)...

but yeah...i got a watch for my 18th.... nice big Seiko :D plain silver/greyish in design, but cool as F. and obviously fully functional chrono dials to keep track of time :)

other than that i know bugger all about watces though...
/wanders off quietly...

[LeperousDust]

Tbh im not worried about being 21, i'm gonna have the massivestist party ever with my mate whos also 21, drunken i will be. What does worry me is i was 18 only yesterday :p :shocked: worryinging in that respect!

Thats my problem i know bugger all about watches, and i dont like buying things i know bugger all about, ive been putting off looking for about a month now! I dont like salesmen telling me about things i dont really know, im very untrusting (for good reasons) of this. I used to be one so i kinda expect the worst :embarrassed:, thus why i come to friends who i can trust and/or who have actual experience :)

[Joe 90]

wow u aged quickly - unlucky :P


anyway... found a japanese page with a pic of my watch on, although its quite a small image....

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.smarter.com.cn/gift-1010/prod-130878/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dseiko%2B7t62-0dk0%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dopera%26rls%3Den%26hs%3D U57%26sa%3DN

http://images.smarter.com.cn/product_image_b/1010/78/130878.jpg

[Admiral Huddy]

21 and you're worrying.. Have some of my years :D

I had a watch for my 21st.. I watched it for so long I was 40 in a second.

[goldilocks]

i bought Jasper a Citizen Nighthawk for his 21st
he hasn't been a day without wearing it so far!
it wasn't that expensive (£200 ish) but he won't be getting a 'proper' watch till he turns 30, and i can afford it!

[Del Lardo]

mmm, 21, I vaguely remember that. IIRC I had 8 pints of Stella in the afternoon and then went out drinking. I decided to take a month off after that as I was slightly concerned that I had consumed enough alcohol to kill an Elephant and it hadn't hurt me too much.

On the watch front it really depends on the budget

[Matblack]

Couple of questions

Do you want a classic or a modern look, diver or dress watch?
Do you want 'complications' i.e. a 'stop watch' function etc?
Whats the budget?

MB

[LeperousDust]

Thanks guys, yeah i was pretty vague, i guess budget is around £500 (but that can be new or second hand :))
Looks wise i'm unsure really thats why i want to browse around. Modern sounds good, but i don't want it looking like old tat in 10-20 years. But i'm not sure how a classic looking watch would fit in with how i dress most days, and its going to be worn often probably most days.
Complications don't worry me they may be nice, but if i had the choice i probabyl wouldn't pay more for them, i know i wouldn;t use them and i think they can clutter the face. Time and date are more than enough, if i can a date that is correct depending on the month would be good, not sure if thats available though...
I seriously have no clue about watches!

[Matblack]

OK, your budget falls between 2 stalls really, the inexpensive and the higher regarded makes.

One suggestion springs to mind, the Oris BC3 range

http://watchfinder.co.uk/Oris/BC3-Day-Date-Watches.aspx

What do you think?

I'm very partial to the classic military look at the moment, there are a couple of Fortis here in that price range

http://chronomaster.co.uk/fortis.htm

Omega Seamaster can be had for that price but it will be a quartz

http://chronomaster.co.uk/omega%20modern.htm





MB

[Snuggle Ferret]

Omega's are good .. my Dad had one of the first ones that was worn by James Bond and it hasn't dated.

[Dymetrie]

and it hasn't dated.

Of course it hasn't... It's a watch... Ever hear of a watch going on a date?

:p

*leaves thread*

[LeperousDust]

Looks good MB, i was looking at seamasters as i've just heard good things, but i'm not a total badge whore (although they probably are good anyway) i'm not sure if i want one. That website looks good, and i'll have a browse around :) Do quite like some of the BC3 range...

[Grandad]

£500 is going to struggle for a Seamaster TBH

have a lookm around the Chronomaster site Feek linked to, nearly everything they sell are quality pieces for the money

[LeperousDust]

Hmmm, after browsing loooads of watches now, i think i'm settling on more dress watches, but i'm not sure how they'll look worn daily (ok i hope). A few complications look nice too, better than i originally thought...
This (http://www.citizenwatch.com/COA/English/detail.asp?Country=COA&Language=English&ModelNumber=BT0000-15A) is pretty cheap, and i think it looks quite nice, still browsing around though :)

[Feek]

have a lookm around the Chronomaster site Feek linked to, nearly everything they sell are quality pieces for the money

That's this (http://www.chronomaster.co.uk/) site, here's (http://www.chronomaster.co.uk/for_sale.htm) their for sale list. They have a lot of stock!

[Matblack]

Not really my thing but I can see why you might like it, I have a Seiko in my collection and I'm not adverse to Japanese watches. The Eco Drive is a quartz which uses sunlight to keep the battery charged so there aren't many moving parts to go wrong and you won't have outlay to keep it serviced. The one issue is that if it goes wrong then its unlikely that you'll be able to get it fixed. One of the reasons that mechanical watches are popular is that if they go wrong a competent watch maker will be able to fix them so they can go on indefinitely.

I am however having trouble finding anything which has the style of that Citizen but is also an auto.

MB

[Grandad]

I honestly think that if you buy a quartz watch you will regret it later, there are many decent mechanical watches around at that sort of money

[LeperousDust]

Cool, cheers everyone this is the input i need! Because i really do not know. I know you'll say i'll regret it and i can see why i'd enjoy a real movement, but apart from possible services and life support what else does it give me? Aren't they generally (especially at my range) pretty inaccurate? Hmmmm totally confused.... :)

[Matblack]

Automatics and other manuals are hardly inaccurate, unless you buy a really cheap one, you'll maybe lose and gain a few seconds a day, quartz are probably more accurate than the majority of non chronometer certified mechanical movements but most collectors would tell you that they don't really have a 'soul'. I love the feel of an auto because you can feel it wind and feel the parts move inside.

MB

[LeperousDust]

Yeah in kinda guessed that would be the sort of answer, its not stopping me getting one, but it hardly sells it to me :p It is nice to think this is all truly mechanical and its all very clever, and a set of x amount made by a skilled person, as opposed to a $1 watch marked up from china.

The chronomaster uk site may have some nice deals on, but its horrid to search/use. Are there any decent sites i can leech off and put things in order of price/style and search for "features"? And then see what i can get with chronomaster...

[Matblack]

I'm rather liking this, although I don't know if its to your taste?

http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=25822

It has a very nice swiss movement and is made in the UK in very small numbers, I wish someone would buy it

MB

[LeperousDust]

Looks pretty nice, but i think that might look a little big on my arm, going to have a look around there too though :)

[Grandad]

re the auto/quartz thing try thinking along the lines of a steam train and an elkectric one. the electric one may well be more efficient but its just not right is it ? ;) :D

if you do want a quartz watch then I would abandon the idea of spending 500 quid , the difference between a 50 quid quartz watch and a 500 quid one is next to nothing

[Grandad]

I'm rather liking this, although I don't know if its to your taste?

http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=25822

It has a very nice swiss movement and is made in the UK in very small numbers, I wish someone would buy it

MB


nice :)

[LeperousDust]

Yeah i understand the difference is little if anything with quartz, nothing has totally jumped out at me and said buy it yet, and thats what i'm waiting for, i'm still looking around, but these sites are helping. My main problem is i don't recognise any of the makes, and know what these names produce in terms of style or sex etc... Its a lot of random browsing feels very clunky looking around...

[Feek]

Looks pretty nice, but i think that might look a little big on my arm, going to have a look around there too though :)

40mm isn't that large, the trend is towards large watches these days, that's not actually very big and the Valjoux 7750 is proven to be a good movement.

For a chrono, I quite like that one.

[SidewinderINC]

I'm rather liking this, although I don't know if its to your taste?

http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=25822

It has a very nice swiss movement and is made in the UK in very small numbers, I wish someone would buy it

MB

That watch is gorgeous! If I was buying a watch right now I'd take that in a heartbeat!

[Matblack]

I've been using the RLT watch forum for ages and the information and sales section there are second to none, very friendly and never had a sniff of a bad deal, more often than not people send your stuff before they have recieved payment :)

Roy makes a very small number of very nice watches, he also does servicing and serviced my Archimede for me at a very good price (also replaced on of the jewels).

I haven't got an RLT in my collection yet but I will have at some point.

MB

[Feek]

The RLTs which jump out at me that I'd happily own are:

RLT 4
RLT 18
RLT 27
RLT 33
RLT 41

They're all great!

[Joe 90]

:shocked:
I want an RLT8 now :D
;D

watches cost too much though :confused:

[Matblack]

I prefer the 4 to the 8 :)

I like the 21 too and the 29

The other UK manufacturer I like is Timefactors who make the Dreadnought and the Italian which is a Pan hommage

MB