Several people on here know a thing or two about watches, so might I ask their advice?
I currently have a Montaine, with a face like the Swiss Railway clocks. Unassuming, ok, tells the time. Bought for me by the ex, through a newspaper ad, cost about £80. I have never owned a 'nice' watch in my life, and suddenly fancy one. Waterproof would be good, so I dont always have to take it off when swimming on holiday, or worry about it when it's raining hard and I'm out for a day long walk. Smallish in size, my wrist bone structure is quite small, and I don't want lots of dials on the face. Budget £200ish. Should I try to buy second hand in jewellers, look on EBay, or what?
The last time I asked a question, viz cameras, I got some excellent replies. Thanks everyone.
|
|
I am no expert but I have used Citizen solar powered watches for years. I have one indestructible 200 metre waterproof one for everyday use which is quite small, and a dress one. They both run for three months without exposure to light, fit and forget ease of use. If you want a small watch you could try a ladies model, some of them fit between big and really small.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 5 Apr 15 at 12:41
|
|
I've got a Skagen watch, I've only got slim wrist so don't like the big bulky watches. They are very light and look good without being showy. I think most of it is titanium so helps to keep the weight down.
|
If you are looking to spend 200 quid I would go for a Seiko divers kinetic which will be waterproof to 200 metres and looks good (IMO).
You are not going to get a Rolex , Omega or Breitling for that sort of price but I would compare the Seiko to a Lexus if it were a car.
|
I too like Seiko watches and have three or four, along with a Lorus from the company and a real bargain buy, a Pulsar Kinetic blue face stainless steel model.
Seiko acquired Pulsar for the Kinetic technology and this one has day/date and is waterproof to 100 metres (it's been tested in the Caribbean!). It was priced at £155 at H Samuel but I spotted it on special offer at Argos for just £69.99 and ordered the only one listed locally on-line immediately.
My initial liking for Seiko watches came because I used to have cameras with a Seikosha between lens shutter and reckoned that if they could make a precision item like that prove so reliable, then its watches must be as good. That's how it panned out.
Seiko also own Epson printers and I've had good service from a Stylus Photo R300 for nearly 10 years.
|
I would suggest either a Citizen solar (plenty of choice) or a Seiko "pepsi" diver's watch. I wouldn't touch e-bay personally unless you were really sure of the buyer and that the buyer is UK based.
www.houseofwatches.co.uk/citizen-men-s-eco-drive-military-watch-aw1410-08e?gclid=CjwKEAjwuoOpBRCSy6yQm66J1g8SJABrXW48cto6oVGq1Fi8sftrbtJ9NC0vrpBqGBE2-j-H2RYDzhoCuMbw_wcB
or
www.amazon.co.uk/Seiko-SKX009K2-Mens-Watch/dp/B000OP1M6M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1428233856&sr=8-2&keywords=seiko+pepsi
I have an 2007 Pepsi Kinetic (a little more expensive but still in your budget) which has been an everyday watch ever since I bought it. Tough reliable (One major "off" on a bike and a Madonna moment a few weeks ago which broke the strap !) as suggested I wear this everyday - the bonus is that it has a better illuminated face than both my Seamster which cost 20 times more and my Rolex Submariner which 50 times more !
|
Your modest Mondaine may well be water resistant enough. An interesting guide to ratings.
mondainewatch.co.uk/is-my-mondaine-waterproof.html
|
I wear my 27 year old stainless steel Tag 90% of the time and a black plastic Casio G Shock solar digital for when I'm doing silly things which might involve impact or sand.
Been out on the MTB this morning before the Sunday waddlers started to fill up the forest and I'm wearing it now. It, the bike and I have survived the experience. I shall run it under the tap shortly...
;-)
|
|
Thank you CG. I shall get the magnifying glass out tomorrow before commencing fence painting. And thanks everyone else for your considered replies.
|
I haven't worn a watch for decades really, but I bought a black dial automatic Seiko watch about a year or so ago, and now I wear it all 'the time'.
If I was looking to upgrade the thing for around 200 sovs, I'd most likely choose one of these:
www.amazon.co.uk/Seiko-Titanium-Nitride-Chronograph-SNAA30/dp/B001BMFBXC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1428235766&sr=8-2&keywords=seiko+watches+mens
|
Like Runfer ,I have an old Tag Heuer divers watch,battered and scraped but still looks good (like me)....In car terms its like an old Merc.
I also have two Seikos ,the Arctura and perpetual calendar,an Omega Constellation,a Longines , a Mappin and Webb plus a Waltham pocket watch and I alternate them .
I have bought abroad,on ebay and at antique fairs but if you buy other than at an accredted shop you need to beware ,there are a lot of fakes around.
The concensus so far seems to be Seiko.
Last edited by: helicopter on Sun 5 Apr 15 at 13:45
|
"The concensus so far seems to be Seiko."
I have two Seikos; my old one that I am wearing at present, was purchased in 1979 on the RAF base at Rheindahlen, Germany. It has had a harsh life with at least 2 replaced glasses and a new bracelet, but it always keeps perfect time from one spring/autumn clock-change to the next.
|
These folks are good, bought two from them this year.
Decent prices, easy website to browse, quick delivery and well packed.
www.thewatchhut.co.uk/
|
My father gave me a very fine Citizen self-winding watch with phases of the moon, month and date in little windows, steel case, nothing flash. He liked good watches - his own was an armed forces standard issue Lemania - and got it on impulse killing time I think in Singapore.
Something stuck in it, or there was some condensation inside the crystal, can't remember exactly. I foolishly gave it to the London Citizen official agency, bunch of Indian chancers in Ealing, and they screwed it up definitively so that it never worked again. Still breaks my heart to think of it.
I wouldn't suggest that all Indian watch repairers are chancers, just that these were.
|
|
I have a Tissot T-Touch. Analogue face with small digital display and touch-screen glass that does multiple functions. Being the sailing model mine does tides, weather, compass, as well as usual alarm, date and stop-watch functions (essential for timing the eggs each morning!)
|
Have a look at the Casio Edifice watches.
These can be better value than some of the other brands and can look good.
I have this one www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0039YOH8K (purchased at a fraction of the price listed) and it works well. When I left it in a draw for 2 weeks it woke up and set itself automatically within seconds.
|
>> I currently have a Montaine, with a face like the Swiss Railway clocks. Unassuming, ok,
>> tells the time. Bought for me by the ex, through a newspaper ad, cost about
>> £80. I have never owned a 'nice' watch in my life,
The montaine is a classic watch, and in my book counts as nice.
|
>> The montaine is a classic watch, and in my book counts as nice.
The watch/clock face Apple copied. So that's Mondaine?
www.cnet.com/uk/news/time-is-money-apple-pays-21m-for-clock-design-says-report/
They paid up in the end.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Sun 5 Apr 15 at 22:19
|
If I was going to spend more than a tenner on a watch, it would be one of these:
design-milk.com/uniform-wares-100-watch/
Less is more in my book.
|
You can get what appear straightforward Seiko watches for four-figure sums:
www.seiko.co.uk/collections/men/grand-seiko/
Grand Seiko series:
www.grand-seiko.com/collection/9f-quartz/index.html
Still case designs used today (as with my Pulsar blue face example).
|
|
I like those... Nothing less than 200 squid though which Is my max budget.
|
|
1,000m, you would not survive that in a submarine, or the 200m my watch will stand without a submarine!
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 7 Apr 15 at 09:06
|
On the cheap side, I quite liked this Sekonda:
www.houseofwatches.co.uk/sekonda-mens-bracelet-watch-1042
It is cheaper elsewhere.
|
>>I quite liked this Sekonda:
www.houseofwatches.co.uk/sekonda-mens-bracelet-watch-1042
I bought one of those for £5 from a Senegalese cat in Tenerife some years ago, it looked genuine to me.
:}
|
I couldn't give a tuppeny trump about watches or other bling. ATM I'm running with an Accurist of some sort with a dial and fingers. Wife bought it for me 'cos she felt I ought to have something a bit better than my 2 for £5.00 watches that I was quite happy to wear. I fought against it as it was over £30 but she won in the end.
I have an Omega somewhere but it doesn't keep time...even after a service. As long as I can tell the time to the nearest few minutes, I'm happy to wear any old thing. The cheapos are usually let down by the strap...the watches just keep on going.
|
I don't think you'll get anything for £200 that is significantly 'nicer' than your Mondaine, which is a great piece of design. (I have one too, somewhere, although I decided the 33mm case was too small for my big hands.)
Most recently I bought a Citizen Perpetual AT because I wanted something that wouldn't lose time when being adjusted for travelling. That cost me £200 (list is £300 but it came from a shop that had decided to stop selling Citizen) and is solid and quite attractive, but not seriously 'nice'. I think you'd probably have to pay four digits to make a significant improvement on it.
Point is, I think you've set your budget or expectations wrong: £200 buys you a 'nice' wallet or fountain pen, but watches cost more, and you're still in solid-but-ordinary territory here.
|
I wonder if pocket watches will ever make a comeback. I have an ansome one hidden away somewhere - must be 100 years old, I'll have to dig it out and get it ticking again.
I could just see myself pulling out a pocket watch on a nice chain, I'd have to wear a waistcoat mind :)
|
Yeah, it's a J.W. Benson jobbie c1905 solid silver inc. the chain, every link on the chain is hallmarked.
'ee be ticking like a gooden my ansome.
|
|
I've got a suitable silver chain, each link hallmarked. Heavy weight. But the pocket watch is only an Ingersoll....
|
|
I have a 6 year old Citizen Eco drive with radio time signal reception and it works well and shows little signs of wear. I treated myself to a Seiko Astron which gets its time signal from GPS satellites but has no navigation function, of course!
|
You could make a bid for this one:
tinyurl.com/p5hbm5p
|
|
If I won he could live in a spare bedroom
|
I fell in love with watches when working for Ratners (yeah, yeah, I know...) back in the late 80's / early '90's. Could never afford anything 'nice' but there were ones that appealed. The weirdest one was a Sekonda mechanical alarm watch. Sadly all 10 or 12 different watches I had all got stolen in a burglary years ago, and so slowly I have been rebuilding the collection...
The 'nice' ones I have are all automatics which for some reason appeal to me. Favorites are from Oris and you will find some nice ones on Ebay possibly within budget if you are lucky enough. My favourite being a leather strapped auto with a cream dial and date pointer.
A bargain Maurice Lacroix was a steal at £50 from the Argos clearance store a few years ago and people are selling them for up to £200 now ('Sphere' is the design) and has a lovely clear face and curved dial, but the leather straps are unique and replacements cost a fortune (would blow your watch budget...). I bought another in the same design but with the metal two tone bracelet and that is fabulous.
Many so-called 'premium' watches are anything but (to my ignorant mind anyway!) such as Armani, etc.
I like to buy a watch from a company that specialise in watches, and it all comes down to personal taste. So many now have very large faces being rather over-sized. I saw a square Bell & Ross the other day that I had previously hankered after, but seeing it in the flesh it just looked far too big.
Others in the collection are nothing fancy. Accurist, Rotary, even a Lorus. I have a lovely Pulsar too and would echo the comments that they are essentially a Seiko for less money and to my mind a bit more style.
It is amazing that I can look in a jewellers window and not find a watch that I like nowadays, and then every now and again you see one (normally Ebay!) that just stands out as lovely, and that is when I give into temptation.
If you do get something like an Oris, Maurice, etc, bear in mind that (should you ever want to) you can sell again for probably what you paid, whereas with a Seiko, Pulsar, etc that is not always the case.
Mind you, to replace that old (and super - cheap at the time) Sekonda would cost a lot now, and we used to bang them out of the door for £18 (cheap and Russian!)..
Enjoy your shopping!
|
|
So what did Ratners have in the staff canteen? Let's guess now ...
|
>> So what did Ratners have in the staff canteen? Let's guess now ...
The last meal served was a shed load of humble pie
|
>> So what did Ratners have in the staff canteen? Let's guess now ...
Staff canteen?! I wish! Was working at the shop in Bath and then transferred to Bristol when Gerald's comments made head-line news. Ridiculous really as he had been quoted saying them for many times and many years previously, and it was a self-deprecating joke that most people got.
The biggest seller we had was 99p gold earrings, and he joked that they might be cheaper than an M&S sandwich, but might not last as long. The customers loved them though, especially the teenagers who were able to buy real gold at pocket-money prices. You even got a box to put them in! Was a slow news day that day and the ramifications for the company and staff were not great. I had all sorts of abuse from customers trying to return items saying "your boss says it's cr*p'. All those customers then went to H. Samuel / Ernest Jones and Zales depending on the price-point of goods, which were all part of the same Signet group as Ratners and were all the same products anyway.....
Was a good company to work for and blimey we were always busy. Nothing like you see jewellery shops now. Christmas time at the Bath shop would have 18 staff in a little shop with two tills working flat out, and you could not see from one side of the shop to the other for the sheer number of customers through the whole day. Me and the manager used to spend 4+ weeks in the shop over this time 24 hours restocking the display overnight to replace what had been sold and taking turns to sleep on the shop floor in a sleeping bag. Seems insane looking back on it!
Lots of happy memories and - in the main - great customers too.
|
Since the demise of my Citizen, I have had a gold-plated Poljot watch that I gave my mother, also self-winding. Its face was pretty and bland and the gold plating of high quality but the self-winding mechanism had obviously been designed with navvies in mind rather than small ladies, and it didn't work well on her. My father wore it after she died and I inherited it from him. It didn't work properly on Herself so I wore it until a fool of a street watchmaker in Lagos filled it with dust. When I took it to my favourite Central European watchmaker in Praed Street he was almost in tears, unable to save it. 'Zere is zis sort of CORROSION in ze mechanism,' he moaned. No doubt I had sweated into it too. 'Please,' he added earnestly, 'don't go to Nigeria.'
Now I have a big plastic Swatch Herself gave me a while back, electric of course. Keeps perfect time almost, excellent device. Not quite free I suppose as a sort of fashion brand, but not a king's ransom's worth either.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Thu 9 Apr 15 at 14:23
|
Is your man still extant, AC? And if so, would he fix my Poljot (3133 movement)? And did you really have a self-winding mother?
}:---)
|
>> Is your man still extant, AC?
He did have a sort of indestructible quality, but I reckon he would be 85 or 90 now so has probably retired. I suppose he was Jewish but I don't know where from - Austria, Poland, Hungary, somewhere like that. Perhaps the accent was more Hungarian than anything else I would recognise.
Had very likely arrived here during the chaos in Europe at the end of the war, but I didn't ask. He had a forbidding side and might have thought me intrusive.
Solid honest cat, serious and competent in his work, with a bit of discourse too. They certainly don't make them like that these days.
|
Wdb,
There was a place in the Reading Oracle which performed minor miracles on a Rolex of mine.
It was called The Watch Lab, I think. I was impressed, not that it was particularly cheap, but the work was good.
I didn't take it myself, but I was told that the service was pleasant and knowledgeable as well.
|
>> There was a place in the Reading Oracle which performed minor miracles on a Rolex
>> of mine.
>>
>> It was called The Watch Lab, I think.
Still there, and elsewhere:
www.thewatchlab.co.uk/branches/
EDIT: or post
Last edited by: Focusless on Thu 9 Apr 15 at 16:41
|
It's still there, NoFM - and now Mrs Beest is working in Reading I might even get her to take it in for me. Thank you.
Workmanship at The WATCH Lab in Reading is second to non and fully guaranteed.
Attention to detail is everything in watch repair.
}:---)
|
|
whoops !
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Thu 9 Apr 15 at 21:38
|
Here's a nice watch for not a lot...
tinyurl.com/ma3989h
|
Needs a specific dial on the face to tell you what day it is.
Planting's Monday
Burning's Tuesday
S'pose needs must if you drive a black LEC
|
Sheesh, and here was me trying to be helpful !
Have you any idea how hard it is to do one of those sodding tiny owl thingies on an ipad when you're drinking tea and standing up?
Eh? Have you eh ?
Sheesh...
;-)
|
|
Never tried cooking a quail on my own Ipad, but each to their own.
|
Still happy with my understated Longines!
His and hers - same choice - by absolute coincidence.
www.longines.com/watches/longines-dolcevita/L5.502.4.16.6
|
got this one for 'er indoors
www.graysonline.com/retail/watches-A6693032314SBB/watches/mondaine-ladies-swiss-quartz-watch-a6693032314sbb
Which now appears to have been an end of line model for 69 quid on amazon in 2013.
She is delighted with it, despite the fact the date gets to the 39th before she notices.
|
Nice one! And they've even got one for Dog:
tinyurl.com/prc4uxc
|
What breed of Dog do you have John Boy?
:}
|
Bump!!
Been going through some stuff at home relating to an aunt by marriage of my Father who (Aunt Edna not Dad) died in 1999. She was predeceased by the executors of her will and I took out letters of Administration and wound the estate up.
Or rather, as Mrs B would say is my wont, I did about 90% and left the job unfinished.
Along with the will was a letter of wishes regarding certain possessions including her husband's watch which was to go to me. I must have looked at the watch at the time but thought nothing of it.
Having got the box relating to her estate out of the loft I realise it's an Omega Seamaster, probably from the sixties.
It seems to run though I'm not sure if it's self winding - some childhood memory says it is - but I don't know if it's actually properly in working order.
Any ideas as to value or reliable people who could look at it for me?
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 27 Nov 23 at 15:42
|
There is a sub-forum on here where you could start a thread.
tinyurl.com/mphhuyjx
BTW, I believe the Swan Inn at Carleton has just closed. Is that near you?
|
>> BTW, I believe the Swan Inn at Carleton has just closed. Is that near you?
I don't recognise Carleton as anywhere in Northants but it's a modest sized county and there's quite a bit of it, particularly east of Northampton and down towards Beds that I don't know.
|
...it's near Skipton, so I suspect Duncan was confusing your post with LL (the original poster), though he's near Settle, anyway. :-s
FWIW, from Facebook posts it appears that the pub is in a state of hiatus, with the tenants moving on, and new ones (potentially) imminent.
|
>> ...it's near Skipton, so I suspect Duncan was confusing your post with LL (the original
>> poster), though he's near Settle, anyway. :-s
Put it down to his age.....
|
|
....I'm becoming increasingly less happy/likely to do such a thing... ;-)
|
|
There's a Carleton-in-Craven between Skipton and Crosshills that has a Swan Inn.
|
|
Pub is the Swan Inn Carleton (near Skipton)
|
>> BTW, I believe the Swan Inn at Carleton has just closed. Is that near you?
Carlton in North Beds? It's quite close to the river and there may well have been a pub there called the swan, but if so it's long gone.
|
..."value" varies dramatically.
Perusing the link below might give you hours of entertainment:
www.chrono24.co.uk/omega/seamaster-vintage--imod2874.htm
|
|
If there is no 'automatic' on the face, it is a manual wind. Worth a few hundred perhaps unless it's a 300.
|
>> If there is no 'automatic' on the face, it is a manual wind. Worth a
>> few hundred perhaps unless it's a 300.
Definitely automatic.
It's actually small enough for me to wear, most modern men's watches are too big for my skinny little wrist.
|
|
Fix it and wear it. Superb watch. Whether you’re into watches or memories it’s right up there.
|
>> Fix it and wear it. Superb watch. Whether you’re into watches or memories it’s right
>> up there.
That's my thinking.
Insurance value might still be a question and it needs some TLC internally; verdigris or similar under the glass.
|
|
Get it properly refurbished, maybe a new strap too. Lovely thing you can enjoy for a few (or hopefully more)years and pass on to someone when you’re knackered. ;-)
|
Cant go wrong with Casio.
I got one of these for £17 from H Samuel. They often have some odd pricing. I wear it daily and don't notice it's there, it's so light.
www.amazon.co.uk/Casio-Collection-Mens-Watch-MRW-200H-1BVES/dp/B0073TTHBY/
I have one of these too, also favoured by Bill Gates -
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009KYJAJY/
Keeps time to 2 sec/month and properly waterproof.
Last edited by: Manatee on Tue 28 Nov 23 at 14:00
|
I had various Casio watches from around 1979 on until I stopped wearing one sometime in the noughties. I wore a watch day and night ever since being given a boy's Timex for Xmas aged 8 or 9.
The Casios were pretty good as was a Lorus I had for donks. Liked them with dual digital/analogue faces. Just a tool for telling the time though.
I think one packed up and I started to have trouble with the plastic strap on the next one irritating my wrist. By then I was working at a PC, there were quartz clocks on everybody's office wall and I had a phone on me. I stopped wearing one and never missed it.
The Omega is a bit of something else. Almost jewellery.
Next time I'm in town (NMP not London) I'll invstigate cost of a clean and service.
|
If there isn't a suitable repairer in Northampton there's one in Tring...a busy workshop that takes in repairs direct and from many jewellers.
watchdoctors.co.uk/
They will do postal if you don't fancy a run out. Omega servicing "starts from £290" to give you a touchstone!
|
>Insurance value might still be a question...
That's reminded me. I need to get the clasps checked on our watches. Condition of insurance is that they're inspected every 3yrs.
To give you some idea of service costs. Omega are probably in the same ballpark as Breitling who charge ~£500 for a full service and it takes about 6 weeks.
|
|
I'd rather have that period Omega with a bit of history, refurbished, than a new one.
|
|
I’ve acquired a few watches over the years and a couple of them might be regarded as somewhat premium, but the ones I tend to wear the most are either an old plastic Casio G Shock digital thing that is solar powered and radio signal controlled, so it’s always 100% accurate and never needs a battery, or my equally battered old Seiko automatic diver. Not sure why I keep the “posh” ones really.
|
|
I sold one of my posh ones. A 2008 Rolex Submariner Ceramic. Bought for £6k in 2012. Never been worn by me. Sold it last week for £8k...a reasonable return (if you don't consider the inflation factor). It was sitting in the safe in its box. I have a 1959 Rolex Oyster which is worth around £1500, a 2004 Rolex King Air which is worn now and again, and my 2009 Omega Seamaster, which I won't sell and wear occasionally. My every day watch is a Seiko "Pepsi" Diver's watch which I bought in 2008. It's a Kinetic so it needs to be worn regularly to stop it dying. It's a fine watch $100.00 watch. Trevelled 1000s of miles by bike and is scrificial to a certain extent (in the event of a spill.) To be fair it is totally reliable, very accurate and survived 5 "offs" four of which was in Vietnam and the other on a British road !
|
|
Oh, I have a Stowa Fleiger watch which I bought in 2010 for 500 Euros, thei now retail at over 1000...wear that now and again, lovely watch.
|
|
The annoying thing for me is that after my fairly proper arm/wrist/hand injury last year, I can’t wear a “heavy” watch for very long anymore without triggering carpal tunnel pain. Not ideal with automatic watches that like to be worn for a few hours to keep good time. My ugly little plastic Casio thing weighs very little and doesn’t hurt at all. Maybe I should get one like Legacylad’s. At least that looks a bit more like a watch!
|
Why not ? Doesn’t give the date but unnecessary.
I personally wouldn’t spend £24.42 as per Manatee’s link, although I’ve just blown £24 today on a New flask.
See bargains thread
|
Watches - Old Navy
