Poor man's watch thread

[Devoti]

Also

http://www.askmen.com/fashion/mens-watches_500/564_watch-snob-stop-wearing-panerai.html

+1

when did panerai enter the watch world? why are all my friends obsessing over it like it's jaeger or something? gotta be some heavy marketing behind it right?

panerai: the over priced replacement for the rolex sub-mariner = currently being overplayed but still popular in every county club.

 

[plot]



Also

http://www.askmen.com/fashion/mens-watches_500/564_watch-snob-stop-wearing-panerai.html

This is ridiculous. He calls himself a watch snob, yet compares a $5000 watch with something that costs $25,000+? I'm a complete amateur when it comes to luxury watches, but c'mon, there's no credibility here. Like one of the comments states:

Reasons to not wear a Panerai: not cool anymore, only clowns wear them, too mainstream -- really?

 

[kashmir]

I went through the watch snob thing. I'm not sure whether dude is legit or marketing. Can be both, can be either, I don't know... There are some things to be learned from the snobbery itself as well as the content... staying away from garish stuff is one.

 

[skrishnan]

Hi guys,

My name is Suj and I'm the owner of the Melbourne Custom Watch site.

Basically I'm an enthusiast in Melbourne, Australia who after building many watches for friends and family decided to offer them to the public, primarily via the Watchuseek forum.

My goal is to provide hand assembled watches that are affordable when compared to the big names like Laco, Stowa etc and that are also a cut above the generic cheapies flooding eBay like Parnis etc.

My approach is to offer up pieces as I build them rather than have a standard offering that I churn out. This way I can keep thing unique and offer variations on movements, straps, dials and hands etc.

That pilot looks like the same thing (actually a bit worse) you can get from Laco, Parnis, etc, and Parnis goes for less than $100.


Dougie, ebay or watch prince.

Thanks for your comment edmorel - I'm not sure how'd you say that my watches look worse than Parnis at $100. For starters, the quality of their cases is terrible (I've owned a few for research purposes!) and they don't have sapphire glass. They also don't use Sea-Gull movements, but instead a cheaper "hangzhou" varietal that is not in the same league. They also fit $2 fake leather straps which are just horrible and their dials are hardly luminous - overall you get what you pay for.

I am providing sand blasted and hand finished cases with sapphire glass, quality german leather straps and proper Sea-Gull ST36 or ETA 6497/8 movements. Also, I think you need to check your facts as Swiss movement Laco watches are usually well upwards of $500 new.

Perhaps this will give you a better idea, the watch in pic is the same, the website posted this pic with 7" wrist.

All depends on your style and the look you want. For me it's way too big, I have a smaller wrist (6.5) and I prefer smaller watches. I think if your going this big, make sure the quality of the finish and appearance is nice, it's big so people are going to see it. Having said that it looks like it has a nice clean dial and case finish, the glass is sapphire which is a very nice detail in this price range. 7" isn't a small wrist, not massive either so it will a matter of preference.

If this is too big but like the look, try looking at Vollmer/Aristo or Laco watches, they vary in price & quality but the one above looks a bit better in finish/clean. Very subtle details make huge differences in watches.

If you get one, post some pics I'll be curious see how it looks.

Good luck

Thanks for the comments Devoti - that's actually my wrist in the photo - excuse the hairy arms!

If you want to know what the finish is like from someone else, there's a review of one of my ST-36 movement watches in the WUS thread which I gave away via a competition. There are also higher quality photos taken by the winner.

http://forums.watchuseek.com/f71/of...eger-thread-now-proudly-offer-wus-874221.html


Thanks guys!

 

[skrishnan]

Also FYI this is how they look in a business casual setting yep...I have a day job sadly!

 

[rwbenjey]

Latest acquisition (not bad for $160):

SEIKO SPC083
42mm x 14mm
20mm lugs
6 inch wrist

 

[Douglas]



http://www.askmen.com/fashion/mens-watches_500/564_watch-snob-stop-wearing-panerai.html

I'm not much of a Pan man myself but this article is really, really dumb.

 

[Oli2012]

Hey guys, does anyone know if the Seagull M186S could be changed to come with black hands?

http://www.seagullwatchstore.com/SE...Numeral-Dial-Watch-p/m186s--roman-numeral.htm

The 819.368 would be my next choice, though the pricegap is considerable...

http://www.seagullwatchstore.com/SEAGULL-819-368-Classic-Automatic-Mechanical-Watch-p/819.368.htm

 

[Hayward]



I'm not much of a Pan man myself but this article is really, really dumb.

I think it was an attempt at humor, albeit a weak one. Perhaps it means that now that the watch snobs no longer like Panerai, that the cool guys can wear them again.

 

[Kingstonian]

Where do poor men who buy mechanical watches get them serviced and repaired?

Quartz watch? It is just a matter of battery change; but mechanical watches require regular cleaning and servicing.

In London there used to be a watch repair area centred around Clerkenwell. Nowadays there are only a few places left there. Some only open a couple of days a week.

Nobody ever mentions servicing their watches.

 

[shinninglikeme]

lol
Seiko is not a poor mans watch comeon,
Titan is

 

[Douglas]

I actually have this one:

http://www.seagullwatchstore.com/Se...chanical-Men-s-Watch-p/m172s-sliver-rotor.htm

A little irritated to see that

a) it's available for sale here in the States and

b) for quite a bit less money than I paid for it in HK a few years ago.

But I like it anyways. I almost did a thread on it a while back but figured SF would lose its collective mind.

 

[Oli2012]

Is it worth paying more for the 819? The only real difference I can see is the movement (which I can't find any reviews of) and sapphire glass.

 

[Hayward]

Servicing watches probably hasn't been mentioned because we just flip them on eBay before they start running out of spec and buy new ones.

 

[Cant kill da Rooster]



Is it worth paying more for the 819? The only real difference I can see is the movement (which I can't find any reviews of) and sapphire glass.

The more expensive one has a movement similar (clone) of the ETA 2824-2. They also state that the case is better. Is it? They both have sapphire glass.

Also, I think the dial looks better and will probably be a bit more reliable.

RW...nice Seiko.