Poor man's watch thread

[Drzdave58]

Thrifted this the other day for $20. Cleaned up nice, new battery and watch band.

 

[barutanseijin]

This was my father‘s watch. He told me that he bought this in 1960 or thereabouts. (Apparently JLC were calling themselves just Le Coultre in the American market.). My father was working a blue collar job at a publisher loading books on boxcars. I don’t think this model was their fanciest, but still, imagine a guy doing a similar job today. He ain’t wearing no JLC!

My father wore it every day for decades and then put it aside in favor of a Seiko. A watch was just a watch to him.

 

[TimothyF]

This was my father‘s watch. He told me that he bought this in 1960 or thereabouts. (Apparently JLC were calling themselves just Le Coultre in the American market.). My father was working a blue collar job at a publisher loading books on boxcars. I don’t think this model was their fanciest, but still, imagine a guy doing a similar job today. He ain’t wearing no JLC!

My father wore it every day for decades and then put it aside in favor of a Seiko. A watch was just a watch to him.

That's most people, back then, today, it doesn't matter. We watch fanatics are the minority. And Swiss watches being thought of as luxury only started in the 80s and 90s, so JLC like Longines, Omega, Rolex what-have-you catered to all price segments, and produced watches in steel, gold-filled, and solid gold.

Interestingly a while back I sold an 18K gold LeCoultre (with a rather special bezel) to someone who's like a bricklayer or something. It was a time-only piece and he wanted me to show him how to set the time (i.e. pull out the crown and turn). He put it on his tattooed arm and asked me, "Is this a man's watch?" I explained that yes, back then something like 35mm was a man's size.

Nonetheless his money is as good as anybody else's

 

[barutanseijin]

That's most people, back then, today, it doesn't matter. We watch fanatics are the minority. And Swiss watches being thought of as luxury only started in the 80s and 90s, so JLC like Longines, Omega, Rolex what-have-you catered to all price segments, and produced watches in steel, gold-filled, and solid gold.

Interestingly a while back I sold an 18K gold LeCoultre (with a rather special bezel) to someone who's like a bricklayer or something. It was a time-only piece and he wanted me to show him how to set the time (i.e. pull out the crown and turn). He put it on his tattooed arm and asked me, "Is this a man's watch"? I explained that yes, back then something like 35mm was a man's size.

Nonetheless his money is as good as anybody else's

My point was that in 1960 a guy working a grunt job had the spare cash to walk into a downtown jeweler’s shop and buy a quality Swiss watch. No “relationship“ building nonsense required. Blue collar wages have declined in relative terms while watches have become objects of conspicuous consumption. And where he lived, there’s not really a downtown left to buy anything in anyway.

 

[sho'nuff]

Feels like a brand new watch with this new strap

 

[Humpty_Dumpty_Rises]

This was my father‘s watch. He told me that he bought this in 1960 or thereabouts. (Apparently JLC were calling themselves just Le Coultre in the American market.). My father was working a blue collar job at a publisher loading books on boxcars. I don’t think this model was their fanciest, but still, imagine a guy doing a similar job today. He ain’t wearing no JLC!

My father wore it every day for decades and then put it aside in favor of a Seiko. A watch was just a watch to him.

Beautiful stuff. Look after it.

 

[DorianGreen]

The new Citizen Day/Date NY4058 seems an excellent entry level watch at €219 (leather strap) and €229 (bracelet).

https://monochrome-watches.com/revi...8-series-affordable-gateway-mechanical-watch/

 

[DorianGreen]

Another attractive entry level watch, the Timex Automatic 1983 E-Line Reissue 34mm.

 

[Michigan Planner]

I missed it, too, although I literally just checked availability a minute or two ago (was in a meeting starting at 9:30). I had actually used their Notify Me feature via both email and text, but neither was successful...

I'll check back in a couple months when the second batch comes through (and presumably once some people have them on their wrists and have given real-world reviews). At this point though, I'm not totally sure I will get one after having thought about it some more. I have a ~18 year old Seiko SKX007 and a Seamaster. I'm probably going to move the Seamaster and see about rolling the cash from that into a Submariner (guy who owns the only AD in town goes to my church, and says he should be able to get me a green bezel Sub in "a few months"). Assuming I do that, I'm not sure about the use-case for the Mk II unless it's just for travel purposes. I don't want a watch that just sits around in a box unless it's some incredibly rare piece or has historical value, etc.

Either way, I think this Fulcrum is a good-looking watch, and I'll be interested to read some "civilian" reviews when people start to receive this first production run.

Reading some of the posts over on WatchUSeek, it looks like MKII had to cancel a few orders from that batch of Fulcrums last week as the online ordering system was probably a bit too fast to account for the actual numbers in the available inventory.

I was able to get an order in but it hasn't shipped yet (I think they were supposed to begin shipping this coming Friday?). Fingers crossed that I don't get an email between now and then saying I was one of the unlucky ones...

 

[DorianGreen]

Today's watch, the Zenith Heritage Ultra Thin Elite.

It's a beautiful piece, but feels pretty large at 40mm for a dress watch, more so it's so pretty thin. At 37mm it would be perfect.

 

[NakedYoga]

Reading some of the posts over on WatchUSeek, it looks like MKII had to cancel a few orders from that batch of Fulcrums last week as the online ordering system was probably a bit too fast to account for the actual numbers in the available inventory.

I was able to get an order in but it hasn't shipped yet (I think they were supposed to begin shipping this coming Friday?). Fingers crossed that I don't get an email between now and then saying I was one of the unlucky ones...

I actually did get text and email notifications the next day. Thinking they were just delayed or something, out of curiosity I went to the Mk II website and the configuration I liked (dive bezel with date) was available. I passed on ordering it for now, though. I may revisit in March/April when the next batch comes out.

Please post some real-world photos when yours comes--I'm interested to see what you think of it.