The Watch Appreciation Thread (Reviews and Photos of Men's Timepieces by Rolex, Patek Philippe, Brei

[Kai]

I wanted to capture an object that epitomizes the pinnacle of German craftsmanship and tradition.

So I took pictures of my wife's Steingraeber & Sohne piano.

If you look closely, you can also see my new A. Lange & Sohne Lange 1 Timezone in rose gold with silver dial. It's the very latest addition to my collection.

This watch may be one of my favorite watches of all time. I love multi-time zone complications, and the attention to detail and craft on this watch is sweet.

A big THANK YOU to Style Forum's In Stitches for his good services in procuring the watch for me.

I couldn't be happier. The pictures just don't do this piece justice.

 

[Newcomer]

Holy heck. Absolutely beautiful. One of my favorite watches out there. I would love to have one of those one day.

Wear it in the best of health.

Glad to see stitchy could get ya the hook up!

 

[Kai]

And now for something completely different:

A vintage 1974 Seiko chronograph, that has become known as the "Pogue" Chronograph after Colonel William Pogue, an astronaut who was on the Skylab mission.

Pogue's Seiko chronograph was something of a stowaway on the skylab mission. It wasn't an approved piece of kit, but he just brought it along anyway, and it became the first automatic movement watch in space. An alert Seiko aficionado noticed it in a mission picture of Pogue that was published in National Geographic. (The folks at Omega must have been pissed.)

Here's mine:

 

[in stitches]

my pleasure, kai. it brings me great joy that the watch is everything you hoped it would be. it was a lot of fun tracking it down, and even more fun getting to handle it and photograph it. and the best part, was seeing how much you loved it. wear it well.

if you dont mind, ill post some of the pics i took, here in this thread.

 

[Kai]



my pleasure, kai. it brings me great joy that the watch is everything you hoped it would be. it was a lot of fun tracking it down, and even more fun getting to handle it and photograph it. and the best part, was seeing how much you loved it. wear it well.

if you dont mind, ill post some of the pics i took, here in this thread.

Post away.

 

[in stitches]



Post away.

aight! here goes. this watch is one of the most beautiful pieces out there, imho.

i went kinda nuts with the picture taking. this is but a sampling.

click for bigger!!

 

[McWu]

Beautiful Timezone. One of my favorite Langes, especially in the anthracite dial.

 

[mimo]

I can see why you'd go nuts taking pictures of this. Honestly, of all the sought-after Langes, the 1 is the..er..one...I love the least. The Datograph and Langematik are the ones that speak to me, for their complicated symmetry (and the 1815 PC Rattrapante of course...). Also, I've never liked the idea of city names written all around the dial...

...and yet. This is the most pleasing Lange 1 I've ever seen. Maybe it's all the fuss of the text around the dial that somehow evens out the asymmetric subdials, and the little flashes of colour that would cheapen another watch, somehow appear charming on this grand lady. Looking at this is truly an unexpected delight. Like seeing the Queen flip the finger.

It's an absolute beauty, Kai, many congratulations! And it's interesting to hear about the Stitchy VIP service. When I heard he was a procurer I'm afraid I rather misunderstood initially....

 

[Flake]

Wow, that's a beauty Kai. Nice work Stitchy!

 

[jbarwick]

That Lange is beautiful! There is a lot going on but it is laid out so well it just works!

A question for the folks who buy 2nd hand watches. Do you worry a lot about having the boxes and papers come with the watch? Part of me says that is a must but the other part of me says I will never sell this watch so why worry about the other items. I do think really long term and wonder if my kids would like boxes and papers but that is many years away when the youngsters may not even know a good watch when they see it.

 

[medtech_expat]

I often buy from collectors and/or from grey market, and B&P are essential in my opinion. Patek, Lange and others will issue certificates of authenticty in the event the original papers are no longer available, and some manufacturers can also confirm matching model, case and movement numbers. This is all part of my typical due diligence prior to pulling the trigger.

FWIW, as watches are such an emotional and subjective passion, I always go into any deal with the assumption that I may eventually sell down the line. B&P would definitely help you in that regard.

 

[rnguy001]

Kai - huge congrats. That watch is just pure amazing. Wear it in good health

Stich - thanks for the awesome pictures (as usual)

 

[RogerP]

Congrats Kai - that is a truly exceptional piece. Good camera work stitchy - nice and sharp - and what a beauty!

 

[in stitches]



Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

I can see why you'd go nuts taking pictures of this.  Honestly, of all the sought-after Langes, the 1 is the..er..one...I love the least.  The Datograph and Langematik are the ones that speak to me, for their complicated symmetry (and the 1815 PC Rattrapante of course...).  Also, I've never liked the idea of city names written all around the dial...

...and yet.  This is the most pleasing Lange 1 I've ever seen.  Maybe it's all the fuss of the text around the dial that somehow evens out the asymmetric subdials, and the little flashes of colour that would cheapen another watch, somehow appear charming on this grand lady.  Looking at this is truly an unexpected delight.  Like seeing the Queen flip the finger.

It's an absolute beauty, Kai, many congratulations!  And it's interesting to hear about the Stitchy VIP service.  When I heard he was a procurer I'm afraid I rather misunderstood initially....

Wow, that's a beauty Kai. Nice work Stitchy!

Kai - huge congrats. That watch is just pure amazing. Wear it in good health
Stich - thanks for the awesome pictures (as usual)

Congrats Kai - that is a truly exceptional piece.  Good camera work stitchy - nice and sharp - and what a beauty!

That Lange is beautiful!  There is a lot going on but it is laid out so well it just works!

thanks for the kind words, fellas!

mimo, what was your misunderstanding?

A question for the folks who buy 2nd hand watches.  Do you worry a lot about having the boxes and papers come with the watch?  Part of me says that is a must but the other part of me says I will never sell this watch so why worry about the other items.  I do think really long term and wonder if my kids would like boxes and papers but that is many years away when the youngsters may not even know a good watch when they see it.

to me there are 3 components to this.

1. resale

2. people like have them because they are neat

3. assurance that you have the real deal (though sometimes you can still get shafted, and on the other hand, if you know your stuff cold, you dont need box and papers to know if what you are holding is legit.)

each component is more is less important to each person. just a matter of personal preference, once all things are considered imo.

 

[apropos]



That Lange is beautiful!  There is a lot going on but it is laid out so well it just works!

A question for the folks who buy 2nd hand watches.  Do you worry a lot about having the boxes and papers come with the watch?  Part of me says that is a must but the other part of me says I will never sell this watch so why worry about the other items.  I do think really long term and wonder if my kids would like boxes and papers but that is many years away when the youngsters may not even know a good watch when they see it.

Must*. For papers at least. Not for boxes. By papers I do not just mean the purchase receipt, but also service receipts if available.

I find that the B&P watches often tend to be better maintained overall and in better condition as the owners who tend to keep B&P also to be kinder to their watches. I've found that the owners who throw their B&P away tend to be noobs in general who do bad things to their watches and are blase about upkeep. You also get a genuine idea how long ago the watch was sold (as opposed to made) instead of having to muck about with serial numbers, which is error prone at best. Minor miscellaneous reassuring things with papers include the reassurance that your watch is neither grey market nor stolen. Having the papers dating the watch definitively helps you sort out the real deals from the frankens as well.

*: of course this is all relative to rarity and age. The older the watch the less the importance IMO. If I found a big crown Rolex Sub or Zenith 156D in great condition which checked out without B&P and at a good price, I would pull the trigger, no questions asked. But a Lange 1, a PP 2499, or a IWC 3705? Nope, I would need papers at least.