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

[Newcomer]



P.S.  On a more positive note, after reading the last twenty pages or more of this thread, making a suggestion like "hey, why not buy a ceramic Bell & Ross?", certainly takes some nuts.

You know, normally I would agree about a suggestion regarding B&R being a little nuts. But I saw this one of the 'dink the other day and honestly, it is a pretty good amount of watch for the price.

http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/hands-on-with-the-bell-ross-br-123-sport-heritage-live-pics-pricing

Don't get me wrong, it is a bit of a hodgepodge of design. But it is a fair price, it is a great size (41mm), it is slim, and it certainly appeals to a certain aesthetic.

 

[hopkins_student]



Somewhat off-topic to help recover from that smashed piece that Belligero just posted. Here's "Arnold Schwarzenegger driving" - haha: P.S. I believe he is wearing a Rolex. So this is not completely off-topic for TWAT. P.P.S. This is completely off-topic, but...Happy 21st birthday today to Kate Upton! I love how blue her eyes are in this picture.

she has eyes?

 

[Belligero]



My cautionary approach to ceramic is caused in large part by my experience as a custom knife collector and maker. Ceramic blades have seen increased popularity of late. They don't scratch, don't rust and stay sharp just this side of forever. All sunshine and rainbows until, you drop one and have it shatter. Or get it stuck in bone or cartilage while dressing out a deer, try to wiggle it free and have it snap like a toothpick. Properly heat-treated steel is virtually indestructible by comparison.

As you know from experience, steel is far, far tougher than ceramic in the technical meaning of the word. Engineering ceramics are extremely hard so they're essentially immune to scratches and scuffs, but they don't handle impact loads nearly as well as steel does. It's all or nothing; if something other than a diamond hits it, it's either unscathed or it shatters.

Though softer, steel can dissipate much more total energy than a hard/brittle material before it breaks. That second Doppelchrono with the lug broken off was said to have been "whacked against the bar in a pub...not that hard". At a different impact angle, it may well have been fine, but if a certain stress level is exceeded, it's toast. You can mitigate this brittleness to a certain extent by making the contours smooth/radiused to distribute stress risers, as simply copying an existing sharp-cornered case design in ceramic is far from optimal. But even with fairly smooth transitions, ceramic will still break much more easily than metal:

(said to have been dropped from 3 feet, resulting in an $8700 repair estimate)

For me, the triple date window, the 7750-movement-containing 44mm case, and the other watches that can be had for its price are reason enough to avoid the 3786, let alone its smashability. But that's just my opinion; I could be wrong. (And at least it doesn't say "TOP GUN" on the back and left side like the 46mm model.)

 

[rnguy001]

Not bad at all. B&R gets a bad rap for a lot of reasons but this is a nice watch and as you said for a reasonable price. From an aesthetic standpoint, I think it's quite cool.

You know, normally I would agree about a suggestion regarding B&R being a little nuts. But I saw this one of the 'dink the other day and honestly, it is a pretty good amount of watch for the price.

http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/hands-on-with-the-bell-ross-br-123-sport-heritage-live-pics-pricing

Don't get me wrong, it is a bit of a hodgepodge of design. But it is a fair price, it is a great size (41mm), it is slim, and it certainly appeals to a certain aesthetic.

RogerP - sometimes I feel you don't know me at all
Seriously it was my favorite piece of Basel. Already called my AD to inquire. My wife thinks I'm crazy since I have the 9300 already. I'll have to see it firsthand I think.

Well if I'm honest, after reading these posts I have actually started to worry about the merits vs. risks of ceramic a bit more. Damn this forum. Next thing you know I might actually prefer sub-40 mm hand wounds!

Agreed with all of that. Have you seen the new Omega DSOM - ceramic version of our Speedy 9300?

My cautionary approach to ceramic is caused in large part by my experience as a custom knife collector and maker. Ceramic blades have seen increased popularity of late. They don't scratch, don't rust and stay sharp just this side of forever. All sunshine and rainbows until, you drop one and have it shatter. Or get it stuck in bone or cartilage while dressing out a deer, try to wiggle it free and have it snap like a toothpick. Properly heat-treated steel is virtually indestructible by comparison.

 

[RogerP]

Quote:
I am hoping the OE DSOM strap isn't outrageously priced - I would love to add that to spiff up my Speedy.

 

[mimo]

You know, normally I would agree about a suggestion regarding B&R being a little nuts. But I saw this one of the 'dink the other day and honestly, it is a pretty good amount of watch for the price.

Don't get me wrong, it is a bit of a hodgepodge of design. But it is a fair price, it is a great size (41mm), it is slim, and it certainly appeals to a certain aesthetic.

Not bad at all. B&R gets a bad rap for a lot of reasons but this is a nice watch and as you said for a reasonable price. From an aesthetic standpoint, I think it's quite cool.

I confess I was just being a bit of dick because I was bored. But I do think it's a hideous minger of a design with randomness and glitter inserted as incompetent substitutes for style and coherence.

 

[rnguy001]

Me too, though I think the buckle might be .. wait for it... CERAMIC..

I am hoping the OE DSOM strap isn't outrageously priced - I would love to add that to spiff up my Speedy.

 

[RogerP]

Quote:
I'm prepared to live dangerously on the buckle.

 

[Newcomer]



I confess I was just being a bit of dick because I was bored.  But I do think it's a hideous minger of a design with randomness and glitter inserted as incompetent substitutes for style and coherence.

I cannot say that it is the most aesthetically consistent watch out there . I kinda dig that domed sapphire though!

 

[in stitches]



Sorry, but I have to disagree.  Many watch companies make cufflinks to go with their watches.  Not sure I see it as any different than Patek, VC, etc making deployant buckles with their insignias, rather than plain tang buckles to enhance the appearance of the watch or to give a more complete look.  Matching cufflinks is hardly any more of a diversion of effort or focus.
+1 

+1. i love it when we agree!
--
got this up for sale.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 

[no frills]

Hi Frills, with the exception of their diamond versions of cufflinks, when one considers the price of gold and then compares it with the price of gold cufflinks from Cartier, Chopard, Piaget and a few other well known companies, they really in the same ball park. Places like Cellini have trays of some private label cufflinks, but with the price of gold being what it is, some of theirs are not that much less than cufflinks from better known companies.

I have seen the watch movement cufflinks in person. You can even find them with real vintage movements from Hamilton and Gruen. However, there is a big difference in the construction (not just matterial, say gold versus non-gold). Go in an look at a set of Patek Calatrava gold links, and look at its post and the flexible swiveling section. The ones pictured above are very flimsy. I picked up a set of sterling silver ones in college with the same back and posts, the the swivel mechanism wears out quickly and just spins. Also, on ones from say Cartier or Chopard, they have much more finished backs, sometimes even a smaller but matching back to the cufflinks. They cost more, but are built to last. I can understand if its not your thing, and sure 4-5K is nothing to sneeze at but if you really compared a bunch of cufflinks from Cartier, Chopard, Patek, etc... with novelty cufflinks you will notice some big differences in construction.

Below are a few pix of some Cartier links I have. These are quite useful as they are white, yellow and rose gold and I can change the colors of the bars (which are semi precious stones).

Dino944 you have a good point here (as usual). All of my PPs are on deployant clasps and I don't think twice at all about dropping dime on them, probably because I see their value versus the regular tang buckle (the platinum cases tend to be heavy and swing wildly off my wrist so I might drop them if I used the regular tang buckle and wasn't mindful when taking them off).

The Cartier links you posted look great, and I do agree that it's precious metal + construction that will, at the end of the day, justify the price premium. In the same vein, Patek's deployant clasps often come under fire versus, say, ALS clasps which feel a lot more sturdy (Patek's clasps do feel flimsy). Patek's cufflinks are still not for me, but upon further reflection it may well be because I tend to lose cufflinks pretty easily - and maybe part of me is just concerned that if I'd be pissed as hell if I lost stuff that cost that much.

Wrist shot for the day, pics taken about an hour ago. Not me, but a friend of mine who is in Geneva right now for a week (on Patek's dime too). In these pictures he's with an employee of Patek Philippe. Said employee is wearing a travel time Aquanaut (5164A), while my friend is wearing his 5270 perpetual calendar chrono in white gold.

 

[Keith T]

Sweet Caroline!

 

[no frills]

Look it's a Honda Accord.

More like Honda According TO ARNOLD SHOULD GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!

Hahaha - I also loved that line where he pulls up behind the cop car. And explains why it's funny.

she has eyes?

Yes! Look again. Then, look again.

Sweet Caroline!

In an Ah-nold accent!

 

[Devoti]

Devoti,

Bro, you post too many pics of too many watches for too little reason in too short a time with too little comment. And posting Bell & Ross is a sin by itself, because that product is definitively and empirically the preserve of wankers.

But apart from that, I like you. Keep 'em coming. Just...slow down.

P.S. On a more positive note, after reading the last twenty pages or more of this thread, making a suggestion like "hey, why not buy a ceramic Bell & Ross?", certainly takes some nuts.

Ok

But I have you disagree about B&R, they use to be in a nice watch co with nice movements, however I don't keep up with the what's in or out at GQ (but it's one reason why I don't wear my PAM, it's a poser watch, overplayed) and BR's boxed instrument watch are ridiculously cheesy. Recommending anything is better than that stupid RL67 $3k watch except for that rapper gangster watch 5 pages ago. The vintage 123 is not bad and maybe useful for the OP to see. I'm out

 

[mimo]

Aww...it's only the internet, D. Which PAM do you have? There are quite a few owners here, and I'm becoming weirdly fascinated by them....