Good evening folks,
This is my first post after months of lurking in the shadows. I've learnt a lot from simply reading your posts and have certainly seen a lot of fine watches round here.
I must apologise for the lack of photos accompanying this first post. I have a 1 year old who loves to grab anything shiny and throw it down the toilet so finding time/space to photograph watches is tough. My wife probably wouldn't be too thrilled either if I told her to entertain him whilst I photographed my wrist!
My humble 'collection' consists of a Timex for rough jobs plus two slightly better watches for more general wear. The first is a Casio MTD-1051 Diver that I bought myself for my 21st that I wear when I plan on getting wet and the second is a Seiko SNDA69 Chronograph that I wear for flying.
Which leads me from the 'hello' to the 'help'.
I've just landed (sorry) my dream job as a pilot for a charity that provides aid, relief and emergency flights across the developing world and I'd like to mark the occasion with a new watch. Our first posting overseas starts early next year so this will probably be my last purchase for a while.
The above are all quartz so I have a hankering for something automatic. I've had my eye on one of Eddie's PRS-18's for months but haven't plucked up the courage just yet. As a pilot I don't actually use the chronograph function on my Seiko all that often. I use a cheap £7 digital stopwatch for flight/nav timing as it's so easy to read and operate when busy or wearing gloves so the '18' being a diver is not an issue here. Basically I need a tough watch that can take a lot of wear (I'll be loading and unloading my own aircraft in heat and humidity day after day) and I just love the look of the 18.
So here comes the question...do I stick with quartz or spend a little more and get the automatic I've been craving? Is the automatic going to be resilient enough to withstand a harsh life in the tropics or should I forget my desire for sweeping hands and go for the quartz?
If you've stuck with me to the bottom of this essay, thanks. And if you have any thoughts or advice then I'd love to hear them.
Cheers,
Broadsword
Hi Broadsword,
First of all - cool job, lots of good karma to you :) As for the watch, the PRS18A will withstand pretty much anything, as it's indeed a tough and rugged watch. And if your desire is to watch a sweeping hand, than anything else (PRS18Q included) will not do.
Cheers,
Christian
The 18 is a great watch, the Matt bead blasted finish is superb, either Quartz or Auto I am sure you won't regret the purchase. I have the Quartz and love it as grab and go option.
Forgot to add welcome to the forum!
Last edited by StuS; 28th September 2014 at 08:56.
Firstly, welcome and well done on landing a dream job and one that is going to be so much help to those who really need it. I don't know what watch to recommend, but as an owner of lots of automatics, it's quite nice to have the unquestioning reliability of a quartz. I can't really help with any options, but the beauty of this forum is that you will no doubt get a wide variety of choices and opinions. All the best !
Hi and welcome, just to repeat you can't go wrong with one of Eddies, quartz or auto.They're amazing value and built like a tank, I would have recommended the Speedbird 3 but they're quite a bit more money.
Congratulations on your new job, sounds like a right adventure :)
Hello and welcome from another new member :)
Congratulations on your new job, it sounds amazing! Enjoyed your intro a lot as I fly a couple of hours a month, normally just local stuff with the odd land away, as a hobby/interest but I'm extremely jealous - really well done for breaking into the commercial world. I use a Fortis B-42 Automatic for my meagre aviation activities as it's the easiet and clearest watches to read I've had. For nav timing it's minute clear, very precise and accurate. I use the dive besel to monitor total time fuel usage or tank changes (every 30 mins). It's currently back on its bracket but spent most of its four year life on a black white stitched fortis leather. Fantastic on a black NATO too. The watch is bloody tough so I love it
As for the prs 18 I don't own one but everything I've read and seen looks great and a very suitable replacement. Maybe the A would give you more satisfaction over the Q if your looking for a change? But either way it'd do the job. Have you seen the review below? If I've added the link properly it should be below:
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...ughts-and-pics
Jon
Welcome again and keep us updated with the purchase and a few pictures when your one yr old allows :)
Welcome to the forum. As a lover of autos myself I can understand your want for one but can't help but feel that you would be best served by a Seiko quartz watch (I include Kinetic and solar watches in that)
Related to the above, but you could always try a Seiko auto? Can't say I have tested mine in quite the same environment as you are planning but it does seem fairly hard wearing! Could even get the PRS-18 quartz and then a Seiko 5 auto for the price difference between the quartz and auto (ish) to satisfy the auto itch for a bit with the bonus that it wouldn't matter too much if it did get damaged?
Thanks all for your welcome and advice.
I think my heart is probably set on an auto especially as it's to mark an occasion and an auto would make it a bit more special given my current selection. I'm glad to hear there's so much positive feedback about the 18 both in quartz and automatic.
FellBasher, always nice to meet a fellow pilot, I'm sure there must be a few more lurking here. That Fortis is a very nice watch indeed.
Barryw, I've been looking at the Speedbird III as well but like you say, it's quite a bit more and I've already stretched the budget several times (I started out looking at the Seiko SKX007 then the PRS-18Q and now the 18A).
I'll keep you posted and get some photo's up when I can.
Broadsword
Here's the current lot.
And yes that is a 22mm strap squeezed into 20mm lugs on the Casio - be gentle with me!
The Seiko was a gift from my wife when we were married and just before I started flight training.
It normally lives on the leather strap when flying and changes to the green NATO for general use.
And a Timex beater for when I don't wish to add to the scratches on the other two.
More of a practical/utilitarian collection than anything else but does the job nicely.
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