Reply With QuoteI didn't know lume charged with light and thought you switched it on......somehow
When you started getting interested in watches where there any basic mistakes you made?
I cringe now, but I did spray one watch movement with WD40 to see if that would get it working [more than once to be honest]
I also thought that a watch was valued by its depth rating so a watch that was 300m was better than one rated 200m
and therefore should be more expensive.
I cant be the only one, what's your secret shame?
I didn't know lume charged with light and thought you switched it on......somehow
About 10-15 years ago I saw a couple awesome vintage watches on a "watch u wearing" thread somewhere. I fell in love instantly - - so much so that in the next few weeks I bought 25 vintage watches on eBay. When my credit card bill arrived, I almost had a heart attack!
Buying too many watches in a short period of time can prove disastrous.......
......
I couldn't understand why an old tritium dialled watch I had was failing to charge the lume regardless of how long I held it under light.
I tried that one as well.Originally Posted by gorrie
Buying the wrong watches when first starting out and then subsequently flipping them.
Basically buying watches on a whim. I'm sure many can relate to that.
Sent from The Isle Of Sheppey
Biggest mistake I made when I first got into watches....buying new.
You owe me a new keyboard. Tea. Everywhere.I didn't know lume charged with light and thought you switched it on......somehow
Didn't buy a 16110LV from watchfinder a few months ago for <£5k. Kicking myself
Buying only watches with movements manufactured independently...failing to realise the servicing costs of them!?!
H
If you give people nothingness, they can ponder what can be achieved from that nothingness.
Sent from my iPhone
Sold a 16110LV a couple of years ago for £3K. Kicking myself.
Spending £15 on a strap change at high street jeweller 😉
Knock it off
I misunderstood the rotating bezel on my first dive watch some years ago, and complained to the shop that it was broken. I had thought that if I moved the bezel say 15 minutes it would then rotate itself back to 'zero' over 15 minutes.
What makes you think the mistakes stop?
I first got interested in 1994.
I foolishly bought a watch at an antiques fair with a broken balance staff; the watch worked in the dial-up position but not in any other! The case was 9ct gold but the caseback had been overpolished to remove an inscription, consequently it wasn't much thicker than tinfoil. The robbing git who sold me the watch also sold my ex-wife a piece of supposedly Victorian jewellery that was an obvious fake when inspected closely.
Experience is hard-won, it's like the scars on you knees from falling over as a kid.
Paul
Going on eBay after drinking too much beer has resulted in some poor watch buying decisions especially in the early days
I had to give up alcohol a while back - which has improved my bank balance considerably
Getting into watches.
Very good :)
Generally made few mistakes technically as this forum helped a lot but i suppose a lot of my regrets are some watches i sold or didn't buy. I guess one thing i can say is buying a watch that i couldn't really afford or didn't really fit into my lifestyle.
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Not buying a decent (though not stupidly costly and silly) watch winder as soon as i had two or more watches in rotation
Obsessing with the whole best watch in the price bracket and best value for money, hobby is supposed to be fun not stressful
Believing description that says, absolutely mint accompanied with poor pictures.
Not taking watch buying seriously enough at the beginning, decades ago.
Essentially my mistakes were.
1. Not enough research.
2. Not examining watches I purchased carefully enough.
3. Not taking watch buying seriously enough.
4. Not paying enough attention to serial numbers.
5. Not researching exactly what the components of a full set are.
6. Not always insisting on a fresh factory service when buying used.
7. Not researching a dealer carefully enough.
8. Not conducting a thorough analysis of the second hand market.
9. Not having basic watchmaking tools available at home, including a timing machine.
10. Not taking tools such as a high quality loupe when watch buying.
11. Being in a hurry to buy a watch.
12. Not moving fast enough to secure a bargain.
Now these issues are a thing of the past and I believe my watch buying is more scientific.
Crikey GrandS - That reads more like a business plan than a hobbyists checklist!
Taking leave of my senses just as I embarked upon an extended and highly enjoyable shopping expedition.
I'd been into watches for some time, but when I discovered forums I bought loads of watches in a very short space of time - several horrors including this
Many of those early purchases were very quickly flipped & I lost quite a bot of money.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
Boutique / small internet based sellers. Not all bad, just nearly all of them
D
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Agreed.
These were regrettable too
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
I am surprised. Both of those are reasonably well thought of, aren't they? What did you dislike about them? (Have I asked you that before?)These were regrettable too
I love that Moray. I've got one with the same colour dial but PVDed. Really enjoy wearing it. ;-)
Selling my SD for £1895 ( I think), fully serviced by St James and selling my Breitling Avenger Seawolf Ti to a dealer for £800, or less even as I can't quite remember, only 2 years old. You live and learn.
Dremmel. That is all I'll divulge. Never again
Reading a review on the omega PO that stated the bezel was bi-directional.
Joining tz in a panic because I thought that mine was possibly shady since it was uni directional.
I got laughed at quite royally and decided I liked it here.
The Ocean 7 was an incredibly crude, lumpy design with a huge crown that dug into the back of my hand - worn for a day & then sold.
The Moray just felt a bit cheaply made to me & I couldn't cope with the dial colour (my choice, so my own fault) - Sold it on the day I got it from memory, but glad you're happy with yours.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
Oh well, each to his own. :-)
come on spill the beans, I did.
I like to think I avoided some mistakes by joining the forum before making a major purchase.
However purchase subsequently turned into purchases, so maybe I've just multiplied my mistakes instead...
I used to buy watches from US and German ebay around 12 years back, some for my own collection and some to sell on.
After a heavy night's drinking I found an Omega Dynamic with what looked like a black dial. I decided I had to bid for it, the auction finished in 30 mins, so I decided to stay up. My German's not great, I scanned through the description and saw the word 'dunkenblau ' which I assumed was telling me that the strap was dark blue. The word 'swartz' was in there somewhere so I assumed that referred to the black dial.
I won the watch, then panicked because I thought I`d converted the currency wrongly and paid way too much......I hadn`t, but my alcohol-addled brain was struggling with mental arithmetic.
The watch arrived, it looked nice, the strap was black and the dial was blue! The watch looked and ran OK but it wasn`t what I really wanted so it got sold shortly after.
Moral of the story: get your translation correct and don`t bid on ebay when you're pissed! at least I learned the German word for watch-dial.
Paul
Failure to recognise that I do actually have my own individual style/dress sense with which I am quite comfortable and that certain watches no matter how desirable, fall some distance outside of it.
Failure to address the question - "When am I likely to wear this?"
Last edited by forpetesake; 25th November 2016 at 18:12.
Going for quantity over quality at the start.
Buying more than one expensive watch ⌚️
It's just a matter of time...
I regard them as a learning experience and not mistakes:-)
Believing advertising photos and buying a watch without having seen the model in real life! Twice.
Trying to wear 42mm watches before realising that they simply don't fit me and never will. I hate to think how it looked.
Trying to 'fix up' an inaccurately described eBay special instead of just sending it straight back to the joker in question, a complete waste of my time!
Wrong #^^#ing bracelet, wrong ^%*%ing end links! Also knackered vintage bracelets, they are scrap metal regardless of the logo and price.
That time I threw away a NOS speedmaster bracelet when over enthusiastically spring cleaning...
Trying to 'scratch the itch' of an unobtainable Grail with something affordable, it works up to a point but the Grail never stops calling.
And not just buying said Grail at the time before it doubled / tripled in price!
Thinking that Rolex was the be all and end all. It's really not.
Not if you keep repeating them!
Recently I've even started to question whether I 'like' mechanical watches!
They might just be irrelevant to my lifestyle after all.
Last edited by forpetesake; 25th November 2016 at 21:16.
I think that all the time, especially when the quartz thread was started.
Buy the watch you really want, instead of the watch you think you 'should' want.
I was expecting more story's along the lines of, I tried 3 in one oil or I hammered of the Cyclops and smashed the glass.
rather than buying regrets.
I cant be the only one used WD40 or paid £15 for a strap change?
Much to my embarrassment, I once did a SC post where my sales tactic was to increase the price of my Kermit. Oh, the shame! Undersold the watch too.
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