Reply With QuoteLOL...very entertaining. You forgot to add that mineral crystals are to be avoided at all costs...
Ming
In no particular order:
1 Patek Philippe are wonderful, but very often aesthetically boring. So, buy one only because you like it, but not for the name.
2 Never have a watch 'serviced' unless it stops telling good time. It's a waste of money and they'll only damage your watch.
3 Most watches made after 1970 are too expensive. So, consider pre-1970's watches.
4 IWC sold its soul to the Devil a long time ago, as did many of the great names, including Vacheron & Constantin and especially Omega.
5 Rolex is the only watch that people recognise on your wrist.
6 A watch that tells the time within a minute a day is accurate.
7 'nos' watches are often 'nos' because they have minor flaws.
8 Quartz watches are convenient.
9 Learn to accept damage to your watch. It happens.
10 Hirsch make good straps (and buckles).
11 There's no such thing as a black crocodile.
12 Secondhand Jaegers are under-valued.
13 The watch world is full of shysters.
14 Never buy a watch you haven't seen 'in the flesh'.
15 The price of the watch you buy is how much you can sell it for.
16 Never buy a watch as an investment. Buy it for pleasure.
17 Buy the most expensive watch you can't afford. It'll be good value later.
18 Watches are fun.
19 I have trouble counting beyond 12, which is why I don't wear a 24-hour watch.
LOL...very entertaining. You forgot to add that mineral crystals are to be avoided at all costs...
Ming
I agree wholeheartedly with all "12" and, like the rest of us no doubt, break those rules frequently.
A great start to a long Monday, thanks.
I have some of my own:
Buying rules:
1. I buy watches I want to own and wear.
2. Some watches I don't wear, and no longer care to own, so sell them to buy something else. Sometimes the sale realises a small profit (because I bought well), more usually a small loss (because it is now older/second hand).
3. I never buy a watch for profit. If profit comes when the time is right for the watch to go it’s a bonus. I view a small loss as "rent" for my ownership and enjoyment. A big loss is a valuable lesson learned!
4. Some watches I don't wear often but keep and cherish because they are special to me or I want them for my sons.
5. I never part with family watches (gifts, hand me downs, etc).
6. I resist the temptation to impulse buy and shop around and take my time (although a quick look at my Ebay account/Sales Corner tells a very different story!).
Gray
I subscribe to the point 16 in particular. If you want to invest, buy into a well diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds and money-market instruments with no diversifiable risk, whose Sharpe ratio ( (total returns - risk-free returns)/systematic risk ) is high and whose value-at-risk is not that high to ruin you in case that stock markets would fall for three years or so, as they recently did.
Watches can be more fun than investing, especially when you don't have to bother with their resale price.
Good stuff 8) A few more:
1. Never buy a watch you dont like the looks of because you wont wear it and it will just sit on the side collecting dust and making you feel depressed because of all the money you wasted on it.
2. "Near mint" means fu*k all.
3. Dont listen to anyone who says "if you buy a Rolex you can sell it anywhere in the world for what you paid for it, so its essentially a free watch".
4. Dont be put off Speedmasters because of having to read the 10 pages of "this was the first watch on the moon etc" before you get to see the damn thing!
5. If a Poljot is gunna break it will break within 15 seconds of you playing with the chrono when you first get it. Dont be put off, send it back and get another, the second one is usually okay.
6. Always have a go at people who say "it tells the time, what more do you want" about their £5.99 Sekonda from Argos.
7. Lange and Sohne make the best movements.
8. Always kick yourself for not buying a dreadnought when you had the chance each night before bedtime.
9. When your at a crappy antiques fair with no decent watches dont just buy that knackerd Seiko for 30 quid out of desperation before you walk out the door.
10. Dont buy your wife a watch because she wont wear it and it will cause arguments between the 2 of you "why dont you wear it, its a great watch, its waterproof to 200 metres, you dont love me anymore" ""It's too heavy to wear everyday darling, of course i still love you"".
LOL :lol:
Have experienced many of the above, cheers guys. :D
Mmmm
Regarding Point 10
"...Dont buy your wife a watch because she wont wear it and it will cause arguments between the 2 of you "why dont you wear it, its a great watch, its waterproof to 200 metres, you dont love me anymore" ""It's too heavy to wear everyday darling, of course i still love you"".
I have the opposite problem I lent her one of my watches & now I can't get her to stop wearing it... Now says it looks better on her :shock: Must admit though she has a very persuasive line in argument!! :lol: :lol:
Says she loves it because it's mine... Argh... I'll have to buy it a twin now...
Mike
James,
Thats the best bit! :lol:4. Dont be put off Speedmasters because of having to read the 10 pages of "this was the first watch on the moon etc" before you get to see the damn thing!
Cheers,
Neil.
Originally Posted by Gspotter
Agree with these two especially!
Ming
What a great thread :D
Tinker said:
2. Never have a watch 'serviced' unless it stops telling good time. It's a waste of money and they'll only damage your watch.
Yes and no. A quality watch with a quality movement that will be worn regularly over 25 years is better to service every 5 years or so. You would if your life depended on it. Find a watch repairer who knows what he is doing and does what you want.
Gspotter said:
3. Don?t listen to anyone who says "if you buy a Rolex you can sell it anywhere in the world for what you paid for it, so it?s essentially a free watch".
What I tell people is that with a Rolex you can get quick cash but not what you paid for it. But you are just as likely to get mugged.
6. Always have a go at people who say "it tells the time, what more do you want" about their £5.99 Sekonda from Argos.
It?s like saying that all women are good to have because they are all breeders.
K.I.T.T. said:
I lent her one of my watches & now I can't get her to stop wearing it...
What watch is it? Please.
============
This weekend the Financial Times (UK) had one of their customary 10 page watch pullouts ? which is nothing more than an industry ad ? and so what? I remembered it because one of the articles was about women wearing gents watches.
Anyway, the reason I mentioned the FT ... THE AVERAGE AMOUNT SPENT ON A NEW WRISTATCH IN THE UK IS STILL ONLY £39.
JD
"The whole purpose of mechanical watches is to be impertinent." ~ Lionel a Marca, CEO of Breguet
The watch is/was a Ollech & Wajs M4 on a White Rhino... Its not even like I can grieve for it because I see it daily!!!!!
I must admit it does suit her and at least she has stopped wearing that nasty little quartz... but it was a hard lesson... next time I think I'll not offer to lend her one of mine... and just get her a new battery! :twisted:
She has been a lot more punctual for her appointments lately and has now started to use the bezel to time me!!!!
Mike :lol: :wink:
Hi,
I agree,that why I sold my Ploprof and Speedmaster 125 anniversary.
I would add that Rolex never made a mineral crystal watch(only in the Tudor range).
BEST
RAF
I missed out on the FT pull out at the weekend... but I can't say that it surprises me afterall the importance of both form & function is becoming more and more important,
The variety of nice Diver watches that are easy to read at a glance and can be worn both socially and in a tough working environment... able to take the knocks of daily life, not having to squint at the dial, I think that my other half is starting to appreciate that fact... :o [The fact that there is no battery to worry about and she can read it in the dark are plus factors as well!]
Only problem is which watch out of my 'box' will go out on semi-permanent 'loan' next!!! :roll:
Mike
next thing she'll be after one of your chrono's to time you more accurately.... :twisted:
Jeroen
It's not so much the timings that she is doing... She is using my own Watch against me it's like being run over by your own car or being shot at with your own gun!!!
Luckily she hasn't [at least to my knowledge!] timed anything toooooo bad yet!!!! Just the amount of time it takes to drink my beer... time taken for me to get a round in and time spent in the smallest room in the house! :shock:
Mike
That's horrible. You should buy her her own chronograph. Then that gives you the excuse for buying another watch, plus she'll leave yours alone.
Instead of being shot by your own gun you can be shot by the gun that you bought your wife...
Ming
An excuse to buy watches.... Mmmm there is a thought! :P
But I don't think that I'd be able to get that particular idea past her... :roll: Would solve the Christmas present problem though...
Although being 'shot' with the weapon I bought her will still sting a bit :wink:
Mike
When you first mentioned that she was timing you, I had visions of something far worse! :wink:Luckily she hasn't [at least to my knowledge!] timed anything toooooo bad yet!!!! Just the amount of time it takes to drink my beer... time taken for me to get a round in and time spent in the smallest room in the house! :shock:
Mike
I must have a dirty mind :twisted: :lol:
When you first mentioned that she was timing you, I had visions of something far worse! :wink:Luckily she hasn't [at least to my knowledge!] timed anything toooooo bad yet!!!! Just the amount of time it takes to drink my beer... time taken for me to get a round in and time spent in the smallest room in the house! :shock:
Mike
I must have a dirty mind :twisted: :lol:
LMAO!! Was it you who started the watches and sex post before...? :twisted:
As for the shooting pains, it could be worse, don't buy her a split flying second chrono. :shock:
Save it for yourself. :D
Ming
Fortunately there have been no timings made in that particular sphere...
or any other shape or activity!!!!!
Mike
Can you enlarge on your point about NOS having defects? I have always wondered how these came to be unsold and to reappear after 30 years or whatever.
Another theory runs that a lot of NOS watches are new assemblies of discovered parts.
One of my favourites was bought as NOS and does indeed have a defect, coincidence?
Both are quite possible, although undiscovered parts less so. You can make more money from servicing a watch and changing the parts for spares than from making new watches. Also your stock of parts will last for longer. As for the defects bit, it may be that they have defects which is why they haven't been sold...or it may be that the defects were acquired during the storage period inbetween manufacture and sale. My NOS dynamic chrono has sticky pushers, I don't know whether this is also coincidental or not.
Ming
Sorry for bothering you with ignorant questions, what is NOS?
NOS= New Old Stock [Basically It is supposed to be old stock that was never issued and has sat either in draws or on shelves and has been overlooked until they stock take or a shop / supplier goes bankrupt or closes!]
Mike
8)
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NOS are sometimes the only way that we can get something lovely and unique to wear on our wrists... The O&W Earlybird being a very nice example.. . I habitually wear a NOS Seiko 6105 and after the service / clean as soon as I acquired it, afterwhich it's worked fine.... I think that is the point really after a nice watch has sat for a while it needs a bit of freshening up to get the object of our affections running on top form... :P
After all these are out of production watches so we must take care of them!!!
Mike :roll:
are due to the oil solidifying after so many years of inactivity. This may be a case where a running machinery works better than one that has been stopped for a long time and then restarted.
Buying NOS may depend on luck, and also depends on how long it has been OS. I guess that, without re-oiling, the performance of an NOS that has been on the shelf for a few years will tend to perform better than one that has been on the shelf for 30 years. With re-oiling, the latter may be as good as it was when just boxed.
Yes, some NOS do have slight mars, such as minor scratches on the casing, imperfect imprinting of the letters on the case or caseback. Usually nothing major and through my observation, the movement is always in good & new condition.
Personally have bought a few recent NOS: a GP 4900, B&M Formula S, EPOS Heur Sautante (jump hour). Absolutely no problems with them.
For someone who's strapped for cash, and would like to enjoy watches, definitely NOS is way to go. Oh yes, do make it a point to buy from reputable retailers to avoid being ripped off.
Yes I think you are dead right about the reputation of the seller being vital when buying a NOS... Some sellers are shall we say creative when describing their goods and I'm sure most of us have horror stories about ebay etc.
Roy and Eddie are two guys that I personally have great confidence in... it's nice to deal with them and their customer service is superb... and their stock is certainly wallet opening :lol:
Mike
I have a few observations to make about NOS watches.
1. The first thing you should do is have them serviced unless you are certain this has already been done.
2. Expect to find a few scuff marks on them, they will have been handled a few times over the years.
3. Check out the strap or bracelet; some watches have unique dedicated straps which are no longer available.
Other than that, they are usually exceptional bargains
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
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I enjoyed stumbling on this just now... not much has changed in 15 years!!
Great post from Tinker and nowt's changed in that time.
This made me laugh out loud. Brilliant.
Who is this 'guest' that keeps having their posts deleted? How does a 'guest' get to post anyway?
Cool thread. Made me laugh.
I have one to add :
1: A strap change can make you love your watch again.
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Buy extra straps every time you buy a watch.
Marvel at the enduring power of the mechanical watch....still desirable in the age of truly astonishing technology.
20. Blokes collect watches , women handbags
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Shoes, in my experience.
I don't know one woman who doesn't have a bigger collection of pairs of shoes than I have watches!
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Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Nice ones, thanks :)
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Shikes!!! Talk about zombie-thread resurrection. For a moment I thought Ming was back.
Always be sitting down before you open the service quotation from Rolex. They must use an electron microscope.
Last edited by mylofitz; 11th February 2019 at 08:56.
Read through this and didn't realise until near the end it had been resurrected from 2003, reads like it was written this morning!
Thoroughly enjoyable read! Nothing changes!
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Agreed! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.
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