Reply With QuoteI cant live without a date, end of... AND either a chrono / GMT function
So, for me the perfect watch is an Explorer II.
If the Daytona had a date, then it'd be a hard choice between the two for me.
A date is unnecessary, most especially on Icons like a Sub, Speedy or Daytona
I don't mind, either is fine, and setting the time and date is the joy of being a WIS
MUST have a date
Quit moaning and buy a quartz
I know the opinions are always going to vary, but do we really need a date on a mechanical watch?
How come every time I wear my No-Date Sub, I always find myself at some point in the day looking down for the date..?
Here's my predicament. I love my Rolex 14060M no date Submariner, the classic look, the symmetry, the heritage inspired design, but if I want a date, say a 16610, you have to endure a genital wart cyclops.
The most iconic Chronograph, in my opinion, The Speedmaster Professional, no date at all, unless you go for another one of Omega's iterations of the Speedy, lacking the design, size and heritage.
My recently departed Breitling Navitimer A23322 - it had a date, but no quick set feature
I don't keep my watches on a winder, so when I come to set the time, it's a joy to wind the time forward only a few hours (say, on a 14060 or a Speedy), and no date with AM/PM implications to worry about.
But I still look down for the date
I cant live without a date, end of... AND either a chrono / GMT function
So, for me the perfect watch is an Explorer II.
If the Daytona had a date, then it'd be a hard choice between the two for me.
Last edited by ach5; 18th August 2013 at 15:31.
Ideally I'd like all my watches to be either no-date or have an annual/perpetual calendar complication. That way they'd always be right. It's a pain to have to reset the date every time the watches stop and I'm never sure when it's safe to do it...
My pet hate is watches that have a pointer date indicator on the dial, like the Patek 5712 Nautilus amongst others. Centrally positioned month indicator hands, with the days around the edge of the dial are the worst as they seem to be making a big point of their inherent inaccuracy.
Even when you're in a month with 30 days the month shows 31 days because it's physically on the dial. A normal date indicator window also goes up to 31 but you don't have to spend the whole month looking at it knowing the month doesn't have 31 days!
This Patek dial is just wrong:
This Vacheron is even worse - the whole dial is devoted to the inaccurate display of the date:
Last edited by Nagraboy; 18th August 2013 at 13:34.
I have several watches with no date and I've got used to not having it. Never think to look at my watch for the date.
I don't mind having a watch with a date but I hate the Rolex cyclops - to me it completely destroys the neatness and symmetry of the dial.
So my first Rolex was a 14060M which fits my needs very well.
Oh goody, a Poll
A date is a redundant feature for me.
It spoils an otherwise perfect design for many watches and means I have to think about it at the end of every month.
I'd really rather not have to bother.
I used to think it was essential but when getting used to no date watches I soon realised how easy it is to work out that today followed yesterday and add one.
Gray
I prefer to have a date, but it's not a dealbreaker (for a Speedy for example).
I do find I am frequently looking for the date on my watch, and it can be frustrating when it's not there!
I will throw in my 2 pet dislikes: the open date window that displays the current date plus one either side. And dates at an odd angle to the face (ie 4 or 4.30). Need to be at 3, or 6 looks good too (thanks Oris).
Good gripes there. Just what is the point of the 'one day either side' window??Originally Posted by apm101
It's an unnecessary complication. I don't particularly like complicated.
My missus asks me what the date is about 42,000 times a day, so I gotta have a date on any watch I wear.
Don't care about the date on a watch, I find I don't even bother setting the date on those with that function, unless the watch is within a few days of the actual date when I pick it up on rotation, I may go to the bother of turning the Dw to the correct day then.
Could never understand those that 'must have a date', but each to their own I guess. It's easy use the phone for telling date if needed, but not for the time, never use the phone for the time :) ....also it's not likely you are going to forget the date multiple times in one day. As said above it's not that hard to +1 if you looked at the date yesterday :)
I'm with you on this as well, which is why I plan to fit a 14060 crystal to my 16610.... rolex date, no cyclops, perfect!!
I'm used to checking the date on my watch all the time,in particular at work, so when I have a no date watch I do really miss it the complication.
However, some watches just look better without it, and I am happy to take the pain: i can forgive my speedy pro, and would happily forgive a sub ND, best looking sub IMO.
I have no trouble remembering what the date is and prefer a watch without one.
scooter
As Gray said, not really that difficult to add +1 to yesterday's date.
Date features do ruin a watch dial IMO and I'd rather not have one at all.
Cheers,
Neil.
I definitely prefer watches without a date. If I must have it though, I would make sure it's in a stealthy perpetual calender complication- that is something I do like!
I don't like watches without a date, and if possible I'll go for a day-date. It's got nothing to do with knowing the date, it just looks better. Having said that it's very unlikely I'd buy one with the day-date anywhere other than the 3 position. Anywhere else looks too fussy to me.
No date please unless it is always correct.
No date for me. But the reason for that is I cannot see the date without reading glasses, and as I tend not to carry them with me, it is a pointless combination!
Remembering the date takes up part of the little brain I have left that is required for remembering more important trivia.
I'm of the same opinion as Sherlock Holmes:
"I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skilled workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.'"
If I have to remember the date it takes the place of more important information in my head. The history of information from writing onward has been about releasing people from the burden of memory so that their minds are free to engage in [perhaps] more meaningful things. A calendar on a watch is a good example of such a device. Whilst I have deep respect for those who maintain their own internal calendar, I can't be bothered to do so myself. So I much prefer to have a calendar and find myself searching for one when I a watch without one.
One other point about aesthetics - it seems to me that there is no reason why a calendar can't be incorporated in a watch dial in an aesthetically pleasing manner. What is interesting to me is that in a community of people who [mostly] express a preference for analogue displays of various sorts, the analogue display of calendars is looked down upon. When expressing a preference or aversion, most people talk about the display of date on a calendar wheel - which appears to me to be a sort of digital display.
I once thought about buying a Sinn 142 Mark II where the date is displayed on a chronometer sub-dial. And it seemed wrong until I thought to myself that I'm happy for time to be displayed that way, why not date. After all the date is just a measurement of progress through the month, so one could look at it as the 15th being rather like half past the month when displayed in analogue form. When you think about it this way, the display of date as a part of the clock face seems more integrated and logical. Just a thought...
I'm in the don't really mind camp, but sods law says if I can't remember the date it won't be on the watch I picked that day.
I had a Submariner and kept looking for the date on it (I have had a watch with a date for the past 40+ years) and it was one of the reasons I was happy to let it go.
I had a Sub date for a while and while I liked the date function I didn't like the cyclops so that had to go too!
I wouldn't buy a watch without the date function and on my latest buy, the PRS-30 it is in a good place and I can read it easily.
It's definitely a date for me. I've always had the date on a watch, apart from one. And I find myself forever looking down for the date. I'm sure I could remember the date, but I've trained myself to use a watch for the date over the past 15+ years. I guess it's habit more than anything.
But I do agree, a poorly executed date window can ruin a watch.
Date is a must for me, although I have to check my phone first to make sure i set the right date on my watch.
I have terrible short term memory and have to remind myself of the date constantly throughout the day especially at work.
I really dislike the day either side feature, my with eyesight is too easy to confuse me.
I like a big date window, makes it easier for me to see.
I'm not too keen on chronos these days just because I need my reading glasses to read the dial. It's an age thing!
Like most folks here I've got watches with and without, but given the choice I'd rather have a date as I always tend to look at my watch first for the date. I like dates between 4 & 5 too as in most dial designs that spot isn't used for anything so it slots in nicely - I started this thread on it a while back.
Though it's probably heresy to say so and I'm likely to get hounded out of here, I wish Omega would make this (preferably with a quickset via the crown).
Rich.
All of my watches have a date window, my Hamilton has a day/date. But that has all happened by chance/that's how they came/I didn't choose...
Which is why I've ordered my Stowa Flieger without a date just so I can have ONE watch that is ultra simple, ultra clean design.
I prefer my watches to have a date. As I tend to look at them several times a day for the info.
Call me "Old School" but I just can't get used to looking at my phone for it
Dials look better and more balanced without a date. Although a good design minimises the impact. Those 4:30 date windows are particularly stealthy.
But I need a date. I can only wear a non date watch during the weekends.
A watch without a date is the same as a calender with only the months on it.
no date=
date=
day/date=
Totally agree.I know the opinions are always going to vary, but do we really need a date on a mechanical watch?
How come every time I wear my No-Date Sub, I always find myself at some point in the day looking down for the date..?
Here's my predicament. I love my Rolex 14060M no date Submariner, the classic look, the symmetry, the heritage inspired design, but if I want a date, say a 16610, you have to endure a genital wart cyclops.
The most iconic Chronograph, in my opinion, The Speedmaster Professional, no date at all, unless you go for another one of Omega's iterations of the Speedy, lacking the design, size and heritage.
My recently departed Breitling Navitimer A23322 - it had a date, but no quick set feature
I don't keep my watches on a winder, so when I come to set the time, it's a joy to wind the time forward only a few hours (say, on a 14060 or a Speedy), and no date with AM/PM implications to worry about.
But I still look down for the date
Daddel.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
Most of my watches have a date but I'm not too bothered either way.
I do like them on bi-compax chronos as they balance the dial
(A little too small on the Bremont)
I have to have a date on all my watches, my Breguet even makes a thing of having a BIG DATE!
Get your coat!Like most folks here I've got watches with and without, but given the choice I'd rather have a date as I always tend to look at my watch first for the date. I like dates between 4 & 5 too as in most dial designs that spot isn't used for anything so it slots in nicely - I started this thread on it a while back.
Though it's probably heresy to say so and I'm likely to get hounded out of here, I wish Omega would make this (preferably with a quickset via the crown).
Rich.
M.
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
I rotate between watches with no date, date and day-date. If I happen to need to know the date and glance down and see my speedy it doesn't bother me in the slightest; I just think about how amazing it looks...then find some other way of getting the date
These are my thoughts exactly. I would like to add a third dislike to this. I just hate a date without quickset function. My Navitimer had the Valjoux 7753 movement without it. One major reason why I flipped it.
That's how I feel too....
Cheers..
Jase
I'd never have date on a dress watch. But then again, Bauhaus for me please. On a daily wearer, day-date please, especially as I am leaving my phone behind ever more ofter. On purpose, mind you.
Visually I prefer the stealth design, black on black with white or even off-white numbers. Probably after a few years I am solidly in the big contrast camp, but for now I can even use the Jeppesen rulers etc.
I'd go for no date or an annual calendar... as others have said, having a date that has to be set "right" every other month can be too misleading.
Last edited by A.T.; 18th August 2013 at 23:10.
i much prefer no date for aesthetics, simplicity of setting the time and also i don't like that you might damage the movement if you change the date at the wrong time of day (that's what i heard)
Do it right, or not at all.
A well-implemented and balanced date feature can add some visual interest and functionality to a watch. A poorly-integrated one just looks like an afterthought and can detract from an otherwise sound design.
For example, on the Datejust, it's part of a coherent layout and completes the watch, whereas a date function would be disastrous on a Daytona.
I've nothing against a date in general. It depends on the overall design of the watch and its intended purpose.
The Sub, for example, looks great with or without a date, although personally I prefer the date version (complete wity cyclops).
I always thought a watch had to have a date till I did a deal on a very nice second hand Hamilton Khaki Chrono only to find that the previous owner had knackered up the date wheel by using the quick set at the wrong time. The curse of the 7750. Subsequently I've bought chrono's without the date function. Much safer.
In my opinion, date is nice to have, but not mandatory. I tend to set the date if it's quick set when I change watches. But I have a few non-quick set watches and I never bother to set the date, takes too much time and probably causes too much wear on the mechanism.
My favourite at the moment.
I also prefer this little one ...😇
Eddie'S GMT has a date.
That's true, but other watches are available that don't have a cyclops.
The design is subjective of course, but all of the new Speedmasters with date are larger. Only the 40mm "Speedmaster Date" automatic is smaller. Heritage - not a concern for anyone except fundamentalist Moonwatch fans. It lacks pretty much everything else too.The most iconic Chronograph, in my opinion, The Speedmaster Professional, no date at all, unless you go for another one of Omega's iterations of the Speedy, lacking the design, size and heritage.
Yes, this gets discussed from time to time. The movement does have a quickset, but it's hidden by the slide-rule works. It does have a semi-quickset feature in that you can wind back and forth over midnight to advance the date.My recently departed Breitling Navitimer A23322 - it had a date, but no quick set feature
I think having a date is convenient, but getting one's knickers in twist about it... well, life's waay too short for that!
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
You have to wonder how people used to manage :D
As for not needing the date because newspapers and other information sources are available, the same argument exists for not needing the time. Why wear a watch when the time is available on every mobile phone, computer, television screen, newsfeed, car dashboard...?
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
I don't mind ether way, my current collection is 50/50 with date and non date watches.
Some watches do just look better without the date function enabling a clean uncluttered dial ie, sub, explorer and speedmaster and the date is on my phone in any case if I realy can't remember.
We on here like wearing watches though, I can happily live without the date function but I couldn't live without the time function. Just a big date number on the watch and no time dial would be weird wouldn't it
I used to always require a date function on any watch I wore, however over the last few years I've been looking more closely at the dial and how the date window fits in and finding I don't actually like the aesthetics of it, so now I prefer a non date clean dial. Oh, what also helped me make my decision was I'm finding it harder and harder to see a date window and any solution to this , e.g. the Rolex cyclops just looks plain ugly.
I used to enjoy setting the date, but now it just annoys me.
However, there are times I look at one of my non date watches for the date - only to realise its not there!- so that also annoys me.
My answer isnt really there - that it is useful, but if badly executed I can do without it.
At my age I definitely need the Date, as well as the Day, and preferably a little space with my address on it too, just in case ......
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