closing tag is in template navbar
timefactors watches



TZ-UK Fundraiser
Results 1 to 18 of 18

Thread: The Perfect Watch (it doesn't exist yet!)

  1. #1
    Journeyman
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    North America
    Posts
    115

    The Perfect Watch (it doesn't exist yet!)

    okay, I know "the perfect" watch is subjective, but there are many reasons why what I am about to describe *is* the perfect watch:

    1. Take a PRS-29A
    2. enlarge it to 38mm
    3. increase the lug width to 20mm
    4. Add a 1-12 ratcheting bezel, with a lume pip (protected by glass) at 12, without changing the diameter of the crystal. So the extra 2mm diameter will accommodate this slim bezel.

    That's it!!

    Now this is why this is the perfect watch:
    1. antimagnetic. This is absolutely needed. A real "field" watch, a watch that you wear everywhere has to have antimagnetism because in this modern world we are surrounded by magnets; heck you likely have one in your back pocket right now or are using it to read this post! That's what makes the current PRS-29 a real field watch.
    2. Ratcheting bezel: However, the problem is that a ratcheting bezel, in particular 1-12 is extremely useful for timing ad hoc activities in the field, and the lack of a bezel is what is missing from the PRS-29
    3. The other problem is that most ratcheting bezels are marked 5-60 for diving purposes. The ratcheting bezel for this watch is for ad hoc timing, and in most cases you just need the marker for 12, and markers for 5, 10, 15 etc. You don't really need it to actually say 5, 10, 15 - just like the markers on the dial don't read 5, 10, 15 - they read 1, 2, 3. The reason why you want it marked as 1,2..12 is because this ratchet bezel will double as a second timezone when you're at the airport in a different tz, so you don't miss your connecting flight.

    It is more important for it to read 1,2..12 because at a foreign airport, when you figure out the TZ it's a 24 hour TZ that you then have to calculate as 12 hours and make sure the 12 hour marker is pointing to the correct marker on the dial. It's easy to figure out which marker is 5,10,15..60, but not so easy to remember which marker is which in a foreign airport when you're really sleepy and need to make sure you wake up on time for the flight.

    4. Handwind. This is what most sports watches get wrong. Most sports watches are automatic, but for a long lasting watch, you want a handwind because the rotor is the source of the most metal dust in the movement and having that rotor spin around constantly when you're doing field type activities is unwanted. Why? Why does anybody need to keep a watch constantly under full wind? Just wind it at the beginning of the day, that's it. I know that Eddie is producing some dive watches already, but they're all automatic. No thanks. What we need for the perfect watch is a handwind field watch that's antimagnetic and has a ratcheting 1-12 bezel, not just another dive watch.

    Also, don't believe the nonsense you read on the net about handwinds being bad because the gasket on the crown wears out. BS. You apply silicone gel lubricant in the crown area once a year and you're good forever; the gasket never deteriorates no matter how many times you wind the watch. Can you say the same about the automatic rotor? Can you self service the dust that accumulates as easily as the crown gasket?

    5. Aesthetically the PRS-29A does most things right. The dial is perfect, the crystal is perfect, the overall case shape is really nice. I would recommend this ratchet bezel be stainless steel - with engraved numbers. I think that would suit the look for a slim field bezel (compare with the Explorer 2). The only thing I would change is the lug width should be 20mm to accommodate the majority of aftermarket straps. 20mm lugs don't fit a 36mm case, but it will fit a 38mm case.

    Also, make sure the lume pip is covered in glass. Most microbrand watches have lume pips with exposed lume (unprotected lume), and I just find it a very lazy cheap practice. All the good brands protect their lume pips with glass, and for the perfect watch I would expect no less.

    I think Eddie is in one of those rare positions where he is able to accomplish this quite easily. Design wise he is 90% there, he has the materials already as the movement, dial, hands and crystal is taken straight from the PRS-29A and he has the connections to make everything else for this watch!

    Now I've been a watch guy since 1997, and I've published a few articles on watches and knew my way around the watch world. I don't believe the watch that I describe actually exists, surprisingly enough. Near perfect watches always have some flaw to it: they are automatic, or they're too big, or they have 5-60 bezel markings or no ratchet bezel at all, or (and this is the most common problem) they aren't antimagnetic. The PRS-29A is sooooooooooooooo close. So close. Just needs a 1-12 ratchet bezel to be the ultimate field watch of all time.

  2. #2
    Master TheGent's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2020
    Location
    North West, UK
    Posts
    2,935
    Interesting proposal


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    Journeyman
    Join Date
    Oct 2019
    Location
    Winnipeg, Manitoba
    Posts
    58
    That may be your perfect watch but it's not mine and I imagine it won'tbe perfect for many others.

  4. #4
    Journeyman
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    122
    I think it's already perfect just as it is... although my perlon could do with a wash!


  5. #5
    Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    U.S.A.
    Posts
    1,126
    I more and more think that this stuff is so subjective that the "perfect watch" is largely an exercise in the ethereal as if chasing a chimera that appears of very different substance to each mortal that would try to hunt it down.

    Some time ago I decided to post up what I personally thought would be the perfect diver & all-around heavy-duty field watch with all the class of a Rolex SD at greatly lower cost > https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...-TripLock-Tech > [i.e. particularly @ posts #1, #2, & #15]

    I still think it would be, at least for me, with a few small tweaks like a simplified and less complex Certina DS type synthetic rubber movement holder for the extra shock protection; and I also recently read some seemingly credible research based on comprehensive testing that sapphire would actually be a tougher material for the screw-down "flanged crystal" than the aerospace grade borosilicate glass I thought would be preferable in that regard between the two at the time I originally started that "Caribbean" thread (I'd myself still just prefer the more resilient and shatter resistant [as well as far more cost-effective] vintage classic plexiglass/acrylic for the "flanged" screw-down crystal as per the original Caribbeans, but the superlative front loaded screw-down "flanged" crystal construction allows for an interchangeable sapphire crystal if that would be the buyer's preference).

    I'd also personally now even more strongly prefer to skip the traditional rotating timing bezel in favour of a classic, simple, and far more sturdy solid bezel integral to the case while just leaving the beautifully engineered frontally accessed notched and threaded screw-down crystal retaining ring bare to the world for all to see, perhaps giving a bit quirky (but, due the objectively peerless underlying technological superiority of the mechanically secured crystal, hopefully endearing) bezel aesthetic effect in that the crystal retaining ring's notches would be eccentrically aligned to the pattern of the dial..........................

    The point, though, is that I didn't exactly get multiple offers of 700K a year watch industry consultant work from that "Perfect Watch" thread I started because if anybody else thought it was as perfect or nearly so as I did, they sure kept pretty quiet about it

    I think we may need individual watch synthesizers someday.................
    Last edited by Rollon; 7th September 2020 at 21:45. Reason: spelling; rephrasing of sentence for clarity

  6. #6
    Master Lammylee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Manchester
    Posts
    2,971
    The 29b Double Dome wasn’t too faraway.


  7. #7
    Journeyman
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    North America
    Posts
    115
    Quote Originally Posted by Calumets View Post
    I think it's already perfect just as it is... although my perlon could do with a wash!

    I find myself hardly ever taking off my PRS-29, but I am constantly wishing it had a timing bezel. There are just so many things "a watch that you wear all the time" should be able to measure: hiking start time, trip starting time, instant noodle timing, second timezone.

    It cannot be the perfect watch if you need to take it off and wear a different one because those features are missing. The addition of a 1-12 timing bezel allows it to function in the field in virtually EVERY situation. The most popular sports watch types are: diving watches, chronographs and GMT watches. By adding a 1-12 bezel, you can perform MOST of the functions these watch types facilitate.

    Plus: to those debbie downers, we already have the PRS-29, you don't have to try to stop other people from getting their dream watch. I am asking for Eddie to consider making the perfect all rounder watch. If you don't want to buy it, nobody is asking you to. You have lost nothing by keeping your "I don't want it, so you shouldn't have it" type comments to yourself. I am not asking Eddie to change the PRS-29, just to create a new watch.
    Last edited by grizzlymambo; 7th September 2020 at 22:08.

  8. #8
    Journeyman fm.tz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2020
    Location
    England, England
    Posts
    173
    Quote Originally Posted by grizzlymambo View Post
    I find myself hardly ever taking off my PRS-29, but I am constantly wishing it had a timing bezel. There are just so many things "a watch that you wear all the time" should be able to measure: hiking start time, trip starting time, instant noodle timing, second timezone.

    It cannot be the perfect watch if you need to take it off and wear a different one because those features are missing. The addition of a 1-12 timing bezel allows it to function in the field in virtually EVERY situation. The most popular sports watch types are: diving watches, chronographs and GMT watches. By adding a 1-12 bezel, you can perform MOST of the functions these watch types facilitate.

    Plus: to those debbie downers, we already have the PRS-29, you don't have to try to stop other people from getting their dream watch. I am asking for Eddie to consider making the perfect all rounder watch. If you don't want to buy it, nobody is asking you to. You have lost nothing by keeping your "I don't want it, so you shouldn't have it" type comments to yourself. I am not asking Eddie to change the PRS-29, just to create a new watch.
    PRS-69, perhaps?
    The Baby Dreadnought.


    TZ-UK mobile app

  9. #9
    Journeyman
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    North America
    Posts
    115
    Quote Originally Posted by fm.tz View Post
    PRS-69, perhaps?
    The Baby Dreadnought.


    TZ-UK mobile app
    I can't find any info on it. The Baby Dreadnought that I see is the PRS-52, which is clearly an automatic diving watch with antimagnetic shielding. I am describing a slightly larger manual wind PRS-29 with a 1-12 bezel: 2 completely different watches.

  10. #10
    Grand Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Sussex
    Posts
    13,888
    Blog Entries
    1


    Rolex Oyster case, Omega movement, MkII ‘Explorer’ Dial, Omega Dynamic Hands, Omega second hand. Perfect for me.
    Last edited by M4tt; 7th September 2020 at 22:34.

  11. #11
    Journeyman fm.tz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2020
    Location
    England, England
    Posts
    173
    Quote Originally Posted by grizzlymambo View Post
    I can't find any info on it. The Baby Dreadnought that I see is the PRS-52, which is clearly an automatic diving watch with antimagnetic shielding. I am describing a slightly larger manual wind PRS-29 with a 1-12 bezel: 2 completely different watches.
    Apologies, Baby Willard.


    TZ-UK mobile app

  12. #12
    Grand Master Dave E's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Buckingham, UK
    Posts
    17,344
    Sounds like an interesting proposition, actually.
    Dave E

    Skating away on the thin ice of a new day

  13. #13
    Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    U.S.A.
    Posts
    1,126
    Quote Originally Posted by grizzlymambo View Post
    I find myself hardly ever taking off my PRS-29, but I am constantly wishing it had a timing bezel. There are just so many things "a watch that you wear all the time" should be able to measure: hiking start time, trip starting time, instant noodle timing, second timezone.

    It cannot be the perfect watch if you need to take it off and wear a different one because those features are missing. The addition of a 1-12 timing bezel allows it to function in the field in virtually EVERY situation. The most popular sports watch types are: diving watches, chronographs and GMT watches. By adding a 1-12 bezel, you can perform MOST of the functions these watch types facilitate.

    Plus: to those debbie downers, we already have the PRS-29, you don't have to try to stop other people from getting their dream watch. I am asking for Eddie to consider making the perfect all rounder watch. If you don't want to buy it, nobody is asking you to. You have lost nothing by keeping your "I don't want it, so you shouldn't have it" type comments to yourself. I am not asking Eddie to change the PRS-29, just to create a new watch.

    Don't be offended, and I sincerely hope you get the exact watch that is definitively perfect for yourself, GM, just like I sincerely hope I get my own someday, and my only real "argument", as such, is with seemingly labeling your concept the objectively "perfect all rounder watch" when it so definitely is not for somebody having my own preferences.

    Another way to put it is that your concept watch includes some things I personally don't want and it also lacks several internal construction features I most definitely do want, but I'll leave those latter specifics for some other time while stating the following as regards those things you personally prefer but I personally and subjectively find to be just unnecessary and a cluttering of "perfection".

    Maybe it's just me and I'm an outlier on the fringes of current horological normalcy, looking in and bewildered by what I observe, but I've never ended up actually using the timing bezel to any significant degree on any of the divers I've worn a lot so in actual practice, as opposed to my own original projections of usefulness, such has only proved to be clutter and complication with no real purpose for me, as well as being just something else to go wrong.

    My first good watch, and initially my only watch, was a pure mil-issue spec solid bezel pilot/field mechanical that I wore for years and just did the simple math in my head to do any timing that needed to be done and I never found the lack of a timing bezel any kind of problem.

    I had a chronograph I wore a lot for a while somewhat later before running into the brick wall of realization that I never used nor ever even needed to use the chronograph function at all unless I forced myself to use it just to use it, so chronographs lost their former allure rather quickly then and no longer hold much interest for me now.

    The only "complication" I ever find myself actually needing to any worthwhile degree is the simple date mechanism, but, harking back to my original screw-back GG-W-113 based Hamilton "Type '48" dialed hand-wind mechanical mentioned above, I just "like" No-Date watches more than I do their admittedly more useful Date mechanism inclusive counterparts for some obviously subjective reason.

    I do like the idea of the GMT complication, though, as well as full on 24 Hour format movements, but have never owned either and don't feel driven to source one at this point..............
    Last edited by Rollon; 8th September 2020 at 23:36.

  14. #14
    Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    U.S.A.
    Posts
    1,126
    ....................Ultimately, I think the only truly "Perfect Watch" that can exist in an objective sense is what each person within himself subjectively perceives it to be

  15. #15
    Journeyman
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    122
    Quote Originally Posted by grizzlymambo View Post
    Plus: to those debbie downers, we already have the PRS-29, you don't have to try to stop other people from getting their dream watch. I am asking for Eddie to consider making the perfect all rounder watch. If you don't want to buy it, nobody is asking you to. You have lost nothing by keeping your "I don't want it, so you shouldn't have it" type comments to yourself. I am not asking Eddie to change the PRS-29, just to create a new watch.
    I'm no 'debbie downer', assuming that is what I suppose you mean. I simply expressed my admiration for a watch I already own. If you assume such an innocuous comment (and photo op) on a thread you start is an attempt to stop you getting what you want, or would prefer the ability to curate other people's responses before they are added - probably best not to post in the first place.

  16. #16
    Grand Master magirus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Up North hinny
    Posts
    39,473
    If you want to know what is the perfect watch then look on any thread where Eddie announces a new model, a revamp of an existing model, or indeed even when he shows a picture of a model that has been made and delivered. You will see dozens of perfect watch suggestions.
    F.T.F.A.

  17. #17
    Journeyman
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    North America
    Posts
    115
    This is kinda close to what I'm thinking:
    https://www.60clicks.com/glycine-airman-no-1-review/

    however, what this watch "needs" is to be manual wind, have the antimagnetic cage and a sapphire glass. Also, although nice, it doesn't need to have 24 hour hands.

    One could easily see that a new watch made by Eddie, that is basically the PRS-29 with a slightly larger case to accommodate the bezel and the 1-12 bezel but otherwise having all the exact same features (as the PRS-29), is something that could be a huge hit, just because no such watch with those features exist.

  18. #18
    Journeyman
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    North America
    Posts
    115
    Quote Originally Posted by fm.tz View Post
    Apologies, Baby Willard.


    TZ-UK mobile app

    .. equally not the same. That is just a divers watch. The watch I am describing is a hand-wound anti-magnetic field watch, with a 1-12 ratchet bezel. It is a combination of features that many here already find desirable: simple looks, hand-wind, antimagnetic, timing bezel (clearly many people like divers watches here). The key differences is the combination of those elements in a single watch (and a 1-12 bezel, not a 5-60 bezel), which curiously does not exist. Eddie could put himself on the record books for creating the only watch in the world with these features.

    It would be low risk. It's basically a 1-12 "GMT watch", (and we know GMT watches are hugely popular) but that is a manual wind and has an antimagnetic cage. We already know that most people who loves Smiths watches love manual wind and the anti-magnetic cage, so it's a question of whether people will like a simple field watch with a 1-12 bezel. Well of course people will like it, because Eddie is already designing watches that look like that:



    if you switch out the lugs and the dial with the PRS-29 and imagine a 1-12 bezel, they still look pretty similar and you can clearly see that the design will be popular since many sports watches already look like that.

    See what I mean?

    .. basically THIS watch, but hand-wind and with anti-magnetic cage. The suggestion to use the PRS-29A as a base is to allow Eddie to re-use the design language of an existing watch, and re-use the same dial, movement (or Sellita equivalent), crystal, anti-magnetic cage and hands. Only the case, crown and bezel would be new, so one would assume a relatively 'easy' endeavour (given Eddie already makes divers watches). It would make sense to use the PRS-29 as a design start, since it's probably Eddie's most popular model.

    I already have a GMT watch, but it is missing the hand-wind movement and the anti-magnetic cage, 2 features I adore in my PRS-29s (plural, I own the A and the AM). And of course, I love the PRS-29, but it doesn't have the 1-12 bezel. So the watch I am describing is the combination of the PRS-29 and the above Omega. However, in order to retain the feel of the PRS-29, it can't be too much bigger, hence the suggestion to use a steel bezel which I think would fit the style of a slim bezel more (harder to pull off a slim turning bezel if it has a black insert).
    Last edited by grizzlymambo; 28th September 2020 at 22:24.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Do Not Sell My Personal Information