The Watches Thread

[GG.]

So ended up with the most boring and obvious choice of all, a black bay 58 on a bracelet. Very chuffed with it. At 39mm it's the right size for me, not too flashy and feels robust so I don't worry about wearing it a lot.

Nice choice. Very good VFM!

I ended up trying on even more different watches before Christmas and actually really falling for a 44mm IWC Pilot Top Gun (it doesn't say Top Gun anywhere visible thankfully).

As it turned out I then ended up not going through with it as I need to sort out the Range Rover and that may involve throwing money at it by either swapping car or paying ridiculous premiums plus there is another potential money outflow in relation to something else.

I have also now seen that the steel Longines Avigation BigEye has now come back into stock at less than half the price of the IWC so I'm in a bit of a dilemma as to whether I wait and maybe get the IWC or snap up the Longines now...

[Holley]

So ended up with the most boring and obvious choice of all, a black bay 58 on a bracelet. Very chuffed with it. At 39mm it's the right size for me, not too flashy and feels robust so I don't worry about wearing it a lot.

Nice choice. Very good VFM!

I ended up trying on even more different watches before Christmas and actually really falling for a 44mm IWC Pilot Top Gun (it doesn't say Top Gun anywhere visible thankfully).

As it turned out I then ended up not going through with it as I need to sort out the Range Rover and that may involve throwing money at it by either swapping car or paying ridiculous premiums plus there is another potential money outflow in relation to something else.

I have also now seen that the steel Longines Avigation BigEye has now come back into stock at less than half the price of the IWC so I'm in a bit of a dilemma as to whether I wait and maybe get the IWC or snap up the Longines now...

The bigeyes inner dials don't seem symmetrical which looks odd in the pictures. IWC looks really lovely. Probably not what you wanted to hear

[Jobbo]

Now I've watched it, I am reminded why the GMT just doesn't work for me:
- same case is good, but the plain steel bezel gains hour markers which look too much of a GMT II copy
- thickness; the normal Alpinist is 12mm and the GMT is 13.5mm which is too much
- the indices; again, the normal Alpinist has a numeral every 2 hours which is unique to it, whereas the GMT has a numeral every 3 hours which looks like an Explorer copy
- the face; there's a lovely sunburst on both my Alpinists (green and glacier) but this black GMT has a very plain face

Colour scheme is otherwise nice with the red tip to the GMT hand to match the red north point though.

@DaveE Have you seen the follow-up video? Jody's finding the thickness too much:

[GG.]

So ended up with the most boring and obvious choice of all, a black bay 58 on a bracelet. Very chuffed with it. At 39mm it's the right size for me, not too flashy and feels robust so I don't worry about wearing it a lot.

Nice choice. Very good VFM!

I ended up trying on even more different watches before Christmas and actually really falling for a 44mm IWC Pilot Top Gun (it doesn't say Top Gun anywhere visible thankfully).

As it turned out I then ended up not going through with it as I need to sort out the Range Rover and that may involve throwing money at it by either swapping car or paying ridiculous premiums plus there is another potential money outflow in relation to something else.

I have also now seen that the steel Longines Avigation BigEye has now come back into stock at less than half the price of the IWC so I'm in a bit of a dilemma as to whether I wait and maybe get the IWC or snap up the Longines now...

The bigeyes inner dials don't seem symmetrical which looks odd in the pictures. IWC looks really lovely. Probably not what you wanted to hear

yes the IWC is very nice and extremely well made. Worst thing is all boutiques take your number when you try stuff on and then send you periodic Whatsapps like a spurned lover "have you forgotten us........."

The 'big eye' is supposed to be out of kilter with a large second sub second register to aid legibility by pilots (there's actually a long history of that type of approach and believe it was mandated by the French air force) - there is no beauty that hath not some strangeness in its proportions and all that...

[Holley]

there is no beauty that hath not some strangeness in its proportions and all that...

I'll try that line on Mrs Holley later!

[duncs500]

TUDOR definitely seem to be one of those brands that make a good quality watch at sensible prices.

All things being relative of course.....

Some of them are at least, yeah, certainly not cheap though.

[DaveE]

@Jobbo yeah I saw Jody's video - totally know what he means when you put a watch on and immediately know if it's for you or not

I'm always amazed why some watches are so thick - it has to be a design decision (on the basis that I've got cheap (c£100 AliExpress jobs that are c11-12mm thick with a Seiko movement)

[Jobbo]

I noticed there were some Rados in the Goldsmiths sale mentioned by John. Which got me thinking; I've always liked them and the bracelets with the ceramic centre links are lovely. They're also not thick; you have to go quarts for the really thin Thinline which is 5mm thick (thinner than the bracelet links, ridiculous) but the more normal automatics are mostly 10mm. I quite fancy one of these: https://www.ernestjones.co.uk/rado-cent ... /V-8610297 - though I think it's 11.3mm thick.

Not going to jump on it in the sale despite the large saving though; I do want to try one on first and I'm sure there are plenty of discounts to be had on Rados at any time of year. Maybe the 5mm thick Thinline would be nicer on the wrist.

[mik]

I noticed there were some Rados in the Goldsmiths sale mentioned by John. Which got me thinking

I quite like that.

As per page10 of this very thread - I bought mrs mik a Rado Centrix (auto) over 5yrs ago. She's worn it almost every day since, and isn't very careful with it (she'll remove it and dump it face down on stone worktops, ceramic tiles etc - drives me nuts), but the crystal / case / bracelet still look literally brand new.

[John]

Bargain Seamaster

https://www.bucherer.com/uk/en/watches/ ... 499-3.html



Edit - too slow, sold.

[GG.]

@Holley... I hold you partially responsible for this









Lovely thing - impeccable quality and lovely feeling pusher action. Hard to really get an accurate feel for it in picture (for example there are grooves in the subdials that are not really visible in the iphone pics. Only negative point really is the packaging - essentially a white box and an envelope with a big bill

I will be spending the rest of the weekend frivolously timing anything that is capable of being timed...

[mik]

Nice. Is that a ceramic case?

[GG.]

Yep that’s right. Not PVD coated steel so you can’t scratch off the colour of them.

Feels not dissimilar in weight to steel to be honest. Perhaps a touch lighter.

As an aside - this isn’t as frivolous as it might seem. I first tried on an IWC Pilot (much like the Panerai) over a decade before buying one!

[McSwede]

@Holley... I hold you partially responsible for this









Lovely thing - impeccable quality and lovely feeling pusher action. Hard to really get an accurate feel for it in picture (for example there are grooves in the subdials that are not really visible in the iphone pics. Only negative point really is the packaging - essentially a white box and an envelope with a big bill

I will be spending the rest of the weekend frivolously timing anything that is capable of being timed...

That's really nice GG. Good purchase

[mik]

Yep that’s right. Not PVD coated steel so you can’t scratch off the colour of them.

My Chris Ward C1000 is ceramic (and titanium). Fabulous and defo lighter than steel. One forum member dropped his thought and snapped off a lug - irreparable.

[DeskJockey]

Very nice. Not too showy, but still draws the eye.

[John]

I do like an IWC and DJ pretty much described them perfectly.

[Jobbo]

I like that GG, despite not being a particular fan of thevsyylr of pilot watches generally. IWC do it well and the ceramic case is lovely.

Does that date your desire for the Laureato? Very different watches.

[Holley]

@Holley... I hold you partially responsible for this









Lovely thing - impeccable quality and lovely feeling pusher action. Hard to really get an accurate feel for it in picture (for example there are grooves in the subdials that are not really visible in the iphone pics. Only negative point really is the packaging - essentially a white box and an envelope with a big bill

I will be spending the rest of the weekend frivolously timing anything that is capable of being timed...

. The correct choice. Very nice

[GG.]

I like that GG, despite not being a particular fan of thevsyylr of pilot watches generally. IWC do it well and the ceramic case is lovely.

Does that date your desire for the Laureato? Very different watches.

Yes very different from the GP - I do like the Laureato but for the budget I had it would have to be second hand and likely imported which is a hassle plus I do dislike the rep that it is a AP knock off...

My ideal plan for building up a collection (very slowly!) is to have one of various styles of watch - so a fleiger style chrono to add to the diver I have in the Panerai certainly ticks that box. This is also a day/date so it sneakily adds some non-tool watch functions as well. I expect some more dressier styles would be the next logical move.