The Watches Thread

[Jobbo]

Some Grand Seikos are more like a Lexus LFA - beautiful and desirable in their own way, not as a pastiche of a European ideal.

[mik]

Some Grand Seiko's are like a beautiful woman.....

[Peterlplp]

Since we're doing dream Seikos I'll go this sparkly night sky:



and this Credor enamel beauty:

[GG.]

Some Grand Seikos are more like a Lexus LFA - beautiful and desirable in their own way, not as a pastiche of a European ideal.

They're all pastiche really - I don't think you'd look at the design of any of them and think they were original.

Even their logo is faux Gothic Old English typeface!

[Jobbo]

The Snowflake's face is original. The face being round, the fact that it has lug mountings for a strap, the fact that it uses a crown to adjust the time - if you want something which goes against the grain, that's like saying you should deviate from a steering wheel and circular tyres on a car

Absolutely adore the enamel hand-painted faces. Some Presage models have them; slightly above my budget for a punt on something I've not seen in the flesh, but so tempting.

[PreacherCain]

Some Grand Seikos are more like a Lexus LFA - beautiful and desirable in their own way, not as a pastiche of a European ideal.

They're all pastiche really - I don't think you'd look at the design of any of them and think they were original.

Even their logo is faux Gothic Old English typeface!

Meh - all personal taste at the end of the day, innit. Having said which, I genuinely don't see GS as a pastiche of European styles - if anything, I see them as more distinctively Japanese in their approach than anything else. Certainly that's the attraction for me, anyway. It'd be a dull place indeed if all anyone ever wore was Rolex.

As for originality in watchmaking, I'm not entirely sure I approve of it myself: it can lead to things like Richard Mille's "delights", or Steinhart's latest UTTER ABORTION of a design. Originality for its own sake can get perilously close to wankery for my taste, but evidently others like these things well enough.

[DaveE]

For those who _do_ like NATO straps, I saw this earlier and thought I'd give it a go.

It makes a real difference to how a NATO wears and looks.

Great idea IMO.

[Jobbo]

Which bit of that, Dave? I've always adjusted my NATO and Zulu straps so the buckle doesn't sit where I rest my wrist, and I've always tucked the loose end inside rather than outside.

[DaveE]

I think it's about 3:30 or 4 mins in that he shows how he adjusts his NATO - basically you fold back the little bit that would normally run under the watch and have the main tongue threaded through it. The watch sits much flatter on the wrist and lose that ugly "bulge" where you fold the strap back on itself

[DaveE]

It's more like you're wearing a fabric strap that's secured using the pins (as you might a bracelet or non-NATO strap)

[Jobbo]

Ah, he's tucked it down the side so you have a double thickness still, just not under the watch.

If you want to do that why not buy a non-NATO woven fabric strap?

[Alex_]

Picked up a Tudor Black Bay GMT earlier from my local jewellers. I ordered one on 1st June so waited just over a month. If you're not into watches or a newbie in the watch world, this GMT is one of the few hyped watches along with Rolex stainless steel models and the Patek Phillippe 5711 that you could sell for a tidy profit straight away if it's unworn. As a result, the nice lady who I know well said they have to keep the warranty card for a year and peeled off all the stickers, this will be the norm for all Tudors and Rolexes for now, to stop people flipping theses watches for profit on Ebay and Chrono24. A new Rolex GMT Pepsi stainless steel recently went for $22,000, 2.5 times the retail price! I didn't mind them removing the stickers as I was going to wear it anyway although it does annoys a bit about the warranty card as I like keeping things together. It's also more responsibility for them, keeping the cards in the safe but it's what Rolex instructed, apparently.

Anyway, back to the watch. Love the bezel, exactly what I expected, I just love the vintage looks and the smaller numeral font compared to the Rolex GMT. It's a lot heftier than I expected, I think it's heavier than my GMT Master 2, but it's a nice heft, it feels premium. And of course it's well-built like a tank. The faux rivet bracelet is growing on me but I'll be replacing it with a tan brown leather strap, the perfect combination for the watch imo.

[John]

Like those. Quite a few would be buyers of the Rolex sports models seem to be going over to Tudor.

I have heard that the warranty card thing is down to the AD rather than Rolex though.

[JonMad]

Looks great. Nice photos!

[Alex_]

Like those. Quite a few would be buyers of the Rolex sports models seem to be going over to Tudor.

I have heard that the warranty card thing is down to the AD rather than Rolex though.

Tudor is great bang per buck, a relative bargain when you compare it to Rolex.

Yeah, it did cross me as the AD's decision. The lady told me that the guy who got the very first one flipped it on Ebay for £3800, they checked the serial number, and got pissed off about it. Apparently, he's been blacklisted, from this AD lol.

[Jobbo]

They’re keeping the warranty cards for Tudors now?! Crikey.

[Rich B]

Someone in a meeting yesterday had a Tudor watch on a NATO strap.

It confirmed to me that NATO straps do indeed look awful.

[JLv3.0]

I've been saying this for ages, so you're welcome. They look like a shit strap you buy from a newsagent while you wait for the real one to be repaired. Because they are.

[Jobbo]

You’re both wrong. It’s obviously possible the strap Rich saw wasn’t right for the watch, but that’s just as likely with a leather strap.

[JLv3.0]

Rich may be wrong, but I'm not.