Extreme Watch Nerdery

[cookie monster]

That STARS watch is awesome.

I only paid .99 for the stars watch on ebay the sonic was free from a friend and my mario watch was 3.00 at a auction. My 2 bowser watchs cost 20. together.

[sabrage]

I'm at the point where if a watch looks like a dartboard to me, I immediately detest it.

[dsheinem]

I've had a Seiko for about 11 years now (it was a college graduation present from my grandparents) and it has never failed to impress. When i get home I will try to grab the model number/line if you are interested.

[sabrage]

I'm very, very strongly considering getting a Seiko automatic.

[markeconrad]

2012's flagship indie watch.

You mean hipster watch?

[fastbilly1]

I am a big fan of pocketwatches, but cellphones kinda killed them. I still have a dozen of them though - including an awesome Hammer and Sickle one a past girlfriend picked up for me during my heavy Red Alert days. I have a Swiss Army/Victronix pocket watch that worked great for 10 years, but its $50 to have the battery replaced at every shop I have taken it to.

I hated wristwatches until I was given the Submariner, which despite Lukes original thought, it is real. I recently picked up a fake Submariner aswell for shadier areas of town I have to go to for work sometimes. I agree with your dartboard belief, but honestly, after having the Submariner for a couple weeks, I wont buy another watch until I buy another Submariner (if work continues the way it has been - turns out my bosses boss is also a submariner fan and since I started wearing the watch he has commented more on my work, and we have a directors job opening soon). Yes, it is stupidly expensive, but a used one isnt that bad comparatively. And while still 2kish is alot of money, it is a solid watch and it is a Rolex.

If I had a chose in any other watch; a Breitling Navitimer, Victorinox Dive Master, or a Victorinox Chrono Classic. Navitimers are expensive, but get cheaper if you go a few years back. The Dive Master is sub 1k and can take a serious beating.

[Hobie-wan]

I was doing pocket watches too for a while. Mine were all cheap and all are out of commission at this point. None of them cost me more than $20. The first came from a flea market and had a tear drop shaped surround so it would hang off a belt loop like a compass. It was eventually forgotten in my pocket and turned out to not be all that water resistant. I was sad when it died. My second was a cheap Swiss Army one that came from a closing jewelry store. That one still works, but I stepped on it barefoot accidentally and my heel was just right and destroyed the crystal. I like that one too, but when I took it to a watch repair place they just looked at me funny and told me it wasn't worth repairing and they didn't have a replacement crystal for it.

My third one was lost when I had car issues one day and had to walk a few miles along the interstate to work one day. I kept checking the time and apparently I missed dropping it back in my pocket. As I recall that one didn't have a loop so I didn't have it on a chain. The fourth I bought at a pawn shop while visiting in another state. It was fine for a while, but then it just stop sometimes. If you thump it, it will start running again. It stops often though, even with a new battery. So that's no good.

Unfortunately I think a lot of ornate pocket watches are ugly and I'm not interested in buying an expensive one. Having the time on a cell phone also kills things a bit for me and I don't like having loaded pockets anyway. Keys and phone are enough.

[sabrage]

You mean hipster watch?

I hold that "hipster" and "indie" are interchangeable terms. Hipster just happens to be in vogue right now.

I've been coveting some vintage Waltham pocket watches:

Ironically, back in the late 1800's and early 1900's American-made watches were the bar of excellence and the Swiss were trying to do their best to emulate us. Waltham made a number of "railroad quality" pocketwatches and since phones have kind of pulled out the bottom on the market quality, hand-engraved, working pocketwatches can be had in the $100-300 range on ebay. Look at this beautiful movement:

Unfortunately there's not many recently serviced ones on ebay right now, but if I was shopping that's what I would shoot for.

As far as luxury watches go, I love the clean elegance of Sinn:

As well as the classic Omega Seamaster.

Not that either are anywhere near my price bracket...

I'm having the damnedest time finding a watch with a white dial that I like, though.

[fastbilly1]

That Seamaster is awesome, but Ill never own an Omega.

I want a Waltham now, thats really pretty. And it looks like I can get a lowend one for $200ish on ebay.

Edit:
Now that I think about it my girlfriend bought me a Waltham case at an estate sale. Now I need to buy the watch part.

[sabrage]

The great thing about Walthams is that a hand-engraved gold pocketwatch with a heritage like Waltham would easily fetch over $1000 on today's market (and, in many cases, did 100 years ago) so the $100-150 spent on the occasional repair dosen't seem like such a tough pill to swallow. They also have a very traditional "White Rabbit" look that I find quite appealing, and they pop up on ebay all the time. As far as I'm concerned, nothing else in the price range even comes close for me.