Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste

[WRXtranceformed]

Wolf is continuing it's Black Friday sale. If you're looking for a good box or travel roll, these are really good prices on a higher quality brand: https://www.wolf1834.com/category/black-friday/

[Ken]

Thanks Lee! Super helpful - just been rotating through my little collection and sometimes wear my quartz watches for a couple days in a row and looking to save the time it takes to try and set the automatics as accurately as possible (not as bad for the hackable, annoying for the non.) First world problems, i know.

[WRXtranceformed]

Thanks Lee! Super helpful - just been rotating through my little collection and sometimes wear my quartz watches for a couple days in a row and looking to save the time it takes to try and set the automatics as accurately as possible (not as bad for the hackable, annoying for the non.) First world problems, i know.

No problem man I totally get it!  It's just one of those little quirks of living with autos...it almost becomes a ritual to get them wound up and properly set.  The non-hacking movements are definitely frustrating, which is why I swapped it out in my SKX project for a hacking / handwinding movement.  The vintage diver I bought is non-hacking but I'm willing to live with it since its authentic.  

Most of the time I just let my watches die and wind them up when they are ready to be worn.  Part of me feels weird about keeping a watch on a winder 24/7...their internal clutches are supposed to prevent excess power or damage but I guess I figure if parts are constantly moving they are wearing out faster.  Probably not true but that's my OCD feeling about it

By the way, Wolf Designs is still having their Black Friday sale. If you are in the market for a high quality travel watch roll or a new box, this is the cheapest I have ever seen their stuff. I bought two of the black rolls, one for a Christmas present and one for myself since the free travel box I got from Jomashop a while back is falling apart.

https://www.wolf1834.com/category/black-friday/

[WRXtranceformed]

  Just the motivation I needed to make another watch purchase. That isn’t the prettiest watch I’ve ever seen, but I’ve been looking for a black leather band dress watch. Very few occasions that I would wear a black leather band watch, but for free, I’ll buy something else I like and add this one!

Joey just got his in the mail, I saw a pic and it looks cool!  Very clean

[SlimKlim]

  Just the motivation I needed to make another watch purchase. That isn’t the prettiest watch I’ve ever seen, but I’ve been looking for a black leather band dress watch. Very few occasions that I would wear a black leather band watch, but for free, I’ll buy something else I like and add this one!

Joey just got his in the mail, I saw a pic and it looks cool!  Very clean

Yerp, order showed up faster than I expected. 

Packaging was about as minimal as it could be, which isn't really surprising for a watch with a retail price of <$100. 



Unboxing the Sea Urchin (starting to feel like Lee)



New shinythings



The movement in the freebie watch is one of the loudest quartz movements I've ever heard, it rivals the wall clock in my living room. That said it's a pretty nice case design with a super thin profile. Zero complaints given it was free.

The stock band is complete garbage, but it's a standard 18mm size so I popped it onto a spare $10 amazon strap I already had and made a MASSIVE improvement.



The Sea Urchin won't stay stock for long, I have a leather band and a handful of aftermarket parts on the way that will pretty much completely overhaul the look of it. 

I'm also researching how to go about upgrading to the higher quality hacking/hand-winding seiko 4r36 movement, I know for a fact it can be done, but I'm still digging up info on which crown stem and crown I need to fit it with this case, and I want to source a rotor from a higher quality movement like the 6r20 to take advantage of the pimpy display caseback on this thing.

[JPolen01]

Modifying watches. I have seen it all now.

[SlimKlim]

Speaking of, I also circled back around to my '66 project over the weekend. I did another round of polishing on the case, put it on a nicer brown leather gator band, and spent some time attempting to regulate the movement. I think I've got it running within about 20 seconds a day now, vs the 80-90s/day it was picking up when I got it back from the shop. Not bad performance at all for a 51 year old movement. 

[ScottyB]

late to the party - Lee that is one sexy slab of metal. congrats bro, sounds like it was hard earned!

Joey. not gonna lie. that '66 may be the sexiest watch i've ever seen, and i seriously don't get into this stuff like you guys do. i should probably leave now before i catch whatever it is you all have.

[SlimKlim]

Aw shucks.

And yes, leave this place and it's temptations before they get a good grip on you.

[rherold9]

Who doesn't love a free watch. It's cheap, probably loud, and not good quality, but it's free: https://motivewatches.com/products/the-m...9215266846

[Mike]

Hmm? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/882...expedition


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JustinG]

Really like the looks of that, especially the Fuji and the Rainier.

[SlimKlim]

Seems decent, and at least it's an actual company already selling products outside of Kickstarter, but even so I'm always skeptical of any Kickstarter campaigns, take a loan, make the shit and sell it to me, why do I have to finance you?

You might check out the Seiko Alpinist if you're looking for an automatic "Explorer" style watch with a compass bezel similar to that Boldr one. It's a bit of a funky design, but it's a cult classic for seiko nerds. The color of the dial isn't as matte as it appears in this amazon listing, it's more of a green/gold sunburst color.

https://www.amazon.com/Seiko-SARB017-Mec...B000KG93BQ



I'm sure Lee will show up and propose a half dozen other options with a rotating inner compass bezel too. That green definitely isn't for everyone.

[Apoc]

So do you think BOLDR is more popular with the TINDR or GRINDR crowd?

[WRXtranceformed]

Hmm? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/882...expedition


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice find!  There is a lot to like there.  Sellitas are decent Swiss movements, double dome sapphire, display caseback, etc. not a bad price point at $400ish.  The different colored Superluminova is an interesting touch.  While I do agree with the Kickstarter quibble, it seems like a lot of these crowd funded microbrands do at least actually go into production.  The challenge is that if their quality control is not good, it's probably tough to get warranty repairs done.  With that said, the parts should be easy to come by since it uses a modern Swiss movement so any watchmaker could fix it if it breaks (at your cost).  I am a big fan of microbrands (like Dagaz, etc.) because you just don't see them that often and they can be made with very high quality.  Joey got to handle my Aurora over the Thanksgiving break and remarked that it was nicer in person than in pictures.

My big thing with the rotating bezel / functional watch thing is that if you're getting a piece dedicated for outdoorsy stuff with a medium to large sized case (anything 40mm+) you are up against really tough competition in the digital "ABC" realm (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass), specifically Suunto and Casio's Protrek lines.  Protreks are some of the most staggeringly feature-packed watches for the price and they are nearly bullet proof.  I just bought this model for my employee / analyst as a thank you for helping us reach our goal:

 

I have owned two Protreks and my current one will be the one I will grab when ole Trumperton pushes the nuke button.  



They used to be solely digital but now a lot of their models are a hybrid analog / digital which gives you the best of both worlds, if you care:



With solar power and in many cases atomic clock sync, you would never have to worry about the watch running out of steam or becoming inaccurate when you're in the middle of nowhere.  The new generation sensors are really accurate when calibrated and there are lots of cool features I have used like the barometric pressure alarm (warns you when a storm is coming in quick).

If you're stuck on analogs, I love the Alpinist suggestion.  It's a classic Seiko adored by many.  I am also fond of my Nighthawk.  It has a rotating inner bezel for calculations, not really for compass readings.  I don't see how you could use an inner bezel as a compass reading without any kind of magnetic indicator though anyway.  The Protreks can be calibrated for true north or magnetic north and have a digital reading for precision.



Coincidentally, I may put this Nighthawk up for sale soon even though I really like it. It's just not going to get any wrist time with the new purchase in rotation

[Apoc]

I believe rotating compasses are designed to keep you on a bearing by finding a reference point, locating it on a map, and keeping that reference at a certain place on your dial. You can navigate easily if you know the area, but most people require a map to be effective at using them.

[WRXtranceformed]

I believe rotating compasses are designed to keep you on a bearing by finding a reference point, locating it on a map, and keeping that reference at a certain place on your dial. You can navigate easily if you know the area, but most people require a map to be effective at using them.

Yeah that process is outlined in the manual for all Protreks too, getting a reference point and using it to navigate.  Like you said, that usually does assume that you have a map and know the area fairly well.  The newest Protreks are smart watches and actually have gps mapping functionality built into them.  When these get a few generations in and the battery life gets better I may pick one up:

[Ken]

Hmm? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/882...expedition


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you're stuck on analogs, I love the Alpinist suggestion.  It's a classic Seiko adored by many.  I am also fond of my Nighthawk.  It has a rotating inner bezel for calculations, not really for compass readings.  I don't see how you could use an inner bezel as a compass reading without any kind of magnetic indicator though anyway. 

Reading through the manual for my Breitling it has the following, but uh, yeah this applies to every watch ever. Also, not accurate at all. 

In the Northern hemisphere

Point the hour hand precisely towards the sun. In relation to the watch dial, the point located midway between the current time and 12 o’clock indicates the South, the North being exactly opposite.

[SlimKlim]

Hmm? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/882...expedition


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you're stuck on analogs, I love the Alpinist suggestion.  It's a classic Seiko adored by many.  I am also fond of my Nighthawk.  It has a rotating inner bezel for calculations, not really for compass readings.  I don't see how you could use an inner bezel as a compass reading without any kind of magnetic indicator though anyway. 

Reading through the manual for my Breitling it has the following, but uh, yeah this applies to every watch ever. Also, not accurate at all. 

In the Northern hemisphere

Point the hour hand precisely towards the sun. In relation to the watch dial, the point located midway between the current time and 12 o’clock indicates the South, the North being exactly opposite.

Yeah, here it is in a bit more detail. You can use any watch to roughly estimate your direction, you don't need the actual bezel. 

https://geographyfieldwork.com/WatchasCompass.htm

[Apoc]

I'm always skeptical of any Kickstarter campaigns, take a loan, make the shit and sell it to me, why do I have to finance you?

Guessing you've never tried to get a small business loan for a product/company that has unproven viability.