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

[Apoc]

I have a really big soft spot for the Pan Am brand. I like to collect random things, like my leather Pan Am passport cover. I want to like this new limited run Navitimer, but I can't escape a hokey YAY AMERICA when I look at the red/white/blue. I could maybe convince myself it's more nautical, but that's dumb when it's an airline edition. I actually like the TWA version much more.

[JustinG]

Yea....I dunno if I'm feeling it. Couldn't you pick up a good condition GMT Master or Master II, and get the same "Salute to Pan Am" feeling?

[WRXtranceformed]

Yeah I don't love the direction the new leadership at Breitling is taking the company

[JustinG]

Anyone want a cheap decent looking watch?

Bout to post it on r/watchexchange.

Fossil Dean Chrono, band has wear, but easily replaced with a nato, or you could probably polish it up a bit.

$50



Also have my 22mm, black Strapcode bracelet for sale.

$50

[Apoc]

Quiet thread lately...

I fell for targeted ads and pre-ordered the piece below. I've always had a thing for older warplanes and passively been on the lookout for something that resembled field watches of yesteryear. I was on the fence about this, but the price was decent considering it's a swiss mechanical. The pen is a $$$ add-on that I didn't bother with - it does, however, come with a model P40 I can give my kid. It's sapphire crystal and comes with a bracelet and strap, which is nice.

I still wasn't sold, until I contacted the company on fb and asked if I could gift the included year-long membership to the museum in Cincinnati to someone deserving. Both the company and the museum were excited about the idea, so they'll be donating it to a vet as part of a new program they have that gives vets tours while the museum is closed. You can see below they're pretty stoked about the prospect, so I told them I'd pass the word around to others who might be looking for a similar watch and/or help a vet. Give them a look if you're in the market. 

https://www.cincinnatiwatch.com/watch/p-40m-mechanical

[JustinG]

Have you seen these?

https://tockr.com/

Specifically: https://tockr.com/products/dday/dday/12723652427799

[Apoc]

I hadn't, but seems more Russian cosmonaut. I've been passively shopping for a vintage Soviet era watch, but haven't found anything I believe isn't just $5 of upgrades on a Chinese POS.

[Goodspeed]

It's been years since I trolled this thread with my $10 Timex "hospital clock" (as Apoc called it) watch, and now the tables have turned: I actually care about watches now.  Just got in the last item to complete my little collection, from left to right:

Skagen Jorn w/22mm Fullmosa band (dark brown)
Timex Expedition w/20mm Ritche band (dark brown)
Seiko SCC081 w/20mm Fullmosa band (light red)







I love them all and want more.  That is all.

[Apoc]

I like how each is just a little bit more aggressive than the last, but they all still have the same "feel." That red band is pretty hot.

Skagen was my gateway drug back into the world of watches. I don't have a Timex or Seiko, but those are two of the three brands I find myself consistently drawn to. Getting cast offs from Lee is a good way to build one's ranks with quality pre-owned pieces. >_<

[davej]

Goodspeed writing up watches will partly fill the triangle shaped hole in my feed.

Very much looking forward to this!

[WRXtranceformed]

Goodspeed - You need to join our WatchMMe Groupme chat

[JustinG]

The only solution is more cowbell

[D_Eclipse9916]

I wear my watches every day, have no interest in winding a watch or dealing with batteries; and I do not take them off to work on cars.

I have broken a lot of crystals from Bulova, Timex, Seiko etc. I am hard on watches.

My "go-to" for the past decade has been Citizen Ecodrives as they have been resilient and just always work. My everyday wearer for the past 5 years broke the band, and according to the Jeweler cannot be fixed (again, it had broken before). Now requiring a brand new band because of that, and Citizen no longer makes this band. $115 for a "custom" band and 6-8 week turnaround. This isn't cheap nor outrageous, but got me looking around at new watches.

What has thrown me for a loop is I wore another Citizen last week that I bought 2 years ago. I scratched the ever-living shit out of the Crystal with regular use this week; which I had not done on a Citizen before. This has me focusing on Saphire vs Mineral; as I think this was a cheaper one I bought.

1. Can I buff out scratches that can be picked up by a fingernail?
2. Should I bother with a band on an old Citizen? The style is okay but nothing to write home about now that I have owned it for so long.
3. What else is out there with a Saphire Crystal that is a "daily"? I might be willing to try a NATO band as well, but I beat up on Leather too much to be used as a daily. I looked at Movement, and I really like the look; but its on the upper pay scale band for a daily. Ideally I would like to keep this $300 and under.
4. Used watches? Never done that before, but open to the idea if I am doing a NATO band.

Skyhawk styles are not my favorite even though I used to have one; just too busy. On the other hand, a Movado style is too annoying to check time (I actually use mine vs pulling my iphone out of the pocket). Casio G-Shocks are also hideous IMO. I do like Citizen Pro Masters for their stopwatch capability as I would 100% use that with all the track support I provide through the year; but isnt a requirement. Hopefully that narrows down some suggestions At this point I don't go into the office or do formal things maybe 2 weeks out of the year, and have a watch for that. So this can be a little more "fun".

[JustinG]

1. Nope, needs the Crystal replaced
2. Your call
3. No....aboslutely do not buy Movement garbage. Its a $50 watch with a $300 price tag.
4. Just like anything else, research the price of the watch and the seller. Look at watchuseek.com, r/watchexchange, ebay, other watch folk in this thread.

Ideally you need 2 watches.

Daily/beater: not all gshocks are giant monstrosities, checkout the gshock 5600 series watches. If you hate batteries make sure its solar. Casio Pro Trek series watches would be another option.

Nicer Dress/Diver: Price point for the nicer watch will drive brand and auto/solar/eco drive recommendations.



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[D_Eclipse9916]

1. Nope, needs the Crystal replaced
2. Your call
3. No....aboslutely do not buy Movement garbage. Its a $50 watch with a $300 price tag.
4. Just like anything else, research the price of the watch and the seller. Look at watchuseek.com, r/watchexchange, ebay, other watch folk in this thread.

Ideally you need 2 watches.

Daily/beater: not all gshocks are giant monstrosities, checkout the gshock 5600 series watches. If you hate batteries make sure its solar. Casio Pro Trek series watches would be another option.

Nicer Dress/Diver:  Price point for the nicer watch will drive brand and auto/solar/eco drive  recommendations.

I have 5-6 watches, I want a "nicer" daily, no g-shocks, I dont like the look period.  

Sorry not movement, meant Marathon Diver.

[JustinG]

Just buy this from Lee...

https://www.reddit.com/r/Watchexchange/c...urce=share

Its Auto, but has a 40hr power reserve. So if its your daily, it wont be an issue.



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[SlimKlim]

I’d just pick out another Citizen Ecodrive with a sapphire crystal you like the look of, or a similar Seiko Solar. They are designed for exactly how you want to use them. Water resistance is a shorthand for durability, look for one that is at least 100-200m and you should be good to several more years

[Gordonovski]

+1 for Lee's Mil Spec Seiko.

Look at Barton bands (https://www.bartonwatchbands.com/) to throw on the Citizen just so that you can continue wearing it. Their rubber straps are very comfortable and available next day on Amazon for $20. Also don't need any special tools, all of their straps are quick release so you can just squeeze them off with your fingers.

[WRXtranceformed]

Just checking in and saw your conundrum DJ.  Citizen does service watches and I've used their service center twice recently.  They replaced crystals, checked the eco drive movements and pressure tested.  They can probably source you the OEM strap directly, but as was said above just get yourself a Barton Elite Silicone for $20 and move on.  If you're dead set on a new watch, Joey's suggestions are good ones.  Sapphire is superior to mineral crystal or Hardlex (Seiko's version of mineral crystal) so go after models with that for scratch resistance.  If your goal is quartz / solar + sapphire, in that price point it's going to mostly limit you to Citizen or Casio's sub brand Protrek, which has slimmer less bulky variants of their digital / ana-digi movements. Not every Protrek has a sapphire, so you just have to do some digging for those models.

Mostly keep everything up to date on my Instagram page and our WatchMMe chat, but the biggest news for me was I finally got the call that my name came up for a Hulk.  It's better to wear every day than I thought it would be, a definite keeper:

---

Here are two good "dressier" sapphire quartz watches you can consider, both of which I picked up within the last 6 months:

Citizen Satellite Wave CC3005-85E. It's a big large for my usual taste at 44mm, but it's got sapphire, solar, atomic clock sync and push button GPS sync. Scored this one factory refurbished on ebay for $278.99, MSRP is like $1200 or something:



Certina DS-8 Moonphase Chronometer. You do have to replace the battery in this one but it's COSC rated (+/- like 10 seconds a year), has sapphire, date and a very cool moonphase function. Got this one for just over $300 on Jomashop:

[D_Eclipse9916]

+1 for Lee's Mil Spec Seiko.

Look at Barton bands (https://www.bartonwatchbands.com/) to throw on the Citizen just so that you can continue wearing it. Their rubber straps are very comfortable and available next day on Amazon for $20. Also don't need any special tools, all of their straps are quick release so you can just squeeze them off with your fingers.

I don’t like rubber bands, any suggestion on trying a NATO band?


I do like that citizen wave, maybe keep an eye on eBay for one of those.