Watches

[Sebastian Cobb]

My seiko is doing well in that regard and all.

I'm disappointed in how much it's losing though, more than the spec says I think and it's fairly consistent.

Tempted to give it a tweak, our electronics lab has these things like microscopes but with a viewing window like a slide viewer so I could see what I'm doing. There's supposed to be phone apps that can time the watches based on listening to them.

[touchingcloth]

How much does yours lose? I last set mine when the clocks changed (the wee small hours of Sunday?), and it's reading 9:25 now at 9:25, which is better than I expected actually. Normally I tend to set it when it gets 2-3 minutes out of step, which works out at about once a week.

EDIT: I never know how much of a bashing it can take and still be expected to keep decent time. If I hold or move my wrist through certain angles I can hear the mechanism a bit more loudly than usual, and my car has an issue in first gear at the moment which means when it isles it can vibrate the steering wheel a bit, which translates into some louder noises from the watch. Am I knackering it?

[Sebastian Cobb]

I tend to set it a couple of minutes fast and set it again when it's behind by a couple of minutes and that seems to happen a couple of times a week.

I should take some proper notes really.

[NJ Uncut]

I scratched my old (tritium!)

Is scratching a Tritium timepiece going to make the radiation poisoning more likely??

Mondaine instantly on buying it and thereafter pretty much weekly. My new Seiko 5 is 3 months or so old now, and the glass is still pristine. Hardlex, I think it's called, and I heard people wanking on about its toughness before I bought and it really does seem to be.

When I was reading about it I got the impression that there are tougher materials still. "Crystal", maybe, but I suspect there are many different types of crystal with different levels of hardness so I will cede the floor to a watch geek now.

NJ Uncut's New Watch Checklist

- Tritium
- Black face, eh, racist readers
- Hard as fuck

I want myself as a watch. Can watches be cloying?

[Blue Jam]

Cheers for saying nice things about my watch...

Side note - that Seiko is lovely, BlueJam! I am also a fan of monochromatic watches, and that green is very nice.

It's not actually monochrome, the hands and number indicators are gold and the second hand is orange. Here's a better picture of it, after I had a few links taken out of the bracelet for size and found a better light source over the ol' baize:



To the person who was asking about languages: I think this gives the day in French and Spanish as well as English, and while Mon-Fri are black, Sat is blue and Sun is red (ooooh).

The case is about the same width as my lady wrist and the design is a bit lairy, but precisely lairy enough for my tastes. I'm not sure I'd wear it if I was a bloke- I'd probably go for a more classic Seiko 5- but as a wimmin with big hands who looks daft wearing dainty little watches I think I can get away with this.

One of the reviewers on Amazon said it made him feel "like Austin Powers" but I feel more like a snooker or darts player in the 1970s, and I like the way the watch face looks like it should have "WINMAU" printed around the top.

Anyway, posting this because of the mention of Hardlex glass- my Seiko also has Hardlex and while the bracelet has been a bit of a scratch magnet so far (that's stainless steel for you) the glass is looking pristine. It's certainly holding up better than my similarly 70s-style Breil. It's also keeping time very well, gaining about a minute every three days, which is surprising when I haven't been wearing it in bed- I always take my watch off as soon as I get home, and only put it back on when I'm about to go out. I'm too scared to take the (exhibition) back off and tweak it, so I'm pretty chuffed with the performance so far.

I might also get a green leather strap and a little tool for it so I can go for two different looks. I could get addicted to Seikos...

[NJ Uncut]

Hmmm not arsed about the strap scratching but Seiko for no scratched face is seeming like the way to go. Or Hardlex at least

Keep em coming. Basically this is my Xmas pressie, half myself, half family...so can actually splash out a bit through two grand watches is too rich for my blood

[Blue Jam]

Apparently a sapphire crystal is the way to go for top notch scratch-resistance, but sapphire is a bit more brittle than Hardlex and a bit more likely to crack or shatter. It looks like the difference isn't that great though, just that Hardlex is cheaper.

Getting a G-Shock or similar with those little crash bars is an option too, if you're looking for something a bit more sporty.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

You need to get yourself a Skagen my mate. £120, and that's my final offer.

[Twed]

You need to get yourself a Skagen my mate. £120, and that's my final offer.

Do you have to paint it yourself or do one of the Games Workshop lads handle it for you?

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

[touchingcloth]

It's also keeping time very well, gaining about a minute every three days, which is surprising when I haven't been wearing it in bed- I always take my watch off as soon as I get home, and only put it back on when I'm about to go out. I'm too scared to take the (exhibition) back off and tweak it, so I'm pretty chuffed with the performance so far.

I might also get a green leather strap and a little tool for it so I can go for two different looks. I could get addicted to Seikos...

I mainly wear a watch for the same reason as there's a quartz clock in the kitchen: they give a rough indication of time that's good enough for "is it time to switch the tele on yet?" and similar purposes. I've got my phone for alarms and if I need to know an exact time for whatever reason, so not having to fuck about with batteries ever outweighs needing to quickly set it now and then while sat on the sofa or lying in bed.

I have a strap tool, so I fancy getting a brown leather one for turning it quickly into a dress watch. Or blue leather, can't decide.

[Sebastian Cobb]

If you take it off you might be able to improve accuracy by trying it in different orientations. Seiko recommend it.

[touchingcloth]

As in take it off one day and rest it on its back, then the next day on its front, then on one side, etc. etc.?

[Sebastian Cobb]

As in take it off one day and rest it on its back, then the next day on its front, then on one side, etc. etc.?

Nah, find the one that makes it change the least.

The idea is it'll run slightly different in different orientations, when it's on your wrist, these will normally cancel out.

[Endicott]

Sound advice. I take watches off for bed. Might be able to see the tritium from the bedside table?

You just need something good to hang it on.

[touchingcloth]

Nah, find the one that makes it change the least.

The idea is it'll run slightly different in different orientations, when it's on your wrist, these will normally cancel out.

I do always leave it on the same side each night (so the 12 is up when I'm lying down). Maybe I lucked out and that happens to be a good orientation, and I'd be fucked if me and her slept on different sides. Which we should try, cos I'm not fucked sleeping this way round, right, lads?

[Ferris]

@BlueJam I didn't mean monochrome, I just meant bold colours. I'm just an idiot.

@everyone else who has a watch that is losing time - my cheap Casio MQ24 keeps on keeping on. Looks great too.

[Famous Mortimer]

I tried one of those Seikos on in a local shop and it was pretty nice. I might buy myself one in the sales.

But, a couple of years after having my last one destroyed in a car accident, I've rebought my favourite watch ever, the Fossil ME 3073. Skeleton on front and back, lovely design, but the one I found on eBay had a really small band so I'm waiting for Fossil to ship me some links before I can wear it.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

^ Ooh, I like that one. It's all pastel blue and that. Very nice.

[NJ Uncut]

^ wassup, my Fossil-wearin amigo



(Unfortunately everything negative I've posted in this thread has been about that watch)

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

^ Not blue enough. Get out.

[NJ Uncut]

^ Not black enough*





^{*I imagine!}

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

I'm brown. I went to Spain about two weeks ago.

[NJ Uncut]

I'm brown. I went to Spain about two weeks ago.

Ah, but did you take your watch off, or is there a whiter part where the watch sits?

A lose-lose situ in the watch thread!

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

I'm afraid I left the watch on, and there is a white patch on my left wrist. Frankly, I look like a fucking idiot right now.

[NJ Uncut]

I'm afraid I left the watch on, and there is a white patch on my left wrist. Frankly, I look like a fucking idiot right now.

Ahh a problem caused by wearing a watch... solved by wearing a watch!

[touchingcloth]

I'm afraid I left the watch on, and there is a white patch on my left wrist. Frankly, I look like a fucking idiot right now.

You're a worthless cunt.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

You're a worthless cunt.

YES. As are you, dickface.

[NJ Uncut]

YES. As are you, watchface.

Edited to be on topic

[a duncandisorderly]

Might be able to see the tritium from the bedside table?

yes. the expensive one of mine, the 'sr-71 tribute' luminox stays on the bedpost because it's too heavy to wear, & functions as an alarm clock, easily legible from several feet away.

My seiko is doing well in that regard and all.

I'm disappointed in how much it's losing though, more than the spec says I think and it's fairly consistent.

Tempted to give it a tweak, our electronics lab has these things like microscopes but with a viewing window like a slide viewer so I could see what I'm doing. There's supposed to be phone apps that can time the watches based on listening to them.

this a '5'? does it have the display back or plain steel? either way, you can adjust them with a little turny-thing that sits over the balance wheel. make a note of how far you move it (+ or -) & check it after a week. I got one of mine down to +/- five seconds a month with some patient tweaking, which is pretty good for a cheap automatic.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui_QnDKciBU