Canon
The Problem with Mechanical Watches – Let’s Have a Talk
The Problem with Mechanical Watches – Let’s Have a Talk
#Problem #Mechanical #Watches #Lets #Talk
“Killing Time With Norman”
Tonight I chat with you about something troubling that happened with regards to my collection. Visit my various social media sites: …
source
To see the full content, share this page by clicking one of the buttons below |
Ha! You are getting to where I am now. I've reached the stage in my life where I can buy any watch I want ( If not everything I want). I have a couple of nicer watches that I don't wear because I don't live the life of a guy who wears A. Lange & Sohn watches. The last time I wore a tux, I ended up changing a woman's flat tire…in the rain. Also, I can't resist opening a watch and messing around. I stick to Seikos and similar level watches. I bought a few Vostoks to do that with. Love Watch Repair Tutorials.
Be careful though, buying watchmaker's tools are a whole other rabbit hole.
When I photograph watches I remove the crystal.
I will always prefer a Quartz over a Mechanical. I like to set it and forget it for the next 5 years. 😂 I hate having to wind up and set the date and time every time I don’t use my mechanicals/automatics.
That's why I buy seikos and keep an nh36 on hand. They're cheap so I practiced mods and movement swaps on them and it wasn't a huge risk. Yeah I scratched some hands and dials in the beginning, but I got better and I'm not afraid to wear them because they're already not perfect, and you can't tell unless you know where to look, and look closely. I can always replace dials and hands later.
So many things that I want to comment on about the things you said. But that would end up being a very long comment.
So instead wrote this 😊
I found much better consistently on the time grapher when I wear the watch for a day first. Not sure if it’s distributing of the lubricants or what, but there it is…
Why not see if nomos has white hand options to switch it up with or if there are other hands that will work with that movement and case size? Maybe there is a way to paint the hands? Not sure if that will work with the polish finish on them. Bahaus/minimalism can be super boring, common, repetitive, especially if there aren't special and unique details to give beauty. Otherwise, it's just like an empty room. "Oh nice, empty space.." It doesn't make sense to own a lot of expensive mechanical watches. Since mechanical watches are finicky, an expensive to service, generally best to keep very few of them.. like 1 – 3. Given how rarely you wear each watch anyway, why have a very expensive one? Even if you wear that expensive watch every day, best case scenario, then whet are you going to do with all your other watches other than send them to me to enjoy?
If you do decide to sell the watch, put it on the time grapher and record the reading in each of the six positions, then put the results in the listing. That way a potential buyer will know how it's running and can decide if a service is needed or not. You won't have to worry about the buyer being disappointed if you disclose everything up front.
Yo Norman. I know exactly what you mean. I have a ton of cheapish watches and rarely wear many of them. The pragmatist within me is always suggesting that quartz was invented for a good reason. In addition, I am kind of hesitant to purchase anything above a Longines/ ETA price point. As I understand it, independent watch repairers are being pushed out of the equation, whilst the more expensive brands like Rolex, Omega etc, tend to charge £££ in servicing costs.
Try the Tudor Black Bay 36 – I bought one in lieu of an OP 36 – quite similar and every bit as nice – I haven’t regretted it for a second
Being obsessive means having a reluctance to wear a watch that hasn't been properly serviced recently out of concern for wearing out the parts and essentially wrecking it. So much for mechanical watches in my situation. The subtleties influencing what we actually end up wearing most days would be interesting to understand. In my case, it's generally the blue Casio MDV-106. For some reason, it just feels right most of the time. Before that, it was the black one for a few years, my first nice watch after breaking the Flightmaster and getting hosed on the service decades before. It's a funny thing that we gravitate to a watch without a conscious understanding of our own motivations.
The watch I wore the most often in 2023 was my Rolex OP 36. If you get one as your goal watch, you will be delighted. The 36mm Rolex oyster case is one of the best cases ever made, perfectly balanced and an absolute pleasure to wear on my 6.75" wrist. I think the dial (mine is green) is stunning and I never get tired of wearing or looking at this watch. The hour markers are faceted on all four sides, so there is a lot of light play. And mine is astonishingly accurate. And lastly, the bracelet is as smooth as silk. There is a reason people like Rolex watches!
Yeah, mechanical watches can be great when running smoothly and a big pain when you notice it acting up and have to factor what the cost will be or if they can service it
Have you ever looked at the Cummuter from Traska. This watch looks very similar to the OP from Rolex and also feels very solid. Personally, I am very fond of the version with the white dial. It is available in 34, 36 and 38 mm.
I will give my opinion. If you can afford servicing your watches than buy as many as you like. Including the Rolex. It sounds like you like semi/high end watch's. It is unlikely that you can train yourself to service expensive watches. Its too risky to be messing with vintage or swiss watches unless you have training. Since you are not rich, you should not be buying large numbers of watches that you know need expensive service in the future. I am poor. I buy watches that I can service myself. My watches use Seiko NH35 and Miyota 8215 movements as well as chinese clones. When these movements fail I swap them out myself. I learned how to to this. I learned how to regulate these watches. I can do basic maintenance to them. Since these are inexpensive movements, I can afford to fail. Anything can happen when you take a watch movement out of a watch and believe me Shiite happens. I know that I am not trained as a watchmaker. I would never work on a watch that did not belong to me. However, most of my watches can be fixed for the price of the movement since I can replace it myself. I am poor so I have to buy watches I can afford and repair myself. I still get the same enjoyment out of the hobby without going bankrupt. Good discussion.
You should re-test your clock after wearing it 5 days or so. It will perform much better.
I snapped a pinion on my first Seiko, now I use a watchmaker to change batteries!😂
I know you didn't wear the Nomos, but did you wind it up from time to time? I have heard it is a good idea to wind a watch every couple of months to keep the oil moving. I suspect if you wear it daily, it will settle down nicely 🤞. I tend to buy watches with inexpensive movements (mainly Japanese), then the worst case scenario is swapping in a replacement movement myself for less than £100. Buying all the tools/oils for servicing is surprisingly expensive!
Very interesting topic and if you begin learning watch repair that’s an awesome goal. I just took in 4 watches for servicing and when their done I can check them off my list which gives me peace of mind. My service costs are about $200 for a regular mechanical watch and $375 for a chronograph so it’s not too painful. All my vintage watches will now be recently serviced. Good luck with your contemplation on the subject. Thanks for a wonderful video
First