Which watch do you wear?

Ahh, it all makes sense now, but that seems to be an unassuming name for an expensive watch manufacturer

The Mark XII Automatic is a very unassuming watch.

A Heuer Autavia I was given for my 21st birthday. My Mother bought it for me in Austria when she was on holiday there. It cost her the equivalent of £50 at the time...

Day-to-day watch is a 20 quid Hawkshead battery effort.

steve

http://people.timezone.com/mfr...ticles/mark_xii.html

I have a thing about watches (time-pieces) ... I'm an idiot, I accept, but as this is hard-wired into my brain ...

... I cannot bring myself to buy - for myself - a quartz watch.  And when I found out what a Kinetic motion was, the same applies.  To me, a watch has a mechanical function - self-winding is a bonus - but it should have parts ... not a motor!

When my beloved 18th birthday present (an inexpensive Rotary) finally gave up the ghost in late 2008 - aged 33 - I decided I could live without one.  By late 2010 I decided the time (sorry!) had come to purchase a new wrist-watch/time-piece.  And this is where my education started.

After some time, and reluctantly giving up the idea of spending GBP2k or more, I purchased another Rotary ... not particularly expensive ... but a beauty, IMHO, from their Les Originales range.  A limited edition (of 1,895 per face), waterproof and with a proper working mechanism.  Yes, I have to wind it when I haven't worn it for 24hrs or so and, yes, it is not 100% accurate - it gains a minute over approx. 1 week - and it will require servicing.  But it's a beaut ...!

Oh dear, looks like i'm a philistine when it comes to watches.

I wouldn't pay £10 for a watch that gained a minute a week !! (unless it was attached to an 18kt gold bracelet weighing half a pound)

I would pay £50 if it kept better time than 1 second a day

£200 for 1 second a week

£500 for a second a month

£2,000 for a second a year

All assuming that the gain/loss was reliably consistent and not random.

I enjoy looking at working mechanisms - cogs, pendulums, escapments etc, but not at £2k a go and especially when they are lost to view in a metal case.

And although undoubtably a philistine, It's nice to see what makes other people "tick"

Cheers

Don

Smart phone. No need for watch anymore.

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust in stainless for day to day use. It's getting on for 30 years now and since it's last service actually keeps reasonable time! Whilst it was away for service just used my phone.

Someday when I'm feeling especially flush I'll have it serviced, give it to my son and buy myself an IWC.

Also have a silver pocket watch with a decorated enamel face (and associated silver chain and fob).SWMBO bought it for a birthday or Christmas way back. Needs new mainspring at the moment. On the to do list.

Willy.

Now I wonder if TT users are more likely to prefer analogue watches

I fine with my smartphone.

Fred

Rolex Explorer 2 (Black Face)

Cartier Santos

Maurice Lacroix Tiago

Dunhill Millenium

Hiya,

Mine is a Rolex GMT II, I wear it every day.

George, excellent watches, I really fancy trying to get myself a couple of early British wrist watches sometime in the future.

ATB

Barrie

Dear Barrie,

JW Benson really ceased to be a watch manufacturer after their Ludgate Hill shop was bombed. The factory, which adjoined was also destroyed as well as a priceless stock of manufactured parts and movements, but the company continued to brand some of the very finest mechanical watches, using, more often than not, very high grade Longines movements [often marked Baum-Longines, because Baum was the English agent for Longines], but also using Smiths movements which were [and still are] if anything even more prized.

These watches were always cased beautifully by such as Denison [of Birmingham], or the Benson Watch Company, which is not quite the same concern a JW Benson of Ludgate Hill. If you want an interesting, serviceable, strong, and usable early English wrist watch, then buying JW Benson is to start among the very best ever made, though sadly almost no Benson wrist watch actually has an in-house Benson movement. Some silver cased "trench watches" [ie. wrist watches] were equipped with miniaturised JW Benson movements [developed from the pre 1914 pocket watch movements], and as rare as they are these are beyond belief price-wise.

My old 1880s Benson Ludgate watch is proudly engraved inside as Best London Make - The Ludgate Watch. The case is also in-house made. What a shame that the decline of British manufacturing hit watch making and surprisingly so much earlier than motorcars or bicycles, or many other things we no longer make in significant volumes. The quality was at least a match for that from any other major watch making territory.

The problem is that English watches were handmade in the time honoured tradition, whilst the Swiss and especially the [US] Americans went for beautifully toleranced machine manufacture with hand finishing, which yielded greater consistency [if not higher quality, serviceablity, or durability] and a much lower cost.

Just like Pratt and Whitney had lessons to teach Rolls Royce about manufacturing the Merlin aircraft engine during WW2 in terms of spare-parts matching and quantity that could be produced, when machine manufacture replaced hand machining [and individual matching], which was a hallmark of Rolls Royce. Ultimately the additional cost of hand making did not yield enough functional benefit over mass machine manufacture to outweight the additional costs and limit on productivity per labour hour.

ATB from George

As an everyday beater, Seiko SXK 031, or a Seiko SBDC003. On week-ends, I wear an Omega Speedmaster professional.  I also have a 1970 King Seiko

Bucking the trend somewhat, I'm a Casio man, through and through. I've just moved on from the calculator/data bank watch (very retro, I've been told by my daughter) to a stainless steel analogue/digital/data bank model. The most expensive watch I've ever owned, cost £39.

I can see the attraction of expensive watches and appreciate the fine build quality but I buy Naim because it sounds better than other, cheaper hi-fi I've listened to and so is worth the extra compared to a Sony, for instance. I don't make that connection with watches as I can't see that a Rolex will show me the time better than a Casio. 

iPhone in pocket. Sorry it seems my generation does not do watches...

Tag Heuer Aquaracer

Oris BC3 Day/Date 1932 automatic with rubber strap. Love it.

Lovely classic design, superb build quality, ace value for money (£500 nine years ago). Would love an IWC but they're way beyond my means.

Omega Seamaster and a Bapex: http://www.freshnessmag.com/20...1-clear-shark-bapex/

These:

 Omega Speedmaster Mark2. 

Seiko 6138-3002 from 1977.

Minerva Pythagore.

Omega Seamaster Apnea.

Watches are a new passion.

Minerva Pythagore.......Cousin of the Mark XII no less. 

Tag Heuer Kirium F1. Wear it everyday, everywhere!