Watches

I have always loved watches/clocks... During my Submarine/Navy days the Robot watch was the perscribed timepiece... Didn't have much $$ so could not afford much I think I still have it. Big fan of old watches Hamilton Greun etc. I have a Citizen (Hamilton Cruvex clone) watch I bought 20 some years ago nice light small. I had my dad's real Gruen from his Navy days. He gave it to me it needed repairs so I had it repaired and gave it back...I guess that made it a loan. I lean more toward thin light watches, hands and numbers only no LCD. Some of my favorites are: Glycine Falcon Combat 2000 very low price for a great classic watch! http://www.glycine-watch.ch/e/history/history.e.html Check out their watches if you must spend bigger bucks they can accommodate you. I also like a Skagen not sure which model really plain stainless mesh band and case, light-weight like not wearing a watch. Automotive inspired watch would be a Festina Berlinetta, yellow and black, the heaviest watch I've ever owned... Face is designed to look like a dash, none I've ever seen,but a dash all the same. It has day, date, stopwatch, and some other stuff I wouldn't ever use. Any watch that is designed to be seen while flying, driving fast, or being shot at would get my vote! Regards, Tony

Dwight Varnes wrote March 28th 2008: ".....I was just reading in my local paper last night that there is a real shortage of people to fix them."

Maybe an interesting side note re: Watchmakers

The aerospace and defense industry hired a lot of highly qualified watchmakers in the 60's and 70's as "Master Machinists" because they were the only people with experience fabricating custom built, extremely small and very precise parts (needed for precision guidance systems).

Dwight's reference mentioned $42K per year - that would be for a watch repair man. The Watch Makers - ie the people that actually design and fabricate a watch from scratch... made several times that amount annually working in the aerospace and defense industry. Many of them reached retirement age - and the companies that employed them started doubling their already high salaries just to keep them for "one more year". A friend of mine stayed "one more year" ten times because it was impossible for the company to find qualified and experienced replacements for him and his generation.

FWIW, Carl B.

Hello Everyone: Interesting to see a "watch" thread on a Classic Motorsports forum - but the two in many ways do go together. Lots of interesting information here... and I know a couple other guys that might be interested in joining this thread.

In the 60's I wanted a stop watch function, on a wrist watch so I could time laps at local competition events without carrying a pocket watch.... but never did find one inexpensive enough for me then.

By the 70's I was in better financial shape (out of college and out of the service)... So I started looking for a wrist watch, with a stop watch function. Did some research and found that NASA had tested several of the then worlds leading Chronographs in the 60's and had selected the Omega Speedmaster Professional for use by the Astronauts going to the moon. Thermo cycles, shock, vibration, accuracy etc.

I thought that was a pretty good endorsement for reliability and durability... so I went with that. As I recall that was around 1975... Since that time, I've had to send it back to Omega for a "refresh" a couple of times. It has taken a beating to say the least, but keeps time within seconds per week of my digital watches (close enough for me).

I've only recently looked at the price for a new one -yeiks!! - I guess I'll keep refreshing the old one. The size of the face is large enough for me to see with these now old eyes - and it still shins in the dark better than anything else I've seen.

I guess the bottom line is that it pays to buy quality... The only problem is that when I wear one of my digital watches - I keep reaching over and trying to wind it up....

FWIW, Carl B.

The latest watch to tempt me so:

David, you're going to get me wearing a wristwatch again.

Now that is nice.

A.

There's another model (not a Tag-Heuer) that I'm also eying. I don't want to jinx anything, though.

Again out of my price range.

Last tank of Sonoco 94 cost me $74.00, but damn I had a good week with it.

A.

I have a bunch of clocks and watches, too. I've been wearing a Citizen Promaster GMT Eco-Drive slide rule for about three years and it almost never leaves my wrist. It has great lume, gains ~3 seconds/month and is my favorite watch of all time. I have a Seiko Orange Monster (incredible lume), a Seiko Black Saw Tooth (even more incredible lume), a mint 1990 Seiko 7002 Pepsi diver, a Seiko Black Bullet diver, a Citizen Calibre 9000 minute repeater, a Citizen Stars and Stripes yacht timer, a cheap but well made Invicta Submariner, a Rolex SS Submariner (has never kept great time) and several other old Seikos, etc.

I really like this Motochron piece styled to look like the speedo of an old Porsche. Apparently they did a whole series of various classic car speedo faced watches.

http://www.rarewatches.net/hotproperty/property/VINTAGE-WATCHES/Motochron-Porsche/

The only thing keeping me from buying it, is the fact it looks too bloody hard to easily read the time on it.

Yeah, I could see all the extra numbers being a little distracting. As for me, I'm still shopping. I can say that we have some more watch editorial in the works that you guys should dig.

Ive been lusting after a black Bell & Ross chronograpg watch I keep seeing in a few car magazines. Went into The Buckle today which carries Fossil watches and found one very close to that Bell and Ross for $50.

I just bought this Seiko. What do you think?

Who talking about blast from the past.

The thread I mean ;)

Very nice clean Seiko.

A.

Mowog wrote:

I have the same watch and wear it daily. Only issue I have is the second time zone feature. I keep it Berlin time so I never wake friends up in Germany. I like it just fine, but when I go to something "serious" I wear my 18 year old Tag/Heuer Professional-980.006N.

I love my Casio. I got from Costco for $59. It's beat to heck and it's expendable. I cringe when I tap the Tag against something. Something happens to the Casio, oh well...

My work watch is an Omega Speedmaster and I also have a Brietling for more serious work. I wish the Omega had an E6B sliderule as I do on occasion use it. I really dig the 24 hour face.

So what kind of watch should I use when vintage racing eh?

Maybe I'll have to do an ad campaign hehe.

FIAT racing sponsored by? hehe

A motorsports watch doesn't have to be expensive. I have a Tissot PRS516 that's tough as nails.

Talking to my racer friends. They actually do run with them to help time the events.

Specially when your on tracks with out leader boards.

I guess I could run the citizen, but I'd have to adjust the band. So I think I'll go hunting for a cheapy.

A.

I'm reviving the watch thread!

'Cos I've just bought this '64 Bulova Accutron:

Decided I wanted an Accutron after reading about the tuning fork design, here - http://www.timezone.com/library/horologium/horologium631672882451976629

Then spent ages searching before settling on this 214 movement model, which I think looks nice and "Space Age-y" with the silver dial.

Also been wearing a cheap military-style Seiko 5 lately, and I don't think I'll ever have another quartz watch again. Mechanical is just cooler.

A great watch does not have to cost a mint either. I just got a stainless Rolex Datejust with a jubilee bracelet for under $1,000 used. I think new retail is like $6,500.

Nice Accutron. I have wanted one for a while. Maybe now is the time to buy.

hmmm, Im surprised to see this much interest in watches in a car magazine. When autoweek started turning into a lifestyle magazine and tried to broaden their scope, most of the feedback on their board was negative. But then again they started getting into fashion, expensive pens, face painted race car drivers, wine, etc, etc. To each his own I guess.

plance1 wrote: hmmm, Im surprised to see this much interest in watches in a car magazine. When autoweek started turning into a lifestyle magazine and tried to broaden their scope, most of the feedback on their board was negative. But then again they started getting into fashion, expensive pens, face painted race car drivers, wine, etc, etc. To each his own I guess.

For me, personally, it's the mechanicalness of the watch--all those small screws, weights and whatever doing their thing. (By the way, I'm wearing my Swiss Army automatic--an eBay score--today.)

For me it’s a connection with vintage racing, or more precisely, to the era when today’s vintage race cars were actually contemporary race cars. The Golden Age. In the 50s and 60s just about every big-name international F1, sports car and rally driver wore a black face Heuer chronograph watch. That made an impression on me then, so I relate certain black face chronographs to that era. Now I own 3 black face chronographs. The total cost of all three is under $700. The best one is a Bulova Mariner with an Accutron movement I purchased new for about $350. I picked up a Swatch that looks a lot more expensive than the $110 purchase price new. And then… ahem … not too long ago I made a somewhat ignomious decision to buy a Chinese knockoff Chopard Mille Miglia for $219. I know, I know, it’s heresy. But I couldn’t justify the price for a real Mille Miglia. And there’s no way the knockoff could be passed off for the real thing. But it has the right look, so I’m happy with that.