The General Watch Thread.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Nt2c- Thank you so much for the fresnel lenses!!! That was super cool of you. I was honestly sceptical of how well they would work. Man! They can really light something on fire!

Thank you again.

Not sure if I said anything about it or not, but I got my fresnel lense in the other day as well. I haven't tried it yet, but that's mostly because my county is under a burn ban right now due to high winds.

Thanks from me as well, NT2C. This is the first fresnel lense I've ever owned.

[NT2C]

Nt2c- Thank you so much for the fresnel lenses!!! That was super cool of you. I was honestly sceptical of how well they would work. Man! They can really light something on fire!

Thank you again.

You're welcome. They work quite well for the task, don't they?   

They also work when you need just that little bit extra to read a menu, etc. I keep one in my wallet for such things.

[Moab]

This store on Alibab has a number of good looking watches. With a fairly high sales and review rate. 

Majorhavoc (or anyone else) do you know of any review sites or forums for watches from China? 

STEELDIVE Engineer Store
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtNUSL4

[majorhavoc]

This store on Alibab has a number of good looking watches. With a fairly high sales and review rate.

Majorhavoc (or anyone else) do you know of any review sites or forums for watches from China?

STEELDIVE Engineer Store
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtNUSL4

Whoa!  That AliExpress Steeldive storefront displays so weird on my desktop!

Yes, Jody from Just One More Watch is an excellent watch reviewer and has done a number of Steeldive reviews.  He likes them, particularly this Seiko homage:

[NT2C]

On woot.com

Morphic M36 Series Leather-Band Chronograph Watch MSRP: $575 - on sale 88% off $68

Citizen CZ Smart Grey Plated Silicone Strap Stainless Steel Smartwatch Touchscreen, Heartrate, GPS, Speaker, Bluetooth, Notifications, iPhone and Android Compatible, Powered by Google Wear OS MSRP: $395 - on sale 62% off $150

(I'd buy that for myself but I spent the last of this month's check getting a watch for the wife as an anniversary gift)

[Moab]

I'm diggin' this one. I was looking at the new Seiko dive watches. I wore one in the Marine Corps and for about 5 years after. But I like this Steeldive. Its bigger.

US $104.58  79%OFF | STEELDIVE SD1972 Black Dial Week Display New Arrival 45MM Steel Case NH36 Automatic Movement Ceramic Bezel Mens Sport Dive Watch
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtr8Kz

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This is the Seiko I could afford. 

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[tirls]

Seiko SKX divers go for under 200 on ebay regularly, so probably even cheaper elsewhere. The only thing you need to watch out for is that a lot of classical seiko divers don't have a hacking or winding option, so you need to shake your watch to wind it up if you haven't worn it in a long time.
Seiko divers are highly regarded by divers so if you actually want to use it for it's intended purpose I'd go down that route.

Otherwise there are a lot of eta movement watches in that price range of the vostoks mentioned earlier.
You can definitely get some great watches from china, but the quality control can be iffy and you never know if they change manufacturer. 

[Moab]

Seiko SKX divers go for under 200 on ebay regularly, so probably even cheaper elsewhere. The only thing you need to watch out for is that a lot of classical seiko divers don't have a hacking or winding option, so you need to shake your watch to wind it up if you haven't worn it in a long time.
Seiko divers are highly regarded by divers so if you actually want to use it for it's intended purpose I'd go down that route.

Otherwise there are a lot of eta movement watches in that price range of the vostoks mentioned earlier.
You can definitely get some great watches from china, but the quality control can be iffy and you never know if they change manufacturer.

I bought several seiko divers a few years ago. The older 007 ones. But they were way smaller than I remembered. I ended up selling them. The new cheaper series ones seem bigger. But i have not seen one in person.

I want to read more reviews in the Steeldive ones from china. As long as it can tell time. And I wear it in the shower or fishing. I'm fine with it. The ine I want above looks very simlar to my old seiko diver but bigger. 

[majorhavoc]

I have freakishly small wrists, so I appreciate the older Seiko 5's, especially my SNK 805, which has a 37mm case - very small by modern standards.  But average to large by traditional standards.  Which I find hysterical because just about every other form of personal technology has gotten smaller over time.  Yet wrist watches have inexplicably gotten larger.  A full size mens watch of the 1960's would have been in the 34mm - 36mm range, and no one accused Elvis Presly or Cary Grant of being less masculine because they wore wrist watches that size.  But today, that's considered hopelessly small; a women's watch or at best, a unisex size.



As far as Chinese watches go, the thing to look for are watches featuring Seiko, Miyota or Swiss (ETA, Sellita or Ronda) movements.  Chinese watches that case those movements are functionally just as reliable as the name brands, but they often offer better specifications, like sapphire crystals (the glass that covers the watch dial), anti-reflective coatings, lume (glow-in-the-dark hands and hour markers) and better quality bracelets (milled clasps, solid end links, etc).  What they often lack are originalty and horological provenance. 

Steeldive, San Martin, Sea-Gull, CIGA, Cadisen, Pagani Design and Guanqin have made a name for themselves as quality Chinese watch brands that offer better features and value than the name brands from Japan and Europe.

[Anianna]

I was part of the initial watch conversation over in The Last of Us thread, but every time I see the title of this thread, I still think it's about guard duty or just generally watching for threats.  😂

[NT2C]

I bought my wife one of these Morphic M96 models in blue.  Got it for $59.99 on Woot.com



It uses a Japanese Miyota movement and all the higher-quality features you find on a good-quality watch.  I'll review it here when it arrives.

[Moab]

I was part of the initial watch conversation over in The Last of Us thread, but every time I see the title of this thread, I still think it's about guard duty or just generally watching for threats.  😂

Or "The Firewatch Thread"?!!!! Lol! What should I change it too? How about "The Timepiece Thread"?

[Moab]

I have freakishly small wrists, so I appreciate the older Seiko 5's, especially my SNK 805, which has a 37mm case - very small by modern standards.  But average to large by traditional standards.  Which I find hysterical because just about every other form of personal technology has gotten smaller over time.  Yet wrist watches have inexplicably gotten larger.  A full size mens watch of the 1960's would have been in the 34mm - 36mm range, and no one accused Elvis Presly or Cary Grant of being less masculine because they wore wrist watches that size.  But today, that's considered hopelessly small; a women's watch or at best, a unisex size.



As far as Chinese watches go, the thing to look for are watches featuring Seiko, Miyota or Swiss (ETA, Sellita or Ronda) movements.  Chinese watches that case those movements are functionally just as reliable as the name brands, but they often offer better specifications, like sapphire crystals (the glass that covers the watch dial), anti-reflective coatings, lume (glow-in-the-dark hands and hour markers) and better quality bracelets (milled clasps, solid end links, etc).  What they often lack are originalty and horological provenance. 

Steeldive, San Martin, Sea-Gull, CIGA, Cadisen, Pagani Design and Guanqin have made a name for themselves as quality Chinese watch brands that offer better features and value than the name brands from Japan and Europe.

Ya. I just realized my U Boat watch is 47mm. But I have big arms and wrists. So it looks fairly normal on me. Now I don't want that Steeldive watch. It will look ridiculous on me. I like the Pagini ones. Ill have to check those out.

Glad to hear they are good watches tho. Most I looked at on Steeldive were Japanese movements. What about those?

The weird thing about watches is even though they have gotten bigger. I see fewer and fewer people wearing them. I guess cause of the cellphone. 

[Anianna]

I was part of the initial watch conversation over in The Last of Us thread, but every time I see the title of this thread, I still think it's about guard duty or just generally watching for threats.  😂

Or "The Firewatch Thread"?!!!! Lol! What should I change it too? How about "The Timepiece Thread"?

You don't have to change it, I'm just easily confused sometimes. 

[Moab]

I was wrong majorhavoc. That Steeldive is 45mm. Only two mm smaller than my uboat. Thats cool. I could go for a bit smaller. 

Do you know if their dive watches are actually waterproof? I mean I don't dive. But it would be cool if it stood up to the shower or doing dishes or a light swim in the ocean. 

[majorhavoc]

Glad to hear they are good watches tho. Most I looked at on Steeldive were Japanese movements. What about those?

The weird thing about watches is even though they have gotten bigger. I see fewer and fewer people wearing them. I guess cause of the cellphone.

No direct experience, but the YT watch reviewers I've come to trust and respect rate Steeldive as one of the better Chinese watch brands.  And the Captain Willard (the Seiko homage dive watch you've been looking at) is considered one of the best Steeldives.  Since I know you're tight with the movie industry, the "Willard" knickname for that particular Seiko is referencing the movie "Apocalypse Now".  Martin Sheen's Captain Willard wore that Seiko.

[majorhavoc]

Do you know if their dive watches are actually waterproof? I mean I don't dive. But it would be cool if it stood up to the shower or doing dishes or a light swim in the ocean.

Again, no direct experience, but while there are YT videos showing that certain Chinese homage watches fail their advertised water resistance rating, I'm not aware of Steeldive as one of those brands.

The most important thing to know about dive-style watches and water resistance is that those types of watches tend to have screw-down crowns (the tiny knob on the side dof the watch).  If you forget to screw down that crown on a dive watch - any dive watch - it doesn't matter whether the water resistance rating is 100 meters or 200 meters or even 500 meters.  If you forget to screw that crown down, you'll fry the movement in 3 inches of water.

That SNK 805 Seiko pictured above?  It has a 30 meter water resistance ratingn with a non screw-down crown.  That's supposed to mean rain or dishwashing water resistance.  My 30 meter water resistant Seiko? Not knowing any better, I showered with that thing for the first 6 months of ownership before I learned that I shouldn't be doing that.  The 30 meter Seiko still runs like a top.  My point: don't fret too much about the true water resistance rating of Chinese dive watches.  Unless you're doing deep scuba diving (in which case you won't be using a dive watch, you'll be using a dive computer) the real world water resitance rating of even the worst Chinese wristwatch is going to be just fine for you and me.

[NT2C]

The most important thing to know about dive-style watches and water resistance is that those types of watches tend to have screw-down crowns (the tiny knob on the side dof the watch).  If you forget to screw down that crown on a dive watch - any dive watch - it doesn't matter whether the water resistance rating is 100 meters or 200 meters or even 500 meters.  If you forget to screw that crown down, you'll fry the movement in 3 inches of water.[/font][/size][/color]

That is not completely correct.  The industry has stopped using the term "waterproof" in favor of "water resistant" for legal reasons, even though watches like the Rolex Oyster are waterproof if the seals are undisturbed.  Rolex was the originator of the screw-down crown on their Oyster models. Even if the crown isn't screwed down there's still a pair of O-rings inside the barrel that block water entry, albeit not to the rated depth, but more than enough to prevent damage from bathing or swimming.  Screwing down the crown presses the lip of the barrel into a third seal up inside the crown.

One of the things I learned when I worked for a watchmaker after school when I was in high school was how they tested the seals and cases after repairs were made.  They seal up the case of the watch (without the movement inside) and suspend it in a small tank of water, clamp the tank shut, pull a vacuum in the tank with a hand pump then watch for air bubbles coming out of the case.  If they're sure there's no leak they install the movement and test it again.  This was also done on watches without screw-down crowns if they were supposed to be water-resistant. No idea if it's still done this way, I imagine there's computerized equipment for it now.

[NT2C]

Anyway, back on topic, I pulled the trigger on that Citizen CZ Smartwatch a little earlier.  I'd passed it by when I bought the wife's watch but it was gnawing at me so I went back and got it (with a small loan from the wife).

I'll report more when I get it and after I use it for a while.

[NT2C]

Why did none of you guys tell me how much fun smart watches are?   






Okay, okay, I did have one before, still have it in fact, but it was cheap Chinese crap that had a battery life best measured in minutes, not hours, and was slow as hell.

This new one runs nice, is much more customizable, and will probably have decent battery life once I stop playing with it every few minutes.