Watches

[Taosman]

I have a lovely Tag Heuer dive watch from our honeymoon in the US Virgin Islands. But the damn dealers refuse to look at it to replace the battery and wants to send it to NYC to have a "factory" guy replace the battery and service it. $150! Just ridiculous! Screw that. It sits and collects dust. Some of the Swiss watch dealers are as big a jerk as the BMW dealers. And that takes some doing. As always don't put up with any AD(authorized dealer) bullshit. If you're not being treated right ...walk out!

 

[LovelandBuckeye]

I have a lovely Tag Heuer dive watch from our honeymoon in the US Virgin Islands. But the damn dealers refuse to look at it to replace the battery and wants to send it to NYC to have a "factory" guy replace the battery and service it. $150! Just ridiculous! Screw that. It sits and collects dust. Some of the Swiss watch dealers are as big a jerk as the BMW dealers. And that takes some doing. As always don't put up with any AD(authorized dealer) bullshit. If you're not being treated right ...walk out!

Experienced this with my Movado and ESQ. Batteries only last a little over a year. Absolute BS.

 

[shetuck]

@ORD_Buckeye Let me know if you want me to send you an official Omega "Railmaster".

I think it was inspired by Alec Baldwin's railway fight scenes, as opposed to James Bond's more traditional spycraft!

EDIT: "Limited Esition", by the way, as the back says. Hurry...

 

[Taosman]

I got so tired of replacing batteries in watches every watch I have in use now is either solar powered or mechanical(automatic/self-winding).

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

I have a lovely Tag Heuer dive watch from our honeymoon in the US Virgin Islands. But the damn dealers refuse to look at it to replace the battery and wants to send it to NYC to have a "factory" guy replace the battery and service it. $150! Just ridiculous! Screw that. It sits and collects dust. Some of the Swiss watch dealers are as big a jerk as the BMW dealers. And that takes some doing. As always don't put up with any AD(authorized dealer) bullshit. If you're not being treated right ...walk out!

Just go to a third party watch repair shop. You don't need an authorized dealer to change a battery.

I think the dealer thing depends on the individual company. The Torneau store in Chicago (now closed) was terrible, but then again that might have been the whole "you're lucky to have us, Chicago" attitude that almost every NY business that opens here seems to affect. The local company from whom I ended up buying the Jaeger-Lecoultre was great as was a local Rolex AD who did some repairs on the old Tag 4000 Automatic. Omega boutique was cool last week, and I'll see how the new IWC boutique acts this weekend.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Omega has lots of "Special Edition" watches It's their "thing". They get some shade for doing so many but if you get the right one say a "Snoopy" or an "Ultra man" they are likely to gain in value. But do not buy a watch as an investment. It rarely works out. Buy something you'll enjoy wearing every friggin day. I bought a Seiko Monster (second year)divers watch because I wanted one to wear all the time. Sure, it is "collectible" and did double in value but I wear it all the time. It's still not an expensive watch so I don't worry about it getting banged up and looking like shit.

Omega Speedmaster "Ultraman" in.....

and...Yes! It's just as wacky as it sounds!

The only way you're getting the next Snoopy apparently is if you do a lot of business with the boutique or AD. Other than Rolex Sport/Tool watches and a couple of super exclusive brands like Patek Phillip, almost every watch is going to depreciate like an Alfa Romeo the moment you walk away from the dealer. I certainly dealt with that on the J-L, but I really don't care. It was the watch for its time and place for me, not an investment.

And I've also discovered this batshit crazy bullshit going on with stainless steel Rolex sport/tool watches: i.e. the diver, chronograph and dual time zone models. Apparently, there are none to be found, and there's a secondary market where they sell for double or more their authorized retail. My watch geek friend says nobody knows what's going on and that Rolex makes about a million watches a year. I mean, I get the history and cache of the brand (particularly for those looking to impress by having a Rolex on their wrist), and they are great watches. But c'mon. Why the fuck would I sit on a waiting list for two years to spend 10K or spend 20K on the grey market when I can walk into the Omega or IWC boutique in Chicago and get an equivalent watch for 5K. Not to mention that the Rolex Daytona was almost certainly one of the two watches that failed the NASA tests in 64 or 65.

 

[Taosman]

Rolex watches. It's an artificial bubble. Rolex uses the most modern and high quality "machinery" in the world to make very high quality watches. Most have little work done by human hands! And they make a lot of them! It's the dealers who are gouging people. Rolex was chasing Omega for decades(Omega had a earlier start) and now they have finally passed them in the watch business.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

So, the google machine has obviously been tracking my web browsing, and I started getting ads for used Omegas from Torneau. This one caught my eye, an Apollo 15 special edition in excellent condition from an authorized dealer for about the same amount of money as buying a regular moonwatch new.

The back is even engraved with the moon buggy, which is something that I have early childhood recollections of.

I kept tossing it around in my head for the last couple of days, and knowing me, all it's going to take is one too many Manhattans and I'll just open up the laptop and pull the god damned trigger on the thing. But then I got to thinkin'--that's right Dude, I got to thinkin'. I remember having read about a certain Apollo mission that wasn't quite right...........and sure enough this was the god damned one, and I'll be god damned if I'm memorializing it on my wrist every god damned day.

Looking more and more like a run of the mill Moonwatch for ORD.

 

[Jagdaddy]

So, the google machine has obviously been tracking my web browsing, and I started getting ads for used Omegas from Torneau. This one caught my eye, an Apollo 15 special edition in excellent condition from an authorized dealer for about the same amount of money as buying a regular moonwatch new.

The back is even engraved with the moon buggy, which is something that I have early childhood recollections of.

I kept tossing it around in my head for the last couple of days, and knowing me, all it's going to take is one too many Manhattans and I'll just open up the laptop and pull the god damned trigger on the thing. But then I got to thinkin'--that's right Dude, I got to thinkin'. I remember having read about a certain Apollo mission that wasn't quite right...........and sure enough this was the god damned one, and I'll be god damned if I'm memorializing it on my wrist every god damned day.

Looking more and more like a run of the mill Moonwatch for ORD.

Damn shame. Hell of a nice looking watch.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Damn shame. Hell of a nice looking watch.

There's a reason that it sells for the same as a new, basic Moonwatch while all the other Apollo special editions have pretty much skyrocketed in price (google Silver Snoopy Speedmaster). Nobody wants to pay a premium for "smell your own farts" smugness.

 

[Jagdaddy]

Another option for you might be the Sinn 206: https://www.fratellowatches.com/hot-take-sinn-206-arktis-ii/

 

[sparcboxbuck]

So, the google machine has obviously been tracking my web browsing, and I started getting ads for used Omegas from Torneau. This one caught my eye, an Apollo 15 special edition in excellent condition from an authorized dealer for about the same amount of money as buying a regular moonwatch new.

The back is even engraved with the moon buggy, which is something that I have early childhood recollections of.

I kept tossing it around in my head for the last couple of days, and knowing me, all it's going to take is one too many Manhattans and I'll just open up the laptop and pull the god damned trigger on the thing. But then I got to thinkin'--that's right Dude, I got to thinkin'. I remember having read about a certain Apollo mission that wasn't quite right...........and sure enough this was the god damned one, and I'll be god damned if I'm memorializing it on my wrist every god damned day.

Looking more and more like a run of the mill Moonwatch for ORD.

While I’m not that invested in high end watches, I do enjoy my Tags. Have had a few of them and suffered from the buy / don’t buy dilemma the last time I bought. Suffice it to say, Mrs. Sparcbox went on a little shopping spree at Burberry and felt guilty. She called home and told me to buy my damn watch.

I think that you’d be one who would enjoy that timepiece. It’s really beautiful. What’s it _really_ going to set you back in life relative to the enjoyment of having it?

Send the wife shopping and go buy your damn watch.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

While I’m not that invested in high end watches, I do enjoy my Tags. Have had a few of them and suffered from the buy / don’t buy dilemma the last time I bought. Suffice it to say, Mrs. Sparcbox went on a little shopping spree at Burberry and felt guilty. She called home and told me to buy my damn watch.

I think that you’d be one who would enjoy that timepiece. It’s really beautiful. What’s it _really_ going to set you back in life relative to the enjoyment of having it?

Send the wife shopping and go buy your damn watch.

Dude is getting a speedmaster. Just not sure that I want it to be the one that celebrates the all-Michigan Man Apollo mission. Besides, if I buy new from the boutique, I'll be able to get my name on the lists for new anniversary issues which should come pretty regularly for the next few years.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

i find rolex watches to be boring. they all look pretty much the same. there are lots of high-caliber watchmakers that produce far more interesting watches. seems like most get rolexes just to say and show that they have a rolex.

which brings me to the second reason i don't like rolexes: too many really good fakes. if i see a rolex out in the wild, my assumption is that it's not real. and that's why whenever someone makes a show of his rolex, i ask if it's a fake and act dismissive when he says it isn't. i won't give that person the ego-stroking he's looking for.