What's on Your Wrist?
I just finished a 3D animated video for Baume & Mercier's new Clifton watch--a massive undertaking that explains, in part, my absence (also "four more years"--but let's not go there).
I can't show it off yet because of the NDA, but here's an official photo of the product.
I haven't worn a watch since the early 2000's, when I began carrying a cellphone everywhere and a watch on the wrist became superfluous, and concurrently I also began to take serious umbrage at the tyranny of time.
Nevertheless, having spent the last three months imbibing the culture of these luxury goods, I'm now considering the purchase of a finely crafted Swiss watch--not as a status symbol, since I couldn't care less about that vulgar concept-- as an investment, yes, but mostly because they're just so anachronistically beautiful. Which complements my other eccentric foible, collecting fountain pens. The more I toil long hours at the computer, the more I find myself enamored of the inefficient, the antiquated, the elegant... I call this Dash's Paradox.
So here's what I'm considering:
The B&M Capeland 10006 series chronograph, a HUGE hunk of metal, alligator skin and sapphire crystal:
Or perhaps one of the Fortis Flieger models:
What do you think?
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Comments:
May '10
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
Go cheap. Go lightweight: Casio or Timex from Walmart. $30 or so. Looks fine, works fine, waterproof. Will last a decade, with maybe three replacements of the $10 band over that time.
Dec '10
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
I, too gave up wearing a watch sometime around 2000. Regardless of how they look, I would not voluntarily put myself back in slavery now that I've tasted freedom.
May '11
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
I never got into the whole watch thing. A company I worked for gave me an expensive watch for a holiday thing. I kept it in the box and looked at it a few times. I eventually sold it and bought a gun with the proceeds. It's not that I have simple tastes; I just wanted the gun more than the watch.
If you carry your phone with you everywhere, I don't see much actual use in a watch. So it's bling, right?
May '11
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
I would agree with Scott if you intended to wear and employ the watch for its designated purpose. If you are only investing, research the resale value of different brands to see which will likely give you the best return.
Don't make the mistake of spending a lot for the watch you think looks the best. That's like buying McDonald's stock because you like Big Macs.
Jun '12
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
Watches? What is that? Just kidding. I admire good watches. The usual suspects are pieces of art, Phillippe Patek, Omega, IWC, Cartier, Longines, Chanel, Rolex,Hublot, Tissot, maurice lacroixe etc.
The window frame that captures this fluid enigma call time warrants an investment. If you can afford it, why not?
Personally, I wouldn't wear the Capeland($7500?) for everyday use. The Fortis ($1000) for everyday, Capeland for special occasions.
My niece, a college athlete, spent Christmas with me and everywhere we went, she would check her watch for time. It felt nostalgic and romantic even. So much more elegant than reading from a cold flat electronic screen. I am also shopping for a watch for myself.
Edited on January 16, 2013 at 2:56pmMar '11
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
I did not wear a watch for years, but I have always liked iWc (hence the moniker). Still, I do not believe in bling on principle.
A friend years ago gave me a watch made in HK for years that shows Chairman Mao waving his hand like an idiot as a second hand. I loved the idea of showing the 20th Century's most murderous man as a buffoon. Why cry when one can laugh? But I have to be careful when and where I wear it, because it obviously is risky in many circles.
And now I wear a Skagen - because it was a gift from a CEO of a company we work with.
Jun '12
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
Maybe look at a much cheaper watch around $200 range for a start. See if this is not just a passing fancy. Watches don't have much investment value, like jewelry.
Nov '10
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
I have worn a Rolex Submariner hard and continuously since I bought it in 1969 with my first civilian "strike". It has been a reliable and helpful companion ever since. During the years I have worn it, it twice has been returned for servicing to Rolex and twice to the dealer in Birmingham from which I bought it .
I love the old watch, but it now needs servicing again, as it loses time noticeably. Each servicing has cost me almost as much to have the work done as I paid for the watch at the time of purchase.
I am reluctant to give it up, but the cost of restoring the Rolex has me considering buying one of the Casio "radio controlled" watches instead. They are substantially less expensive than the cost of refurbishing the Rolex and more accurate into the bargain.
While the economics favor the Casio, a deterrent for me is that I find the clean, uncluttered appearance of the Rolex face far more pleasing than the "busy" dials of the "do it all" Casios.
Edited on January 16, 2013 at 3:15pmAug '12
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
Back when I had a little more money I splurged on one of Tissot's least expensive watches. It is by far the favorite of all my possessions. It looks about ten time swankier than what I paid for it and it is insanely accurate - it races ahead of the Government's atomic clock at a rate of one half second per month. My will will stipulate that it be on my wrist when I am buried.
Mar '11
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
I have children instead of money so I wear an understated Citizen. (Though I recently misplaced it in my home. But it has to be around somewhere... a toy box maybe... anyway...)
But I'm a fancy boy and if I did have money I'd get myself a Kobold. Nice watches/good value/American made.
I'd probably go with something like this:
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
For several years while on active duty, I worked part time at a watch repair shop. I didn't do in-depth repairs, my patience limiting me to replacing crystals, crowns and stems, capacitors and batteries, along with band adjustments. And even though my phone displays the time, I don't feel properly dressed if I'm not wearing a watch. That might be a factor of age or personal propriety. But I love a quality time piece. I wear a relatively inexpensive one when in the truck, but I keep my Invicta handy, as the cartoon character said, "...for just such an emergency."
Dec '11
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
I like this watch because it has a vibrate function. No one knows but the wearer that the alarm or timer has gone off. It is a nice way to be reminded.
Jun '12
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
Dave Carter
I don't feel properly dressed if I'm not wearing a watch.
A wanderer, a writer and a watch. c'est romantique!
Jun '12
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
How considerate 10 cents. I am seeing some personality association with watch choices. Very interesting.
Jun '12
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
Casey, Instugator gifted me a G-shock right before the first baby arrived, thinking it is indestructible. But it is also somewhere in the children's mystical wonderland now. Parents need a watch we can locate via whistling or a code word I think.
Jun '12
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
I don't know how to tell you men this, but there is something about leather on a men's wrist. It just make a man enthralling.
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
Joan of Ark La Tex
Dave Carter
I don't feel properly dressed if I'm not wearing a watch.
A wanderer, a writer and a watch. c'est romantique! · 12 minutes ago
gesundheit.
Mar '11
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
That's why I got into falconry. To pick up babes.
Aug '10
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
After a long hiatus, I recently started wearing a wristwatch again. I think I like this Traser because, well, it's radioactive. I don't think you can get the radium-painted dial watches anymore, but this watch has four small vials of tritium happily beta-decaying so that I can read my watch in the dark of the early morning.
Jun '10
Re: What's on Your Wrist?
I've spent too much of my life with my hands inside machinery to bother with jewelry. Even the best watch in the world can't improve a mechanic's manicure.