What watch do you wear?

[JBoone]

You can get a Citizen dive watch with an automatic Japan-made movement for the mid-$200s. In Seiko, you need to go to a Seiko 5 to get into that price range. There you can get a dive-STYLE watch, but they are only water-resistant to 100m, it appears. If you move up to the $300s range, you can actually get a Seiko Japan movement dive watch. Screw-down crown, 200m water resistance.
Hamilton has some reasonably priced automatic watches, but most of them are "field" watches. About 100m water resistance, no rotating dive bezel. I like the dive bezel, because I can easily time things like steak, chicken, burgers on the grill, things like that. Makes the watch handier. But you're not going to be timing to the second.
Orient is another Japan (I think) company that makes good automatic watches. And Lum-Tec, mentioned earlier, has some mechanical movements as well.

Yep- very fond of a dive bezel during grilling season. I think grilling is where I use the bezel the most.

 

[JM2]

You can get a Citizen dive watch with an automatic Japan-made movement for the mid-$200s. In Seiko, you need to go to a Seiko 5 to get into that price range. There you can get a dive-STYLE watch, but they are only water-resistant to 100m, it appears. If you move up to the $300s range, you can actually get a Seiko Japan movement dive watch. Screw-down crown, 200m water resistance.
Hamilton has some reasonably priced automatic watches, but most of them are "field" watches. About 100m water resistance, no rotating dive bezel. I like the dive bezel, because I can easily time things like steak, chicken, burgers on the grill, things like that. Makes the watch handier. But you're not going to be timing to the second.
Orient is another Japan (I think) company that makes good automatic watches. And Lum-Tec, mentioned earlier, has some mechanical movements as well.

Thanks. I’ll do some research on those and see what appeals to me. I don’t need a dive watch. I just want water proof for thinks like the rain, or cleaning off debris.

 

[JM2]

I seen the bezel that turns like that. Is it always called a dive bezel? I would like that feature. Be nice sometimes. I never thought about grilling. I always wing it.

 

[dogboye]

I seen the bezel that turns like that. Is it always called a dive bezel? I would like that feature. Be nice sometimes. I never thought about grilling. I always wing it.

GENERALLY.... a dive bezel only turns counterclockwise, and is ratcheted for either 60 or 120 clicks per turn. Seikos are generally 120, a couple of lower priced battery or eco-drive Citizens are 60. It doesn't matter to me too much which one the watch has. What I HATE is a watch that the bezel turns too loosely. It's easy to knock it off where you turned it to if it turns too easily.

GENERALLY.... if you get a watch that is more of a pilot's style watch with a rotating bezel, it will tend to turn both ways (clockwise and counter-). I have had a couple of pilot style Citizens that were that way (starting to look like I like Citizens, doesn't it). Those were a while back, and were Eco-Drive. But I've decided I mostly like automatics in Seiko at this point. Well, I'd like Hamilton, too. Or Breitling. Or Omega. Sinn. But can't afford them.

I think people generally call the bezel a dive bezel if it only rotates counterclockwise.

 

[bdmicarta]

So my question is, what makes a good watch vs a not good one?

I mean, let’s say for a knife, I see the value of a schrade USA old timer over a China brand frosts. And I can see that a GEC is better fit finish and materials over the old timer. But the old timer is the starting level of quality users, and for a knife to be used, it’s hard to beat.

So what’s the starting level of quality watches? And how do I know where the cutoff point is that the price is just additional embellishment over quality?

I was looking at a Seiko dive something. It was about $500. I like the specs I seen. I like waterproof and stainless. No reference as to where it’s made.

I have no faith in a knife made in China... should I feel the same about watches?

These are going to be rough generalities...
I think it's harder to tell with watches than it is with knives. To someone not interested in knives it can be hard to explain why a $200 knife is much better than a $20 knife. Likewise it can be hard to explain why a $2000 watch can be better than a $200 watch but there are a lot of similarities between watches and knives.
Seiko and Citizen, and Orient, make good watches for good prices. Just like with knives you have to be careful to buy them right. You can go into a store and pay $400+ for a watch that you can buy online for $200. So at the right prices you can buy a good Seiko/Citizen/Orient for under $200 but they also have models that go much higher. Seiko has upscale models that can rival Swiss brands. Quality of Chinese watches has improved a lot but I don't have any experience with them so I can't really comment. They might be an option if your budget is under $150. I think the better ones use Seiko movements anyway.
Price means different things to different people but I think these days the limit where higher price is just more embelishment may be $2000 to $4000.

 

[JBoone]

GENERALLY.... a dive bezel only turns counterclockwise, and is ratcheted for either 60 or 120 clicks per turn. Seikos are generally 120, a couple of lower priced battery or eco-drive Citizens are 60. It doesn't matter to me too much which one the watch has. What I HATE is a watch that the bezel turns too loosely. It's easy to knock it off where you turned it to if it turns too easily.

GENERALLY.... if you get a watch that is more of a pilot's style watch with a rotating bezel, it will tend to turn both ways (clockwise and counter-). I have had a couple of pilot style Citizens that were that way (starting to look like I like Citizens, doesn't it). Those were a while back, and were Eco-Drive. But I've decided I mostly like automatics in Seiko at this point. Well, I'd like Hamilton, too. Or Breitling. Or Omega. Sinn. But can't afford them.

I think people generally call the bezel a dive bezel if it only rotates counterclockwise.

Counterclockwise so you don’t knock the bezel and ad more time on a dive and deplete your oxygen prematurely. If knock it counterclockwise which is the only direction it can travel will shorten your dive not extend it. This was when dive watches originally came out (50s/60s?). However, it is all academic to me as I have never dived.

Also believe that specialized dive “computers” made the bezel on a dive watch obsolete a couple of decades ago. Again, not a diver.

I do find the timer handy for under an hour and use it quite often.

Divers can chime in.

Edit: 3 of the 6 watches I own have dive bezels and I have some irrational desire to add more.

 

[jbmonkey]

You can get a Citizen dive watch with an automatic Japan-made movement for the mid-$200s. In Seiko, you need to go to a Seiko 5 to get into that price range. There you can get a dive-STYLE watch, but they are only water-resistant to 100m, it appears. If you move up to the $300s range, you can actually get a Seiko Japan movement dive watch. Screw-down crown, 200m water resistance.
Hamilton has some reasonably priced automatic watches, but most of them are "field" watches. About 100m water resistance, no rotating dive bezel. I like the dive bezel, because I can easily time things like steak, chicken, burgers on the grill, things like that. Makes the watch handier. But you're not going to be timing to the second.
Orient is another Japan (I think) company that makes good automatic watches. And Lum-Tec, mentioned earlier, has some mechanical movements as well.

you can find citizen promaster auto divers for under 200. ny0040 and ny0085, out there right now brand new shipped for $189. other models as well, just have to know how to hunt the citizens......

I collect the citizen promaster autos divers....
iso 6425 certified..seiko stopped doing that om the lower end, so the skx line ended, sadly. I always preferd the citizen to seiko though. own plenty of both, but the citizens are just better lookin to me.

orient divers have replaced the seikos for me. owned by seiko, but high quality at more affordable prices.

Counterclockwise so you don’t knock the bezel and ad more time on a dive and deplete your oxygen prematurely. If knock it counterclockwise which is the only direction it can travel will shorten your dive not extend it. This was when dive watches originally came out (50s/60s?). However, it is all academic to me as I have never dived.

Also believe that specialized dive “computers” made the bezel on a dive watch obsolete a couple of decades ago. Again, not a diver.

I do find the timer handy for under an hour and use it quite often.

Divers can chime in.

Edit: 3 of the 6 watches I own have dive bezels and I have some irrational desire to add more.

when i got certified to dive in 1989, no computers yet. we used dive watches still and underwater writing pencils and pads to record notes for our dive logs...but no one I knew or dove with could afford a Swiss dive watch. I used a seiko dive lookin quartz watch with a bezel. 2 toned gold plated. no screw down crown wr to 50m. ive had it all over the world diving to a depth..and the deepest I've been at about just under 200ft. never leaked never a problem. I retired it years later when the bracelet finally failed. I still have it somewhere.

point of my story is wr is important but quality watch brands do better than most realize..and I abused the heck out of that watch.

and yeah dive computers have replaced watches other than just cause.....

walls of text over...pic of what I got on the wrist today....

 

[Sundsvall]

I did get notification. Also, someone mentioned Seagull 1963. That link I messaged you carries those.


IIRC, all Seikos are made in Japan or Singapore. Or at least they were. I got my SKX range about a decade ago; I did not pay for Japan movements. One of those I opened and adjusted. It is a 7s26 movement, and it runs about -1sec/day. So they CAN be quite accurate... but they typically aren't adjusted that tightly. As said, though, they are work-horses. Tough watches.


True statement. You're going to be hard pressed to get a more accurate watch over time than a quartz watch. As long as you keep replacing batteries. The only way you're going to do better than that (probably) is to get a temperature adjusted quartz watch. But the only one that I currently know that adjusts accuracy of the quartz signal based on temperature costs upwards of $3,000. Or did years ago. I'm sure it is probably double that now.

If you're looking purely at accuracy, reliability, longevity, and carefree.... you probably want to look at a 5 (or 6)-band-radio-regulated solar-powered Casio G-Shock. Depending on where you live, it will tune in to one of the broadcast atomic clock signals once every day, and automatically set your watch to the correct time, if it has drifted. A decent one of those... well, I don't know how much a decent one goes for nowadays. I haven't bought one in nearly a decade. And it still updates nightly, and keeps perfect time. Even adjusts for daylight savings time changes.

My Titanium Seiko Samurai w/ 7s26 is more accurate than my quartz Luminox Stealth.

 

[Kirk Raptor]

 

[ec9]

 

[jbmonkey]

today's wear.

 

[StoneAndSteel]

Love this thing. Normally I think that the term “tool watch” as it’s applied to luxury brands is 100% marketing nonsense. But this thing has been through hell that no mechanical watch could reasonably be expected to endure and it still keeps it under +1 second/day.

 

[ec9]

View attachment 1847616
today's wear.

I was looking at one of these the other day, how do you like it?

 

[jbmonkey]

I was looking at one of these the other day, how do you like it?

when you can get them under 300 or just over.....a bargain. sapphire crystal, sellita sw200 modified and improved on the ol' eta 2824 movement. Swiss made. 200m wr. hard to beat for the price points whenever ya can grab them in the low 300s or cheaper.

I have 3 of them. all keep within a few seconds a day time keeping. I like the design of the case. big enough to read with old eyes, but not stupid big. 42mm and 39mm I like. the other sizes, not so much.

 

[ec9]

when you can get them under 300 or just over.....a bargain. sapphire crystal, sellita sw200 modified and improved on the ol' eta 2824 movement. Swiss made. 200m wr. hard to beat for the price points whenever ya can grab them in the low 300s or cheaper.

I have 3 of them. all keep within a few seconds a day time keeping. I like the design of the case. big enough to read with old eyes, but not stupid big. 42mm and 39mm I like. the other sizes, not so much.

Right on, thanks. I'm going to have to do some more looking.

 

[jbmonkey]

Right on, thanks. I'm going to have to do some more looking.

if ya like bracelets sometimes they sell versions with those at same prices as ones with the silicone or rubber straps. buying a factory bracelet later is way too expensive. so keep that in mind......

they do discount periodically at different dealers even authorized ones. so its a timing and waiting game to get them as cheap as possible. minus inflation pressures of course. that has changed the whole game.

 

[ec9]

if ya like bracelets sometimes they sell versions with those at same prices as ones with the silicone or rubber straps. buying a factory bracelet later is way too expensive. so keep that in mind......

they do discount periodically at different dealers even authorized ones. so its a timing and waiting game to get them as cheap as possible. minus inflation pressures of course. that has changed the whole game.

I originally started looking at them because I want a bronze watch and I think the combat might be my solution to that without going into extravagant cost. Most likely it will be my next buy I think. They are proving harder to find of course lol

 

[jbmonkey]

I originally started looking at them because I want a bronze watch and I think the combat might be my solution to that without going into extravagant cost. Most likely it will be my next buy I think. They are proving harder to find of course lol

yeah the bronze case. those don't hit that 300 range that I've ever seen. only the stainless. those bronze cased ones seem to be mid/high 500s range and up.....

 

[ec9]

yeah the bronze case. those don't hit that 300 range that I've ever seen. only the stainless. those bronze cased ones seem to be mid/high 500s range and up.....

Sounds like my luck, yep. I think it will be a good addition to the collection. Especially if I can get a nice patina going on it.

 

[UncleBear]

Not much of a watch guy (prob 'cause of small wrist) but, once in awhile I wear an...inexpensive solar Seiko.

(someday I'll get a titanium automatic)