Which Military style watch? Seiko, Citizen, ...

Breitling has too "busy" of a face for me.
 
Some do, I agree. I have the Colt GMT, and its pretty simple. I would never have spent that kind of chedder, but it was a gift from the wife.
 
BigKvn1 said:
Some do, I agree. I have the Colt GMT, and its pretty simple. I would never have spent that kind of chedder, but it was a gift from the wife.
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This dial is perfect for me:
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Here is my Seiko 5 It is a terrific watch. i wear it every day.

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How is that Seiko running? I ordered a similar watch, model SNK809K2, today. It will be my first Seiko and first automatic watch.
 
Rolex makes a nice watch but I need something more accurate. Rolexes are made to 'chronometer' standards;
The watch movements are tested before they are cased up, and are fitted with a plain white dial and single timing seconds hand. They are then placed in racks along with hundreds of similar movements. These racks are then subjected to testing in five positions, i,e button down, button up, face down, face up, and 12 o'clock down. They are tested at room temperature, then at 8°c. and then heated to 38°c. All this time the dials are monitored by camera for 15 days and nights. After this period if the average positional error is no more than gaining 6 seconds, or losing 4 seconds per day (that's 99.994% accuracy!), the movement is given its Chronometer status

That is waaaay to inaccurate for me. My Citizen gains roughly 15 seconds per year. I can put up with that (although I do go to the Atomic time site and adjust it every New Year's Day.) I've used it at high altitudes, down to 145ft under water, skiing in Switzerland's winter, and basking in the sun in the tropics. The Citizen had never given me a lick of trouble. I do send it in to the service center every three years for a new battery, clean and lube, and get a new gasket and pressure test, and I've done that three times now, getting ready for the fourth. I'll stick with Citizen.

Stitchawl
 
I have that exact same Citizen and gave it to my son a couple years ago...he's tougher on watches than me! The face is a little scrated, but it's holding strong. I have a Seiko auto around somewhere to, but it's in reserve. As to automatics, I've had my Marathon GSAR for a few years and it too a massive hit from an up-armored HMMWV door last year...enough to almost break my arm and popped the 1500 trititum dial off but didn't harm the innards at all. I was impressed...it's my EDC and I couldn't be happier.

I'd like to get another Citizen ECO for myself as I appreciate the svelte design and large face...it's a good looking piece also in a very utilitarian way.

ROCK6
 
i have that Citizen watch and i like it fairly well. the one thing i dont like is that watch hands dont stay super bright. so in the morning it is alittle hard to read it. and this is coming from a 22 year old with 20/20 eye sight:) but other then that the watch is great. ive only had mine for less then a year tho. hope this helps

dylan
 
They're both good companies. I think I read that Seiko actually makes the Citizen watches. Personally, between those two, I like the look of the Citizen better. It's less cluttered, which means more legible, which is the idea of a military watch. Afer all, simplicity is the greatest sophistication.
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Seiko and Citizen are separate entities. Both are considered manufactures, meaning that they make their movements in-house. Both make some very high-end pieces- Grand Seiko, Spring Drive, and Campanola.
That is waaaay to inaccurate for me. My Citizen gains roughly 15 seconds per year. I can put up with that (although I do go to the Atomic time site and adjust it every New Year's Day.) I've used it at high altitudes, down to 145ft under water, skiing in Switzerland's winter, and basking in the sun in the tropics. The Citizen had never given me a lick of trouble. I do send it in to the service center every three years for a new battery, clean and lube, and get a new gasket and pressure test, and I've done that three times now, getting ready for the fourth. I'll stick with Citizen.
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There is no higher accuracy rating than chronometre. Originally, a chronometre was designed to be accurate enough for maritime navigation. Your Citizen's accuracy has nothing to do with its being a Citizen (unless it's one of their high-end quartz movements) and everything to do with its being a quartz watch. Quartz watches are inherently very accurate and not subject to some of the accuracy-altering phenomena that mechanical and automatic watches are, although EMPs and temperature fluctuations can affect a quartz watches accuracy. A $20 Casio quartz watch will be more accurate, on average, than my chronometre-certified Breitling Superocean Steelfish or Charlie Mike's very badass Seadweller. Comparing them would be missing the point entirely.
Also, if you're living your life within tolerances of +6/ -4 seconds a day and you're not working with high explosives, it might be time to reconsider some things.
To the OP: if you're open to diver's watches, check out the Orient Mako. It has an accurate in-house automatic movement, decent luminosity, 200m WR, and good looks for under $100 shipped. The same could be said of Citizen's automatic NYXXXX series of diver's watches.
 
jim preston said:
There is no higher accuracy rating than chronometre. Originally, a chronometre was designed to be accurate enough for maritime navigation.
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Rating criteria designed 150 years ago really do need to be updated. :) This is why TV, Radio, Astronomy, etc., rely upon atomic clocks. Imagine watching a TV station that had 6 seconds of dead air between each change of programming. That would hardly be acceptable to anyone.

Your Citizen's accuracy has nothing to do with its being a Citizen (unless it's one of their high-end quartz movements)
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It is. It's a ProMaster dive watch. Accurate and just about bomb proof. I needed a watch that would work under extreme pressures and still give me accurate readings.

A $20 Casio quartz watch will be more accurate, on average, than my chronometre-certified Breitling Superocean Steelfish or Charlie Mike's very badass Seadweller. Comparing them would be missing the point entirely.
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So if we want an accurate watch, all we need to do is find a well made quartz timepiece. There are plenty of them made to withstand more abuse than a $20 Casio. Many people prefer to know what time it is, rather than roughly what time it is. Just ask your boss if you can leave the office everyday roughly two minutes early! :p

Also, if you're living your life within tolerances of +6/ -4 seconds a day and you're not working with high explosives, it might be time to reconsider some things.
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Where I live, the trains do run on a precise schedule. You can set your watch to them. If you are 10 seconds late, you might not miss your train, (that's might not,) but you certainly won't get a seat for your commute! I wouldn't want to have to reset my watch every week just to be sure, because it is certain that if you are 30 seconds late, you will miss that train! The doors often stay open less than 20 seconds. If your watch is accurate here, you catch your train and you get a seat.

Rolex makes a watch that had a body milled out of a block of steel. That's pretty strong! On the other hand, I've never bent a watch body. But it's not accurate. It's only close. It doesn't make sense to me to pay for close. I don't need one that will glow brightly inside a cave so I didn't need tritium makers. Some people do.
I want a watch that tells me the correct time, and will do it all the time. There are plenty of good quality watches on the market these days that can be had without paying for extras. For my money, Citizen makes them.

Stitchawl
 
Rating criteria designed 150 years ago really do need to be updated. This is why TV, Radio, Astronomy, etc., rely upon atomic clocks. Imagine watching a TV station that had 6 seconds of dead air between each change of programming. That would hardly be acceptable to anyone.
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Making mechanical watches accurate really reached its zenith with various marine clocks and the invention of the tourbuillon. Not exactly new technology. I don't disagree that instruments used for purposes requiring both precise (explosives, astronomy, et al) and/ or accurate (broadcasting, public transport) timing should use quartz/ radio controlled/ atomic timepieces.
It is. It's a ProMaster dive watch. Accurate and just about bomb proof. I needed a watch that would work under extreme pressures and still give me accurate readings.
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I confess myself not an expert in the Citizen line up. Does the ProMaster line have thermo-compensated movements?
My Breitling will work under extreme pressures (200 ATM) and is suitable for saturation diving. It's also guaranteed to accurate to +6/ -4, which is fine for me.
So if we want an accurate watch, all we need to do is find a well made quartz timepiece.
There are plenty of them made to withstand more abuse than a $20 Casio. Many people prefer to know what time it is, rather than roughly what time it is. Just ask your boss if you can leave the office everyday roughly two minutes early!
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I can honestly say I've never had my Breitling be two minutes off of what I set it. Six seconds, maybe. Two minutes, no.
Oh, and you'd be surprised what abuse a $20 Casio can take, especially if it runs off an LCD module. I've seen people boil and freeze LCD modules to have them work fine.
Where I live, the trains do run on a precise schedule. You can set your watch to them. If you are 10 seconds late, you might not miss your train, (that's might not,) but you certainly won't get a seat for your commute! I wouldn't want to have to reset my watch every week just to be sure, because it is certain that if you are 30 seconds late, you will miss that train! The doors often stay open less than 20 seconds. If your watch is accurate here, you catch your train and you get a seat.

Rolex makes a watch that had a body milled out of a block of steel. That's pretty strong! On the other hand, I've never bent a watch body. But it's not accurate. It's only close. It doesn't make sense to me to pay for close. I don't need one that will glow brightly inside a cave so I didn't need tritium makers. Some people do.
I want a watch that tells me the correct time, and will do it all the time. There are plenty of good quality watches on the market these days that can be had without paying for extras. For my money, Citizen makes them.
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Where do you live? I can honestly say that, in my public transport experience in London, D.C., Switzerland, and New York, I have never seen a train that was. A. On time. and B. Running to the point where +6/ -4 (on average) would cause you to miss it.
You obviously value extreme accuracy. I value piece of mind, which automatic/ mechanical watches offer. I don't have to worry about batteries. Eco-Drive, to some extent, alleviates this, but I still don't trust it. Also, I have a mechanical heart valve which ticks and drives me crazy, so I try to avoid all other sources of ticking. Hence, mechanical.
Oh, and to the OP: You might also want to look into Vostok Amphibias. AK-47 of the watch world- not too accurate or refined, but you can dip it in mud and fling it against cliff faces and it will still work.
 
I don't know much about watches. My nicest was a Seiko Aviator chronograph.

If the Rolex watches aren't accurate, why do people spend so much money for them ?

BTW I have a Timex that looks just like CM's Sea dweller.
$39.00 at the Wally Mart :D I have beat the you know what out of it, and it still works great
 
jim preston said:
I confess myself not an expert in the Citizen line up. Does the ProMaster line have thermo-compensated movements?
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I have absolutely no idea!

Oh, and you'd be surprised what abuse a $20 Casio can take, especially if it runs off an LCD module. I've seen people boil and freeze LCD modules to have them work fine.
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Not surprised at all! I wore one for many years and beat the crap out of it. In fact, it was still running well when I gave it to my son when he was a child, and he most likely beat the crap out of it too! As far as I know, he still uses it today.

Where do you live? I can honestly say that, in my public transport experience in London, D.C., Switzerland, and New York, I have never seen a train that was. A. On time. and B. Running to the point where +6/ -4 (on average) would cause you to miss it.
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Japan. The trains here have special timing devices in them that zero out when the train is on time. If the driver is running too slowly, he sees it immediately as the device will be showing a negative reading. If he goes too quickly the device needle is on the other side of the zero mark. All he has to do it keep the needle centered and he is exactly on time when he pulls into the station. And I mean exactly. You really can set your watch to the trains in Japan.

If a train is going to be even a minute late, the conductor or platform announcer offers very sincere and very perfuse apologies. Having lived many years in Malaysia and Indonesia, where a train might arrive 6-10 hours after it was supposed to, and that isn't considered late by the locals, the Japanese system still makes me laugh!

You obviously value extreme accuracy.
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Very much so, but only the way that I value a perfect edge on a knife. I don't need it so much as want it.

I value piece of mind, which automatic/ mechanical watches offer. I don't have to worry about batteries. Eco-Drive, to some extent, alleviates this, but I still don't trust it. Also, I have a mechanical heart valve which ticks and drives me crazy, so I try to avoid all other sources of ticking. Hence, mechanical.
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It is true that I have to send my watch in to the service center every three years just to be on the safe side. (I would hate to have a gasket blow at 40meters down even though I do carry redundant systems.) Having them change the battery is certainly more of a bother than if it didn't need one at all, and is something that could go wrong. Touch wood, it's been a fine working time piece for the past 11 years. Lets hope that you continue to be driven crazy by your ticking for the next 50 years of so too!

Merry Christmas, one and all!

Stitchawl
 
338375 said:
If the Rolex watches aren't accurate, why do people spend so much money for them ?
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Several reasons. They are accurate enough for most people's needs, and they are absolutely bomb-proof. The housing is carved from a single block of steel rather than pressed from sheet metal. The crystal has both and inner and outer bezels so that no matter if it expands or contracts, it is still perfectly sealed. The inner parts are carefully made, with no flaws. Zero defects. Then those parts are assembled carefully, again, permitting zero defects. The works are tested to chronometer standards before and after final assembly.

And maybe just as importantly to many, it gets to have the name 'Rolex' on the face. :)

Stitchawl
 
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