I've seen a lot of big sales on wrist watches lately. The newspapers seem to be going the way of smoke signals. I'm thinking that with clocks being on computers, cell phones, in our cars and just about everywhere we go, that wrist watches are going by the wayside, like pocket watches.

No, I don't think so.

Many people still seem to think that having a Rolex is a status symbol, to which some degree it is...

I just never could stand something on my wrist, so I have stuck with my pocket watches, and vintage ones at that. The new battery powered pocket watches are just plain junk- I just don't understand who buys them. There are so many good new Swiss made mechanical pocketwatches made today for just a bit more than the cheap junk battery powered pocketwatches there isn't much excuse not to get one.

I don't think they will, but I am certain that the trend will be away from throw-away watches back to quality ones.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

You're right. In fact, I was just thinking about this the other day when I was checking the time on my phone. I don't mind the demise of newspapers but I refuse to read a book on a computer, or Kendall or whatever. I like good old fashioned real books made from the ground up pulp of old growth redwoods. But they'll soon be as archaic as prehistoric drawing on cave walls.

I don't wear one, currently. I didn't wear a watch for a period of nearly 20 years because of the work I did around machinery would get them banged up. Then I wore one because I had to keep up with how long I had left on my lunch hour. Since around 2003, I've had a cell phone hanging on my belt and I'm not a "bling" kind of guy, so I don't care to have one. Besides, I have skinny wrists. I'm with you on the books, Wyatt, but I like real newspapers too.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

Watches long ago became some of the first "throw-away" items in a now long line of things we no longer refurbish or repair, we just use it up and throw it away.

Once upon a time a wristwatch was a quality implement and there were people and an infrastructure designed to repair and maintain them. No longer the case. To put the watch into a price range for the common consumer, they had to cheapen the design and manufacturing process like many other things. Progress . . . .

As with cobblers - hard to find a shoe shop at all these days that will repair shoes and the trend is toward cheap disposable footwear. I say cheap, but I think they are considerably over-priced for the quality delivered. But a good quality pair of leather shoes these days that can be re-heeled and re-soled that will last for years can still be had - but they are almost a hand-made specialty item and they are expensive.

I still like having a wrist watch, and I a quality piece. To me, Rolex is too much of a 'status shout.' So, I wear an Omega Speedmaster, Broad Arrow. Very nice watch, without the puff of wearing a Rolex. As for 'status,' people that know watches, know how good Omegas are, and it slides under the radar of those that don't. That's the way I roll...

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NRA Life Member

In 1989 for our 20th anniversary, my wife bought me a Rolex, Explorer II, in stainless steel. I wore the watch everyday for the past 23 years. The other day I noticed it had stopped and I couldn't reset the time. Turns out the mainspring and a few other things need replacement . Long story short, the value of my watch has increased to such a degree that rather than have my watch repaired, I'm able to upgrade, with a minimal additional investment, to a newer, rebuilt, two tone (steel/18K Gold) Submariner. The moral of my story; In the end quality tells.

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SEMPER-FI

In the mind of the masses, wrist watches are no longer "must haves".

Too many alternatives, quartz and digital have brought the price to a point of a Bic lighter, with just as much attachment.

However...

Among those that value a mechanical watch for the wearable art that it is, there is no slowdown.

Many fine brands, wonderful features and adornments, precious and exotic materials.

I bought a Rolex Sub Date in 1982, first of the sapphire/fast movement models. Still have it and it looks as good as the day I bought it. I've tried my level best to beat the snot out of it and so far I have had limited success. Each time I get the upper hand, a trip to the service center makes it new again.

Currently I own 2 Rolex, 3 Seiko's. The watch I am wearing right now is the Seiko 6105, for those that know 'em. Direct competitor to the Rolex Sub in its day.

A quality watch is the only jewelery a man can wear discreetly. Rings and chains, an earring perhaps (not for me), but a fine watch on your wrist makes a statement.

Some like cars, guns, fishing equipment, etc., but a watch is universal. Most men and women that appreciate fine things have one - or more.

Fine watches will always have a home.

In the summer of 1975 I worked all summer managing the city swimming pool. Saved my money and when I started college that fall (as a sophmore) I took my money and purchased a Rolex Submariner---for the pricy sum of $499 plus tax. I have worn this watch since then and will wear it till one of us dies first. It is stainless steel and I have the crystal replaced a couple of times. As stated above, quality tells.

I keep replacing the battery in my Timex Ironman and Casio G Shock and have done so for about ten years. My Citizen Dive Watch eats a battery each year so I don’t wear it anymore. The Seiko Kinetic I bought around the same time as a nice dress watch still ticks away as long as I wear it every now and then. The Seiko Kinetic that was passed on to me from my father is the same way. So until either of them fail me and are deemed not repairable I am set on nice wrist watches. If the Swiss Army pocket watch that I was given had a cover over the front I would wear it but it came with a small leather pouch that falls off in my pocket and the watch itself is just too big for any blue jeans watch pocket.

As the dinosaur I am, at all of 45 years old, I'll always wear a watch. I currently have 3 working ones. A Tag Heuer that my folks bought me in 1987, my Dads Hamilton Automatic that he got when he graduated high school in 1957, and a Timex Indiglo. Just a big "thank you" for Timex, I had another Indiglo that I bought about 8 years ago for $45. It stopped working, and a new battery didn't fix it. I sent it in to Timex and they sent it back saying it was beyond repair. But in the box was a brand new Indiglo and a bill for $10. I looked on their website and it retails for $75. That impressed me. I like the Indiglo as a watch for when I'm out late (which is most of the time). Press the stem and it lights up. It also looks pretty good. My late Father had a Rolex, which will probably be mine someday. This Timex is almost a dead ringer for it, but I'll bet it keeps better time.

A wrist watch still has this advantage over a cell phone as a timepiece, just as it had over a pocket watch: You don't have to dig it out of your pocket to tell the time.

Watches have always had a big profit margin for retailers. I think that the internet is hurting store front sales, since prices are often much lower, and you're getting exactly the same product.

Back in the 70's, Mistake #2 bought me an Accutron and like with her, I had a few issues with it, but not the same ones.

It took both hands to find out what time it was since you had to push a button to get the LEDs to light up.
I needed bifocals to see the small LED display long before I was old enough for presbyopia to set in.
I became obsessed with knowing exactly what time it was.

I soon got rid of both.

The wrist watch I carry these days has no numbers, only two hands and is mounted on a leather thingy with a small carabiner attached that clips into a belt loop.
It was a 25th wedding anniversary gift from SWMBO, who is #4 and definitely not a mistake.

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Age + Treachery = JohnnieB

I never realized it, but my father was ahead of the curve. On the day he retired from the Army Corps of Engineers, he walked out of the Customs House on Broad in Nashville, took off his watch, and threw it as far down the street as he could. In the remaining 29 years of his life, he never wore another one.

Buck

I like watches. But I have girly-wrists and I have worn wrist-watches all my life. I have had trouble fitting watches these days. There is no provision in society for guys with small wrists short of wearing women's watches. The watch repair shops of the old days are gone. I like watches over cell phones.

I have my "disposable" Casio G-Shock on my wrist as I type this. I did go through a spell of a couple of years where I didn't wear one, but I missed it, and I like to just glance and know the time.

It's not fancy, and I don't know how many batteries I've put in over the years (they last a long time, I don't replace them till they die), and I don't have to worry about water, sweat, powder, bumps, or much of anything else.

I'm pretty sure it will outlast me.

A watch may offer convenience but is often not needed. There are few times during the day when the exact time is needed from a watch due to the presence of clocks nearly everywhere and other time markers like bells, the coming and going of things or other people, the sun, etc. And, many people have a sense of time that has developed into an inner clock. One of my daughters and myself are usually within 15 minutes of the correct time when asked even though we do not wear watches. We often try to stump each other on this by surprise but each of us has a pretty good sense of time.

Long story ,short . Wristwatches are not going to go away in any of our lifetimes .

I have an absolute need for an accurate watch almost daily . Bells , whistles , the sun , or any other crude method of estimating the time just won't cut it .

I probably wouldn't wear one, except I have a buddy who peddles watches on the internet. Among other things, he gets Chinese and Russian "military" watches, big clunky things that you have to wind daily. They look cool, but they are impossible to read in anything less than perfect light. I find a lot of watches are like that, especially the ones with chrome hands on a black dial.

The watch I am wearing now is something that he dropped off a few months ago, a freebie called a Theorema Automatic. It is a very pretty, if somewhat bulky self-winder with three little dials for day of the week, month and 24-hour clock, and another hand with a red tip for day of the month, especially with the extra hand. The band is leather with a butterfly clasp that doesn't like to stay shut, and like so many others, it is impossible to read in low light. So why wear it? you may ask. Well, it was free.

For my money, the best watch you can buy is a Timex Indiglo, preferably with black hands on a white face. The little bit of light it sheds can be handy for more than just telling time, especially camping, where I might wake up and need to know right now who is in my tent, my wife or a bear cub.

I own five of them.. two nice ones.. (one for dress up and one for dress blues) and three plastic sport watches. Two of the plastic ones are identical: one for working/school and one for when I'm in ABUs. The other is for when I'm running or lifting etc.

Actually.. right now I'm wearing one watch and there is another on the computer desk ready to be called upon. I need watches... I feel naked without one.

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- The Federalist #46 -

Sir, I wore a Seiko dive watch constantly when I was in the Marine Corps, but quit as soon as I got out (still have the watch, though). Now'days, the only time I wear a watch is while I'm grilling or out in the woods.

Between the clocks, computers, cell phone, regular phone, TV, VCR, radio, stove, microwave, coffeepot, and car, I'm never more than a few steps from some sort of time-telling device. And if I am away from those things and need to know what time it is, someone will tell me--usually because it's important to them, not me.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

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Wishin' don't make it so.

My thinking exactly. For this same reason I am currently sporting a IWC Fliegerchrongraph with SS bracelet.

Tim

When you go out to the store unshowered in old sweats, a good watch tells people, "i'm eccentric, not homeless"...

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

I am addicted to wearing a wristwatch. When I don't have it on, I feel something is missing and I realize how often I glance at my left wrist to determine the time or date.

I have long lusted after Omega's or Breitlings (or a Grand Seiko), but I am far too cheap to buy something that expensive. I was a child and teen when quartz watches were cool. My first wristwatch was a cheap three-function digital in the early 80's. My second was a Casio quartz digital -- the famous "four button" watch -- around 1985. I loved, loved, LOVED that watch and was unhappy when it no longer would hold a wristband.

A few years ago I broke with my natural tendency for inexpensive watches and purchased a used Citizen Skyhawk, titanium. Amazon.com: Citizen Men's JR3060-59F Eco-Drive Titanium Skyhawk Chronograph Watch: Citizen: Watches I know that watch snobs won't be caught dead wearing a quartz watch, but I really like this watch. It's solar powered, contains 23 times zones, provides full date, chronograph, and countdown timer functions, and has an analog flight computer on the bezel. It is so accurate that in the nearly four years I have owned it, I have altered the time on it perhaps twice. The only thing I don't like about it is the impotence of the lighted hands. I can read them at night for a few hours and then not at all. Citizen remedied this by putting a backlight on the digital window in later models, and perhaps someday I'll own one.

Right now, the Skyhawk is the only working watch I own. A friend gave me an Ohio State Fossil watch but it has developed a problem, and I won't pay to have it fixed. 'Tis a shame, for I liked wearing my Ohio State watch with my jersey to Ohio Stadium. But the Fossil is nearly impossible to read in bright light, and I am always happy to shed it for my trusty Skyhawk. I suppose my Skyhawk is a lot like a favorite gun. Sure, you have or shoot others that are more accurate, more expensive, and more beautiful but when pressed, you always reach for Ole Trusty.

There will always be a segment of the population who own and wear watches. I expect that segment will shrink, until watches are developed that provide smart phone functionality. Don't think it will happen? Oh yes, it will.

They are going the way of the windup alarm clock.

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Front sight and squeeze

This thread inspired me; just like I have pictures of my "range queen" guns, but not my faithful everyday beater 642, I didn't have a picture of the watch I take for granted:



I do have an ESQ watch for the rare occasions I have to dress like a grownup.

I haven't worn one in ten years, and probably will never wear one again, but this article says wristwatch sales are climbing:

It's Time: The Wristwatch Makes A Comeback : NPR

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Rule of law, not a man.

Ever since my Navy days , I feel naked without a wrist watch. Got a cell phone with time on it , which I often forget. Got a clock in the dash of each vehicle , and in every room of the house. I'll be talking on the phone about what time to meet with others , yet I'll still look at my watch.

And I don't like a digital watch either. Been wearing a Wenger for 10yrs. it's held up thru some very hard (work & play) service.

I'm one of those old dinosaurs that wear a watch every day. I like the intricacies of the mechanical timepieces and don't much care for those new fangled cellular pocket watches everyone is carrying now a days. I have a few quartzies but for the most part I wear military styled 3 hand automatics or hand crankers.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Rolex Seadweller here. I like my bling
Why a Rolex over a Seiko??? Why an M&P over a Hi Point???
Defense Rests your honor!

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Forum consigliere

I always wear a watch, I hate cell phones so I never carry one.

I currently use an automatic most of the time. I am amazed at how well it keeps time. It is only off about 5 seconds from the last time I let it run down, about 2 months ago. Pretty good for purely mechanical device.

I wear a Croton self winder. I really don't know if Croton is cosidered a 'good' watch or not. (it was a gift)

I do think it's cool cause it ticks, and has a glass back so if boored you can watch all the little gears spin around.

Accurate ? Sorta, it gains about 2 minutes a week. Close enough for me.

Rolex? I'd like to be able to afford one, but would spend the cash on guns. If I was to wear a real Rolex everyone would think it was fake.

I have had watches made by Timex, Seiko, Benrus, Bulova, Casio, Armitron, and almost any other maker you can name. They had one thing in common. NONE of them lasted a full year. If I changed the battery, it'd die in a few weeks. If a jeweler changed the battery, it'd die in a few weeks. I sent one back to the factory and got another month or so out of it....

Back in 85 or 86, I had three watches die on me in quick succession. In a fit of disgust, I asked Grady (a close friend of the family that I regarded as a wise uncle) if anybody made a decent watch that would hold up. He told me to get a Rolex. I was about 18 and broke and thought Rolex watches were $10K+ and all looked like the one Crockett wore on Miami Vice. He straigtened me out on Rolex. He taught me about the stainless steel models, and he taught me about all the firsts and innovations in Rolex's history. (First self winding watch, first with the date, first with the day of the week, first waterproof, etc.) I was hooked. I wanted one.

It took me until Feb 1990 to find a like new pre-owned Rolex Air King at a price I could just barely swing...($500). I bought it with high hopes. Now, it's 2011. That watch still runs like it did the day I got it. It still looks exactly the same. I could sell it for about 4-5 times what I gave for it, AND I haven't wasted $200-$300/year on disposable watches over the last 21 years.

I am not a snob, I'm a very practical minded engineer, and I think that a Rolex is the greatest thing since sliced bread! If you take all the factors into consideration, I think it's the cheapest (long term) watch you can own! Collectors can spot differences in models over time, but to the untrained eye, a 1950's Submariner looks the same as a brand new one, so it's not likely to look "dated" anytime soon.

In 1996, I bought a Tudor Chronograph (lower priced brand of Rolex) and enjoyed the same service and the same appreciation in value. (Google Tudor Big Block Chronograph) In 2007, I bought a steel and gold blue faced Rolex Submariner, and it has been great as well.

I can't say enough good things about Rolex. To me, they're the S&W of watches! They are durable, long lasting, good looking, and just like S&W, they were always the best innovators!

Rawhyde

Oh, and lest we forget, they now make "Tactical" wristwatches. At least that's what they advertise in most of the gun magazines. Gotta have one of those if you're gonna go huntin' terrorists.

Rolexes are great. After my GMT got swiped, I replaced it with a high-quality knock-off I picked up on the street in China. Looks great, self-winding, markings identical, and if this one goes missing I'm out like $15 US. It's not quite the same (quartz movement), but no one has caught the difference yet.


Bullseye

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Five screws and 3-1/2 inches.

I need a good watch. Pocket watches are a PITA on the highway.
Bought a Zodiac on my way to 'Nam. Self-winder. Ran great for a couple of years 'til I cracked the crystal. 30 years later, cleaned it, got a new crystal and gasket, good to go. Flat as can be, hugs my wrist.
Spidel(sp?) 'Twist-o-Flex" band for a wrist that changes diameter with
temperature changes. Works for me! TACC1

I've worn a watch since I was a schoolboy, and I will continue to wear one until I die, or can no longer read one due to dementia or blindness. All things considered, it appears to me to be the speediest, most unobtrusive, convenient, practical, etc. manner of keeping track of the time.

I grew up on a farm, doing things like feeding sheep, building fence, repairing machinery, baling hay, and so on. Much of the time I was filthy from head to toe, with grease and oil, and/or sweat on my hands and the rest of me as well. Much of the work required both hands to be occupied at the same time. How would a cell phone do under such conditions? But a watch? -just turn the wrist a bit and glance downward, and you know how much longer before you have to quit. It strikes me that there are still a number of jobs which are performed under similar conditions. Nothing like having the time strapped to one's wrist for instant retrieval without the use of the hands.

Of course under conditions such as those I've just described one doesn't wear a premium brand. I've always used an inexpensive one, and they've lasted as long or longer than other more expensive ones described in this thread. My current watch is a Sharp, and it's served me so long I don't even remember exactly when I bought it -thinking it was the early 90's.

Andy

My Daytona with another Classic

That statement reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer stops using watches, clocks, etc to tell the time. I hope these "Many People" have better results than he did.

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SEMPER-FI

A little off topic, but I worked a burglary last year at a retired NFL player's home. His Super Bowl ring (played with the Denver Broncos back with Elway) and two Rolex watches were stolen. He had the receipts on the watches showing what he paid for them; one was $28,000 and the other was $41,000.

He'd hired some yard work done and he had an idea of who might have broken in the house so we followed up his leads and actually recovered the Super Bowl ring and the $41K watch within a couple of hours. The $28K watch we never recovered as the perpatrator had sold it for 50 bucks to buy drugs . . . we did recover the drugs.

I obviously don't shop in the same circles as this guy, I never even knew before then that Rolex made watches that cost that much. I'd always thought a good Rolex cost a couple thousand bucks, not that I'm ever going to guy one.

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- Change it back -

I have an Omega as well, along with a pair of Citizen Eco Drives that function well. The Omega is special; it is engraved on the back to my grandfather when he retired from Reynolds Metals Company in January of 1971. It sat in a lockbox from 1977 when he died until last year when I got it out, wound it up, and have had it running and wearing ever since. I'm with you; let the status symbol folks have their Rolexes; I'll stick with this and know that it is every bit the equal of a Rolex. Really a ****** pic, but the only one I have.

Attached Images

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MARK

wrist watch, cell phones, Dick Tracy was right...

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I used to be disgusted..

I'd like to know where to find one of those pocket watches. The last two I carried were both new (battery) Swiss Army. One I dropped on the floor. It stopped and never worked. The other stopped as well and never worked properly after battery changes.

I believe when we the older generation die off, less wrist watches will be worn. Young people have the time on their electronic toys.

For YEARS my life ran on a clock.
I had a nice watch for office work and a G-Shock for the field.

Then I retired
I don't need no stinkin' watches!

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In dog years I'm dead.

Respectfully, that's a poor analogy. The Hi Point does nothing better than the M&P.

I love finely made things, and back in the day when one could find heavily-discounted Rolexes in PXs I came very close to buying a Submariner on several occasions.

Unfortunately, I came to the conclusion that the only reason I wear a wristwatch is to be able to determine the *exact* time at any given moment, and no mechanical watch can perform that task as well as its quartz counterpart.

I own a very nice, 120 year old gold railroad pocket watch for nostalgia's sake, but I wear a Seiko.

My biggest problem with a watch is that my sweat eats metals. I can even corrode stainless. So that meant precious metal cases, and I couldn't afford that. So I put up with replacing a Seiko stainless every couple of years until the eroded sharp edges on the back starting cutting my wrist.

As my eyesight worsened with age, I found that a digital watch better served my needs, especially for the hard to read functions on an analog chronograph, such as stopwatch, alarms, and countdown timers. Then Seiko stopped making their stainless version.

What I was able to find was a little-known watch called Momentum SLK by the St. Moritz watch company in Vancouver, B.C. It was designed as a digital dive watch with a Sapphire crystal waterproof to 10 atmospheres, and it was available with a solid Titanium case and wrist band. Turns out it is "Buck-sweat" resistant - I've worn it for over three years with absolutely no corrosion of the metal surfaces at all. And it cost less than $200. It was a perfect match for my needs, and it only took me 60+ years to find it.

Buck

bought a rolex submariner at the px in san diego naval base. still wear it almost every day. for the s&w vs. hi-point comparison, that is exactly right. sell either one and tell me which brings the most money.

While Rolex watches are nice, there are some jobs they are just not suited for. I wear this old 20 year old Timex when I'm grinding steel or other such dirty dangerous work when I don't want to damage my good watches.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Until a decade or so ago I wore a military Hamilton that I did not turn in when I was discharged from the Army. As they charged me $22 for it as lost property I do not feel guilty. Then I switched to Seiko Automatics because I need a solid stainless case or my skin will eat holes in the case in a few months. It's hard to get them repaired though and in reality the repairs probably cost more than the watches are worth. Just don't like battery watches for some reason.