I don’t even know how this sort of thing happens, but it seems someone is faking Blue Monsters now. I suppose there’s a market for them, but it literally looks like they molded the entire watch and just recast it. Very strange.
A big to do about Steinhart over at WuS today. Steinhart sells “homages,” watches that look strikingly similar to well known brands but have enough subtle differences to stand as their own brand. I can support their efforts, but I’m kind of tired of the homages to Rolex and Panerai I see. I think there are plenty of odd, little houses out there that deserve our cash rather than some junk dealers who traffic in Chinese-made crap. Sorry. Ranting.
Detailed discussion of Swiss Army Watches over at WuS. I’ve actually been quite impressed with some of them, especially their newer mechanical line. What’s your experience been?
Good value for the money and they have gotten serious. They have
been selling mechanical watches for some time and have a three year
warranty.
Chad the Watch Guy caught some shop and home freaks talking about a beautiful “flying Guilloche” on a cheap hunk of watch they were flogging. His response? Bull!
Beautiful patterns are meticulously carved into metal using an old rose machine –one that has not been manufactured in over fifty years. You can count master guillocheurs on one hand, and none have the ability to “mass” produce. Even high-end companies like Chronoswiss stamp their dials to mimic an original guilloche style.
The Rare Flying Guilloche [Chad the Watch Guy]
Trust me, people. This Seiko is not worth $1,000 or $3,800. It’s a standard Frankenseiko with a unique face. I don’t understand what this guy is trying to pull, but the Seiko forums have seen this guy pop up over and over again. Very strange.
Crap like this has made me stop using eBay.
eBay: Rare Seiko 6159-7001 300M GS Diver item 120078258069 end time Jan-29-07 01:35:40 PST
Sell fake Panerais
A good thread on the Big Watch Forum discusses the problem most watch newbies have with paying $4000 for a hunk of steel. I’m pretty much past that stage, but just remember watch fans: you and potentially five other people in your metro area will be able to recognize and appreciate that hunk of steel for what it really is…
Not to sound like a complete idiot…
Looks like Hublot has finally jumped the shark with the Big Bang. They’ve driven it so deeply into the ground that even guys like Chad, who SELLS watches for a living, is sick of it. I liked it at first – it has a nice style, a nice heritage, and a nice story. However, now that they’ve covered it over with rose gold, diamonds, and elf sprinkles, I’m getting kind of tired of it.
Not Such A Hit! [Chad the Watch Guy]
This quote from this WuS thread says it all.
A dufus came into the shoppe yesterday wearing a fairly new TAG
Carrara Chrono. One of the pushers had fallen out and so to make the
watch look “even,” this brain dead twit pulled out the other pusher
with a pair of pliers. To top it off, he wasn’t going to have it repaired,
plus he has a girlfriend! I hope they don’t get married and
have kids.
Moron of the Month – [Watchuseek Watch Forums]
Here we go. Here are 5 great posts by 5 great readers on why they deserve an Alpha GMT. Please vote on your favorite after the jump.
Friends, neighbors, and esteemed readers – here’s a doozy of a contest. Prove to me that you need a sweep GMT hand because you live in a very special spacial rift between continents and I’ll send you a brand spanking new Alpha GMT Diver. Leave a comment after this post and then we’ll see who has the best reasoning. Then you’ll have in your hot little hand an Alpha GMT diver. I’d rather give this thing away than take a hammer to it.
Scott at WatchUSeek.com asks:
How often do you switch watches? I recently got my second dream watch and now find myself changing watches at least daily – and in some cases twice a day. Is this a disease or am I normal? Help!
Scott, it is a disease and is as pernicious as VD or a case of red eye. You should immediately go out and buy a Timex from the local drug store, put it on, and don’t take it off until the rubber strap shreds into a disgusting, sweat-stinking mass of plastic by-product. At that point, you’ll probably be cured. Unless you put on a Seiko.
Changing watches [WatchUSeek]
Where have I seen this before? Where? Canal Street? The Tourneu Shop? Hrmm….
I’m actually being mean. Alpha makes eBay watches that “look” like real brands – the Omegas and Rolexi of the world – and cost about $50. As a starter piece, this is a good choice, but your best bet is going legit with a used watch or a Seiko.
Hump Day Roll Call [Seiko & Citizen Forum]
Ok, so I guess I’m OK. I just hope I don’t get my Seamaster back in the same shape !
When the watch first came back (about a month late against the estimate) it had been gouged by the tooling and was sent back for polishing but after rework it came back with a new gouge! This, to save time, was polished out in a couple of days by a local watch repairer kindly arranged by my dealer to alleviate my frustration at this stage. I received my watch back on 10 Oct 2003 (2 months later than the original estimate). This was short lived however, as within about 2 days the lower chrono button was loose and hanging off. It was returned once again for rework.
I picked up my Speedmaster on 5 November 2003, nearly 6 months after originally dropping it off for service. Ironically, I also picked up my (perfectly) repaired Seamaster on the same date. The Speedmaster was apparently working fine gaining ~6 secs/day. However, in February 2004, I noticed that not only was the watch apparently letting water in (splashed from hand washing) the chronograph second sweep hand now resets around +2secs.
I’d say that we actually need more watchmakers. I’ve been considering going to watch repair school at some point, and this might be the time.
Omega Speedmaster Service Screwed up by Swatch! [Velociphile]
So I put a Seamaster Chrono in for some repair with the Swatch Group. Called once in April… “Oh, it’ll be ready in a week. Call back.” Ok. Cool. Call again: June 29th, baby, but don’t worry, we’ve got the parts! Then I call today and they tell me July 19. Seriously. I’m all for taking time and doing things right, but this is just ridiculous. If Apple, Lexus, or Bose, or any of those high-end folks tried this, they’d be shut down in a week.
