Expensive watches on boats.

[Bouba]

I understand the idea of buying a masterpiece and keeping it in a safe while a copy is hung on the wall...even diamond jewelry. But fake name brands can get you into trouble (I could be wrong but) in some places like Italy you can be prosecuted for having fakes

 

[Muddy32]

My 3rd seconda cost about £25. Looks like a Rolex but who looks closely? They last at least 10+ years and I test them for waterproof ness in a diving chamber to 25m, which is as far down I ever want to go underwater. They tell the time enough to use them for Astro Nav. Easier to use than GPS.

 

[doug748]

Super fakes are even fooling some experienced sellers, and only when the watch gets to Rolex is it found to be a fake. That is how good the super fakes are, but they probably cost £500+
I did consider changing one of my watches for a different model via a second hand watch seller. The reality of the super fakes in 2024 put me off. I know what I have but if the clones are now so good they are fooling people who sell these for a living, then I don't want to risk it.

There is a person at my golf course I have heard about, who rather oddly, buys the real watches, then buys the fake version and only wears the fake.

Pagani Design "homage" watches, (clones) on the other hand offer sapphire glass, good steel, automatic for less than £150. They seem to have a wide range in terms of quality though. So research is key. I bought one for golf because I did not want to jar the automatic movements in my other watches. Yeah, they can probably handle it, but if they dont....so, I paid less than £100 for a homage and it does it 6-12 hours of golf very well.
Cheaper on Aliexpress than Amazon if you have the patience.

Good tip, these Pagani watches seem excellent value. A shame they all seem to be a silly size, although I must admit most modern watches are a silly size - 1/2 inch think and as big as a dinner gong.

Strange how some folk think a bigger car must be better or a bigger boat or a bigger watch. Seems odd to me.

.

 

[ghostlymoron2]

This topic seems to have morphed into a general discussion on best watches. Wearing an expensive watch on a boat is obviously a bad idea - they're too likely to become MOBs.
I personally don't wear one except when travelling.
I also don't use top brand tools on my boats (my spanners are Silverline) and quite adequate for most applications.

 

[Birdseye]

Good tip, these Pagani watches seem excellent value. A shame they all seem to be a silly size, although I must admit most modern watches are a silly size - 1/2 inch think and as big as a dinner gong.

Strange how some folk think a bigger car must be better or a bigger boat or a bigger watch. Seems odd to me.

.

On any rational basis, high priced branded goods rarely if ever make sense. In the case of Omega and Rolex etc you pay 25% for the watch and 75% for the brand name on it and that in turn is only worth doing if someone else knows what it cost. As the CEO of |Rolex said, his watches are simply jewelry.

Occasionally people do notice - I bought my wife a gold Rolex because she liked the sparkly diamonds it was encrusted with - and her mates noticed. For me its a Seiko because the last Seiko I had survived being run over by my motorcycle ( I still dont know how I did that) so a cheap and functional watch will suffice.

My advice to the OP is only to buy the Omega if he is relaxed about using it all the time and maybe losing it. The question he asks suggest that he isnt.

 

[Skylark]

Now running to 19 pages which I see as pleasing in that we are all different, hence have differing opinions.

I don’t understand the need to be “rational”, especially as we are debating this within a boaty forum, hardly a good example of a rational purchase.

I’m happy to maintain my view of “buy what you want”. No need to justify anything, especially if the purchase makes one feel good, happy. I really don’t see the point of showing anything off to anyone.

 

[oldbloke]

Good tip, these Pagani watches seem excellent value. A shame they all seem to be a silly size, although I must admit most modern watches are a silly size - 1/2 inch think and as big as a dinner gong.

Strange how some folk think a bigger car must be better or a bigger boat or a bigger watch. Seems odd to me.

.

I agree, my posh watch is a 45yr old Seiko quartz and by modern standards it's tiny. Most lady's watches are smaller. If I am on a posh night out and need to rotate my bezel 50m deep the evening has got way out of hand

 

[Bouba]

I no longer wear a watch.....in fact it started half century ago....I lived on a tiny tropical Polynesian island ....and people would keep stopping me to ask the time....it got to a point that I had to stop wearing it. Occasionally in the intervening fifty years, I have taken up watch wearing ....but not often. And now, with a mobile phone on me permanently....who needs a watch.
But I have many times researched buying a Longine Evidenza...but usually stop myself before I part with money

 

[colind3782]

My day watch is a Casio G-Shock which is like Trigger's broom, several new straps and a new bezel over 26 years but still going strong. I have a Seiko as a "going out watch" and a couple of cheapos lying around in drawers. I have a Philip Persio which I got for free after getting an insurance quote or something which I leave on Euro time for travelling. One of the local watch sellers in Empuriabrava looked at it and said "nice Rolex" so it just goes to show! I did have a Bremont DH88 which I have just unloaded through Watchfinder at a huge loss as the price was going nowhere and I was having a determined clearout.

 

[ridgy]

It's sad really as with the skill to build a near perfect Rolex and sell it for £500, that manufacturer could surely start their own watch brand. I'd pay £500 for a real high quality mechanical watch that wasn't a knock off of a more expensive brand.

Nearly all "swiss" mechanical watches costing between 300 and 2000 are identical inside, that being an ETA 2824 derivative or it's equivalent sellita clone. The "brand", be it Hamilton or longines or whatever just make the outside bits and maybe polish the rotor for a bit of bling. Hamilton and Tissot start at about 350 as they are owned by Swatch who also own ETA so you can imagine they get their movements for a very good price.

The retail punter can buy the movement for about 200. Fancy that nice 3 grand chronograph with it's 3 buttons? That will almost certainly have an ETA 7750 in the middle of it which you can buy for about 275 so how much are the watch companies getting them for.

I also put the word swiss in quotes and I'll leave it to the reader to Google what it actually means. I like mechanical watches and have three but happy at the cheaper end of the scale because of what I know.about the industry.

 

[KREW2]

Since I've retired, I don't wear a watch except when I'm travelling. It gives me a great sense of freedom.
My friend has an expensive Omega or somesuch, he found that it cost him £500 to change the battery because it had to be returned to the manufacturer or the warrantee would be invalidated.

Not a real watch if it is run on a battery.

 

[Bouba]

Not a real watch if it is run on a battery.

You mean it’s not a mechanical watch if it is run on a battery

 

[KREW2]

You mean it’s not a mechanical watch if it is run on a battery

Yes, you can usually tell a fake Rolex they are mostly quartz and don't have a sweep movement on the second hand, and the fake will keep better time.

 

[Obi]

Yes, you can usually tell a fake Rolex they are mostly quartz and don't have a sweep movement on the second hand, and the fake will keep better time.

FWIW x3.
I think that was true in the 80s, but even since the 90s when I back packed though the home of fake things, S.E. Asia (On a shoestring for those who know), most Rolex fakes costing about £10-20 were automatic with a sweeping hand even then.

A fake automatic watch will not keep better time than a genuine automatic. No chance whatsoever. A fake quartz may keep better time than a genuine automatic. But that is not the point for owners of genuine watches.

Also, £500 for an Omega battery change is absolutely not accurate. Even replacing water proof seals would not incur a cost like that to change a battery.

Now, a service not a battery change, that is different, and I cannot speak about services costs on Omega. However, I imagine the cost for a service on a watch with a battery vs mechanical could/should be very different. But this is 2025 and greed runs amok so whilst servicing a technical watch is much more involved than a quartz it is entirely possible Omega has closed the gap between service costs for quartz & mech, because people will have to pay it.

 

[fredrussell]

I’m hoping they’ll make a ‘super clone’ of a Speedmaster Professional (the watch that launched this thread). That would do me fine, to be honest.

 

[Skylark]

I have a couple of cheap Casio watches (good for Astro timekeeping), both have the Lifetime Battery changes deal from Timpsons. I was bequeathed a Longines dress watch. It needed a new battery so, naturally, I took it to Timpsons. Can't remember the price quoted, something like £75. When I queried this their response was "because it's an expensive watch so we charge accordingly".

 

[rotrax]

Yes, you can usually tell a fake Rolex they are mostly quartz and don't have a sweep movement on the second hand, and the fake will keep better time.

Yes, my 20 Euro Sexton Blake Rolex keeps perfect time. So does my thirty year old S/S Seiko Quartz. Last battery in that was in Wellington, NZ four years ago.

 

[obmij]

I’m hoping they’ll make a ‘super clone’ of a Speedmaster Professional (the watch that launched this thread). That would do me fine, to be honest.

You can! They are widely available - a quick search and you can pick one up for £150, although you could probably get one cheaper off a looky looky guy along with a nice pair of raybans.


C'mon though Fred. What kicked this off is your 50th and a choice between a speedy, a nice guitar or replacing the standing rigging!

It's your 50th! Get a nice guitar at least!

 

[lustyd]

have a couple of cheap Casio watches (good for Astro timekeeping), both

Two is a bad number as you don’t have a way to decide which to trust. If you add a third then you can spot the one that’s wrong

 

[fredrussell]

C'mon though Fred. What kicked this off is your 50th and a choice between a speedy, a nice guitar or replacing the standing rigging!

Well, I DIYed my standing rigging in the end and that saved me a huge amount so it’s now between the guitar and the watch, though I have ‘mostly’ now accepted that both are frivolous wants and that I need to get a grip on myself. I’ve mostly accepted that…