Wrist watches

Cerebus

Cerebus

N/A
Joined
4 May 2025
Messages
1,185
Visit site
Do you wear one?

I have a new one today but the leather strap is too stiff so I am soaking it in a solution to make it supple.

Youngsters do not seem to wear them and rely upon a mobile phone (some are bulky).

A wrist watch requires a flick of the wrist to see the time.

I do like wrist watches and have a tiny collection (not one worth more than £100) but all very unique and interesting to me and accurate (except a vintage pocket watch; Made in Great Britain and hopefully just needs a service).

The new one is “automatic” and ‘winds’ itself by movement presumably in some manner. It was a gift, so I am looking after it carefully.

I prefer to see the time upon my wrist rather than dig out a mobile phone; horses for courses or just habit; I do not know.

I wear a cheap waterproof £20 watch when sailing; alarm, light and tells me state of tide (reasonably accurately).

Another watch is stored below decks because I like a backup system.
 
I like to wear a watch too.
I have a couple of cheap ones from Lidl for normal day to day use . A slightly better water resistant Casio for sailing and a old self winding mechanical one that was originally my sailing watch.

Trouble with the quartz watches is that the battery is being run down all the time whether or not I am wearing them.

The trouble with the self winding watch is that if I don't wear it it stops unless I wind it manually every day. Also as I get older and less active it does not wind fully automatically even when I am wearing it.

I also have my Grandfather's pocket watch, but that is just a curiosity that lives in a little cloth bag in a drawer.

My wife had a minute gold cocktail watch that needed a microscope to read it. It was a 21st birthday present from her Grandmother. She couldn't tell the time on an ordinary clock face so being so small did not matter .......... unfortunately I have mislaid it. :(
 
I used to sail with a Casio thingy with a barograph function that I liked. Eventually I gave up and went back to my Analogue Pulsar which is basically easier to read. Although only splash-proof it seems to have endured the pain without complaint. I don’t want to reach into my pocket or go looking for a clock or readout every time I want to know the time.
 
I have:
An Apple watch - fairly old one which won't be compatible with the next version of the phone OS so I may replace. I wear it most of the time.
A very old Swatch, one of the original simple black ones. I wear it if I'm doing something particularly messy or if there is risk of damage.
A Swiss Army watch which was given to me as a reward for completing a project, coincidentally by the company my current travelling companion used to work for. I have had it on a couple of times just to show her I still have it.
Like @VicS , I have my grandfather's pocket watch in a box in a drawer. It's a beautiful thing but I never carry it.
 
Last edited:
I try to remember to remove batteries and cellotape them to the case if I know I won’t be using them for a while. Unfortunately I found my ultra slim, 21st birthday watch (oh I feel old) without the battery; means good research or a trip to a watch repair shop (the battery space is about 3mm in diameter)!

The self wind watch is new to me; I don’t know a lot about it or how it works and recharges (except for movement obviously) I have made assumptions but will need to Google them. For now I am trying to make the leather supple so I don’t damage it.

I will then try to wear it and see if it keeps charge and time; I should Google the charging regime.

Watches with plastic straps in these modern days I find the strap fails. One failed within a year.

I have Casio watches from the 1970’s with perfect plastic straps.

What’s that all about I wonder. Different plastic?

I see on awful Ebay people selling Casio retro watches for quite a bit whilst I still own original ! 1970 Casio watches.

Weird world.

I need to join Ebay perhaps.
 
Cerebus said:
.....The self wind watch is new to me; I don’t know a lot about it or how it works and recharges (except for movement obviously) I have made assumptions but will need to Google them. For now I am trying to make the leather supple so I don’t damage it.
Click to expand...

Simply, its a flywheel in the back of the watch that rotates as you move, winding the spring. Obviously there will be a ratchet arrangement so it only winds one way.

If you know any horsey people, borrow a bit of leather oil for the strap. Let it soak in, wipe off any surplus, repeat if required.
 
Cerebus said:
I try to remember to remove batteries and cellotape them to the case if I know I won’t be using them for a while. Unfortunately I found my ultra slim, 21st birthday watch (oh I feel old) without the battery; means good research or a trip to a watch repair shop (the battery space is about 3mm in diameter)!
Click to expand...
Battery identification and cross reference chart here Watch Battery Cross Reference Table/Chart for all Watch Batteries but I dont see anything that small
 
I started a thread a while back re buying (or not) an expensive watch. Turned into quite a long thread. In the end I bought a £100 automatic and it’s been great, but the Omega itch is still there… The nice thing about automatics and mechanical watches is that except for a service once in a blue moon, you don’t have to open them up to change a battery - which to my mind means less chance of post-opening ‘leakiness’.
 
I only have a Casio waveceptor watch, that's a radio controlled watch, so it corrects itself to the radio signal regularly.
I use it because all the sailing clubs round here use radio controlled clocks for start timing.
No more messing around with stop watches..
They are also cheap you can pick one up for under £30, I've left half a dozen of these things in the water in over 40 years of sailing...
 
penberth3 said:
Simply, its a flywheel in the back of the watch that rotates as you move, winding the spring. Obviously there will be a ratchet arrangement so it only winds one way.

If you know any horsey people, borrow a bit of leather oil for the strap. Let it soak in, wipe off any surplus, repeat if required.
Click to expand...
I was given an Omega some time in the ‘50s by my parents. I still have it though it is in poor condition. It is ‘automatic’ and is powered by a weight around its perimeter that acts as a sort of circular pendulum with movement. I only learned a few years ago that this mechanism was invented by an Englishman in the 1940s and soon adopted by almost all makers.
 
I wear a Garmin Fenix 8. It has a torch (red and white) built in, can display charts, does plotter stuff, compass and GPS plus barometer. It’s a capable dive watch and monitors health and records various activities. Battery lasts around 10 days.
It also has sapphire crystal, titanium case and strap and I have leather and silicone straps for it which swap in seconds.
Best watch I’ve ever had.
 
My "day watch" is a Casio G-Shock G100 that's 30 years old but, like Trigger's broom, the bezel has been replaced and the strap several times. Currently wearing a £6 "fitness watch" as it's easier to change the time zones when travelling. Not allowed to wear a wrist watch at work due to infection control.
 
I haven't worn a watch in many years, although I have some good ones in a box somewhere, including a Patek Phillippe.

Not a youngster, but I find the mobile is a perfectly good timepiece.

On board I have the nav system display time (set to Zulu).
 
Casio Edifice. Waterproof, solar powered, price around £100. Tough as old boots. Stopwatch, light, etc. connects to phone for different time zones. Perfect reasonably priced sailing watch.
 
I have / had a number of expensive watches that people like to call Bling or penis extensions but my daily wear ( I have worn a watch continuously for over 60 years, except for periods on a boat) is this with a leather strap, I quite like it and since buying it a year ago when another forumite had bought one a number of people I know have remarked on it and a few have bought one.
Seagull 1963 - 40mm White Panda Sapphire Edition
 
Was given a wrist watch for21 and lost it…….became very good at tellingthetimewithoutreferencetoa watch or clock but now with a mobile phone my time telling is otro accurate as I am reliant on the phone😏
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top