• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Anyone else into automatic wristwatches?

#521
I really appreciate Hamilton watches. Super useful, pretty rugged, and don't break the bank. I picked up one of their type-B flieger watches a while back. It's my "retirement watch", because i never know what day it is. Below is the original strap, which has been replaced by their brown strap.

20240418_195532.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: knumbskull, Crusher47, mrpackerguy and 7 others
#524
Seiko 5 these days is different than Seiko 5 of yesteryear. The 5s used to be the assembled in China watches which could be had at relatively low prices. The newest fives are quite pricey in comparison, but are a different animal.

If the watch is running well, there is really no need to service it. Servicing (removal and disassembly, cleaning, and assembly of the movement) will cost more than a brand new movement.

For watches like these I will usually clean them with an old toothbrush and use a dab of toothpaste to get all the grimy wrist cheese out of the nooks and crannies. Beyond gently wiping the watch with a polish cloth, polishing will remove the very thin gold colored plating, so I would not recommend doing much there.

For this watch, I would not say it is relic-ed, but it has wabi-sabi (侘寂). A lot of watch enthusiasts like this look. The watch will also take on a whole new look if you pair it with a leather strap or nato style strap. Try it and you may like it a lot!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Goatrope, RedVee and elgecko
#527
elgecko said:
My dad gave me this Seiko. I don't wear watches and even if I did, a gold one would probably be the last one I wore...I guess if I ever needed to get gussied up.

It's pretty beat up. Is getting it cleaned/polished a thing or is the watch community also into relicing?

View attachment 7124920
Click to expand...
Cleaning is good, polishing is often not preferred as it can soften sharp edges and blur transitions in the case surfaces. It’s also risky where you have playing as @BassNugget noted.

I don’t agree that the old 5s and the new 5s are that different - they’re still value-priced, decent quality mechanical watches. Seiko as a whole has moved a bit upmarket but there have always been a range of Seiko 5s, including some with quite nice finishing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Goatrope and elgecko
#528
Fun Size Nick said:
Cleaning is good, polishing is often not preferred as it can soften sharp edges and blur transitions in the case surfaces. It’s also risky where you have playing as @BassNugget noted.

I don’t agree that the old 5s and the new 5s are that different - they’re still value-priced, decent quality mechanical watches. Seiko as a whole has moved a bit upmarket but there have always been a range of Seiko 5s, including some with quite nice finishing.
Click to expand...
The difference that I saw may stem from the fact that I lived in Japan for 13 years. Seiko 5s as sold there in the 90s and 2000s could be had as low as $50.00 or less. These may not be the same as what was sold overseas at the time. At Yodobashi Camera Akihabara, they had a separate section and case for Seiko 5, as they were not made in Japan. So my comments are for the Japanese market as I remember it.

Honestly, I am very surprised at the new Seiko 5 pricing, especially compared to Orient (which Seiko now owns some part of). They have some very nice looking models though, and the 5 has always been a cult classic watch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Goatrope
#534
I realize this thread is about "automatic" watches... but people have been posting "watches" so I'm just going to play along.

I've had a dozen or so watches over the years. I actually still have my very first watch- got it around 1978 when I was around 9 years old- My C3P0/R2D2 watch. It doesn't work, and I'm sure it either isn't fixable or would be WAY more expensive to fix than what it's worth. I still also have the crappy plastic Timex that I had for the majority of my military career- again- it doesn't work.

Around 1995 or so I got a Timex Expedition- had it for like a year, and then lost it. I kept thinking it would turn up, but it didn't so when the same model turned up in the store- I bought another one- I don't think it was even a week before I found the first one. I still have them both.

My Grandfather passed away around 25 years ago- and while they were cleaning out his house, my Mom held out a box of watches and offered them to me. My Grandfather was a physician for 50 years and a pillar of the community. He always had good stuff. I really did not want to take anything of my Grandparents- I felt like I didn't want to 'profit' from their death. Knowing what I know now- my Mom was trying to pass stuff along to me just to get rid of it. I chose a watch. I don't remember him wearing the watch or anything- but it was his. It was a Clinton Automatic- I have rarely worn it.

My parents both passed away last year. When we were going through my Father's stuff, I found 2 non-working watches that he had squirreled away. One was a Seiko from the turn of the century and the other was his Bulova Accutron that I remember him wearing from the time I was a kid. My guess is the Accutron stopped working so he bought the Seiko. I took them to a watch repair place- they said the Seiko would cost more to repair than it was worth- but I wanted to pass something along to my nephew so I got them both repaired. I've been wearing that Accutron a lot since getting it repaired. I think it was probably my Father's first "big kid's watch" as it was made a year after I was born and as he was getting settled into his career.

SW Watch by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

Watches by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr


EDIT- so FLICKR links no longer work???



IMG_4792.jpeg
IMG_6212.jpeg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: BassNugget, Goatrope and shadowtippy
#537
This is my latest, a Jack Mason Ellum that arrived this past Thursday. I had been looking for a classic dress watch with silver case and gold hands and markers, and I became interested in the Ellum when it was first released. I handled the green dial version at Worn & Wound in NYC last October, and I loved it, but I thought it was overpriced, and I wanted a lighter colored dial. A few months later, Jack Mason dropped the price by $150, and then they released it with a "sand" dial. So I took the plunge.

When it arrived, I was taken aback by the dial, because it looked much more like a "champagne" dial than it appeared in some photos on Jack Mason's site. I even thought about returning it, but it grew on me. I wanted to wear it more than send it back, so I strapped it on for work on Friday.

And I'm glad I did, because I quickly learned that the champagne/gold effect was accentuated by the lighting in our dining room where I opened the box. In other lighting, it's much more like the photos on Jack Mason's site, and it looks almost ivory in some natural light. The linen texture adds some nice character IMO. I think it's great, and I'm extremely happy with it.

The handwound Sellita movement has been accurate, and the 38mm case is a perfect size for me. I would prefer automatic and/or no-date, but the handwound movement allows for a thin case, which makes the watch extremely comfortable. The strap is darned nice too. Assembly in the USA is a nice bonus, because I like supporting domestic watchmaking.

IMG_3643.JPG
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: 2saddleslab, Goatrope and BassNugget
#539
Photo 4-14-25, 12 50 55 PM.jpg



just recently got this SPB103 from seiko. The stock bracelet was terrible, so i put it on a strapcode endmill.

I got into watches because i was teaching private music lessons full time and thought it was unprofessional to use my phone for checking the time. That's why i gravitate towards divers, for the timing function, as well as just loving them for what they are.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Nedmundo, Joshua, marchone and 3 others
#540
HeavyDuty said:
I've always liked automatics (i.e. self winders, not battery powered) but never did much about it. Recently I discovered that there's a vibrant market in economical automatics. I've been wanting to put the two good watches my late wife gave me away as keepsakes, so the timing of this realization was good. I picked up a few new watches using a slug of credit card loyalty points I had that were redeemable at Amazon.

I've decided to concentrate on Seiko automatics with the 4:00 position stem, they are decent quality and reasonably priced. I have four already and will probably stop there. Probably.

I don't have pics of all yet, but here are two:

SRP313 Monster ("vampire" variant):

View attachment 675894

SKX007 on a Strapcode Super Oyster II bracelet - this one is mod fodder, I'm changing the bezel insert to start:

View attachment 675895

Who else is into these silly things?
Click to expand...
I’ve had a couple self winders over the years that eventually quit working. When I retired (the first time) and since I was selfemployed I bought a Tissot PRS200 chronograph as my retirement watch. That was in 2010. 3 batteries 3 jobs and 2 more retirements later, it’s still working fine. Increadible accuracy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BassNugget and groooooove

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back