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Kofe time edition.
You may only post in this thread if you have a recognizable collection and or watch and want to contribute to the discussion or if you just want to post in a watch thread.

>Your budget
>Preferred brand or manufacture
>Watch type, e.g. dress, diver, pilot, etc
>Movement, e.g. automatic, hand-wound, quartz, etc
>Desired features, e.g. water resistance, day/date, chronograph, etc
>Preferred strap option, e.g. leather, nylon, bracelet, etc
>Wrist size or desired watch size

Let's keep it polite. This is a gentleman's hobby after all.

Previous thread: >>18358394
>>
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My battery keeps dying
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quartz time

>>18364841
cool watch desu. I guess it's time to get to it checked.
>>
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The real question is:
>why not?
>>
>>18364864
It would be better with no date window. Looks weird without the cyclops and a date window
>>
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>>18364869
I like having a date on it, and I hate the cyclops, so for me it's a win-win. Then again, I still remember the era when sub owners were removing the cyclops to make their watches look more like seadwellers...those were the days.

What watch are you wearing today, Fren?
>>
>>18364864
Why not what? You confuse me, fren.
>>
Guys help me decide my poorfag trinity, so far I am thinking:

Rolex - OP or Datejust
Omega - Speedmaster White Dial - locked in
Cartier Santos or Seiko Snowflake GMT

I know its supposed to be R/O/C but I don’t really care for Cartier, I do love all of my Seikos and I can’t get the Snowflake GMT SBGE285 out of my mind. I want 3 GADAs, I never do dressy occasions so there’s really no reason for me to even consider a Cartier.
>>
thoughts on watch winders?

also, my gf bought me a wolf winder and my vintage dj wont fit the roll inserts given so im screwed
>>
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>>18364881
The grouping doesn't have to be anything, Fren. Just buy what you love and don't look back. The Cartier isn't worth it unless you truly love the piece, the Rolex will be fine (but I'd probably go with the datejust of the two options), and make sure you give yourself enough time to get through the heroin-desire phase of the Snowflake.

>>18364885
No need for them. If the watch isn't going to be worn, let it wear down and stop. Unless you have hands like a gorilla, you're not going to damage the watch by setting it and winding it when you're ready to wear it. Also, I don't see the point in running a watch when I'm not wearing it unless I'm doing timing tests over a long period of time.

>one of my 'poorfag' trinity
>>
>>18364885
Watch winders really aren't necessary at all. The only time they're really useful is if you have a watch that is for whatever reason a pain in the ass to set and you're planning to wear it again a week later or something.

Some people believe they can "damage" watches, which is generally not true, but they can potentially increase the wear that your watches endure over shorter periods of time and make your watches need maintenance sooner if you're using winders to keep them wound up at all times.
>>
>hobby
I assume you tinker then? no? then you're just a consoomer
>but I change the straps
lmao
>>
>>18364892
Who are you quoting?
>>
>>18364892
Based and ali express parts buying pilled
>>
>>18364892
Based straps enjoyer
>>
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*ahem*
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>>
Kofe Time
>>
>>18364955
it just looks like a toilet bowl to me
>>
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>>18364955
>a literal PRX clone

Does Vacheron really?
>>
>>18364885
return to seller or sell it
>>
>>18364853
the poorfags on here are so gross
>>
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>>
>>18365049
Whenever you ACTUALLY need a watch, it's always a HAQ. Remember that folks.
>>
>>18364834
Do you have any pics of the citizen on a black / dark brown leather strap?
>>
>>18364925
If you have the money for a tudor you should have the money to drop 1k on a dressier piece to wear with a suit
>>
>>18365016
Nice bait or retarded?
>>
>>18364925
>diver with a suit
>>
>>18364853
>>18365049
Based Promaster
>>
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Wait, it's all ETA?
>>
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>>18365458
>>18365464
>>
>>18365478
The reason why it's so famous that James Bond wears a diver with a suit is because no one wears a diver with a suit
>>
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>>18365481
>>
>>18365483
Royals aren't real humans
>>
>>18365483
His mom gave him that. He wears it with everything.
>>
>>18365478
Straps are so much better than bracelets. It really de-clunks a diver a lot
>>
>>18365473
It's all a swatch
>>
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>>18364841
based penisquartz enjoyer
take it to a watchmaker and let him try and clean it
>>
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>>18365498
I agree, and you can change the character of the watch on a whim.
>>
watchmaking seems like such a fun thing to do.
why is no one here doing it instead of buying this overpriced slop?
>>
>>18365680
I think it costs about a billion to desogn and mass produce a movement from scratch.
>>
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Talk me out of getting this shitter
>>
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Just copped 1974 Omega from a euro seller, all original down to the crown and crystal. Barely worn and in the rare red dial. I’m over the moon all week, highly recommend looking into vintage Omega
>>
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>>18364834
EMIT KOFE
>>
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Mood: Sleepy
>>
>>18364864
>I want my submariner to be as fat as an omega
>>
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>>18365453
No, I've only ever had it on a bracelet.
They do have some models sold on a strap: https://www.citizenwatch-global.com/the-citizen/lineup/5sec/index.html
>>
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any gay guys on here today???
>>
>>18365693
I'm not complaining, ETA's and their clones are really good movements, and tbqh just making an original one to be special is counterproductive.
I just find it funny how some watch brands speak so much about "heritage" and "engineering" when all they do is slap a pre-designed lego piece inside a case.
>>
>>18365747
This is why chink brands are better than swatch sub brands 95% of the time, they're larping and lying instead of just larping
>>
>>18365756
Chink movements are low q though.
They're only good for making cases, straps, and some simple dials.
>>
>>18365773
*by they I mean the chinks
>>
>>18365773
Chinks offer sellida, seiko, miyota and seagull movements.
>>
>>18365810
table for one i suppose :(
>>
This Casio Ring Watch is so popular that the UK's website crashed just after it was released
>>
GAV-01
New G-Slop leak
Presumed to the V stands for virgin
Further updates soon
>>
>>18365826
it looks like a cute piggy nose :33
>>
>>18365705
meh it just wants to be a black bay
>>
>>18365706
what kind of cash did you drop on that gem
>>
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So the blue pagani is *supposed* to have an nh35 and the addiesdive is *supposed* to have an nh35a. The addiesdive hacks and handwinds and has a loud rotor and the date function isn't working without setting 24 hours forward or backward and the pagani doesn't hack and has a nearly silent rotor and the datewheel functions with the crown and it doesn't handwind. Which one of these shitters are lying to me or both?
>>
>>18365867
Based chink shitter enjoyer
>>
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>>18365868
I found out 39mm is too small for my tastes and wrist. Thanks shitters. I'll be giving this to a small buddy. I will say the lume on this one is bright and the bracelet was actually very nice, much nicer than paganis. I'd say if you're under 5'10 you should go for it to see if you like a field watch when it's like $54 on sale.
>>
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>>18365876
Yes. Be a man and get yourself ONLY +40mm watches.
Fuck them sissies with their womanly 36mm cuck watches.
Congrats, brother.
>>
>>18365928
40mm is only a medium but can work with long enough lugs.
>>
>13 inch bicep
>wrist barely even 6 inch
god has forsaken me
>>
>>18365934
>6'2"
>wrist barely over 6 inches
Ayylmaomaxxing
>>
>>18365950
I'm 6'2 with 7.25" and I thought mine were small for my size lol
>>
>>18365956
6.5-7.5 is average for a grown man
>>
>>18365961
So just like penises
>>
>>18365867
Nevermind I messed with it more and it does have a phantom date, handwinding, and hacking. I was just afraid to break the stem before. I guess I did get 2 nh35s with sapphire crystals for $54/ea.
>>
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Kofe time.
>>
>>18365049
based and tool-watch pilled
>>
>>18365800
Should've clarified, that by chinks I mean Chinese.
Movements designed and manufactured by chinese are low quality.
Miyota and Seiko are Japs, Sellita are mountain Jews.
Not a big fan of miyota but Seiko and especially grand Seiko is good stuff.
Seagull movements are often just copies of eta movements but made with low q materials.

Honestly one should just get high q movements off eBay and assemble whatever watch you want using cases and dials from Chinese copies.
>>
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>covfefe
>>
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Kot time
>>
>>18366114
Basado
>>
>>18366114
Based weekdater chad. What's your grail?
>>
>>18366082
Anon the chinese will sell you watches with miyota, seiko, and sellita movements. Or you can get a seagull from them if you want a mechanical chronograph under $500. But they put seiko nh35 and nh34 in almost everything that is under $200 and automatic. If you want a sellita from them it will be like $400 from san martin.
>>
>>18366125
But who would want a san mart-
>>
>>18365742
Is there anything other than that?
Now kiss me you fool
>>
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>>18366124
Grail? Absolute grail would be a 61GS, the integrated bracelet silver-palladium one, even better would be the one on a strap with the hammered case. Both impossibly rare. A semi-attainable grail would be the SBGA111. The attainable grail is either the fancy Weekdater, the 6218-8970 or 8971, with the linen dial if possible, or the charcoal dial 6206-8040.
Maybe add a Universal Geneve Polerouter microrotor.
>>
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These were modeled after a monolith in some movie.
>>
>>18366138
i think...
>>
The morpho dial isn't bad either. There's so many i like...
>>
>>18366132
I don't trust the chinks to handle my movements.

If I want a sellita, I can find a SW200-1 for 200 bucks or less with the added benefit I don't have to deal with the ugly sanmartin designs and can instead get a clone case of longines or something and have something that looks good, runs efficiently, and isn't overpriced.
>>
>>18366136
The SEIKO: GS - GRAND SEIKO
>>
>>18366138
What does VFA mean?
>>
>>18365680
Depends what you mean by watchmaking.
>making watches from scratch
The cost barrier to entry is in the 5 figures considering all the machines you will need, plus room to store them. A lot of the training necessary is seriously paywalled and gatekept to prevent artisanal idependents from operating and growing. Believe it or not but the big industrial groups are very much involved in training programs like WOSTEP and the worst thing that can happen to them is another Journe, Dubuis or Dufour showing up and becoming viable in the industry.
>assembling watches
You'll mostly have to stick to crappier parts off ebay because the better stuff is not accessible to private buyers. Suppliers will require a business number to give you access to their catalog in many cases. But assembling and modding from basic parts isn't too hard. There's just a hard ceiling to what you can do due to parts accessibility.
>restoring watches
Same issue of skills and training being difficult to access, with the extra issue of information being hard to get too. Servicing and restoring your own stuff is possible until you get to the point where something really requires a proprietary tool that you can't find or spare parts you can't get. Nothing's stopping you from grabbing half dead pocket watches at the flea market, dip them in isopropanol (except the fork, do NOT dip the fork in alcohol) and try to oil it correctly, but you'll soon see there are some big skill gaps to get over if you want to start doing different stuff.
>>
>>18366148
Also, it seems that sanmartin only uses sw200's for swiss movements which is very limited.
It is a thick boy, and if one prefers something slimmer like an sw300 sanmartin won't cut it.
That, or if you want a moon-phase, or some other indicator, and so on...
>>
In a world where Rolex screams status, Tudor whispers taste. A Rolex is the billboard of success, but Tudor? It’s the secret handshake of those who know better. You pay less, yet get a sibling forged in the same fires—Swiss precision, timeless design, and none of the "look-at-me" hysteria. A Tudor is a poet's watch; a Rolex, a salesman’s pitch. Why spend double to impress strangers when you could spend less and impress yourself?
>>
>>18365680

> Makin’ watches from scratch
Bruh, you gon’ need big racks for this, like 10 Gs minimum. Them machines cost mad bread, and you gotta have a spot to stash ‘em. The trainin’? Nah, they keep that locked up tight so regular folks can’t get in. Them big watch dudes like WOSTEP runnin’ it, and they don’t want no lil’ hustler poppin’ off like Journe or Dufour and messin’ up their cheddar.
> Put-together watches
You can cop parts off eBay, but most of that sht straight booty. The good parts? They ain’t lettin’ no randoms touch that. You gotta have a biz hookup or somethin’. But if you just tryna piece together some basic sht or tweak a lil’ somethin’, you can do that. Just know there’s a limit ‘cause the good parts ain’t in your reach.
> Fixin’ up watches
Same story, bruh. Skills and info mad hard to come by, plus some sh*t you just can’t get. You can grab some busted pocket watches at the flea market, dip them joints in alcohol (but yo, don’t dip the fork, that’s a no-go), and try to oil it right. But real talk, you gon’ hit a wall when you need tools or parts you can’t touch.
>>
>>18366153
ofc I don't mean making from scratch, tho there are some simple parts that could probably be made at a reasonable price.

To access decent parts one can get broken watches, defective stuff, and so on.
I've never tried getting stuff from suppliers, but wouldn't just setting up some puppet company work if you only need a business number?

there's a number of things one can still do alone though.
choose from hundreds of movements, cases, dials, some movement parts, hands, and so on.
at the end of the day, most watches under 5k won't be higher quality than something one can build on his own for less and with greater customization.

>>18366168
sorry I don't speak nigger
>>
>>18366172
Sheee brah, wat a dog needs to do for some of that watch hussle
>>
I miss cockwatch bros..
>>
>>18366172
>I've never tried getting stuff from suppliers, but wouldn't just setting up some puppet company work if you only need a business number?
That might or might not work depending on how hard they vet you. Typically, they just want a VAT number so it might be e nough.
>To access decent parts one can get broken watches, defective stuff, and so on.
>choose from hundreds of movements, cases, dials, some movement parts, hands, and so on.
This isn't like computer building, movements and parts are not interchangeable at all.
You have some compatibilities and they are where the various modding scenes form because you can, in these cases, play around with configurations.
But let's say you want to start with a watch that has an ETA 2894-2 and replace it with an Omega chrono movement.
First you need to get your hands on the Omega movement. That alone is no small feat, Omega doesn't even provide full movements to its authorized repair workshops.
Then you'll see that they may not be the same diameter. So if there isn't a casing ring you can dig into or replace then you may be stuck here. And won't you look at that, the emplacement for the holding screws and clamps going into the case do lot align either.
And then it turns out they are not as high as each other so that's another thing to solve.
And then the hand cannons are not the right diameter so you can't use these. And they're not the same height either.

It's not impossible but it is very much limited to a movement per movement parts ecosystem. Hence modding scenes growing the way they have. You absolutely do not have the choice between hundreds of movements and cases even without the question of purchase/access because intercompatibility was never remotely considered (outside of quartz movements with the move from the 9xx to the Fxx ETA movements generations keeping the same form factors for replacement purposes)
>>
(cont)
Your best avenue used to be Unitas mods as they had some continuity with pocket watch movements and a bunch of generic parts and cases but the movements themselves are difficult to get now and so far there isn't really a Selitta or Soprod alternative to the ETA 649x.
Either that or go really vintage and mess around with Landerons but the costs are going to be higher as these are more sought after. be warned though that if you mess the movement up, individual parts will not be easy to source.
>>
>>18366187
I'm counting variations of the same movement as well though.
I do see your point with in-house movements being more difficult to acommodate and so on, but there's already plenty of choice with third party movements.
Besides a number of "inhouse" movements are just third party movements heavily modified but their dimension may sometimes stay the same.
Take a look at the sellita catalogue for example

https://www.sellita.ch/images/documents/Catalogue2019_ENG.pdf

That's already quite a lot of stuff, and already the sizes are known.
So probably when one builds something based on some of these movements one automatically limits what can be changed afterwards, but I'm not suggesting otherwise.
If one wants a watch with a 1861 for example, one should build on top of that rather than trying to fit the 1861 in another build.
>>
>>18366208
>>18366188
>>18366187
Based watchmaker autist
>>
>>18366208
>I do see your point with in-house movements being more difficult to acommodate
It's all movements, not just in-house. You'll just have fewer possible cases and dials to cannibalize with in-house movements but the problems remain the same : vertical alignment for the crown stem and crown tube ; alignment of the casing clamps ; size of the casing ring ; thickness of the dial relative to height of the hands and vertical case measurements ; position of the dial feet.
It's not unsurmountable but it will not be compatible at all from one movement to another, even if the base is the same. The tolerence margins can be pretty small so you can't always count on things being "close enough" (especially if you go with automatic movements).
Most doable stuff in the line you're suggesting is dial swaps because you have some leeway there, most dials are of comparable thickness. Building your own dial is a whole other question though and that's where you once again enter the "oh no every tool is expensive" zone. Unless you 3D print the base of the dial and do further paintjobs on that I guess. I'd worry about the strength of the dial feet though, they already snap when made of brass so resin or PLA might not fare that well...
>>
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>>18366403
Yes.
>>
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First watch I've purchased myself. How'd I do.
Had to run up to a Jewlery store near Nashville to get the bracelet adjusted. How/why do people buy luxury watches at full retail.
>>
>>18366419
my morbidly obese coworker has one of those, congrats on having a wrist smaller than the watch head
>>
>>18366420
His wrist is big enough for it. He has no lug spillover.
>>
>>18366419
very nice, enjoy it anon.
>>
>>18366437
It's definitely out of proportion for him. He's got millimeters to play with on either side. It's also a thick watch so it surely sticks out off of him too far.
>>
>>18366143
>beautiful dial
>mineral glass
I hate it
>>
>>18366703
>millimeters on each side
Yeah they say up to 95 percent lug to lug with wrist diameter. It's fine, also keep in mind focal length so it probably looks even bigger in photos
>>
>>18366720
Who's "they" though?
>>
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Are Breitling good ?
>>
>>18366732
Certain models like the navitimers and superoceans are great, but as a general rule they are above average in size and that can make them heavy and cumbersome for some people. Some models also have that bandolier bracelet that kinda looks weird and isn't nearly as articulated as it looks like it would be.
>>
>>18366703
What is in proportion to you?
>>
>>18366801
I don't like it when a watch takes up the whole top of the wrist. It makes it too heavy and it doesn't roll around your wrist properly. I like to see some bracelet or strap on top of the wrist, too.
>>
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anyone else cozy tonight?
>>
>>18366715
The mineral on my penisquartz has fared well for the last 45 years, and it's quite clear, you can barely notice it's there.
>>
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Kofe time.
>>
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Good Morning

Mood: Awake
>>
>>18366271
As you have actual experience I take what you say about the difficulty as true.
However afaik there's a fair amount of workaround for situations in which the movement isn't a perfect fit for the case.
Movement holders, custom printed rings, spacers and so on.
I guess it just makes it clear that the amount of work required to make it work is big, and not as easy as changing screws.
I still found a fair amount of cases specifically designed for specific movement families which should theoretically fit.
As for the dials, there are a number of vendors that offer blank dials of different shapes sizes with different legs and so on, and again it may be a lot of work to adapt a dial for a case and movement which wasn't specifically designed for that purpose.

If ones doesn't want troubles I don't think that sticking to common movements (nh36, eta2824/sw200, etc) for which a good amount of specifically designed cases and dials do exists on the market, should cause many insurmountable issues.

As for the more advanced things, there's also a bunch of companies that build 3d components out of metal with CNC's and so on for a fee (fictiv, etc) so if you're really good with cad's and so on, I guess you could even do that...

I'm also ignoring issues in regards to movement parts, but IG if you found donor movements of the exact same model, you shouldn't have troubles?
>>
>>18367061
>However afaik there's a fair amount of workaround for situations in which the movement isn't a perfect fit for the case.
>Movement holders, custom printed rings, spacers and so on.
>I guess it just makes it clear that the amount of work required to make it work is big, and not as easy as changing screws.
Again, it's not impossible but it is far from simple swaps and replacements. A lot of things need to be adjusted and lining up properly and certain elements need to have priority. If your winding stem does not line up vertically to the stem tube then the entire movement needs to be moved vertically and that either means
1 - if the stem is too high relative to the tube in the case then the entire movement needs to be lowered and it will look sunken into the case
2 - if the stem is too low relative to the tube in the case then the movement cannot fit at all unless you mill the case or bezel so the dial can sit higher (depending on the case build, sometimes the bezel has nothing to do with this) and pray the hands don't come in contact with the glass now that they sit higher.
And that's just one alignment, every pusher you have adds another instance of that issue (granted in modern chrono movements the vertical alignment is identical on both pushers)
>I still found a fair amount of cases specifically designed for specific movement families which should theoretically fit.
THEORETICALLY.
It is really not always that simple. Dials can and will cause issues due to their own dimensions. The movements you have mainly gives you the dial's minimal size (and even then, not always. Plenty of older ladies watches have dials smaller than their movements and jeweled bezels hiding the dial-side movement spread) so ou have good chances of running into fitting issues there.
(cont.)
>>
(cont.)
>As for the dials, there are a number of vendors that offer blank dials of different shapes sizes with different legs and so on
If you know any that are any good then please do sharte because I don't. Regular suppliers have some generic versions, often poached from dead watches, but no blanks.
The typical watchmaker answer I get is "just use your lathe bro they're not hard to make". Yeah well if I had a lathe of the proper size and with the right attachments then I wouldn't be asking about blanks, I'd be making my own now would I? (I'll stop there but the amount of questions colleagues answer by "just use the right four to five figures tool bro" is annoying. A lot of the practical know-how of the profession is getting harder and harder to access and some skills are disappearing)
>As for the more advanced things, there's also a bunch of companies that build 3d components out of metal with CNC's
If you have the 3D modelling chops then sure, that would help a whole lot. I'm coming at it from the old school perspective of just "me, myself and my tools" because I am not good with software.
>I'm also ignoring issues in regards to movement parts, but IG if you found donor movements of the exact same model, you shouldn't have troubles?
If you only knew how bad things really get.
It's not too much of a problem with more modern movements now though incompatibilities can happen. If you're poaching dead movements though, then it's a roll of the dice on the parts you need being intact in your donor movement. And if you go with older movements then you may have problems with the same faulty parts over and over.
(cont.)
>>
(cont.)
All of that should give you a bit of an idea of how much of a headache it is to make your own watch, especially if you come into it without equipment and related skills.
It is far from impossible - again you have the whole modding scenes and the ebay kits out there - but you quickly see your limitations.
Physically, in what is and isn't compatible and what sort of stuff just won't work.
Practically with access to parts and skills being difficult.
Financially with just how much equipment your actually need to get stuff done, and how much it will cost if you want to outsource stuff without doing bulk orders.
If the initial argument was "I could make a very good watch for a fraction of the equivalent costs at retail" then you will very quickly run into massive markup on movement prices, tools with pricetags in the three figures and machines in the four to five figures, very difficult operations you aren't familiar with and no one to help learn them (aside from hidieously overpriced books)
The sooner you understand the limitations, the better. Then you can better find what you can optimize and focus on to get what matters to you.
You sounded like you came at it from the mindset of basically making your own "microbrand watch" just for yourself (instead of paying for overpriced slop, right?) and match the quality of better brands and such. That is going to be VERY difficult if you rely on generic parts for casing and adjustments and VERY expensive if you outsource the work.
Not impossible.
But don't expect to get matching quality on your first ten tries if not more. Unless you're already really good at 3D modelling, or lathe operation, or micro-scale painting, or engraving.
Some of the better results I've seen from individual "garage watchmakers" were often focusing on dial customization. Grab a pocket watch for pennies and do your own paintjob on the dial. There's plenty of scale model autists and miniature painters here to give pointers.
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>>18367082
>A lot of the practical know-how of the profession is getting harder and harder to access and some skills are disappearing
Such as?
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>>18367100
Making hairsprings, making shockproofing devices, cutting hands, cutting springs instead of bending wire springs, cutting gears and brunishing their axles...
In many cases, the skills to do that are disappearing because it's just easier to buy some ready-made replacements or get stuff done by machine or CNC.
Some of it is the natural evolution of the craft as certain skills become obsolete (ie : knowing how to make height bumpers for balance bridges which are no longer necessary now that we have precise enough machines and tight enough tolerences to make parts that won't require this kind of shoddy adjustment, and IF the adjustment is necessary then it can be done on another part ; or knowing how to carve pellets or olived stones out of natural rubies, because even if you do a fantastic job, the result still won't be as good as a readily available synthetic stone made for that very purpose), some of it is gatekeeping (some decoration skills and knowledge necessary for chronometric adjustment is mostly dispensed by swiss schools with ties to the industrial groups and are basically a good way to create a workforce for these groups, sure, but also to keep the knowledged contained and paywalled), and some of it is just part of a natural trend cycle too (clock adjustments and enameling used to be very common skills and now they're largely gone due to shrinking demand).
We're not going to run out of gears anytime soon, but we are running out of people who know how to properly use lathes to cut gears or how to operate dedicated older gear cutting machines, because they're now done at scale by CNCs instead.
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>>18367109
Nibba of course it's easier to buy these things ready. It's like saying it's easier to buy a ready exhaust manifold then it is making it yourself. Some screws still need special diameters but those are expections and also not a lost art.
Is it such a big monopoly in watch making that it's become a problem? I thought each shop has like hundreds of gears, hairsprings and shit from ETA, Selita and the like.
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Kot-tea time
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>>18367145
Based Weekdater Chad
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>>18367145
Based tbqh
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>>18367145
If this is the last wristshot of /wt/, I would be happy. It's too much soul.
>>
I'm ill and have spent the past week looking up new things to get into and realized that I haven't bought, received, worn, or even held a watch before, so I started looking into them
"Evolved" from being fascinated by instagram ad watches, to being dead sure on an orient bambino, to various seikos, until now when I've landed on two; the white max bill handaufzug with numbers, and the stowa flieger baumuster b automatic

Thing is, I've unfortunately got other expense priorities for at least another 6 months, which lead me to the question: Would it be a waste of money to buy something in the few 100's range only to replace it sometime in the coming year, or would it be smart to start with going for a cheap watch as a first watch?
>>
Anyone who's ever had to deal with rolex's oscillating weight stem, knows why rolex is absolute crap. They should go back to selling them at 1000$
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>>18368104
>go through fa archives
>apparently stowa is made in China while pretending to be made in Germany
That's really jewish
FUCK bugmen

Ignore my above poast, I'll buy a "JS Watch" instead
At least then I'll be sure that my hours of wageslaving go to good
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>>18368112
Buy a San Martin or the orient bambino. If you want to be based get a Christopher ward or a used mechanical Credor.
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'Sup nerds
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>>18368104
yeah, just continue to research for months until you know what you really want to get and stick to your budget. but yeah if you want to thriftmaxxx, just get a chink brand below $100. most western brands and microbrands have chink made components in them, even the 'luxury' ones.
>>
>>18368144
Not into Chinese watches but yours is kinda fine ngl
>>
>>18367111
>Is it such a big monopoly in watch making that it's become a problem?
It kind of is since brands are also keeping parts and schematics behind all sorts of hurdles.
Let's say you have an Omega with a broken gear axle. With the right tools and knowledge, you could build a new piece to replace it since Omega will not send you one unless you are an authorized workshop (which typically comes down to "pay this and then buy our tools", though some brands also ask you to have a certain turnover of services which may or may not be a way to discourage third parties from wanting the authorization because "how am I going to get that many watches a month when they barely sell in the first place?"). Needless to say Omega therefore has a certain vested interest in having fewer third-party and independent watchmakers capable of bypassing their locking of parts access. I'm just using Omega as an example but they're not the worst, their repair authorizations aren't too hard to get. The worst are Zenith because the price they ask is stupidly high and you need to process a certain amount of watches, Rolex and Tudor because they basically don't allow third-party authorizations anymore unless you're on a grandfather clause or are an AD with a workshop in which case there are some more conditions.
So the problem isn't so much that you now have to buy new parts because no one can make replacements, it's that as a watchmaker the brands hold your ability to work hostage. You either play ball and get in the whole song and dance of authorization with all the costs that come with it, or your relinquish that work to them and send it to their repair platforms (and lose some of your profit margins as they give you an MSRP on the repairs they do and nowadays it will soon be known if you go over the suggested prices) OR you learn to do everything yourself.
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>>18367111
>I thought each shop has like hundreds of gears, hairsprings and shit from ETA, Selita and the like.
Not really.
I guess the big repair platforms do since they get parts straight from the factories and have so many operators there, they eat through supplies in record time.
Your usual supply kit looks like picrel. You really don't need hundreds of the same part.
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>>18368144
Go to the gym bro, looking watery
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>>18368104
Just buy an addiesdive field watch. Theyre $55 when on sale, $65 dollars not on sale. 39mm, nh35, double ar coating, bright lume, flat sapphire crystal, screw down crown. Buy the bracelet one because it's brushed and not bead blasted then pop the bracelet off it and stick it on a leather band. It's truly an unbelievable deal. The actual dial itself has great printing and the grooved record texture. Nh35 is automatic, has hacking, hand winding, and quickset date.
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>>18368246
Very nice acrylic
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>>18368246
I'm eyeing a broad arrow speedy atm. Kinda on the fences if I should pull the trigger on not.
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>>18368109
What about it?
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>>18368104
Save up and evolve some more in the meantime, i guarantee you that you don't actually know what you really.want yet.
>>
>>18368468
Does it get better than this? I don't think so.
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>>18368511
The arrow hands look really out of proportion on it and functionally they block the subdials too much. But as a collector item it's probably going to retain value as a limited run.
>>
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plz rank these blue watches, from best to worst
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>>18368546
2>3>4>5>6>1
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>>18368546
This one
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>>18368546
Moser baby pioneer > Railmaster > rest
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>>18368548
Why do you rank the BB58 (2) and the Pelagos (6) so far appart?
>>
>>18368555
Fixed lugs are a gimmick, especially when the strap is nylon which isn't the best for diving compared to rubber or a bracelet, don't understand that
the indices looks weird like they are painted and not applied but I think they are applied. Square indices just look like shit compared to rectangular or circular.
Darker blue on the bb58 looks better
>>
I think im in love...
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Mood: /MUG/
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>>18367196
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>>18368561
valid points
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After a few months sat broken, finally fixed and a new alligator strap. Watch is 7 years old now.
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>>18368620
My man... that is way too big for you
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about to go see the brutalist in imax.
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>>18368578
kek
>>
>>18368849 .
>>
>>18368754
You want to see gay ass rape?
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>>18368873
In surround sound, yes.
>>
>>18368875
>>18368754
Do you live in New york, arizona , texas minnesota , michigan
>>
>>18368754
You look pasty
>>18368882
New york, arizona , texas , minnesota , michigan
We coming
>>
Ok I want a new watch but I only have 500 buckaroos. Should I even bother or is it a go big or go home thing?
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>>18369202
San martin, baltany or addiesdive on AliExpress
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>>18368882
yes lol
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>>18368873
you’ve got my attention….
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>>18369202
$130 - sugess panda st19 chronograph
$55 - addiesdive field watch nh35
$130 - seestern doxa diver nh35
$55 - seestern nomos st1701
$140 - san martin tudor gmt nh34

5 watches, $515. Just wait for a sale on ali express.

Alternates
$60 - Pagani speedy VK63
$250 - san martin original design root beer gmt nh34 beads of rice bracelet
$150 - baltany khaki aviation nh38
$55 - tandorio laco flieger nh35
$56 - tandorio murph nh35
$120 - boderry voyager bronze/titanium nato field watch nh35
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>>18369202
Wait do you mean roo bucks? Like australian money? Rip.
>>
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Weekend boys, we’ve made it.
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>>18369874
Based glare
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>>18369874
The king khaki is so much better than this ugly shitter.
>>
>>18369903
Whom’s ?



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