Just bought my first automatic watch. A Ball Trainmaster Moon Phase. I’ve been into watches for some time but never bought anything more than fashion brands until now. I thought this was a good entry into a little higher end collecting. Plus, I love the moon phase movement. It has tritium tubes so it nicely glows without charging.

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Thanks. I feel like now that I’ve bought one luxury watch, I may be buying more at some point in the future.

I still am very fond of my fashion watches. Here’s my current rotation. Of them, my two favorite are the Salvador Dali one since I was fascinated by that painting as a kid, and the Emporio Armani one. That on has a really cool rubber strap that always smells like vanilla.

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No worries. I knew what you meant. I’ve had more watches in the past that I got rid of from time to time for one reason or another. So, in a sense, I did treat them as a bit disposable. Now, I wish I had kept them all.

Well, it didn't take me long to buy a second automatic -- just 21 days. I think I'm into this watch collecting thing, and I can see it getting a bit habit forming. After spending some money on my Ball Trainmaster, I had to dial it back a little and get something more reasonably priced but still quality. I fell for this Seiko SRPE57, and I decided to change it up by replacing the metal bracelet with a navy blue silicon strap.

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I’ve been looking for an inexpensive hand wound watch to wear on weekends. Just got this Red Star Solo single hand mechanical watch. It takes a bit of getting used to, and you can’t care about accuracy too much. But it seems well suited for weekends when approximate time is all you need. The dial, crystal and hand are all convex. Looks pretty cool.

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On the subject of Rolex, the brand has never appealed to me all that much. Would I take one? Sure. Would I pay outlandish prices for one on the grey market? No.

Here’s an interesting video that gives some inside information on the AD, customer, Rolex HQ relationship.

Wow! That’s one packed dial.

My wife got me this kit for Christmas. You assemble an automatic watch, essentially putting a dial and hands on the movement and putting everything in a case. This was my first time doing something like that, and it was harder than it looked. I messed up a couple of times and bent and scratched the dial. My fault for hurrying through a step and not watching the full video. Eventually, I got everything together. You can only see my errors with a loop, which the kit was nice enough to come with. The end watch is ok. It uses a Miyota movement. It was good to get some hands on practice using these tools. Like any hobby, you make a bunch of mistakes at first.

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Is it all quartz or do the hands move with a mechanical movement?

This has been a good few weeks. Took delivery of a Godzilla Premium and then bought this grail watch which I have been eyeing for quite some time.

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My guess is that they’ll be available once the initial buzz dies down a bit. They look great.

Any of you have cool watch displays?

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Very nice!

Got inspired and just ordered the gold and black two tone version of the Casio Royale on Amazon for $20. Kind of a no brainer at that price point.

I’m a big fan of this, though haven’t seen it in person yet.

https://www.oris.ch/6o/watch/aquis-date/01-733-7766-4150-set

Yeah, that Cherry one looks awesome as well. Definitely a brand I have my eye on.

Speaking of the Omega Seamaster Diver 300m, I’ve been enjoying mine, but the one thing that disappointed me was the bracelet. Very functional, but bulky as heck. It felt like I had an extra watch on the underside of my wrist because of the large buckle. I’ve been looking for a rubber strap for some time, not wanting to pay for the much more expensive fitted ones. Finally took a chance and bought this one online from Strapsco. I must say it works really well. My watch already feels a lot lighter. The red stitching also nicely complements the dial. It looks way better in person, but here are some pics.

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I have a couple of the Barton rubber straps for other watches. I’ve actually been a bit disappointed in them. I must say this one is a lot better and more meaty in terms of quality. I paid for it though. $80 including shipping.

Congrats! Looks great.

Love it! Very sharp piece.

I would recommend watching a few videos of what NOT to do with a mechanical watch before you get one. It’s nothing that will scare you away. Rather just good stuff to know. Like don’t set it down on your iPhone because of magnetism. Etc.

I think blue, black and silver are all timeless (no pun intended) on any watch. Reds are very nice but may be more subject to the fashion of the day depending upon the shade.

Both of those colors will be less versatile than black, silver, or blue. And both may be a bit subject to a fad. That said, they’re very nice. If you plan on developing a collection, you may want to do that. If you want just one watch, I personally would go with something more traditional.

Because the demand for Rolex sports watches is so high, ADs keep them aside for high valued customers who have a history of buying large sums from them. There’s lots of articles and videos explaining this. There are just certain brands and watches that you can’t just go in and buy, and Rolex is one.

Negroni, anyone?

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It is hard to capture how beautiful this dial is in person, and how it transforms with the light. Very happy with this recent purchase.

Thanks. It’s my second Seiko, and I have to say I love the brand. The sheer variety and quality of their dials is incredible. And, they’re very obtainable without breaking the bank. While their accuracy and overall level of finishing lags the higher end Swiss brands (their straps and bracelets can’t compare, for instance), if you want bang for your buck in terms of beautiful dials and fun pieces to wear, you can’t go wrong.

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The Omega Spirate technology. Impressive news in the watch world today.

https://www.omegawatches.com/en-us/watches/speedmaster/two-counters/super-racing/product

I think the tech is going to be the new normal for Omega and rolled out to other watches. This was a strange first choice, as the look of the watch is divisive. I’m not a huge fan of it, and I agree with you that the looks of the original are way better. Still, having a new improved master chronometer (perhaps super master chronometer now?) that has 0 to +2 seconds per day accuracy is really cool.

That said, I have a Seamaster Diver 300m master chronometer that’s about +1 second per day so it is obviously possible with the old tech, just not consistently.

I have a dive watch and don’t dive. I use the rotating bezel all the time. I use it to time my walks so I can quickly look down and see how much time has elapsed without me wondering when I started. And, I use it for pizza delivery. Has it been 45 minutes yet? What time did I order again? Oh, my bezel says only 40 minutes. Never mind.

I haven’t seen this brand mentioned yet. Traska is a relatively new micro brand that uses Miyota movements. I just picked up the new Venturer GMT. It is a true travelers GMT with a jumping hour hand and internal rotating bezel. Sapphire crystal. Proprietary hardened steel bracelet that is scratch resistant. All for a very reasonable price. I can’t wait to size the bracelet and start wearing this.

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That’s the movement that’s in my new Traska Venturer GMT which I recently posted about. Very happy with it. Makes travel easy.

I believe they say they will, but the half life is something like 12 years, and it will take about 20 I believe until they fully dim, so you have some time.

I have the Trainmaster Moonphase, and the whole moon is yellow tritium tubes. Very legible at night.

Anyone still find protective stickers on their watch months after wearing it? Yep, that just happened.

Awesome! I wish I had my old swatch still.

Nice! But with Ball, it is mandatory to also post a picture in the dark so we can see the tritium shine.

I don’t know what the appeal is to that. I would rather spend $800 on an original Seiko Alpinist, or a micro brand like Traska. There’s some great original watches out there for decent money. Why get a fake high end watch?

Could be an automatic wound watch which means it winds with wrist movement. Try holding it and moving your hand in a circular motion for a minute or two. That could give it enough of a wind to work for a while. Then when you start wearing it regularly, it will stay wound. That is assuming it is automatic wound.

Also, is that a screw down crown? If so, it could be that you wind it when you unscrew it in the first position before you pull the stem out further to set the time.

Are you sure there aren’t two positions on the crown? Can you pull it out slightly but not all the way to change the date? With old watches, it can be hard to find that first click that corresponds to the date.

I’m sure it could use a service, though it would likely cost more than the watch is worth. I would say if it runs, and you only wear it once in a while, just enjoy it. It’s a cool piece.

That’s really cool. I would definitely look into getting it serviced and cleaned up.

What’s that calendar feature on the bracelet?

Nice!

I just opened my first mechanical watch today to reattach the second hand which had fallen off when I dropped it. It was the Seiko 5 SRPE57. Getting the caseback off was a nightmare — I eventually had to hold the case in a wrench which I wrapped electrical tape around to prevent scratches and then really push down with my adjustable case back tool. But even harder was attaching the second hand. I used Rodico, but positioning it just right was extremely difficult. I also bent it a little and when I first attached it, it rubbed up against the minute hand. Took me several tries and about an hour all in before I got it right.

Now that I have some confidence, I would like to regulate it, but I would have to get a timegrapher first.

That’s one of the things I’m considering learning in retirement. I’m hooked on watching watch servicing videos on YouTube. Not sure why.

I did just recently reattach the second hand on my Seiko 5 after it got banged and fell off. Took me a whole hour but was kind of cool that I could do it. Seems simple, but that second hand is incredibly small, bends easily, and very difficult to place accurately even looking through a loupe.

I have to admit, half the reason I got my Diver 300M was for that wooden box.

Beautiful watch you got. Congrats!

Seiko 5 series has lots of options. Their lume is quite good but obviously will fade over short times, not like tritium.

I have five watches in regular rotation. My cheapest of the five is my Seiko 5. It’s also the one I love the most and wear most often. Funny how that works.

Is it quartz or mechanical? Either way, looks really cool.