Thread: What types of watches do you like?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Actually, they had radium filled dials but they weren't allowed.

Railway approved Pocket watches were far better in every way than modern mass produced watches. You can buy a Miyota 8000 series mvmt for around 40 bucks and it will keep time to within 15 seconds a day or better. Modern machining and tolerances make this possible but I wouldn't call it a "good" mvmt.

Railway grade pocket watches were accurate to within a scant few seconds a day. The mvmts were highly decorated and the parts in many cases used exotic materials. The brass used was harder than todays case hardening which wears over the years, many used diamonds for the main cap jewel, many used gold gears for the gear train. If they made a mvmt today like an old pocket watch mvmt it would cost a fortune.

I'm Not knocking Swiss Movmts. They are great and the El Primero is outstanding. It's just a matter of how you define quality. It's like saying a Honda Civic is a great car (which it is) for what it is. If you compare it to a top of the line Mercedes it doesn't look so great anymore.

You are correct, but we,I, was talking about wristwatches, not pocket watches, I don't think Ball even makes them anymore. If I understood him correctly, he said he wouldn't wear (buy)a Ball watch because of the history. If they don't make pocket watches anymore then there's no comparison.
Hey,I didn't realize it was you Big, but come on that's comparing apples to oranges, and YOU know that...

Originally Posted by Grizzley1

You are correct, but we,I, was talking about wristwatches, not pocket watches, I don't think Ball even makes them anymore. If I understood him correctly, he said he wouldn't wear (buy)a Ball watch because of the history. If they don't make pocket watches anymore then there's no comparison.
Hey,I didn't realize it was you Big, but come on that's comparing apples to oranges, and YOU know that...

Ball never ever made any watch period. All of his pocket watches were made by other makers like Hamilton or Waltham to name a few. By the time his wrist watches came out they were Swiss Made pieces. By The end of the companies run in the mid 1950s its history was kind of murky so it's possible some mvmts might have been American. Of course the current ball watches have no relationship to the old ones. It's just an investment outfit that bought the name around 2000 and started making Swiss Made pieces.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Ball never ever made any watch period. All of his pocket watches were made by other makers like Hamilton or Waltham to name a few. By the time his wrist watches came out they were Swiss Made pieces. By The end of the companies run in the mid 1950s its history was kind of murky so it's possible some mvmts might have been American. Of course the current ball watches have no relationship to the old ones. It's just an investment outfit that bought the name around 2000 and started making Swiss Made pieces.

And there really nice IMHO, also I can put it on in the morning and still have no problem seeing it at night. Let me ask you something, say I bought the rights to the name, and they were really good, would that be a problem?

Originally Posted by Grizzley1

And there really nice IMHO, also I can put it on in the morning and still have no problem seeing it at night. Let me ask you something, say I bought the rights to the name, and they were really good, would that be a problem?

I'm not understanding what you are asking here.

Do you mean buying an old name a making your own watch using that name? If you buy the name you own the name along with all it's history. Youcan do what you please with it. Most of the current Swiss outfits are owned by big corporations who bought the names.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I'm not understanding what you are asking here.

Do you mean buying an old name a making your own watch using that name? If you buy the name you own the name along with all it's history. Youcan do what you please with it. Most of the current Swiss outfits are owned by big corporations who bought the names.

No I mean that if I buy a watch factory and am using the same equipment to build thier iconic watch, along with others does that mean I'm not making, say for arguments sake the submariner, but I own the factory isn't it still a Rolex?
R

These were some of my father's favorite watches, he liked them so much he had two manual alarm, and this is how well he kept his stuff.

Originally Posted by Grizzley1

No I mean that if I buy a watch factory and am using the same equipment to build thier iconic watch, along with others does that mean I'm not making, say for arguments sake the submariner, but I own the factory isn't it still a Rolex?
R

It has nothing to do with the factory or equipment. You have to buy the name and then you could sell Rolex watches with a $25 quartz mvmt and a plastic case and it it will be a Rolex. You only have to look at the Chinese who bought the Waltham and Elgin names and make garbage watches these days with that name.

So, I'll tell you a Rolex story. Up until pretty recently when Rolex set up their USA component it was legally different than Rolex SA which markets their watches worldwide except for the U.S. As a result of that if you took a trip to Switzerland and bought a Rolex at a factory authorized dealer and came back to the U.S with it and declared it on your customs declaration Customs would confiscate it because legally it was a knockoff. It is my understanding they have resolved that these days.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

It has nothing to do with the factory or equipment. You have to buy the name and then you could sell Rolex watches with a $25 quartz mvmt and a plastic case and it it will be a Rolex. You only have to look at the Chinese who bought the Waltham and Elgin names and make garbage watches these days with that name.

So, I'll tell you a Rolex story. Up until pretty recently when Rolex set up their USA component it was legally different than Rolex SA which markets their watches worldwide except for the U.S. As a result of that if you took a trip to Switzerland and bought a Rolex at a factory authorized dealer and came back to the U.S with it and declared it on your customs declaration Customs would confiscate it because legally it was a knockoff. It is my understanding they have resolved that these days.

I have no idea how to respond to that with no background knowledge.

Originally Posted by Grizzley1

I have no idea how to respond to that with no background knowledge.

It's like that with everything. I just bought a box of Hydrox cookies. Sunshine bakers went out of business over 20 years ago but the rights to their products were bought by Leaf Inc who now makes them. Hopefully they use the same recipe but they could be junk but they are still Hydrox.

When you own the name you own it's history going back to day one. Bulova Watch is owned by Citizen and they can make whatever watch they want and slap the Bulova name on it.

And since Swatch Group owns Omega we get
such things as the Omega / Swatch - MoonSwatch.

No, I don't think I'm going to buy one.