Thread: What types of watches do you like?

Originally Posted by Brenngun

I'm familiar with Ball. They were at one time headquartered in the US but now Switzerland. They mostly use ETA movements for their watches. Some are in house modified before assembly. ETA (now wholly owned by Swatch) makes some very nice movements depending on the grade. Came close to buying a Ball at one time. My current favorite is the Trainmaster Roman with white dial and blue hands. Very nice. ETA movement and the tubes are very small.

Ball didn't know squat about watches and they never manufactured anything. He ran a pocketwatch regulation and time service back in the early 20th century and late 19th which serviced the railroad industry. He sold watches which were made by other outfits like Waltham and Hamilton and Elgin and some others with his name on them. In the 1950s his wristwatches were made in Switzerland and the company went defunct then anyway.

The current ball name has no relationship with the original ball Brand other than they bought the name and when you do that you buy the history too.

I never wear a watch anymore as my cell phone has a more accurate clock.

Originally Posted by ProudMarineDad

I never wear a watch anymore as my cell phone has a more accurate clock.

I spent my boot camp in Parris Island, in 1955! Semper Fi!

Originally Posted by ironmaned1987

I spent my boot camp in Parris Island, in 1955! Semper Fi!

Thank You for your service Marine!

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Ball didn't know squat about watches and they never manufactured anything. He ran a pocketwatch regulation and time service back in the early 20th century and late 19th which serviced the railroad industry. He sold watches which were made by other outfits like Waltham and Hamilton and Elgin and some others with his name on them. In the 1950s his wristwatches were made in Switzerland and the company went defunct then anyway.

The current ball name has no relationship with the original ball Brand other than they bought the name and when you do that you buy the history too.

It sure does sound like you have a grudge, None of mine are bulky, and the tubes last 25 years, I'll worry about them then.....

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

There are loads of quality outfits making watches in all price ranges. I kind of gravitate to the German outfits like Sinn and Nomos and Nautische Glashutte. I also like Seiko for bang for the buck watches and even their high end pieces are really nice and I like Aqua Dive and Doxa for dive watches. From the higher end brands I like IWC.

Your right about the Seiko's high end watches. The Grand Seiko is a fantastic watch. I love the SBGA011 Snowflake. For those interested here's a little history about the Grand Seiko.

They're hand made and the vintage ones wiped the floor with the major Swiss brands for accuracy before the COSC was formed in 1973. Before then there was the Astronomical Observatory Authorisation Chronometer Standard (+/- 2/3 seconds/day) competitions. This is to a much higher standard. During the entire 23+ years of testing, 5093 wristwatches were submitted for certification. Only 3253 passed (about 64%). Today around 94% pass the COSC test first time.

Just a few manufacturers participated in the observatory testing. Omega and Patek did so every year. Other participants were Rolex, Zenith, Longines, Movado, Vacheron & Constantin, Girard-Perregaux, Ulysse Nardin, Cyma and Favre-Leuba as well as numerous independent professional watchmakers. Then the Grand Seiko appeared. It's movement outperformed all of the Swiss movements at the time. Only 2 brands submitted their standard production movements built for retail sales (Seiko and Girard-Perregaux). All the others built specially made movements just for the competition. In the mid 60's out of all the watches submitted only the Grand Seiko and the GP passed the test and by the late sixties they were the only 2 companies allowed to sell their watches with this designation. The Seiko was still a production line movement but the GP was now a specially built movement. The competition was ended by the Swiss in the early 1970s after two straight wins by Grand Seiko. Some Swiss watch manufacturers demanded the end of the observatory competitions. In 1973 the current Swiss COSC was founded. Run by the Swiss for the Swiss brands only.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Ball didn't know squat about watches and they never manufactured anything. He ran a pocketwatch regulation and time service back in the early 20th century and late 19th which serviced the railroad industry. He sold watches which were made by other outfits like Waltham and Hamilton and Elgin and some others with his name on them. In the 1950s his wristwatches were made in Switzerland and the company went defunct then anyway.

The current ball name has no relationship with the original ball Brand other than they bought the name and when you do that you buy the history too.

I'm a little confused by your comments. I was giving a little info on the current status of Ball Watches not their history. It wasn't meant to be a pro or con assessment of their company. Just some simple facts of today. Regardless of your feelings about them they do make some credible watches using well designed ETA movements. I'm not a big fan of their styling other than the one I mentioned. YMMV.

Speaking of Seiko's - I've got a Seiko Ventura, nice big watch, Quartz Movement with an automatic type function that charges the battery for up to a month, OK watch. One of those Citizen radio controlled watches that charges via sunlight, a nice old Tag Automatic Chronograph...and speaking of Seiko's - this is one of my favorites, a very old Seiko 7T59, still have everything original (still have original box, papers, links), always treated it very well and is regularly serviced, still keeps exact time comparing it against the atomic clock:

I've always been a Seiko Fan. I used to have a big collection of vintage Seiko pieces and limited editions but I sold them all some time ago. I still have a Quartz piece my wife bought me back in 1977 or so. it still runs like a champ. I also have a new LE edition with urushi dial work and a new Astron which is quartz based and keeps time with GPS Satellites. I've had a few Spring Drives and a couple Grand Seiko's too.

Originally Posted by Phrank

Speaking of Seiko's - I've got a Seiko Ventura, nice big watch, Quartz Movement with an automatic type function that charges the battery for up to a month, OK watch. One of those Citizen radio controlled watches that charges via sunlight, a nice old Tag Automatic Chronograph...and speaking of Seiko's - this is one of my favorites, a very old Seiko 7T59, still have everything original (still have original box, papers, links), always treated it very well and is regularly serviced, still keeps exact time comparing it against the atomic clock:

Phrank, Nice pic. Would love to see some of your TAG if you still have it.

Originally Posted by Brenngun

Phrank, Nice pic. Would love to see some of your TAG if you still have it.

You've got some great watches, still think a couple of W&B's would be more than a fair trade for a Rolex or two.....

My old Tag (765.406), love the slight whirring noise it makes when it auto winds and the ever so slight weight shift on the wrist....really like this watch, works perfectly and keeps suprisingly good time, loses maybe a minute or two a week tops:



And just picked up an Omega Speedmaster Automatic Chrono...yes I know, LOL, not the Pro, just a cheap, mass produced junk copy of the famed, "Moonwatch"(thought I'd add that ahead of time hehe)...but I love it nonetheless. It's in the shop now for a tune-up with someone local who does great work....