Heya RESETERA!
I take the opportunity to (re)launch this timepiece/wristwatch/... thread today.
Welcome to all RESETERA! Horologists or not!
GS
edit:
WIP BELOW. PM me if you want to help :)
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WHY A THREAD ON WRISTWATCHES IN 2017? WE ALL HAVE A PHONE IN OUR POCKET...
Yes you do have a connected phone that can keep track of time much better than any mechanical/quartz watch out there.
And yes, it seems you don't absolutely need a wristwatch in this day and era.
Except you actually do, here is why:
- Because
it looks stylish. It really does. Look:
(stolen from the dink)
(stolen from reddit)
- Because when it comes to mechanical watches,
the craftsmanship involved is interesting and unique. Let me explain:
All the stuff we own today is made in millions of units: Iphones/shoes/glasses/TVs/etc... And while some of us may find the original design interesting, we can all agree the process of building those items is actually quite boring (when it's not worse...). Mechanical watches on the other hand, can be both appreciated for their design - how they were conceived - as much as for how they are made: sometimes they are hand finished, often hand assembled, checked for defaults by the thorough eyes of a specialist, carefully painted/engraved, etc.
All this process, old and generally unchanged for decades, is poetic and interesting today in an era where everything is 'outdated' after a few months and very rarely handmade...
- Cause mechanical
watch movements are the coolest/geekiest and they look absolutely gorgeous especially when finished and decorated by the hands of a master:
(stolen from Ablogtowatch)
(A, Lange Sohne Datograph Perpetual movement)
(stolen from worldtempus)
(Patek Philippe calibre 89)
(stolen from quill and pad)
(Vacheron Constantin Calibre 3030)
- Cause they have a fascinating history. Today most watches are just trying to capture a trend, but at some point during the last century they were really part of human history. I will just name a few iconic examples:
The first watches were actually pocket watches, they were followed by wristwatches which were first only worn by women. The very first dudes who requested a wristwatch were actually... Pilots! They needed to be able to time things and do it just glancing at their wrist while piloting a plane was much easier... This happened roughly during WWI.
In the 50s, the first diver watches hit the market. They are often seen with a 'bezel', a round shaped object around the watch dial which can usually be turned. Specifically the diver used to turn the bezel to try and align the 0 with the minute hand, and then be able to measure time underwater and gage the oxygen left.
In 1969, when landing on the moon, Neil Armstrong was actually wearing an Omega Chronograph called the Speedmaster. As you can imagine, the watch had to pass several extremely harsh testing, and the work of Omega's engineers is absolutely stunning in that regard. Even crazier, it looks fantastic! This watch, now legendary among collectors and nicknamed the 'moonwatch', is still sold today with a similar movement, and is still approved by NASA to use in space flights.
Omega Speedmaster 105.003 (1963)
(stolen to LunarOyester)
Current Speedmaster
In the late 60s, the scientists working on the Super Collider in CERN in Geneva have an issue. They find themselves timing stuff all the time, but in their environment any mechanical watch is really unreliable as they get magnetized all the time... CERN reaches out to ROLEX and order a watch that could take up to a thousand 'gauss' which is a measure of magnetism. ROLEX diligently delivers the 'MILGAUSS' (Mille is a thousand in French), which quickly became the 'scientists/physicist watch' everywhere at that time, and is still sold today in what is (IMHO) its best iteration: (the second hand hints at this history :D)
Oh, and on top of having great stories, they were worn by people who made our
History (in a good or bad way...).
Pablo Picasso rocking a nice GMT Master ref. 1675
Check Yeager with an early Rolex Submariner
MLK and his Date Just
The Omega Speedmaster in its natural environment (on Gemini 4)
Che Guevara and his Rolex GMT ref. 6542
- Last but not least: cause, when you want to check time, you can either graciously raises your wrist and gently push your sleeve up to reveal a lovely wristwatch, or you can awkwardly thrust your hand in your jeans pocket to grab a phone, take it up to finally turn it on... Think about it.
BLOGS/NEWS
HODINKEE - The number one blog of the watch world. Not really a big fan myself, but they are extremely influential. All their reviews are always very positive, and they work with a lot of brands which make their opinion probably biased.
SJX WATCHES - In my opinion the best watch blog out there. They feel the trends, and they give an honest opinion.
Monochrome /
worn and wound /
a blog to watch - other blogs, most of the time covering similar stuff as the 2 above.
INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS
A huge part of the watch community and culture is focused on IG these days. Here are a few interesting accounts to follow:
WATCH ANISH - sometime classy, sometime
bad taste... But still, the guy pretty much invented the 'wrist shot' culture singlehandedly, you got to give him that...
FAKEWATCHBUSTA - as the name indicates, the guy busts celebrities and their fake watches... He was the 'coolest' a couple of years ago... Now he tends to be forgotten a bit...
WATCH FRED - If you like vintage chronos, Fred is your guy. Beware, includes an awful lot of watches in coffee beans. (?)
SANTA LAURA - Singapore based collector. If you think that tuning you fluo green half a million dollar watch to your (same colored) Lamborghini is cool, you may like this guy :D
ATOM MOORE - Art director of the famous 'AnalogShift' vintage watch store in NYC (they are vastly overpriced, don't buy from them btw :D). He has an interesting eye and artsy angle.
HDFANATIC - The excellent Hatem, possibly my favorite vintage collection on IG...
Obviously
Hodinkee,
SJX have an account too. And so all the major brands.
INSTAGRAM RESET ERA ACCOUNTS
ultra7k
I WANT TO BUY A WATCH!
SECOND HAND (INCL. VINTAGE)
WATCHRECON - forum aggregator. Very useful, especially with the 'alerts'. There is also a mobile app.
EBAY - well you know :)
CHRONO24 - usually a bit overpriced, but a lot of pieces are only sold there, so keep an eye out if you are looking for something a bit rare...
NEW
****
DIAL (cadran) - the disc surface containing markings or figures upon which the time of day is indicated by hands.
CRYSTAL - concavo convex glass covering the dial. Usually in sapphire in high end offerings these days, used to be plexiglass in the 60s/70s.
BEZEL (lunette)
BRACELET
LOLLIPOP
POPSICLE
PANDA
MECHANICAL WATCH
QUARTZ WATCH
DRESS WATCH
TOOL WATCH
FORMAL WATCH
***
