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Author Topic: Anyone else interested in watches? ....  (Read 11023 times)

Artistmike

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Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« on: August 13, 2012, 09:35:41 am »

As someone interested in, and a collector of, watches, the Olympics has really been a great opportunity to "spot" some of the real modern classics on the wrists of some of the athletes and hear I'm not talking the normal cheap Casios that runners often sport. These serious pieces of horology have probably been brought to the fore even more than usual this year by the furore over Yohan Blake's wearing of his Richard Mille during the proceedings.

Omega of course are, and often have been sponsors of the Olympics and their choices of official Ambassadors in Michael Phelps and Jessica Ennis proved good choices for them with the brilliant results that they turned in at this Olympics. At the more affordable end of luxury watches, Omega weren't at all happy to see Blake's watch quite so apparent though and tried to stop it being worn, but as individual athletes are allowed to wear some articles from their own sponsors, like sunglasses, shoes and watches, we were able to see this lovely $500.000.00 tourbillion which had been created for him in Jamaican colours.


Funnily enough as we all know he was beaten both times by Usain Bolt who is an Ambassador for Hublot and it was nice to see his Hublot’s HUB4100 chronograph movement that's being produced as a Limited Edition firmly on his wrist at the medal ceremonies. These are a little more affordable at $24,000.00 and to me one of the nicer models seen.


The position over Mark Cavendishe's collection of Audemar Piguet watches though appear to be that they are his own though. He has been seen sporting quite a few models of late but as Audemar Piguet aren't listed amongst his sponsors it would appear that he is just an avid collector as has been known by the cyling pundits for a while. The Royal Oak chronograph he wears tend to come in at about £16,000.00 to £32,000 depending on metal finish so obviously a collection of those proves cycling can be a well paid profession these days !


I've one interesting Omega in my collection. In the 1994 Olympics. Omega lost their title of sponsor of the games to Seiko and to try and redress the balance and still get their name out there they gave a very Limited Edition of Omega watches out to the Swiss Olympic team and officials. Limited Edition in this case means limited as rather than Omega's normal limited editions which can run up to several thousands, this particular model was only made in an edition of 194  ..... and this is mine below. Anyone else interested in watches spotted and of the really nice makes out there?


And of course not forgetting the official representatives with Phelps wearing his nice Omega P.O.


And Jessica in hers

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Raymond

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2012, 09:53:12 am »

Just think it all used to be non paid amateurs  ok2
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Neil

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2012, 10:03:58 am »

and I thought my £7.99p MG watch in cream and rolled pink gold plated from Bid TV was nice..... {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-)
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dodgy geezer

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2012, 10:09:50 am »

I shared a study at school with a chap who used to collect Patek Phillippes....
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Artistmike

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2012, 10:19:49 am »

I shared a study at school with a chap who used to collect Patek Phillippes....

Beautiful watches too... A bit on the expensive side of course and even a basic second-hand  Patek Philippe Calatrava will set you back about £10,000. These days their top end Grand Complications probably cost about about £100,000,00.... nice to be able to afford to collect those....   O0
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Artistmike

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #5 on: August 13, 2012, 10:27:12 am »

and I thought my £7.99p MG watch in cream and rolled pink gold plated from Bid TV was nice..... {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-)

Worth every penny ! ..  %% ... {-) {-) {-) {-) {-)
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dodgy geezer

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #6 on: August 13, 2012, 10:45:47 am »

Beautiful watches too... A bit on the expensive side of course and even a basic second-hand  Patek Philippe Calatrava will set you back about £10,000....

Yup. He used to collect vintage Rollers too, but at 15 he couldn't drive them in the UK, so he just had his agent bid for them and ship them off home where he could drive around to his hearts content. You can do that if you're part of the Thai Royal Family - I think he's the Foreign Minister over there now.....
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ACTion

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #7 on: August 13, 2012, 10:56:05 am »

I'm afraid I don't understand why anyone would want to walk around with half a million quid strapped to his/her wrist. It doesn't make any positive statement about that person to me.  Like opera, ballet and show jumping I just don't 'get it'.
They may be things of beauty but if I could afford to collect expensive watches then I probably wouldn't.
My late father's plain little Accurist has far more significance and worth to me than any Omega, Rolex or Richard Mille.
Dave M
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Artistmike

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #8 on: August 13, 2012, 11:01:17 am »

Like opera, ballet and show jumping I just don't 'get it'.
They may be things of beauty but if I could afford to collect expensive watches then I probably wouldn't.

Chacun à son goût they say,  :-) funnily enough I absolutely love Mozart's operas too, very definitely my favourite composer and musical genre ......   :-)
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dave301bounty

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #9 on: August 13, 2012, 11:24:30 am »

  Yes   very much so ,and have all the paperwork to show .i was told by a gent ,some time ago ha ha ha .look at what a chap has on his wrist ,it tells a lot .fairly true too.
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Circlip

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #10 on: August 13, 2012, 11:43:44 am »

Sadly, on the other end of the scale, the fruits of one mans labours to win a £20,000 prize for an accurate timepiece were only paid after his death, to his son. We now throw away watches of a similar accuracy that need a new battery cos it's cheaper to buy a new one.

  Regards  Ian.
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U-33

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #11 on: August 13, 2012, 11:44:54 am »

Every watch I've owned has got lost, got broken, or got filled up with water. I had a super fancy thing once...the strap broke when I was washing out the filter screens on my sweeper on the landfill site. The watch went up the hoover like a greased rat up a drainpipe, through the fans and came out in fifty million pieces. End of super fancy watch.

Now I don't bother wearing one...I've got all the time in the world.



Rich
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HS93 (RIP)

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #12 on: August 13, 2012, 11:46:23 am »

I have one of these , solid 18ct gold UK hall mark, It was left to me by my father, hasn't fitted me for a long time and cannot be altered (properly) to fit me, plus not my thing so it's gone to be cleaned and is off to my son , he is a TAG collator and has several nice watches that he uses every day, tends to buy himself a new one for his birthday each year, he will use this as as a dress watch I hope.

Peter
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ACTion

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #13 on: August 13, 2012, 11:48:32 am »

 look at what a chap has on his wrist ,it tells a lot

Shouldn't it just tell the time? Displays of conspicuous wealth don't create a favourable impression, I'm afraid (and Mother always told me to be careful of blokes who wear jewellery  ;) ).
Ian - are you thinking of Harrison here?
DM
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HS93 (RIP)

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #14 on: August 13, 2012, 11:58:15 am »

by the way the only watch I wear is a very old tatty  Bulover watch ( with tuning fork) oh it's stainless steel,  that also belonged to my father but as it was his everyday watch I prefer to use that.

peter
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essex2visuvesi

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #15 on: August 13, 2012, 11:59:45 am »

I have a nice TAG watch that was given to me by my late brother.  He picked it up while on leave in singapore, means the world to me even if it is a fake.
Interestingly tho, I took it into a watch repair place to get the strap repaired and the chap said it was probably one of the best copies that he had ever seen.  The only way he could tell was that part of the mechanism was slightly wrong and unless you knew exactly what to look for you wouldn't spot it.
The watch I wearing now was a 40th birthday present from the In-laws
http://www.fruugo.fi/citizen-citizen-eco-drive-super-titanium-mens-chronograph-at202154l/p-1505036
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Arrow5

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #16 on: August 13, 2012, 12:00:36 pm »

The "early" limited edition Swatch brand of Swiss watches are quite collectable now too I understand.
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dodgy geezer

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #17 on: August 13, 2012, 12:14:31 pm »

Shouldn't it just tell the time? Displays of conspicuous wealth don't create a favourable impression, I'm afraid (and Mother always told me to be careful of blokes who wear jewellery  ;) ).

I think you'll find that different countries have different attitudes to such displays. On the whole the British prefer things to be understated, but this is not so much the case in the Far East...
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Artistmike

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #18 on: August 13, 2012, 12:18:32 pm »

Sadly, on the other end of the scale, the fruits of one mans labours to win a £20,000 prize for an accurate timepiece were only paid after his death, to his son. We now throw away watches of a similar accuracy that need a new battery cos it's cheaper to buy a new one.
  Regards  Ian.

Very true in many respects Ian, though even in the world of quartz watches there are wide variety of qualities and accuracies, of which some are certainly disposable, others not so much so...  The history of horology has always been about the striving for accuracy and amongst both mechanical and quartz movements, huge strides forward have been made and new technologies are always being developed, I'm thinking here of things like the Seiko Springdrive and Omega's Co-axial movement.

It's nice to know in these days though that in the world of the mass produced watches like Omega and Rolex, there are still those capable of hand-making a watch like the Richard Mille. they are carrying on a real tradition that has enabled humans to navigate their way across this planet and to our nearest neighbour, the moon.
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Circlip

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #19 on: August 13, 2012, 12:20:30 pm »

Quote
Ian - are you thinking of Harrison here?

   :-))

   Longitude.

  MD of a company I worked for used to wear Timex. When asked why, he said that he wore it until it went wrong and then returned it to Timex who for about a fiver supplied him with a new one.

  Regards  Ian.
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Artistmike

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #20 on: August 13, 2012, 12:23:12 pm »

I think you'll find that different countries have different attitudes to such displays. On the whole the British prefer things to be understated, but this is not so much the case in the Far East...

Indeed, blingy Rolex sell well in both China and in Japan also, who funnily don't value their own world leader Seiko as much. The Grand Seiko is far away one of the best out there still in modern mechanical terms but it tends to be seen outside of Japan more than on the wrists of Japanese executives .....
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Circlip

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #21 on: August 13, 2012, 12:23:54 pm »

Quote
It's nice to know in these days though that in the world of the mass produced watches like Omega and Rolex, there are still those capable of hand-making a watch like the Richard Mille. they are carrying on a real tradition

   Aye pet, so does Damien Hurst.

   Regards  Ian.
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Artistmike

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #22 on: August 13, 2012, 12:35:33 pm »


  MD of a company I worked for used to wear Timex. When asked why, he said that he wore it until it went wrong and then returned it to Timex who for about a fiver supplied him with a new one.
  Regards  Ian.

Timex are one of the old ones and no doubt many of us of a certain age remember them from our youth... they have re-invented themselves a few times over the years and are still going though somehow I think they'd charge more than a fiver for a repair now !  ok2
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Timo2

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #23 on: August 13, 2012, 12:59:06 pm »

Hi

   Used to get a Timex/Hamilton watches  in Dundee for the price of a pint     :-)) ;) :-))

   Timo2
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Artistmike

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Re: Anyone else interested in watches? ....
« Reply #24 on: August 13, 2012, 01:29:57 pm »

The "early" limited edition Swatch brand of Swiss watches are quite collectable now too I understand.

The Swatch group were arguably the saviour of the Swiss watch industry and now own many of the original famous brands, like Omega, Breguet, Blancpain, Tissot and Hamilton to name but a few. The Swatch Original brand itself, as you say is now very collectable, some early models fetching quite a sum....
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