Which wrist watch

I used to have a $4,000 Rolex Sea Dweller. It could not keep time no matter how many times I gave Rolex $300 to "clean and adjust" it. Finally got smart and replaced it with a $250 Luminox - great watches. I am surprised nobody has mentioned the new Garmin GPS watch that tells you the tides. Now that is cool.

I tested Apple and Samsung and Pebble.

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Being in the biz myself, my favorites (if that is the right word, as I don't want a smart watch) are the Huawei and the LG. But I need a watch I don't care if I lose and can use in the water all day.

And yes, in a side by side test over the course of two months, my Timex kept better time than my buddy's Rolex.

Time matters to me when cruising for, among many other reasons:

I told my crew when I'd be back from a hike or a ride in the Whaler.
I know the Whaler's GPM pretty well, how much time has expired as I explore the hinterlands?
Is that the 4 second or 3 second light up ahead?
The anchor warning went off, was it because the current shifted at the appointed time or is it dragging?
We've beached the dinghy.. when will it be high and dry if we don't adjust?

I am of the old school that grew up with wristwatches as the norm and sort of feel naked without one on my wrist. I use mine to frequently check what the approximate time is (within a minute or two), without expecting it to be atomic clock accurate. I can use my cell phone or whatever for more accurate time if I need to.

I like my watch to be reasonably robust, since I am often banging it around on hard objects, as well as waterproof and not to require battery replacements. Solar is nice, and I have tried one, but it did not hold up to bashing around.

I'm a simple analog guy in a digital world with regard to watches. Don't like digital displays there, but accept them elsewhere.

I don't want to spend a lot of money on a watch, but am willing to spend a bit more on one that pleases me aesthetically more than a Timex or equivalent, even though those may provide more accuracy and digital functions. Go figure.

Even though I am not a diver, a Seiko dive watch has all met all my requirements lately. Including big markings for my aging eyes.

Nice watch David

I am never without a watch. My current favorite that I have worn every day for the last six or so years in many nasty situations is an Oris Williams F1 Team. Keeps very good time, is reasonably priced compared to Rolex or Corum (although if I could afford one I would get the Rolex Yachtmaster or Corum Admirals cup).
I would not have a watch that needs a battery as the battery can die at the most inopportune time. Also, leather or rubber bands are also a no no for me.
John
2003 MS 390

I also have an old Pulsar and a couple of Seiko watches. When I am working on the boat or on anything where it might get banged up, I switch to one of those or take it off its serious work, like around the motors.

So in sum, watches, like boats, are extremely personal choices.
Nice thing about a cheap battery powered watch, you can always have spares readily at hand.... unlike say, an iPhone..

I would love to own a Rolex Oyster Perpetual. That said, when I see someone wearing one, the first thing that comes to mind is "is it real or a knock off." Nobody ever wonders that about my Casio watch.

hmason said:

I would love to own a Rolex Oyster Perpetual. That said, when I see someone wearing one, the first thing that comes to mind is "is it real or a knock off." Nobody ever wonders that about my Casio watch.

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Actually there are three possibilities...Real, Knock off, Real but stolen. Very dangerous to buy. Fortunately, they do have serial numbers.

dhays said:

...I have a number of watches but only three that I where consistently. I have Citizen Eco Drive that I wear at work. It replaced a Citizen Eco Drive perpetual calendar watch that I banged up so bad it messed up one of the dials. The new Eco Drive has white hands on a black face so I can read it without my glasses. It also has a stop watch function which I use at work. That watch doesn't go on the boat.

...Today I am wearing my original Citizen Eco Drive. The band is long gone so I have a band I made from paracord. It still runs great but since one of the hands is messed up the alarm function is a bit challenging to use. Keeps great time. Water resistant to 100' supposedly never tested it. It gets dunked a lot however.

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Me too! Funny, I have exactly the same watch, wearing it today. I'm a watch fanatic, like some others I feel naked without one. Of all the watches I have, some far more expensive, I wear that white-faced Citizen Eco Drive the most. It's by far the most reliable and of course it has a solar face so it never needs a battery replacement, although I've kept it in the dark by accident for over a week and it's still running when I find it. For some entirely subjective reason it also just feels the most comfortable on my wrist. I have also beaten the living daylights out of that watch and it still looks okay. I've dropped it, scraped it, bashed it, squeezed my arms into engine bays, scraped barnacles, swimming, diving in Mexico, you name it and that watch has stayed incredibly reliable and looking pretty good. Gift from my wife. That watch has proven to be the Sherman tank of all the watches I have, that thing is bomb proof.

In the 80's when I worked for Dad's marine construction/diving company I had a big orange-faced Seiko diver's watch, really liked it. I beat the daylights out of that one too and then finally lost it over the years. I got a replacement recently (a pretty expensive (for me) overhauled model of the same vintage) but it was very disappointing. Like the old one it keeps terrible time, it's self-winding so if I don't wear it every day it stops, and I can never trust it.

My dream watch is a Rolex Yachtmaster 16623, white face, two tone, black or dark blue number dots, 40mm -- but that's a silly amount of money to spend on a watch. But oh it does feel good on my wrist at the jewelry store. Heavy, nice and heavy.

Yup, the Citizens are great watches that do take a beating. I like the fact that I don't have to worry about batteries as well.

Work watch.

Greetings,
Interesting variety of wrist watches but does anyone know the origin of same?

Many moons ago (around 320 BC) when Alexander the Great was in the business of taking over the known world, he actually LOST some of his initial battles due to being outnumbered by his foes. Oh, he had a massive amount of manpower at his disposal BUT his troops tended to be party animals, stayed up all night drinking and debauching and as a result woke up way too late for the morning's battles.

Now Al, was a pretty decent guy and rather than being a party pooper, he commissioned the royal alchemists to come up with some sort of device to remind his troops that they really DID have some commitment to show up for work in the morning.

What transpired was a piece of cloth soaked in a mysterious chemical that changed color over time. When the cloth was worn on the forearm and changed to a bright blue, the troops knew it was time to "get 'er done". The rest is history but to this day, that simple piece of cloth is known as......wait for it.


Alexander's Ragtime Band. And keeping with the nautical theme of this site, a ship's orchestra...

Wrist watches are a very personal thing, they do have many positive benefits from a boating point of view, ie being able to just glance at a digital watch on a night passage has its benefits as opened to digging out a smart phone or going down to the lower helm, Alarms can be very useful on a boat and generally watches do not have to be re charged every day. Expensive watch bling can be as nearly effective as a casio or timex and can engender a feeling of accomplishment in the owner. For myself a wristwatch is an essential, and has been all my adult life.
I have multiple watches including an Omega Seamaster at one end and a Casio frogman at the other, the Casio is more accurate and reliable but I love checking the Seamaster when on a passage. Some of the more modern digital watches inc GPS, Barometer, Compass, E Data, and o yes, tell the time as well !.

ragin cajun said:

View attachment 51948 Rolex Submariner, Stainless Steel. Come on guys! You deserve to wear a fine time piece that can be handed down to future generations. Totally waterproof, rust proof and bullet proof! Besides, this is one of the few luxury items that will hold its value over time unlike our boats!

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$800 in the Navy Exchange Catalog in 1988.

Rubber Duck said:

Wrist watches are a very personal thing, they do have many positive benefits from a boating point of view, ie being able to just glance at a digital watch on a night passage has its benefits as opened to digging out a smart phone or going down to the lower helm, Alarms can be very useful on a boat and generally watches do not have to be re charged every day. Expensive watch bling can be as nearly effective as a casio or timex and can engender a feeling of accomplishment in the owner. For myself a wristwatch is an essential, and has been all my adult life.
I have multiple watches including an Omega Seamaster at one end and a Casio frogman at the other, the Casio is more accurate and reliable but I love checking the Seamaster when on a passage. Some of the more modern digital watches inc GPS, Barometer, Compass, E Data, and o yes, tell the time as well !.

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Wearing a watch is no more than a personal preference....not better or worse in the boating world....certainly not essential.

I gave my preference...working on boats...for me, they caught on everything...had a few catch and pop off and fall into the bilge.....but that's only my experience and preference.

Running a boat.....watches, smatches...

Everything electronic nowadays either has the time showing or at least on my boat a few clocks around do the trick.

And most importantly...most of the day... the time of day is irrelavent to me. Elapsed time more so. But again...my nav equipment tells me the time quicker than looking even at a wrist watch as it is right on a display or two in front of me...

It is only about what you prefer and get used to.

LMAO, RT.

I, apparently, am to watches what Attila the Hun was to civilization. First good watch (Accutron) was a high school graduation present. While making a sweeping gesture on the bridge (sail) of a fleet sub off Pt. Loma, it left my wrist and with a beautiful sparkling arc, and entered the bay. Hub cap size gold Seiko got traded for half a dozen or so motorbikes for me and a few close friends (so I heard, wasn't fully cognizant at the time) while on R&R in Thailand. My only Rolex left my wrist (un-niticed until too late) while walking down a crowded street in Port Harcourt. Finally figured it out - if it costs over $20-30, I'm not supposed to own it.

I have several watches but the one I wear day in and day out, cruising or at home is one that I bought several years ago. It keeps perfect time, is comfortable and I can push the little button and it lights up at night to let me know what time it is.

This thread got me into some trouble. I have been thinking about getting a mechanical watch since I saw my brother's over the holidays. These posts were enough to make me pull the trigger. After many years of having nothing on my wrist, my green themed boat has a green watch to go with it. A Seiko Alpinist.

Very nice watch Britania.

ragin cajun said:

View attachment 51948 Rolex Submariner, Stainless Steel. Come on guys! You deserve to wear a fine time piece that can be handed down to future generations. Totally waterproof, rust proof and bullet proof! Besides, this is one of the few luxury items that will hold its value over time unlike our boats!

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Given those criteria, wouldn't the gold Rolex with diamonds (and whatever other options are available) be better? Having asked that, I freely admit that I have never owned any watch that cost more than about $100, and that was a dive watch that I haven't used in years (since my last dive).

Timex! I'd avoid the ten-dollar watches offered at no-duty stores, however.

hmason said:

I would love to own a Rolex Oyster Perpetual. That said, when I see someone wearing one, the first thing that comes to mind is "is it real or a knock off." Nobody ever wonders that about my Casio watch.

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Rolex, an effective method to attract thieves to relieve you of property.

I've been known to wear a belt watch.

I was watching Antiques Road Show the other night and a fellow had a Rolex he'd purchased when in his late 20's early 30's to help with his job as a pilot. I recall he said he was charting areas from a plane, and used the watch for navigating, so it was a Rolex set up specifically for that purpose.

He only wore the watch for his job working in a plane, and stored it in the original box with all the original documents, so it was in mint condition. I also recall he'd paid about $1500.00 for the watch when he purchased it ( large sum of money for a young guy 40 years ago). The Road Show appraiser valued it at 30K either at an auction or in a store being purchased by a collector. My figures are going off of memory, but I for sure was impressed how much the watched gained value.

I too wear a watch... waterproof models from Walmart....digital so I can use the face light as a half assed flash light when I wake up during the night.

Conall

When I retired from flying my Rolex retired too.

Haven't worn a watch since.

Still in a drawer somewhere , I do wind it every few years as I come across it.

Interesting thread.
My two cents, I've collected many watches over the last forty years, some I've even used at sea for diving or navigating. None kept perfect time and were made of metal, which is a no no around engines and batteries. Current fav is the timex ironman. It keeps perfect time, in 3 seperate time zones, lights in the dark, has numerous alarms, for watch changes, log entries, wake ups etc... It's water proof to at least 460' , has countdown timers and stopwatches, and is made of chemical resistant plastic (distilled crude oil), all for less than 50 bucks, anywhere on the planet. I keep one on my wrist and one in the pilot house , the rolexes and patek's now live in a safe where they continue to appreciate. Once in a while I'll go analog and put one of the old girls on, but today they are more like vip wristbands than watches.


Spell check via iPhone.

Greetings,
As an aside, when I did wear wristwatches on a regular basis, I found that an analogue style was preferable to a digital. I could check the time with a quick glance at an analogue dial as opposed to having to "read" a digital.

What he said.

Garmin gps quatix. It even interfaces with my autopilot and I can drive the boat with it. Scary, huh. Only needs charged about once a week unless built in gps is active.

kelbylinn said:

Garmin gps quatix. It even interfaces with my autopilot and I can drive the boat with it. Scary, huh. Only needs charged about once a week unless built in gps is active.

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Uh oh, I should have never read your post. Oh man is that cool. Wow. I had no idea they had come so far, and they're not a million dollars either. Wow.