Is the Watch Obsolete? Do you still use one?

[huntsman53]

nope, don't use a watch... I use to have a ton of them! I'm not a big collector anymore and sold off most of mine, but I still occasionally pick them up here and there. I like the pocket watches and I'm just fascinated with the movements. The more complicated the better! But I'm after watches for a different reason, I don't use them to tell time. My friends use to make fun of me..."your the only guy we know with hundreds of watches and don't even know what time it is!!" I liked working on them, looking at them, the history and skill that it took on some of the real old ones or the hand made watches, etc....

I don't like having anything on my wrist, and most of my past jobs would have destroyed a wrist watch fast. I just never wore one except on the rare occasion or to show one off at a watch show or meet.

It's a part of history that is sad to see the interest lost. Some of that stuff took real skill to make or repair. It was an art!!

I still have and do collect some clocks too. There is just something about the sound of them ticking and chiming or coocoo...That electronics can't match. But even then...I hardly ever wind the stuff. haha

I just dug out a record player and hooked it up to my receiver tonight. There was no hook up for the "phono". I bought a stack of records at Goodwill and wanted to listen to them. Pink floyd, Jethro tull,The Who, Beatles,Alice cooper,Neil Young, and a ton of other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my head, I just bought the whole stack since I'm sure it wasn't picked through yet.......Just kind of cool to hear the music even with a few scratches...Just sounds different than the electronic phone....

I think you will like this one Nitric! It is an Circa 1840-1850 Sterling Silver Key Wind, Key Set, size 21 Pocket Watch with a Silver Dial that has Gold seconds, minutes and hour increment markers. It's unique Cylinder Escapement Movement was produced somewhere between 1840 and 1844 by JFW Co. in Switzerland and has a solid Gold Balance Wheel. The Sterling Case, the engraved Silver Dial (which is probably 80% Silver) which is about 1/8 inch or more thick with a Copper backing and the Movement were assembled into a No Name Pocket Watch by Ben Franklin, a Silversmith in England somewhere between 1840 and 1850. I picked up the Pocket Watch at an Estate Sale for $150 and spent another $325 to have it rebuilt. Besides a good cleaning, it has a new Custom made Mainspring, a new Custom made Balance Staff and a Custom made insert to the Bezel to accommodate the new/old stock and genuine 1840 English Bullseye Crystal. The Silver Dial still has some staining on it but my Expert Watch Repairman who was trained in the Swiss, German, English and American Watch/Clock Factories and schools said that it is best to leave as is, so not to risk damaging the beautifully engraved Silver Dial. I had planned to post the information and pics in another Thread some time ago but things always seem to get in the way.

 

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[dirtlooter]

I would like to find a water proof pocket watch. mainly because I fish a lot and have been known to get wet. I do wear overalls now more often so it would be cool to actually use the pockets like they were designed for. I guess that it would nearly have to be a battery watch too, I would forget to keep it wound. I have to have reminders to remind me to wind the clock once a month LOL.

 

[dirtlooter]

I think you will like this one Nitric! It is an Circa 1840-1850 Sterling Silver Key Wind, Key Set, size 21 Pocket Watch with a Silver Dial that has Gold seconds, minutes and hour increment markers. It's unique Cylinder Escapement Movement was produced somewhere between 1840 and 1844 by JFW Co. in Switzerland and has a solid Gold Balance Wheel. The Sterling Case, the engraved Silver Dial (which is probably 80% Silver) which is about 1/8 inch or more thick with a Copper backing and the Movement were assembled into a No Name Pocket Watch by Ben Franklin, a Silversmith in England somewhere between 1840 and 1850. I picked up the Pocket Watch at an Estate Sale for $150 and spent another $325 to have it rebuilt. Besides a good cleaning, it has a new Custom made Mainspring, a new Custom made Balance Staff and a Custom made insert to the Bezel to accommodate the new/old stock and genuine 1840 English Bullseye Crystal. The Silver Dial still has some staining on it but my Expert Watch Repairman who was trained in the Swiss, German, English and American Watch/Clock Factories and schools said that it is best to leave as is, so not to risk damaging the beautifully engraved Silver Dial. I had planned to post the information and pics in another Thread some time ago but things always seem to get in the way.

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beautiful watch and a very cool/awesome thing to have. very very nice watch

 

[Davers]

more and more people use their phones for everything including for time. I use my phone for the time usually to verify a clock or my watch. I accidentally broke the crystal on my Seiko watch and tried to get the crystal replaced at the jewelry shop in town. Nope, couldn't do it anymore. the last one cost me $40 to get replaced. So been checking the local thrift shop for decent watches, they seem to get a lot of them these days. Today got a nice Seiko with the works for $15, still ticking. The people said that watches are mostly jewelry now, nobody uses them. Well I still do. Don't think some of the kids can tell time anymore without their phone. To me, my watch is very important and use it all of the time.

Hmmm, Ever wonder why Casinos don't have clocks?

 

[Davers]

For real tho , I have a nice Seiko watch that I found at the lake 5 + years ago , I only wear it at 'dress up events', but not really cause I have the phone but I do use my phone to check the time

So I guess the 'Timepiece ' is now mostly an accessory .

 

[Davers]

Watches? Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Personally I dislike the feel of jewelry on my delicate skin

Guess I should be a nudist

Go for it Jeff. LOL

 

[TooManyHobbies]

I wear a cheap ($20) waterproof watch when detecting or hunting. My caveman phone don't work in water, and it's usually buried under thick layers when I go hunting.

 

[Nitric]

I think you will like this one Nitric! It is an Circa 1840-1850 Sterling Silver Key Wind, Key Set, size 21 Pocket Watch with a Silver Dial that has Gold seconds, minutes and hour increment markers. It's unique Cylinder Escapement Movement was produced somewhere between 1840 and 1844 by JFW Co. in Switzerland and has a solid Gold Balance Wheel. The Sterling Case, the engraved Silver Dial (which is probably 80% Silver) which is about 1/8 inch or more thick with a Copper backing and the Movement were assembled into a No Name Pocket Watch by Ben Franklin, a Silversmith in England somewhere between 1840 and 1850. I picked up the Pocket Watch at an Estate Sale for $150 and spent another $325 to have it rebuilt. Besides a good cleaning, it has a new Custom made Mainspring, a new Custom made Balance Staff and a Custom made insert to the Bezel to accommodate the new/old stock and genuine 1840 English Bullseye Crystal. The Silver Dial still has some staining on it but my Expert Watch Repairman who was trained in the Swiss, German, English and American Watch/Clock Factories and schools said that it is best to leave as is, so not to risk damaging the beautifully engraved Silver Dial. I had planned to post the information and pics in another Thread some time ago but things always seem to get in the way.

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That is cool!! Glad you saved it and brought it back to life. So much of this stuff was scrapped around 08- 09...I'm even guilty of it(had to pay the bills and we could get more for the gold and silver than we could the complete watch at that time)...There are a few that I wish I would have hung on to. I like that old stuff. I do still have some old stock bullseye crystals somewhere..I never sold those since they were so hard to get. I never scrapped a gold or silver dial either. I collected them for awhile...I'm not even sure what I have left anymore...I need to start digging it out and thinning it out more before it gets ruined. If something would happen to me no one would even know what half of it was or it's value.. I do have one that I'll try to find and show you. It's in rough shape but has some cool history..I never finished the research on it. To prove what it was.

 

[eman1000]

For real tho , I have a nice Seiko watch that I found at the lake 5 + years ago , I only wear it at 'dress up events', but not really cause I have the phone but I do use my phone to check the time

So I guess the 'Timepiece ' is now mostly an accessory .

If its a Grand or King Seiko you might be sitting on a small fortune. Those are highly collectible FYI

 

[Escape]

aeger-LeCoultre Calibre 101
World smallest watch.


This is the world’s smallest mechanical watch movement, and is almost 90 years old. The Jeager-LeCoultre Calibre 101 measures 14mm in length, 4.8mm wide and 3.4mm thick. It contains 98 parts and weighs only 1 gram! It has a tiny little watch movement that has to be manually wound and is handcrafted with the greatest precision - only a few watchmakers have mastered the skills required to make this movement. This precision work takes time too, which is why it is estimated Jaeger-LeCoultre have only have about 2,000 sinproductibegan in 1929. One thing is for sure: you need a good pair of eyes to tell time with it!

 

[Escape]

I much prefer a watch to tell time by. A flick of the wrist, a quick glance is all it takes. It's easier than a phone unless you happen to be holding it and it happens to be displaying the time at that moment. But people can get used to anything including digging for a phone to see what time it is. If you put a watch on the wrist of each of those people, I would bet by the end of the day they would be looking at their watch for the time instead of their phone.

 

[Escape]

Foe some folks keeping time is easy. It's either daytime or nighttime.