The watch addiction has started.....

[MacTech]

It all started so simply and innocently....

i picked up a Luminox 3000 series at my local Brookstone outlet, it was the most convenient way for me to experience Traser technology, it's a cool watch, the traser tubes are incredibly cool, and it keeps great time, and i needed a new watch anyway....

i was satisfied....

for about a day....

i started looking more seriously at watches, i never realized how cool a well crafted timepiece could be, i had previously thought digital watches were a pretty neat idea, now i'm an analog man....

2 days ago i picked up a Wenger Battalion, it was a great price, but i ended up hating the watch and returned it, (my frustrations were detailed in the "Tritium Vs. Super Luminova" thread) so i was back to the beat up old Ironman and the Luminox.....

tonight, i was driving through the Kittery Maine outlet malls and discovered there was a......

Seiko outlet store!!, and they were having a storewide 30-50% off sale......

i stopped in and was floored by the vast number of timepieces (Seiko and Pulsar), and went into choice overload.....

long story short, it came down to a decision between a Seiko Monster ($175 after discounts, it was around $275-300 normally), and a Pulsar Tech Gear Diver 4000 for $110 after discount ($235 normally)

since i'm just starting in this hobby, (which I can see can get very expensive) money was an issue, i *wanted* the Monster, i really did, but it was more than i was willing to spend, i had my $70 Vermont tax refund burning a hole in my pocket, so my actual out of pocket on the Pulsar would be $40, a lot easier to handle than $105 out of pocket (esp. after some unexpected bills this month)

The Diver is a really nice watch, the second hand aligns perfectly with the marks on the dial, there's no discrepancies in the second hand motion, very precise clockwork, the liminescent paint charges up well under UV and holds a decent brightness for a good amount of time, i'm not sure if it's Super Luminova or not, but it's nice, however, i think the coolest feature of the watch is that it's solar powered, no batteries to replace, and will charge from any light source, it really seems to like my SF 6P w/P61, and my Lighthound 12 LED UV lights

hmm, i wonder, would the solar battery charge quicker under UV light than standard Incan or LED light....

i still will get a Seiko Monster at some point, it's a very nice watch, but for the moment, i'm quite happy with the Pulsar Tech Gear Diver, and the fact that i have a Seiko Outlet store less than a 5 minute drive from home is *very* tempting.....

Help, i feel like i'm losing control, first flashlights, then knives, now *watches*.....

dear Og i'm hopeless....

 

[CLHC]

Flashlights, Knives, Guns, Watches, Pens (Fountain), Belt Buckles, etc., etc., etc.,—One can sure get "addicted" to collecting such items. :huh: It never ends. . .

 

[iNDiGLo]

For Gods sake man....PICTURES!!!!:lolsign:

 

[MacTech]

just added pics to the OP...

question though, they had to adjust the band down by two links, and now the pins aren't staying in place, when the band isn't tensioned around my wrist, the pins slowly slide out

they gave me the baggie with the removed links, the two spare pins and two short metal "tubes"

how do i fix the band so the pins don't drop out?

i'll just take the watch back tomorrow for them to reseat the pins correctly, but i'd still like to know how to adjust the band anyway....

 

[bjn70]

If your bracelet uses sleeves, then it is possible that they damaged the sleeves when the sized the bracelets. If you know what you are doing, these bracelets are very easy to size. If you don't know, then you can damage them easily. You might have to use one of the other sleeves to hold your pins in.

Here is a link showing how the bracelet works for the monster. With a good needle you can push the pins out yourself and put in a new sleeve.

http://www.pmwf.com/Watches/WatchTools/BraceletSizingTools/AFBraceletSizingToolUse.htm

pmwf.com is a good place to go to talk about your watch addiction. I ended up accumulating watches faster than I accumulated lights.

BTW, you can usually find Seiko monsters for sale for under $120.

 

[MacTech]

Thanks for the link, it helped a lot, one of the links was clearly missing the collar, luckilly i had 2 spares, i've got them 98% of the way in, looks like the sales clerk rushed the link removal job, i'll stop in the store in the morning, see if they can tighten up the collar pins, i'll try to talk them into letting me swap for a polymer band or sport band anyway, see if i can talk them down on the price of the Monster, maybe print out an Amazon.com page with their pricing

still not sure what kind of lume paint is used on this, but after 3 hours or so, it's still visible, still readable, but the Luminox is easily twice as bright, if not more....

i'm much happier with this watch than the Wenger

i figure that no more than three watches should cover my needs, i want to have....

1; a Tritium-illuminated watch (the Luminox)
2; a solar-powered watch (the Pulsar Diver)
3; a kinetic powered watch
4; something with Super Luminova/other super-lume paint

#3 and 4 can be covered with a Seiko Orange Monster

so with the Luminox, the Diver, and the Monster, i shouldn't need any more watches.....

.....just like i shouldn't "need" any more flashlights or knives......
and we all know how likely *that* is, right?

 

[GadgetTravel]

I put a temporary hold on my watch jones by buying flashlights. A couple knives helped too. I found myself looking at watches again. My wife and I were out to dinner with a friend that has an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak dual timezone. It looked really nice. And I started to think about that Jaeger Le Coultre Hometimer I was looking at last Christmas but passed on. Then I looked at some Oris watches. Oh my......I think I need to buy some lights quick. Maybe a knife too.

 

[MacTech]

Well, as expected, the addiction is getting worse, when i went back to the Seiko outlet this morning to get the watch band fixed professionally, i discovered they had a back wall of "Almost Perfect" watches, these were models that may have had cosmetic flaws, they may have been used as demo models in stores, either way, they can't be sold as new, they're sold with a 30 day warranty, and the prices are dramatically lower than the first-quality watches....

i looked at a few, and was damnned if i could find any flaws with them, they had a couple Pulsar Diver watches like the one i just picked up, these were selling for $65 instead of the normal retail price.....

and on top of that, they still had the 30-50% off sale, with an additional 10-25% off by popping a balloon and seeing what additional discount you won....

i found a rather nice looking Chrono for $65, i looked it over extensively, the only "issues" it seemed to have was some extremely minor, almost unnoticeable hairline scratches on the watchband, and the first buckle on the watchband where it connects with the watch was jammed down, a little coaxing and elbow grease freed it up....

final cost with all discounts? $45

you tell *me* if you can see any flaws with it?

 

[HenryE]

I can save you a lot of money and agony.

Buy a plane ticket to NYC (any airport) - don't even book a hotel unless there's something else you want to do.

Take a cab to Canal Street just east of Broadway, and stroll. Bring cash. Incredibly accurate replicas, undetectable even with a loupe and many with the same internal movements as the originals, will cost a small fraction of the price of the original. Virtually every watch made is available, but some are hidden away and must be requested, as the trademark police are on the prowl.

Asking price of a monster multi-dial self-winding automatic (various brands) might be $50, and a good negotiator can save 10-15% -- if you speak Cantonese you might save another 5%.

When your chronographic gluttony is fulfilled and you're ready for another sort, walk E to Bowery St, N to Hester, and W half a block to XO Kitchen for a fine $10 lunch. Pick from the menu cards on the wall.

When you finish, take a cab back to the airport. In/out - same day. Total budget:

$250 or less air fare from anywhere
$75 taxi round trip
$10 lunch
plus watches...

You'll be filled and fulfilled.

 

[JasonC8301]

HenryE - I have to take a look!

I paid a pretty penny for my Tag and got other watches as gifts and those commanded a high price tag too. I won't be surprised to find 'replica' types on Canal St. but after handling a replica Tag; the big difference is not the movement but the feel.

There has to be some difference between a watch costing thousands, and a watch costing tens, lol. (Minus the profits going to the big boys, and all the other taxes and duties.)

 

[HenryE]

HenryE - I have to take a look!

I paid a pretty penny for my Tag and got other watches as gifts and those commanded a high price tag too. I won't be surprised to find 'replica' types on Canal St. but after handling a replica Tag; the big difference is not the movement but the feel.

There has to be some difference between a watch costing thousands, and a watch costing tens, lol. (Minus the profits going to the big boys, and all the other taxes and duties.)

I don't wear a watch, but an associate is such a watchaholic he even has a rosewood box that rocks back and forth to keep his "automatic" watches wound. On a business trip to NYC last month we went to Little Italy for food, and on nearby Canal St. he practically cried. He bought a loupe ($4 or so), maxed out at the ATM, and bought a dozen watches. The girl expertly removed links in those with metal bands to fit him, and he was delighted. I don't know watches, but he does - and he couldn't tell the difference.

My last watch was a Casio Databank, but now I carry a palmpilot - even bigger than a Tag!!

Henry

 

[tdurand]

I've got a CR2 powered watch on the way to my home right now. I thought it very fitting indeed since I have so many CR2s laying around for my lights.

Incidentally, I'm a watch nut too, and I'm asking that if anyone has a source for a Seiko Robo-Air, please let me know. I will pay top dollar.

 

[GadgetTravel]

I don't wear a watch, but an associate is such a watchaholic he even has a rosewood box that rocks back and forth to keep his "automatic" watches wound. On a business trip to NYC last month we went to Little Italy for food, and on nearby Canal St. he practically cried. He bought a loupe ($4 or so), maxed out at the ATM, and bought a dozen watches. The girl expertly removed links in those with metal bands to fit him, and he was delighted. I don't know watches, but he does - and he couldn't tell the difference.

My last watch was a Casio Databank, but now I carry a palmpilot - even bigger than a Tag!!

Henry

Well, I have been to Canal street a lot. And I have probably bought a couple dozen watches there. And they just arent the same. The $50 - $100 ones are reasonably close but they arent the same and the differences are pretty noticeable. In some cases glaringly noticeable. The places that you have to go in and ask for them to get a watch for you are better generally, but you can tell the difference. Rolex fakes tend to be the closest. Some of the real high end brands like VC and Lange are not as close. I was buying a fake down there one time and wearing an Oris and the young Chinese woman selling it said, oh thats a real Oris. She could tell from 3 feet away.

 

[HenryE]

Well, I have been to Canal street a lot. And I have probably bought a couple dozen watches there. And they just arent the same. The $50 - $100 ones are reasonably close but they arent the same and the differences are pretty noticeable. In some cases glaringly noticeable. The places that you have to go in and ask for them to get a watch for you are better generally, but you can tell the difference. Rolex fakes tend to be the closest. Some of the real high end brands like VC and Lange are not as close. I was buying a fake down there one time and wearing an Oris and the young Chinese woman selling it said, oh thats a real Oris. She could tell from 3 feet away.

I'm not a watchoholic, just an observer of one - and of Canal Street. I think there's more than one level of "replica". My friend said the same things you did. HIS watch (the one he was wearing at the time) was not among those replicated, and was instantly recognized by a couple of street vendors as a "real one".

Above all, have fun!

Henry

 

[RA40]

I heard a similar story from a business associate who travels to Thailand. Said they had some very nice knock-off's and the nicer variants in U.S. $ were running $50-$250. Some had a Chinese assembled mechanical mov't while most others were quartz.

I do lust for a TSAR and Seiko monster, I have to have some restraint for the moment.

 

[GadgetTravel]

I'm not a watchoholic, just an observer of one - and of Canal Street. I think there's more than one level of "replica". My friend said the same things you did. HIS watch (the one he was wearing at the time) was not among those replicated, and was instantly recognized by a couple of street vendors as a "real one".

Above all, have fun!

Henry

There are at least two or three levels on Canal Street, depending on the brand. For about $10-$15 you can get a fake Rolex with badly polished edges, especially on the bracelet and clearly way too lightweight to be real. They will have a cheap quartz movement but will typically keep good time. Waterproofing is definately an individual item issue. Ive had ones that went in the Atlantic Ocean and were fine and others that got fog under the crystal because it was humid and I was running to the subway. As another example at this level, the multiple subdials on a fake Breitling will have hands that are not really there but rather painted on the dial.

For $50-$125 you can get an higher quality fake. In Rolex they will look real from a few feet away. They will have a Chinese or Japanese automatic movements and the bracelets will be well polished. They will have about the same weight as an original. They will have lots of serial numbers, etc although on the ones I have seen they arent in the right place. Ive had some that lasted for years and kept decent time. Most fall apart reasonably quickly. Things like the winding stem falling out. A friend bought a really nice Rolex Explorer II fake and as we were walking a few blocks up Broadway started laughing and asked if I thought they had a warranty. I asked why and he showed me. It appears (and I still havent figured out how) that his second hand had gone retrograde. In other words the watch was running backwards. I had bought one at the same time and it was fine. The higher end ones are spread out a bit on price. Even the best, since they arent real gold will wear and look fake sooner rather than later, nothing like the silver scuff mark on a gold Rolex to show it as a fake. Also, sometime the design isnt right. Ive seen both Vacheron Constintin dual time Maltes and Lange Ones in the $60-$80 range that had hands in the wrong position. On the other hand a real Lange One goes for about $24,000.


There are real high end fakes as well. I havent seen them on Canal Street although Im sure there are some. I think I saw some in some stores in Shanghai and I have seen them on the internet. They typically go for about $1000. They are very hard to tell from the originals in some cases, even for watchmakers who open them up. But, frankly, I dont see the value in spending $1000 for a fake version of a $5000 watch when you can get a very good real watch with a real warranty, etc for $1000.

 

[EngrPaul]

MacTech,

I just bought that PUA109 Pulsar for $105 from BlueDial.com because of you! It's definitely the most attractive watch I have overall... it's just a shame it's so big and heavy!

 

[revolvergeek]

FEAR the watch addiction. All of these in roughly three years for me...

http://www.fototime.com/inv/92A2210A3BD2BFB

**Edited to clarify**
I don't still have all of them (no way that I could have afforded to keep them all). Those are just the ones that I have bought/sold/traded. There are a few that I wish that I would have kept (my old Luminox, the Mission Antarctica, the Poljot Chrono and the Casio Protrec, and the Casio G-Shock Frogman, and.. well... I miss several of them :lolsign: ).



I am down to about 10 now. These are what I have settled on for the moment:

 

[EngrPaul]

FEAR the watch addiction. All of these in roughly three years for me...

http://www.fototime.com/inv/92A2210A3BD2BFB

That's LUDICROUS!

While I have your attention, do you know where to get the kind of black and orange band shown here?

http://www.caranfil.org/review_skx781_orange_monster.html

 

[flownosaj]

Revolvergeek---DAYUM!

I'll have to show your collection to my wife and convince her that since I'm not that bad I can get another of whatever I want.

I started with pistols, then flashlights, knives, and watches. I've just hit top-end of the watches (my wife told me so) a few weeks ago, so now I'll have to find something cheap that will consume lots of time.


Mac--this is what can happen if you're not careful.

This list does not include the new Sinn I have on