OT: High End Watches  

I have had my share of watches. Mostly fond of the sports type since that is what interest me the most.
You cannot go wrong with the Rolex Submariner in stainless steel.
Classy, rugged and timeless!
Don't mess with the gold and stainless or all gold. The gold is soft a wears out the links in the band.

Patek Philippe watches seem to hold their value well

I bought a used Nautilis model in a stainless case and wear it daily

Panerai Luminor Marina. I love everything about this watch. Even comes in a left-handed version.

http://panerai.com/s_page.xpd?id_lingua=2&id_sezione=1

I have a Rolex Submariner with blue face and gold bracelet.

Keith have a look at some online replica sites. The watches are unbelievably good replicas. With all of the $$$ you will save, you can buy your BAT gear. People will rarley be able to tell it is a replica

One site

http://www.replicastreet.com/

Be careful however as there a lot of scammers out there as well

For example

www.onlinereplicastore.com

OB, once again, you are the master of discount. Love it. Have you bought anything from replicatstreet...? is the quality of the replication very high?

I will also check out abay.

I want to buy a nice automatic for my father's 70th B'Day(coming up in August). I was thinking Omega because he's heard of it. I don't think he would wear a Rolex because he would be afraid that something would happen to it.
Obviously, I don't want to buy a replica. Any places besides Ashford.com that sell Omeags? We live in a small rural town about 100 miles from the nearest dealers.

I second the IWC and you can't go wrong with a Breitling either....

A simple recipe for watch happiness: one Breitling Blackbird...

http://www.atlantictime.com/largeimage%5C732%20UTC.jpg

...and one winding box so it doesn't run down if you fail to wear it every day.

I wear a Tag Monaco Chrono (the newer one, not an original) Cost about 3K new, I think? I got it as a wedding present from my in-laws. I love it, and wear it every day. I own a hardware store, and it has held up great.

http://www.tagheuer.com/watches/deta...;F:13;T:0;C:s;

Blake

Breitling! I rely my Aerospace all the time except for those increasingly rare formal occasions.

Kal

I must admit I would not have bought one for myself; it just wouldn't have occurred to me. Instead it was a wedding/birthday gift from my wife. But now I'm very glad to have it! I actually had the Aerospace at first but (with full approval from the gift-giver :)) ended up trading it for the Blackbird. Both are very nice but each has its unique quirks and style.

dunno... I like the idea of paying less than $200 for a watch. I am just too hard on all manners of clothing or jewelry. Inevitably I wear a nice watch out to the garage, scrape the bezel against something and there it goes. Or I don't wear the automatic watch and it just freezes up.

For me, better off to buy junk, because any expensive watch in my hands quickly goes there anyway.

Well, I would guess that watches are even more of a personal preference thing than audio, so everyone will have vastly different opinions about what looks good, what looks cheap, and what looks gaudy... but here is my opinion (and what I wear every day).

Movado Valor.

What can I say... I'm an engineer - heart, soul, mind... and accessories. :) I don't really like gold jewelry, and I'm not fond of leather on watches. Stainless looks OK to me but cheap, platinum doesn't hold a finish well. Titanium is interesting if you want something light for sports and such.

But Tungsten Carbide... now there's a material that is truly a "wear it every day" material. I've accidentally scraped my watch band against concrete walls, the ground, power tools :), and all sorts of other things and the stuff really is essentially scratch proof. It helps that I really like the "smoky chrome" coloring, as well as the simple Movado styling.

Found one that fit both needs.

Put my Grandpas old Rolex in the deposit box & wear a Revue-Thommen Cricket for every day use.

It looks very similar to the old Rolex & satisifies my love for all things aircraft related since they used to mfgr. aircraft instruments.

mark

Make it money no object however & I'm going Patek

Funny that none of you mention ultra thin and high end watches par excellence such as Cartiers, Breguets, and Boucherons.. I mean a Rolex is so thick and heavy that you can't even wear it under long sleeve shirts -specially with tight french cuffs (loose cuffs are unconfortable).

I have an old round (rare) Cartier with a Sapphire cabochon with the boucle (la boucle Cartier). I mean Rolex is a contractor watch by comparison.

www.cartier.com
www.breguet.com
www.boucheron.com

That's why I love my Rolex. Now I know that I have arrived. If it's not on Richie's list then I know it is a good thing ;)

How did you answer that one? I thought I was on your bete noire list(e)..

Seiko Kinetic auto replay SMA 073 never need batteries works on rythm of arm movement saves power in stasis mode and auto winds to correct time when you pick it up .

Priceless.

http://watch.glooks.com/watches/s_de...iko&type=watch

A decade ago, I played a bit in this arena myself, finally getting a Rolex Daytona after pulling some strings and waiting for months. Even spent some time pouring over Sotheby's auction catalogs here in Manhattan and participated in a few auctions.

But more recently, watch collecting has lost its appeal for some reason. Don't get me wrong; nothing impresses me more consistently than a complicated Patek. And if someone were to point me in the direction of a correct Paul Newman Daytona at a good price, I might play again. But I find the appeal of audio and video (and cars) has been longer lasting.

Richie is right on this one - for some reason, by the end of our remodel, my contractor was indeed sporting a new Rolex!!!

I am always right:p

www.patekphilippe.com

Americans like Patek Philippe but I prefer Cartier. Like with laptop computers what I appreciate the most in a high end watch is its thinness and its weightlessness.

I'll second the Movado. Light, thin, not kilobucks, and oh by the way, keeps great time too ;)

I wouldn't buy an expensive watch for myself. Currently use a Pulsar solar watch $50 from Valueamerica.com(remember that one?)

Nice big citizen dive watch.

I cannot understand dive watches that do nothing. mine tells me water temp, depth, duration of dive... Things i might want to know when diving.

Bhagi, I like your style! I've heard from a couple of Rolex owners that the things just aren't made well, in fact. They have been pretty disappointed with the thing keeping time poorly. Others swear by them, but I would say the Rolex brand is not universally praised by their owners.

Tzucc

I love mine

It was a gift. Personally I wouldn't spend a ton of $$$ on a watch either. The Rolex keeps perfect time BTW

It is still my opinion to all reading this thread to buy a replica. You just cannot tell the difference. In fact I have one and recently was in a Watch store in Las Vegas wearing my replica. I was at the Rolex counter and the salesman was marvelling at my watch. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was a replica. Why spend $6-8K when you can buy a perfect replica for under $200.

I must comment as well that the it also has a sweep second hand rather than an intermittant tick. It keeps almost perfect time and might lose a few seconds every 2 days.

Save your money Keith. Buy the replica and with the money you saved you can get the BAT front end gear you also want. The only person who will know that it is a replica will be you--I guaranty it :)

The crystal is also scratchproof