The Watch Thread - Part 6

[UnDeaDAfk]

anyone can recommend me a waterpoof/sweat proof strap to suit a pam 372

 

[slow_mo]

and in the same vein

Truth In Watch Movement Advertising And Defining Watch Caliber Origins Once And For All | aBlogtoWatch

I guess some people buy their watch because of movements, some because of design, some because of brand, some because of investment, some because of the story behind the watch, some because of certain functions, and the list goes on...

What's important is that we love what we buy for whatever reason(s) it may be.

Happy work week (4 days week)!

 

[Paladium]

and in the same vein

Truth In Watch Movement Advertising And Defining Watch Caliber Origins Once And For All | aBlogtoWatch

Very good article there. A recommended read for anyone even remotely interested in watches.

 

[confusedboi]

Anyone recommendations for a dress watch between 1000 to 1500?? Looking for something nice for my wedding and first decent watch..

Can consider seiko premier, tissot visodate looks good and is less than 1 k I think

 

[a562140]

I guess some people buy their watch because of movements, some because of design, some because of brand, some because of investment, some because of the story behind the watch, some because of certain functions, and the list goes on...

What's important is that we love what we buy for whatever reason(s) it may be.

Happy work week (4 days week)!

totally agree with you and the article - where highly respected author ariel adams in the watch world ends with this:

All we want is for watch companies to respect the consumers who actually care what movements are in their watches, and not create a difficult-to-remedy situation where consumers feel misled.

its a complex topic, and as we draw more people into the hobby in a thread like this the responsible thing is to just highlight all sides of the experience, so folks are going in eyes open.

 

[a562140]

Very good article there. A recommended read for anyone even remotely interested in watches.

yes journalism at its finest. considering that ariel adams makes a living getting exclusives from the watch brands themselves he is putting a lot on the line.

the comments are equally a good read, an unequivocal support of ariel adam's concerns about the lack of transparency in the watch industry.

Truth In Watch Movement Advertising And Defining Watch Caliber Origins Once And For All | aBlogtoWatch

ever wondered why in the first place "made in swiss" watches only contained 50% cost value? and why they have to take years to get it upped to 60%?

 

[yattokame]

Kind of miss this watch. Bought in 2011 when I took a huge gamble in my career. Have somewhat paid off but I have also sold the watch since.

 

[Paladium]

IWC Portugese

hope not discontinued..? lol..

lol. it wouldn't.

price i think around 7-8k for chrono, 10k+ for 7 days.

Chrono is about 9+k after discount and the below is what IWC does to modify the base movement to their needs

Re: Movement in IWC Portuguese Chrono
(Uhrenjournal, 20 November 1998, an Austrian watch publication) "Many watch manufacturers purchase their calibres from the serial base calibre manufacturer ETA. ETA offers a wide variety serving most needs. However, for many watch collectors seeking limited production calibres, this is just the reason to avoid buying a watch with an ETA movement. What if a renowned manufacturer such as IWC Schaffhausen would use the actually very good and tested ETA Valjoux 7750 for its chronographs, after undertaking numerous modifications? What speaks against the ETA movement? Actually, only the fact that it is widely used and therefore not very exclusive. In turn, what speaks for the ETA movement is that, due to the high production, it is a mature and technically impeccable movement. There are no "infant illnesses" and it is constantly developed further. Why therefore should IWC overlook the best serial chronograph-movement? Obviously, there are other alternatives, however, from an economic and technical standpoint, the decision for the Valjoux is guaranteed to be the right move.
Now, what does IWC do with this calibre, and why do they treat it as if it were their own movement? The explanation is pretty simple: IWC purchases the best serial engine and undertakes on that basis the best possible engine tuning. You could say that IWC does what AMG does with Mercedes engines, Alpina with BMW or Abt with VW or Audi engines. Serial engines are used, which in turn are tuned and optimized with the best experience available.
In the case of the Valjoux, the calibre is only bought in its components, never readily assembled. In addition, only the best possible version is purchased - the so-called Chronometer version. When the components arrive in Schaffhausen (IWC's factory location) there are first of all checked by eye, and then randomly checked in detail. Some components of the original ETA calibre are immediately eliminated and are never used by IWC. They are replaced by usually more expensive and better ones.
The entire escapement is a good example. It is ordered separately with different, more exact technical IWC specifications and is only fitted into the calibre at the end of the assembly. Some changes take place even earlier: For instance, all metal bearings of the Valjoux 7760 are replaced by jewel bearings - the Valjoux 7760 (same as the 7750 but in the handwound version) is the basis for the Portugieser Chronograph movements. There is an IWC expert whose job it is to extract by hand all metal bearings from the supplied calibre and replace them with the more expensive jeweled bearings. This is an effort, which will ultimately significantly increase the longevity of the movement.
This exercise is futile in the version 7750 as it only comes with jewels. Instead numerous cogwheels are replaced. For instance, one is part of the winding mechanism, which ETA supplies with three holes in order that it can be worked on by machines and be transported by robot arms. As the holes are drilled, there is some metal, which is pushed over the surface - causing friction with the above-located bridge. Now IWC found out that it is precisely the position of these holes, which will cause fine metallic debris over time to accumulate. In the short run, such metallic debris is not a problem, however over a longer period such debris will cause problems. Many more examples could be listed at this point, reaching far beyond the space allocated for this article. Therefore, let's come back to the escapement of the movement. Before the escapement is fitted into the movement, a specially trained, female horological expert (so-called regleuse) checks each hairspring for unevenness. How does she do it? Quite simple, she holds the escapement with a special device and turns it. Then she makes sure with her magnifying glass than the escapement unfolds in concentric circles. If not, she manually bends the hairspring to perfection. Again, this in an effort of which the value is only apparent in the sum of all efforts and is ultimately reflected in the accuracy of the movement. The pinnacle of all these tuning efforts lies in completely replacing the barrel. There are some many changes and modifications to the calibre 7750 leading to far lower power requirements of the movement. As a result the original ETA barrel is now far too strong for the modified IWC movement. A "weaker" IWC barrel brings about significant advantages. All moving parts suffer far less wear and tear because there are exposed to far smaller forces - again, this significantly prolongs the average life of an IWC movement.
It is not exaggerated if IWC makes the statement that it treats the ETA movements as if it were an original IWC movement. The numerous modifications and the great care, completely transform the original, mass-produced movement by ETA into another movement. ETA is not necessarily ETA as it is often falsely stated." (Courtesy watchtalkforums)

 

[pwillie]

S-n-a-p !

Spoiler

got this reissue, because of the IDF connection and could not find a decent original vintage.

An Israeli Defense Forces-Issued Eterna Kon-Tiki in NOS Condition: This One Never Made It Into Action

very faithful reproduction of the real thing, i like the quirky seconds hand, very bold, very functional as you would expect of a military watch. its a safe queen and never thought I'd find another in SG considering the brand is not well known here.

my serial is < #500 (out of a limited run of 1973) - just curious what's yours?

Mine's in the 600s

 

[slow_mo]

Chrono is about 9+k after discount and the below is what IWC does to modify the base movement to their needs

Wow... They do modified it quite a bit.

 

[John.D Rockefeller]

Hey guys, I'm not sure if this has been posted before but I want to buy this to see how true the reviews are

Invicta Men's 8926OB "Pro Diver Collection" Stainless Steel Coin-Edge Automatic Watch:Amazon:Watches

Thanks peeps!

 

[Paladium]

Wow... They do modified it quite a bit.

Yes, an eye opener for those who think IWC merely slaps in a valjoux and viola!

 

[All in a Day]

Wow... They do modified it quite a bit.

I received the IWC port chrono as a gift a few years back and did my reading up after getting the watch.

From what I read, the literature shared earlier may no longer be fully applicable beyond 2010 thereabouts because ETA no longer availed their movement components wholesale unfinished.

Quoted from Curiosities that haven't killed me just yet: Valjoux 7750 are not all created equal.....or are they? :
"The venerable 7750 will be seen less due to ETA's decision to no longer sell ebauches but complete movements only to new clients beginning in 2011. They have also been cutting back on 7750 production because the Swatch Group no longer wants to support their competition when they have a number of their own brands to support."

Instead, ETA will apparently pre-assemble the movements (accordingly to IWC's specs) before supplying them.

I am somewhat skeptical as this is akin to IWC revealing some in-house secrets to ETA so I could be wrong on this. But just sharing.

Update. Quoted from http://forums.watchuseek.com/f350/what-iwc-do-their-7750-a-1094568.html:

What IWC do to their 7750
So in another thread I was given a link to an article from 1998 that said IWC would get the 7750 in parts and change lots of bits with their own parts and then assemble it themselves. I was just curious if this level of modification still happened in 2014 so I emailed IWC to ask, they gave a very nice response one day later and it seems the modification is not quite as thorough, IWC Portuguese Auto Chrono is still lovely though.

Thank you for your request and your interest in IWC Schaffhausen.
ETA supplies IWC Schaffhausen with fully assembled movements, manufactured to our standards and specifications. All the modifications required by IWC have been integrated into ETA’s production processes, in order to ensure that these movements comply with IWC’s high-quality standards. The movements are subjected to IWC’s comprehensive and exacting testing procedures in the IWC laboratories. This means that the movements have to achieve a precision of 0/+7 per day, ensuring that the watches do not run behind and only run ahead by a maximum of 7 seconds per day.

IWC Schaffhausen has several of its own calibre families featuring IWC-manufactured movements at its disposal. In addition to the existing automatic und hand-wound calibres, IWC launched its first in-house chronograph movement in 2007. The range of products from IWC is clearly segmented and runs from sports to classic watches priced between CHF 4,500 and CHF 750,000. IWC-manufactured calibres are mainly used to power watch models in the higher segments.

We regard an IWC watch as an all-round work of art. Together with the movement, form and design, selected exclusive materials and outstanding ease of use combine to ensure that our timepieces represent a precision product of the highest quality across all price categories.

Moreover, we hope that we will soon have the pleasure of welcoming you in one of our exclusive IWC Boutiques, where our sales associates will be delighted to assist you in discovering our new collection. We would refer you to the IWC Schaffhausen official websitewww.iwc.com, where you will find a comprehensive list of all our IWC Schaffhausen.
We hope this information was of assistance and we remain at your disposal to provide any further information you may require.



Kind regards from Schaffhausen

 

[duameatball]

leather strap as long as you know the lug width you can easily find replacement online or otherwise. If you want to preserve the original look then go back to Armani.

As for DW alternative you can check out

https://www.brathwait.com/

Its use of sapphire glass and swiss quartz already beats DW.

worn&wound | Orient Bambino FER2400BW0 Review - worn&wound

Orient Dress Watches: The Best Budget Option? | aBlogtoWatch

Orient ladies’ Watch – Once in a Blue Moon DB0A009D | Yeoman's Watch Review

Zelos Chroma

all of the above is better than the DW crap.

Thanks for replies guys. Really appreciate it. But most of them are mens. Got any good suggestions for females? Still looking into the minimalist look. Maybe 30-36mm, hopefully in the range of <$300.

 

[Paladium]

Thanks for replies guys. Really appreciate it. But most of them are mens. Got any good suggestions for females? Still looking into the minimalist look. Maybe 30-36mm, hopefully in the range of <$300.

DW, brathwart and bambino are quite unisex. All at about 40mm thereabouts.

For 30-36mm I think u have to look towards brands like CK. I've seen very minimalist ladies model on bracelet from CK. I'm unaware if there are suitable sizes from orient.

 

[Strawberry_Cream]

nah this one.

1.3k and men size

Anyone recommendations for a dress watch between 1000 to 1500?? Looking for something nice for my wedding and first decent watch..

 

[slow_mo]

Thanks for replies guys. Really appreciate it. But most of them are mens. Got any good suggestions for females? Still looking into the minimalist look. Maybe 30-36mm, hopefully in the range of <$300.

I've seen the "Once in a Blue Moon" in flesh. It looks good. If branding doesn't really bothers you, you can seriously consider that.

 

[Lurker_13]

Thanks for replies guys. Really appreciate it. But most of them are mens. Got any good suggestions for females? Still looking into the minimalist look. Maybe 30-36mm, hopefully in the range of <$300.

I think it is ok for girls to wear men's watches, looks cool plus ladies watches 30-36mm are kinda small and limited in design IMO. My colleague's wife even wore a PAM on their wedding day.

 

[John.D Rockefeller]

nah this one.

1.3k and men size

I have this exact watch

Think there's a price drop from the time it was purchased till now..

 

[Strawberry_Cream]

I have this exact watch

Think there's a price drop from the time it was purchased till now..

yup there is a price drop

anyway yours is quartz and 33mm, the new one is automatic and 39mm