Watches?

Panerai on my wrist for the past few years. Did not buy it for accurate time keeping, but it's not terribly off. Truth be told, that watch went with me on every hunt for the past few years too. It's time for deep cleaning :sneaky:

Love them. Absolute shame what the super-fake market did to the used prices though :-(
 
Love them. Absolute shame what the super-fake market did to the used prices though :-(

The fake market didn't do that. Panerai did that by oversaturating with models that moved outside of their original design philosophy. There are countless fake Rolex's and you don't see them leaking value. The base dials will eventually move back up in value, in fact, I think they will see a Rolex like appreciation sometime in the next 10 years.


It's a disgrace.

That's okay though because most watch people (candidly, rolex wear'ers) don't even know what a Panerai is. I like flying under the radar in that capacity.

I don't think you are flying under the Radar with a PAM. Outside of a Sub and a Speedy, a Panerai is probably the 3rd most recognized case design.
 
Sure feels like it! Most anyone can spot a Rolex or generally knows them as expensive. Can’t say the same for other brands. But ya
Haha, well if I was wanting to "flex" I would choose the PAM over the Rolex or Speedy, I think it has far more wrist presence than either, and are also seen less often.
 
Tissot make a good watch and the Visodate is a good Tissot. I understand that Tissot straps don't perform well in the long run as they are manufactured to a price so don't be surprised if you don't get the mileage out of the OEM strap that you expected.
 
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I’m in the market for my first Rolex soon. I’ve got an Oris Aquis Small Second that I bang around daily and an Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch that my dad gave me. I’ll keep it forever.

Anyone wanting to part with a Rolex? I also have some nice firearms I could be convinced to move...
 
I’m in the market for my first Rolex soon. I’ve got an Oris Aquis Small Second that I bang around daily and an Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch that my dad gave me. I’ll keep it forever.

Anyone wanting to part with a Rolex? I also have some nice firearms I could be convinced to move...


There was a Rolex in the PX within the last few days.
 
I have worn a G-Shock Rangeman since 2017. It is solar powered, syncs automatically with the atomic clock in Ft Collins, CO, and shows barometric pressure and pressure altidude. Stopwatch is useful for timed stages in matches. Based on both local weather (I live 6 miles from an airport from which I can get accurate barometric pressure) and the original platte for my home, it is very accurate. Compass is helpful, time is very accurate every day. I bought it on Amazon for $191.50 nearly three years ago after I sold my Rolex for a tidy profit after 20 years.

Harry
 

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Damn, some of you guys are classy.

I've been using a citizen Eco-drive for about 5 years. I reset the time for daylight savings, it's not off enough to notice 2x a year.

I will say citizens glow paint on the hands sucks. Wife bought me black on black and it sucks after dark.

Really only need it for time, especially in places phones aren't allowed. For that it's awesome, and the battery is great considering it's under the sleeve of a shirt for 6 months a year. The solar charging works.

I haven't had a real reason to use the tach, not sure what the hell is going on with some of the crazier watches so I'm good with simple.
 
Damn, some of you guys are classy.

I've been using a citizen Eco-drive for about 5 years. I reset the time for daylight savings, it's not off enough to notice 2x a year.

I will say citizens glow paint on the hands sucks. Wife bought me black on black and it sucks after dark.


Really only need it for time, especially in places phones aren't allowed. For that it's awesome, and the battery is great considering it's under the sleeve of a shirt for 6 months a year. The solar charging works.

I haven't had a real reason to use the tach, not sure what the hell is going on with some of the crazier watches so I'm good with simple.

That is the very reason i didnt get the nighthawk and i got the PCat instead. The hands glow very good at night.
 
I really want a new watch that looks more solid, like the Patek Philippe – Nautilus, but I don’t have the budget for it. I’m looking for something with a similar style but much more affordable. Any suggestions?
 
You don't need to drop a ton of cash to have a cool watch.

Watches can make any outfit look better, and honestly, a nice, well-made replica can look just as good as a pricey one. No need to spend a fortune when you can save money and still get the style you want. Check out premium replica watches for a dope look that won’t break the bank.
 
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Picked this up off here a while back. Sinn u50. Really nice watch! Wish I had gone with the U1 though. It is a little smaller than I would like.
I've got the Hydro version of that. Love it. I had a U1-T but too heavy for my tastes. Also had the U50 professional but the 10 o'clock crown got old.
 
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I really want a new watch that looks more solid, like the Patek Philippe – Nautilus, but I don’t have the budget for it. I’m looking for something with a similar style but much more affordable. Any suggestions?
If you haven't seen this hide thread yet, you should. Lots of suggestions on all sorts of watches in there.
 
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Long time ago I started my career as a commercial diver in the North Sea and dive watches connect me back to my roots. They reflect certain milestones in my journey, my life, my career, where I came from and where I am going. They are simple, functional and without pretence, at least, they used to be...

I bought my first one in the early 2000's, the Omega Seamaster GMT 50th year. After 10 years of diving I just started flying helicopters and liked the GMT time functionality. The watch bridged the gap from diving into flying for me and connected me to both worlds. She is an amazing watch and she served me well for nearly 20 years from the Arctic to the hot and hight Afghan desert. She also has by far the most comfortable steel band I ever worn. Right now she is taking a break and needs to go back to Omega for a $1200 service. New face, hands, tune up, polish etc etc. She not only needs it, she deserves it.

3 years ago, I just started flying airplanes for the airlines and hired into the majors, I ran into the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M with the black leather band while in Rome, Italy. It seemed like a great compliment to my steel GMT and became a symbol of a new era in my career. I must say, the longer I wear this watch, the more I love it. I love that noone seems to know what it is, extremely sturdy build, high quality, looks great in any setting and under the radar.

1 month ago I happened to run into a Rolex Submariner at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. Its the watch I always wanted but never could justify buying during my early diving days. This was far before they became so "popular". The Rolex boutique literally received an incoming shipment as I was standing there talking to the boutique manager. I gotten to know her as I travel a lot though there and always walk in to see if she has anything. Given how hard it is to get them these days I was excited and could not let the opportunity pass. To be fair, It usually takes some time for me to get used to a new watch and she hasn't stolen my heart as of yet. Particularly I don't like the looks and compliments I get and her increased "popularity" over the recent years has made her less attractive to me to wear. Aside from her undeniably being a high quality piece of machinery, I don't feel she deserves the much higher price tag and hype over the Omega's who are build just as good if not better IMHO. Will see, maybe our relationship improves in the future. If not, I should be able to get my money back fairly easy.

If I could have only one and I had to choose today; I would choose the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean (black leather), and never look back.
 

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Long time ago I started my career as a commercial diver in the North Sea and dive watches connect me back to my roots. They reflect certain milestones in my journey, my life, my career, where I came from and where I am going. They are simple, functional and without pretence, at least, they used to be...

I bought my first one in the early 2000's, the Omega Seamaster GMT 50th year. After 10 years of diving I just started flying helicopters and liked the GMT time functionality. The watch bridged the gap from diving into flying for me and connected me to both worlds. She is an amazing watch and she served me well for nearly 20 years from the Arctic to the hot and hight Afghan desert. She also has by far the most comfortable steel band I ever worn. Right now she is taking a break and needs to go back to Omega for a $1200 service. New face, hands, tune up, polish etc etc. She not only needs it, she deserves it.

3 years ago, I just started flying airplanes for the airlines and got hired into the majors, I ran into the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M with the black leather band while in Rome, Italy. It seemed like a great compliment to my steel GMT and became a symbol of a new era in my career. I must say, the longer I wear this watch, the more I love it. I love that noone seems to know what it is, extremely sturdy build, high quality, looks great in any setting and under the radar.

1 month ago I happened to run into a Rolex Submariner at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. Its the watch I always wanted but never could justify buying during my early diving days, far before they became so "popular". The Rolex boutique literally received an incoming shipment as I was standing there talking to the boutique manager. I gotten to know her as I travel a lot though there and always walk in to see if she has anything. Given how hard it is to get them these days I was excited and could not let the opportunity pass. To be fair, It usually takes some time for me to get used to a new watch and she hasn't stolen my heart as of yet. Particularly I don't like the looks and compliments I get and her increased "popularity" over the recent years has made her less attractive to me to wear. Aside from her undeniably being a high quality piece of machinery, I don't feel she deserves the much higher price tag and hype over the Omega's who are build just as good if not better IMHO. Will see, maybe our relationship improves in the future. If not, I should be able to get my money back fairly easy. But, we are not there yet, I only given her a first warning so far.

If I could have only one and I had to choose today; I would choose the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean (black leather), and never look back.
I believe the Omega is a better value for the money. My first....working on another.....

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Long time ago I started my career as a commercial diver in the North Sea and dive watches connect me back to my roots. They reflect certain milestones in my journey, my life, my career, where I came from and where I am going. They are simple, functional and without pretence, at least, they used to be...

I bought my first one in the early 2000's, the Omega Seamaster GMT 50th year. After 10 years of diving I just started flying helicopters and liked the GMT time functionality. The watch bridged the gap from diving into flying for me and connected me to both worlds. She is an amazing watch and she served me well for nearly 20 years from the Arctic to the hot and hight Afghan desert. She also has by far the most comfortable steel band I ever worn. Right now she is taking a break and needs to go back to Omega for a $1200 service. New face, hands, tune up, polish etc etc. She not only needs it, she deserves it.

3 years ago, I just started flying airplanes for the airlines and got hired into the majors, I ran into the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M with the black leather band while in Rome, Italy. It seemed like a great compliment to my steel GMT and became a symbol of a new era in my career. I must say, the longer I wear this watch, the more I love it. I love that noone seems to know what it is, extremely sturdy build, high quality, looks great in any setting and under the radar.

1 month ago I happened to run into a Rolex Submariner at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. Its the watch I always wanted but never could justify buying during my early diving days, far before they became so "popular". The Rolex boutique literally received an incoming shipment as I was standing there talking to the boutique manager. I gotten to know her as I travel a lot though there and always walk in to see if she has anything. Given how hard it is to get them these days I was excited and could not let the opportunity pass. To be fair, It usually takes some time for me to get used to a new watch and she hasn't stolen my heart as of yet. Particularly I don't like the looks and compliments I get and her increased "popularity" over the recent years has made her less attractive to me to wear. Aside from her undeniably being a high quality piece of machinery, I don't feel she deserves the much higher price tag and hype over the Omega's who are build just as good if not better IMHO. Will see, maybe our relationship improves in the future. If not, I should be able to get my money back fairly easy. But, we are not there yet, I only given her a first warning so far.

If I could have only one and I had to choose today; I would choose the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean (black leather), and never look back.
I can certainly understand this sentiment. While I love the looks of the Rolex Sub on others I just don't like the added attention that it draws on myself. I'm not talking about "bad" attention I'm just talking about "good"attention. I get the exact same way with Panerai and in fact I'm going to be selling my Panerai very soon simply because of this. I'm a bit of a fly-under-the-radar type of guy so those two brands just don't really work with my personality.

It's a bit ubiquitous nowadays but I truly have fallen in love with what Tudor has done. I started off with a five liner Pelagos (IMO the best value dive watch at any price), moved to an FXD and then picked up a BB54. They are just extremely hard to beat for the money considering the accuracy is outstanding. Most find the newer Tudors to be more accurate than any last generation Rolex. Rolex is now catching up by borrowing some tech from their sister brand.

I will say my Sinn U50 Hydro has surprised me. I wear it all the time. Mainly because it's just a tank of a watch that you could work on a car with but more importantly and unexpectedly because it's a quartz. As someone who changes watches a lot knowing the time is right every time I pick it up has really changed my mind on having more quartz pieces. Finally that oil-filled dial creates viewing angles that you just can't get anywhere else. It has become quite the daily driver.
 
I like the Sinn U50 Hydro and the effects of the oil filled face on the clarity and reading angles. Quite stunning indeed, especially on a black strap. I have been looking at Sinn for many years and it seems such a good value for a well engineered watch. I did however not know they made quartz movements in some of their watches and while I understand the advantages of this, there is something magical about old fashioned spring watches. Having said this; Where Breitling never was able, the U50 Hydro just might make me change my opinion about quartz movements.

Watches to me are about how they make you feel wearing them. Do they reflect something about yourself, do they work with your personality, etc etc. Sinn is another of those "sleeper" watch brands. Very high quality and under the radar not drawing any attention. I like that a lot. And yes, the Rolex looks amazing looking at it and seeing it on others. The attention it gets just doesn't make me feel very good wearing it. Perhaps that will change over time.
 
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I like the Sinn U50 Hydro and the effects of the oil filled face on the clarity and reading angles. Quite stunning indeed, especially on a black strap. I have been looking at Sinn for many years and it seems such a good value for a well engineered watch. I did however not know they made quartz movements in some of their watches and while I understand the advantages of this, there is something magical about old fashioned spring watches. Having said this; Where Breitling never was able, the U50 Hydro just might make me change my opinion about quartz movements.

Watches to me are about how they make you feel wearing them. Do they reflect something about yourself, do they work with your personality, etc etc. Sinn is another of those "sleeper" watch brands. Very high quality and under the radar not drawing any attention. I like that a lot. And yes, the Rolex looks amazing looking at it and seeing it on others. It just doesn't make me feel good wearing it. Perhaps that will change over time, I have my doubts though.
All the Hydros are quartz because you cannot get a mechanical movement to push the hands through the oil and have any type of power reserve.

I agree with mechanical movements being far more sexy and especially that of the techno mechanical spring drive from GS. I honestly thought the Hydro would be a quick flip for me once I scratched the oil-filled itch, because I too didn't think I could live with quartz. At the end of the day the convenience of grab-and-go wins out on most days, especially when I'm super busy.
 
All the Hydros are quartz because you cannot get a mechanical movement to push the hands through the oil and have any type of power reserve.

I agree with mechanical movements being far more sexy and especially that of the techno mechanical spring drive from GS. I honestly thought the Hydro would be a quick flip for me once I scratched the oil-filled itch, because I too didn't think I could live with quartz. At the end of the day the convenience of grab-and-go wins out on most days, especially when I'm super busy.
Yeah, I love mechanical watches, but…

…something similar happened to me with the Marathon Navigator w/date in quartz and stainless. No muss no fuss, no watchsmith or fancy tools to switch out the battery either. I even love the inexpensive nato-ish strap it comes with.

And it’s thin and super light!

I can sleep with it on and don’t even notice…normally I can’t stand sleeping with watches for some reason. I can track a second time zone for work and the tritium is super visible all night. 100m water resistance is plenty for me.

Currently, convenience is winning out.

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This is the exact one I got.
 
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I tried a number of electric watches and never liked any of them. I am a mechanical watch person for the rest of my life. Here is my latest.
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Very nice. I tried that one on last week mainly because I was wanting to look at the monochrome but it was not in stock so I tried that one on just so I could get an idea on the exact size.
 
Hamilton is a good brand that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I personally wear my Omega Planet Ocean (gen 1) as often as I can but the Hamilton gets a lot of wear and has been with me for over a decade. I wear an Apple Watch as well for working out and sleep tracking and the Garmin Tactix Delta is my range watch.

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This is a newer one I have been trying. Not sure if I like how light it is. I like feeling the weight of a watch and this one you forget it’s there.

Tag titanium solar.
 

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Hamilton is a good brand that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I personally wear my Omega Planet Ocean (gen 1) as often as I can but the Hamilton gets a lot of wear and has been with me for over a decade. I wear an Apple Watch as well for working out and sleep tracking and the Garmin Tactix Delta is my range watch.

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I have that same Planet ocean. I really like my Omegas.
 
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I'm kind of a watch nerd as well. And I particularly like Divers, although I haven't lead nearly as interesting a life as vno.helix and don't have the kind of lifestyle where a watch with a 300 meter depth rating is ever going to be necessary.

Also, kind of anti-Rolex for exactly the same reason as other posters have articulated, I really want my watch to fly under the radar. Having said that, there are a ton of divers that, IMHO, are interesting alternatives to Rolex. Blancpain makes two different divers that, frankly, have better finishing and movements than Rolex - although they are also pretty pricey. One of my favorite brands in general is Glashutte Original and their SeaQ line is also a great alternative to a Sub. Better date window, better movement, better bracelet, display case back. Again expensive, but if you're willing to buy preowned you can save a bunch of money. And if you like the German aesthetic there's Sinn and Damasko as well.

And as others have mentioned the Panerai 24 submersible, Omega and the Tudor are also great alternatives.
 
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I'm kind of a watch nerd as well. And I particularly like Divers, although I haven't lead nearly as interesting a life as vno.helix and don't have the kind of lifestyle where a watch with a 300 meter depth rating is ever going to be necessary.

Also, kind of anti-Rolex for exactly the same reason as other posters have articulated, I really want my watch to fly under the radar. Having said that, there are a ton of divers that, IMHO, are interesting alternatives to Rolex. Blancpain makes two different divers that, frankly, have better finishing and movements than Rolex - although they are also pretty pricey. One of my favorite brands in general is Glashutte Original and their SeaQ line is also a great alternative to a Sub. Better date window, better movement, better bracelet, display case back. Again expensive, but if you're willing to buy preowned you can save a bunch of money. And if you like the German aesthetic there's Sinn and Damasko as well.

And as others have mentioned the Panerai 24 submersible, Omega and the Tudor are also great alternatives.
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Automatique 🌶️🌶️🌶️ Which one doe you have? Any pictures?
 
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Omega I have owned for many years and sent it back last year to have it gone through. Baume & Mercier my beautiful wife gave to me on one of our Anniversaries. Belgium made Hi-Power which was my late father's second carry and still my favorite pistol. Everyday watch is a Garmin Fenix which I don't worry about trashing at work or in the shop.

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