[Brian Burrows]

So I know a few of us are watch collectors/owners, and I figured it'd be an idea to get a bit of a horology appreciation thread going so we can all have a virtual pipe and polish session, perhaps get a few more folks down the rabbit hole of watch collecting.

My story started a few years ago now, and I'm around 16 watches in regular rotation with two or three that I love and keep but rarely see wrist time.

My addiction My hobby is mainly focused around affordable, mechanical watches, but I do have some quartz watches in my box, and use a wearable when I'm doing certain things as I don't want to damage my watches, but it's quite rare these days to find me with a naked wrist. The rise of the YouTube watch community and global markets and shipping have seen some interesting stuff creep into my collection over the years.

6 of my watches are "dive style", one's a proper certified "diver's" watch and two are Vostok's which are Russian jobbies.

And it all started with a Seiko 5 field watch in green.
View attachment 295646

Non hacking or hand winding, reference SNK805K2, purchased around 2018 I think.. I'd had watches before this but this was my first proper "mechanical" watch and the one that really started my love affair with Seiko as a brand. Yes, I'm that guy..

37mm case diameter, so quite small but it's really easy to wear this every day, and it works, and keeps working and keeping time, albiet a little fast, it's super legible too.

It's on a cheap green NATO strap in this shot, I tend to switch the straps on this one a fair bit but it works well on this strap, so tends to live on it in the box.

Very cool watch Dave.

As you know, I've got a decent watch collection, with some rare vintage stuff.

Today I'm wearing an Omega Seamaster 300 - META tested beyond any Rolex. I'm really impressed with Omega's new stuff.

 

[Brian Burrows]

I've never really been much of a TAG Heur fan, but I do like some of the Carrera range.

I've never been a fan of TAG either (I do own a 70s Heuer (pre TAG) Monaco 'Steve McQueen' though).

But I agree on some of the Carrera range.

My local 'Bijouterie' has a Limited Edition 'Jack Heuer' panda dial in the window - and it looks lovely. I'm tempted.

 

[Brian Burrows]

From the first one I bought to my latest purchase.

Now, this one is difficult for me as I'm a Seikoholic and really there are two brands in Japan, Citizen and Seiko.. there are also Orient who make some really nice watches and are of horological interest because they make their own movements, but I don't own one of them.. yet.

But yeah, you're usually either a Seiko man or a Citizen man... Citizen make some absolutely amazing watches, and their Eco-Drive technology is superb, but I like mechanical stuff (even though I own some quartz watches), however I was lacking a certified diver in my collection and this filled that gap nicely, and at the moment you can pick them up for less than £150 if you know where to find them, so it's an absolute bargain and just couldn't be ignored! Did I mention this is an addiction?

View attachment 295663

Model reference NY0085-86EE, in the "coke" colours (black and red bezel), has a left handed crown and comes on the worlds worst bracelet outside of a Russian watch, which is why it's on one of my rubber straps at the moment.

Bit of an oddity this one, it's got a left handed crown, and according to the face it has an 8203 movement from Miyota (who are owned by the same parent group), which has hand winding but doesn't "hack". (Hacking is basically when you can freeze the seconds to set accurate time). However this one does hack so I think it's actually got an 8204 movement. This one reads as accurate to +2s a day, with a sub 0.1MS beat error, so it's a "good" one according to the app on my phone, but the rotor for the automatic self winding is a lot noisier than Seiko stuff of the same ilk. As I said, I'm a Seiko fan, I just think they're a bit better, but they are getting expensive now, especially when you consider their movements get used in a lot of nicer finished higher spec Chinese watches.

The case finishing isn't as nice as my Seiko's, the bezel action is really nice though and the indices all line up with the chapter ring and bezel markers. Being a Citizen it used a blue hue lume which you can see popping on the hands, it's really good on these and I think it's a proprietary formula to Citizen themselves, it's got the same hue as the BGW9 on some of my more expensive watches and it lasts really well.

Being a "certified diver's", this one has a screw down crown, screw down case back and is properly tested to 200M, which is more than I'll ever use, I even take mine off when I'm washing my hands, but it's a nice thing to have!.

The glass is a mineral glass, it's prone to scratching, as is the aluminium bezel insert, but I think as I use this one, it'll add to the character of the watch.

Nice score Dave.

 

[Brian Burrows]

I've never been a fan of TAG either (I do own a 70s Heuer (pre TAG) Monaco 'Steve McQueen' though).

My 1971 Monaco...

 

[Brian Burrows]

Get it bought!

😂😂

 

[Brian Burrows]

I have a 36 year old (vintage? ) TagHeuer 3000 series automatic, all stainless. It's quite small/discreet by modern standards, I wouldn't swap it. Got it for my 21st Birthday off my parents with the strict instructions to 'wear it and enjoy it'. As such it has been my everyday watch, and has the 'battle scars' to prove it LOL. It's in decent condition, but covered in light surface scratches on the case and bracelet.

I also have my late dad's Longines - I'll have to check the model number. It's a quartz one, and although also stainless, it's more 'dressy' than the TAG. It only comes out for special occasions (wore it on my wedding day), but hasn't been out for ages as it needs a battery..... That said, the TAG is desperate for a service....

Cool (both watches) - got a photo of the TAG Heuer dude?

 

[Brian Burrows]

This is my latest buy. Treat for my 40th this weekend, Its a 1981 NOS Seiko. Was looking for something nice to mark the occasion and found this made the same year as me .

View attachment 295671

Very cool. I like integrated bracelet watches (the AP Royal Oaks are beautiful - and expensive.)

Health to enjoy.

 

[Brian Burrows]

Here you go Bri, I'll pop up the Longines later too....
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🤙

 

[Brian Burrows]

Todays offering is one of the nicer pieces that I own.

View attachment 295673

It's a Christopher Ward C63 Sealander, which is a very simple, no bezel 39mm watch, with a Swiss Sellita SW-200 movement. This one I really enjoy and wear quite a lot as it tends to go with most things, and can be dressed up or down with a quick strap change. It's shown here on the hybrid rubber CW bracelet, and I'm wearing a Golf GTI T shirt, and a pair of Nike low dunk SB's in the black and red Chicago colourway (think classic black and red Nike Air Jordans, you get the idea) I often match my watches to what I'm wearing that day.

It gives me late 1980's hot hatch vibes with the black and red, and the cutting on the case in really nice, it catches the light really well and I do keep finding new details that I like. This one literally arrived with another one for the Brads Auction in orange and white (another mega cool combination) the Friday that I was due to leave for the event.

Lume on this one is insane, pops a really nice bright blue and stays glowing quite late into the night, which if you're like me and often wake in the night is a useful thing.

Very nice Dave.

 

[Brian Burrows]

Very cool Dave.

 

[Brian Burrows]

Today I'm wearing a 1959 vintage Rolex Submariner 6538 - often referred to as the 'big crown' because of the large winding crown (and no crown guards).

These early Subs are also often called the 'James Bond' Submariner as Sean Connery wore one in his first Bond film (Dr. No). The story goes that a young Connery arrived on set wearing a Timex (or similar) and producer/director, Cubby Broccoli was like "WTF?! James Bond doesn't wear a Timex!" - and gave Connery the Rolex off his own wrist. I think there may be a bit of 'urban myth' to this though - as, if you read the novels, Ian Fleming referred to Bond wearing a Rolex - the general opinion between Rolex buffs is that Fleming was probably referring to a Rolex Explorer 1016 though, which was his own personal watch of choice. Either way, Bond wore Submariners right up to Roger Moore's portrayal.

With the arrival of Pierce Brosnan, Bond started wearing Omega Seadwellers - this was a clever bit of 'product placement' on Omega's part (I believe they 'donated' a load of watches to the cast and crew) - and since then, particularly during Daniel Craig's tenure, the James Bond/Omega Seadweller tie up has included Omega making limited edition versions featuring the '007' logo etc. (presumably there's a licence deal). These limited editions have become very popular amongst collectors and the latest version - the titanium 'No Time To Die' Seadweller (library pic below) is selling like crazy.

Anyway... I'm rambling. Enjoy your watches guys.

 

[Brian Burrows]

Hi,My Doxa 750T. I think I’ve had it around 7 years and it’s always on my wrist. It could do with clean and a touch up on the dive times but thats about it I think .?
View attachment 295706

Very nice.

 

[Brian Burrows]

Interesting to see the "crow's foot" emblem on there. Its often engraved or printed on MoD or Government Service items of "worth" - watches, binos, patrol compasses etc.

Watch guys often refer to that as the 'thin arrow' - and yes, it's reserved for MoD/Government 'specified' kit. My Rolex Milsub has one - as does my Hamilton 60s 'British Officer's' watch. (Below).

I'm not sure how Omega got away with this one. 😂

 

[Brian Burrows]

That's a beautiful watch. I'm a bit of a bond fan myself but "my" Bond was Roger Moore, that's the one I grew up watching through the late 80's at least, which is one of the reasons I really like Seiko watches too, they made a LOT of appearances in the 80's and 90's in film, they even appeared on my hero Ayrton Senna's wrist until he got TAG sponsorship.

The Bond watches thing is quite interesting, he's worn a few brands in his time. As you said the early films he had Rolex's, various subs, and then in Thunderball he wore a Brietling Top Time, there was a gold and white faced dress watch in you Only Live Twice I think, and then again in Diamonds are forever. In my era of Bond films (or at least the ones I saw on TV when growing up), There was the Pulsar Digital watch, the Seiko 0674 LC that printed messages, a memory bank calculator in Moonraker, a Seiko Quartz Rolex-a-like in a View to a Kill and I'm sure there were more I've missed!

I've not seen the new film yet, but I'm guessing it'll be another Omega advert with some film around it 😄, interestingly I think they're re-writing the character a bit with the new films, as such I can see we'll see other brands creep on to 007's wrist.. but I always associate Bond with either Rolex Subs, or Seiko's

Don't forget Roger Moore's Submariner that doubled as a mini circular saw and a garrot.

 

[Brian Burrows]

The below watch is what I'd consider a homage, it's marked as a Pagani Design, so not pretending to be something it's not, but it also has some clear design queues from a well known classic watch, in this case the AP Royal Oak range.

View attachment 295720

I wanted to try a cheap integrated bracelet with this case shape, as I really wasn't sure how it'd feel on the wrist, it's not one I'll wear all the time, but its quite a cool thing, especially when the light hits it.


Mecha-Quartz movement from Seiko, it's a Chronograph with a Tachymeter scale. Watch people will know the design, it's basically a rip off of the Royal Oak "offshore" with a blue waffle design dial that you really need to see to appreciate, silver sub dials at 6 for minute seconds, 3 for 24 hour register, and 9 for elapsed minutes.. The pushers are screw down as is the crown and case back, and it's got a sapphire crystal. It's basically a stop watch for my wrist but it's also got 200m of water resistance. It also has a date complication nestled between 4 and 5 o'clock.

Looks good Dave.

 

[Brian Burrows]

Morning folks.

Good to see a few other folks posting on here, AlexB, that's a lovely watch, very cool colourway that.

GARRICK.CLARK, well that's a complicated one really, it's not Heur that people have the issue with, it's the TAG part of the name.

Heur was an older maker, and they got purchased by TAG, who I think were a Saudi concern with a habit of using very familiar designs and basically getting their product everywhere they could, which I think rubbed a lot of folks up the wrong way.

And then there was the debacle around their chronograph movement, where they claimed it was an in-house calibre but failed to tell anyone that it was basically shared DNA with a design they'd purchased from Seiko some time before.

I gave you a break on Sunday, as I was down the unit for the most part as a result had my ugly G-Shock on. I did have to go and meet another watch guy later that day, so I swapped to the Chris Ward (which you've seen already).

The reason I went to see the watch chap was because he had an advert for a Seiko Sumo in Green.

The Sumo is a modern Dive Watch, with a really big case (45mm!) which is far bigger than I wear, but he mentioned it was sized for his 7" wrist... now, I have a 7" wrist and I know Seiko's tend to wear a lot smaller, so I had to go and take a look.

View attachment 295748

And here it is yesterday on the wrist, it sort of melts around the wrist so actually feels quite comfortable and I do like the aesthetic.

So about the watch.
Well, it's a Seiko model reference spb103j1, the sumo, like many Seiko watches is the designation that fans give the watch, and there's a few thoughts as to why the name. Some schools of thought think it's due to its beefy size, others say the 12 o'clock marker looks like a Sumo wrestlers underwear.

This one is green, as such some people call it a "hulk" and it draws obvious comparisons between another well know Swiss divers watch.

I'm not usually a green dial man, however this one is almost black until the sunlight hits it, and then it looks really nice.

Comes with a 20mm bracelet, which I think helps it feel "smaller" on the wrist, typical nasty Seiko pressed steel clasp with dive extension and 4 points of micro adjust, but comes with Sapphire glass this time round, whereas most Seiko's have their proprietary hardlex. Lume is Seiko lumi-brite, which is awesome stuff and gives a neon green glow in low light and the movement is the Seiko 6R35 with 70 hours of power reserve.

Unsigned crown, but a good size and easy to use, tucked away at 4'oclock which helps with how it wears.

Would I buy this watch new?, no.. the RRP on these is silly, and even when you can get a discount, who wants to spend north of £500 on a Seiko? Sure it's got solid end links, it's got a sapphire crystal and a nicer movement, and yeah the case is really nice, but it's also got an unsigned crown and keeps an aluminium bezel insert.. there are nicer watches for your money out there.

But I let someone else take the depreciation on this and I'm more than happy with it for what I paid, so much so it's back on the wrist today.

Nice score Dave.

 

[Brian Burrows]

So with the massive choice of watches these days, what would be a good watch that is built well that most people can stretch to. I do like stainless watches with stainless straps. With as much technology as poss really. Taa

Ideally you want Swiss dude... although Japanese like SEIKO are good watches... see Dave above, he owns a few. Also there are even some very decent Chinese watches too. Swiss stuff will generally hold its value better though.

Depending on your budget, top of the shop is Rolex, if they're too expensive, Omega run a close second (in my opinion) and their Seadwellers and Speedmasters are fantastic.

If they still seem a little pricey, then HAMILTON would be my recommendation. They have good history in Military style watches and their current Khaki range has some fabulous watches - I'd like the 'Interstellar'/'Matthew McConaughey' myself - but their full range is worth checking out. All Swiss made (using mainly ETA movements) and great value.

Women's & Men's Watches | Official Website | Hamilton Watch

Discover Hamilton men's, women's and automatic watches which embody American Spirit and Swiss Precision. Including Khaki, Ventura and Jazzmaster collections.

www.hamiltonwatch.com

I own both vintage and modern Hamiltons and they're all fantastic.

Good luck.

 

[Brian Burrows]

I also have a Christopher Ward, which if you want a low cost, really well finished do anything watch, the C63 Sealander is very good. They usually have a sale of some sort on or some discounts floating around the Internet, and you tend to pay around £500 for one on a strap, and a bit more for one on a bracelet, but it's a Sellita SW200 movement, it's nothing special, but it is good quality, you get nothing in terms of heritage for your money, they're a new brand in watch terms, but you get some really nicely finished watches.

Good call.

 

[Brian Burrows]

Hi guys. I've looked over a lot of watches. My choice is a citizen Tsuno bull head. Looked for a limited edition one but there very rare.
Are they any good

I don't know which specific model you are looking for... but there's a few variants here: Citizen Bull Head Search for a wristwatch

 

[Brian Burrows]

There's a reason I have so many 😄

😂