Oldest from the left.
No mechanical ones amongst them (shameful I know 
) but I do like the accuracy of the three on the right. (Tbh, even that casio keeps really good time)
2 Likes
No reason really why a Casio should be any less reliable than a Seiko say.
My son’s £30.00 Casio is bob on.
Wore it through 3 Afghan deployments and a few years of Brecon training forays getting well battered when he was teaching freshers. Goes like new and it’s about 11 years old.
On the other hand…his new “dress” Hugo Boss was nothing but trouble to begin with
No idea what guts it really has bit for £550.oo odds it was utter jobbies.
Eventually it was exchanged at the pukka shop he got it from. Probably a bad one off.
My J. McCabe uses decent Seiko guts.
It’s my first departure from a whole of life loyalty to Seikos & Tissots…so far so good probably thanks to Seiko.
1 Like
Absolutely agree. Some of the “names” are definitely just that and that alone I think.
Hadn’t picked up the Casio for at least 7 months and it was 30 seconds slow. Really good for a £15 watch.
Not quite as good as +/- 1 second a year which I have got for 4 years on one of the others and the +/- 3 on the other 2. (My OCD may be coming out a bit on this subject!)
A bit more dosh of course (a one off event for me for the Breitling) and I don’t think I’d wear one in the environments you describe .
Longines do some nice pieces for the money.
McCabes was a pub in Largs when I was growing up
2 Likes
I’ll need to revisit Nardini’s in Largs and hang the expense.
1 Like
I usually set watches by my digital radio controlled clock. Finger on the button and click it on the second to get the time spot on. If It’s a second or so out I’ll do it again to make sure it’s bang on the second.
This proves I’m a total idiot as I can’t remember the last time when knowing the time within a couple of minutes wasn’t good enough.
4 Likes
Yeah, this is it:
Nothing extraordinary, but I do like the matt white hands and battens on that dark blue grey face. I think it’s one of their better looks. If you go looking for different coloured Seiko 5s you pretty quickly realise there are plenty of bright ones out there but almost all are cheaply remanufactured secondhand watches from India. A second glance shows most have colourful but cheap faces with all the details just printed on instead of being separate metal parts fixed to the dial.
2 Likes
Hugo Boss watches are fashion watches mostly made in China and you are paying a huge premium for the name. Pound for pound it’s way better to go for a Seiko, a dedicated watchmaker with an in house movement.
3 Likes
Old phosphor clock dials from aircraft are supposedly one reason why the old airfield at RAF Newton, Nottinghamshire, hasn’t yet been used for housing. Many old military aircraft parts were burned then buried there and the ground is contaminated.
I don’t think I quite glow in the dark despite having worked there for some years and I have quite a long time connection with the place. Joking apart, so far I’ve survived two issues with cancer.
2 Likes
I recall in the 60s glow in the dark fish and dino’s you collected out the Cornflakes & Sugar Puffs boxes.
Had them hung from my bedroom ceiling light. As I recall the light sort of charged them up a bit.
Quite effective at lights out time.
My best Kelloggs freebie was a submarine which you filled with bicarb, and as it fizzed the it rose to the surface, then sank for a bit till the next fizz. Great days. Simple things.
It was an atomic sub too, none of your limp watch faces here lads.
I had a fleet the current RasPutin would be proud of.
Probably more effective too…
Had a few Froggies as well.
3 Likes
Getting back on topic, as I recall my first watch was a Newark (?) my Nan gave me when I went to senior school.
Probably chucked it out TBH.
3 Likes
A name from the past. I had a Newmark too. But I managed to smash it after a couple of months when I was learning to ride my new red Hercules bike. I liked the Newmark because it was easy to read and kept good time.
The Timex after it was a rubbish time keeper; the spring needed to be full-wound every few hours, otherwise it ran slow, slower, stop.
So for maybe five years no watch.
These are mine and my wife’s selection of watches, I have a Garmin Fenix 5 and a Suunto watch for running and fell walking and my wife has a Garmin Forerunner 35 but we thought we would only put our “real” watches on here.
First up is the Obergruppenfuhrer’s old Lorus and Nixon.
These are his and her’s Animal watches that we have had for about 35 years and have been brilliant, used for working in now.
These two are our Omologato BRM racing inspired watches.
These are our Tag Heuer Aquaracers.
And these are our Heuer Monaco watches. Mine is the the Gulf Racing special edition that I purchased new last year for my 65th birthday present. The Obergruppenfuhrer’s Monaco is no. 4747 of 5000 limited edition that was made in 1995.
2 Likes
I still have a Sicura “25 jewel” automatic date winder which bought it when I began flying in the early 1970s. I understand that this company later bought out the Breitling name.
It’s now 48 years overdue a service but still works!
4 Likes
I’m really into reading about watches and would love to get myself a Grand Seiko one day but for the foreseeable future there are other priorities for that sort of investment.
Here is what I currently wear Mon-Fri. It is too big and too fussy for my tastes now but it is solar and has a sapphire crystal which makes it a great workhorse.
Other than a strap replacement it has been faultless.
Talking of how tastes change… I’d always hankered after an Omega Seamaster but was obviously never in the position to buy one so I picked up a Rotary Aquaspeed that was a blatant copy of the Seamaster design (right down to the texture used on the dial).
upload pictures online
I wore it for a bit and kind of fell out of love with it. Then I replaced the battery, saw how cheaply it was thrown together inside (the movement was held in place with a flimsy plastic bezel) and I think I’ve worn it half a dozen times since.
My weekend watch is usually my Garmin Instinct Solar.
Bought to pre-emptively replace my Garmin fenix 3 HR when Amazon had a miss price for around £40. Selling the fenix 3 returned more than it cost me and for my limited use now this is much better due to the size and battery life.
3 Likes
Grand Seiko are great watches! I hope you get one soon.
Like many, I aspire to own a ‘really nice’ watch in due course but have to content myself with something slightly more accesible for the foreseeable future! In reality, if I were to find myself with a few thousand available, I’d probably be tempted to put towards something slightly bigger and with fewer wheels! #NBFL4life. 
At this point, I have my great-great-grandad’s pocket watch, an 1872 ‘Royal’ model AWC. Not worth much but pretty cool to have a 150 year old pocket watch. That one hangs on a stand and I keep it wound and on the right time as my desk clock. When I had it serviced after my grandad died and passed it to me, it was functioning but not in great nick and they had to replace a few bits which were almost completely worn out. To my lasting chagrin, I pressed slightly too hard on the glass, about a year ago and broke it, so it now has a plastic replacement. 
In due course, it’d be nice to get that changed back to glass but it’ll do for now.
For normal, daily use, I have a slightly smaller 1980 Seiko 5 automatic on a NATO strap. For slightly more smart casual use, the Pepsi automatic Seiko 5 from the current release which came with an oyster strap, though it’s currently on a replacement leather strap to fit better with the outfit I last wore with this watch and, for smart dress, a nice slim Tissot with an alligator strap.
Not enough to turn the heads of a watch lover but they serve for now. 
2 Likes
Hmm, something I’ve noticed on many (but by no means all) of the watches in this thread is that the bigger faced watches have hands “too small for the dial”, as if the mech + hand set might be used in many different sized watches.
Of course this is me just being cynical, but why can’t they make the minute hand reach closer to the minute markers on the edge of the dial? Undersized hands were among a few significant reasons we rejected a lot of otherwise desirable watches when we bought our pair of anniversary Tissots.
1 Like
Nice balanced collection… Field watch / Dive watch / Dress watch. Covers all the bases right there.
1 Like
I also like watches and have collected a few over the years, these are some of my favorites. All of them are used in rotation, even the more expensive ones are used at work although I do whince when they get a little clang!
Tudor Noth Flag - 2018
I bought this NOS with the leather strap for £700 under retail in January sale from Winsor Bishop in Norwich. Added the SS bracelet last year, still worked out cheaper than buying the Full SS version at retail, and i have a spare leather strap and deployment clasp.
Also has an exibition back to admire the inner workings.
Rolex Milgaus - 2017
Bought this as a divorce present for myself once the dust had settled. Purchased from Goldsmiths in Newcastle - the first official Rolex dealership in the UK. Amazed at how accurate a clockwork watch can be when checked over a month, nearly as good as a £10 Casio quartz !
Omega Seamaster - Chronograph
Bought this S/H from a Rolex dealer in Great Yarmouth. Fully serviced with box & papers at less than 50% of retail, also gave me a valuation report for insurance purposes. iIt is a bit bulky and heavy but I wanted a chronograph - would love a Planet Ocean with exibition glass back.
Longines Hydro Conquest.
Bought this on a whim. Now regret the purchase and wish I had gone for the full stainless version, the gold plating is too blingy. rarely worn.
Nite Alpha
Purchased this a couple of months ago. It is a Quartz diver watch. Britich brand. The markers have very bright Radioactive Tritium micro vials that really glow brightly in the dark. I often put it face down next to my bad as it is so bright at night.
Steinhart Ocean One.
Homage copy similar to the Rolex Military Sub however costs about £450 instead of £45K.
Bought S/H of ebay for £200 about 6 years ago. In regular use and my ‘go to’ work watch.
There is just’something’ about clockwork watches, probably why I still prefer listening to Vinyl records instead of CD’s…
4 Likes