Watches etc.

Jackdaws

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I collect watches - have them from all over. I do have an affinity for HMTs. I will post a few
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This is Devanagari dial. Mechanical, hand wound set up - 17 jewels.
 

Nilgiri

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I moved it to hobbies, hope you dont mind....more appropriate here.

Maybe we can change thread to be a broad watch thread if ppl want to post theirs etc.
 

Jackdaws

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An HMT Taurus.
It houses an automatic 21 jewel movement. In the 1950s or 60s, HMT acquired the rights and technical know how from Citizen Miyota to make automatic movements. Those rights were in perpetuity.

India needed a workhorse movement and the Miyota 8205 fit the bill. Its power reserve (40 hours) and accuracy (+/- 40 seconds) matches that of entry level Swiss movements.
 

Timur

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heheh I dont like much watches.. its a little bit useless for me but more of like wearing a ring or else just because it looks good..

personally I bought an armani and skagen watch I prefer Diesel watches (looks really good) these two watches I bought for some bucks on a outlet market.. I did the same for my wife 3 watches for the price of one (skagen, fossil, michael cors) I wouldnt have bought them if they would not have ~75% discount maybe this was thanks to corona time where nobody could sell their stuff ..
 

Jackdaws

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heheh I dont like much watches.. its a little bit useless for me but more of like wearing a ring or else just because it looks good..

personally I bought an armani and skagen watch I prefer Diesel watches (looks really good) these two watches I bought for some bucks on a outlet market.. I did the same for my wife 3 watches for the price of one (skagen, fossil, michael cors) I wouldnt have bought them if they would not have ~75% discount maybe this was thanks to corona time where nobody could sell their stuff ..
:)

These are fashion brands. Unfortunately they are far more popular than they deserve to be. Most of them have a Quartz movement and if they sell a mechanical watch, it's usually with a very cheap movement. The cost to make them is negligible.

My wife wanted me to gift her a Mike Kors. She was upset because I gifted her a Longines. "Why not the brand I like?"
 

Timur

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"Why not the brand I like?"

thats normal women tend to want what looks good or a name thats known.. and if you buy something thats better it does not matter because its not what they valued high.. :)

your choice was quality and hers fashion like mine maybe I am worser I only bought it because the watches had some discount :)

my father had an affinity to Seiko because he had the opinion that these watches are indestructable mostly people have their own mind and preferences thats what I wanted to say with this..
 

trishna_amrta

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I collect watches - have them from all over. I do have an affinity for HMTs.
And all I have are Swatch Irony & Seiko Prospex Sea that I've bought at a bargain price (genuine item though, they just old stock). I even wear the Swatch Irony from 1997 till today. And I'm wearing the Seiko Prospex when needed (when going under the wave). Although these days I'm alternating in wearing them.

Do you have any Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, or Jaeger-LeCoultre in your collection?
 

trishna_amrta

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I collect watches - have them from all over.
Are you familiar with Victorinox watch line up? I'm particularly interested in Victorinox I.N.O.X. Any thought / opinion / experience of it?

My specific need for watch is, a dive watch that is big & visible enough underwater and accurate enough to be use for doing celestial navigation (doesn't need to be COSC Certified as long it as reliable & accurate enough)
 

Jackdaws

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And all I have are Swatch Irony & Seiko Prospex Sea that I've bought at a bargain price (genuine item though, they just old stock). I even wear the Swatch Irony from 1997 till today. And I'm wearing the Seiko Prospex when needed (when going under the wave). Although these days I'm alternating in wearing them.

Do you have any Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, or Jaeger-LeCoultre in your collection?
Unfortunately, out of these I only have a JLC Reverso. And that was a gift. Tbh, I prefer to collect Microbrands and off beat watches than brands. I'd much rather spend on 8-9 watches with Sellita or ETA movements than one branded watch which also has the same movement.
 

Jackdaws

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Are you familiar with Victorinox watch line up? I'm particularly interested in Victorinox I.N.O.X. Any thought / opinion / experience of it?

My specific need for watch is, a dive watch that is big & visible enough underwater and accurate enough to be use for doing celestial navigation (doesn't need to be COSC Certified as long it as reliable & accurate enough)
The toughest bang for your buck dive watches I've seen are Helm watches. If you are willing to wait - there is a waiting list and you get a 48 hour window when your name comes up.

Victronix of course is Swiss and more expensive. Still make excellent watches.
 

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I'm not much of a watch person, I can see the liking to them - i suppose it's men's way of wearing jewellery :) that's actually useful.

My uncle worked in UAE during the 70s and bought himself a beautiful Seiko 6139-7100, the dates are both in English and Arabic, he gifted me his watch on my 18th birthday. That's probably the only mechanical watch I'll own.

Not my pic - This is what it looks like, an absolute chunk of steel.
Seiko-Helmet-Automatic-Chronograph-Vintage-Retro-Watch-6139-7100-Men-1970-1979_1595084276_4880.jpg
 

Jackdaws

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A Hamilton today -

Uses a Swiss Automatic movement, although the brand has American heritage. The brand is now owned by a Swiss firm though.
IMG_20210219_164303.jpg
 

Jackdaws

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I'm not much of a watch person, I can see the liking to them - i suppose it's men's way of wearing jewellery :) that's actually useful.

My uncle worked in UAE during the 70s and bought himself a beautiful Seiko 6139-7100, the dates are both in English and Arabic, he gifted me his watch on my 18th birthday. That's probably the only mechanical watch I'll own.

Not my pic - This is what it looks like, an absolute chunk of steel.
View attachment 13947
I can see that guys can have two passions which make sense. Cars and watches. While I do admire the engineering of cars, I think they don't last long enough to spend a lot of dough on them. Honestly, with the Bombay traffic and parking woes, pre pandemic I pretty much Ubered everywhere. But I can see the thrill of owning great cars for those who drive a lot and enjoy their driving trips. I am not. Also it's a far more expensive hobby than collecting watches. Haha.
 
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Jackdaws

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Bronze automatic diving watch with another Seiko movement. It's a limited edition from a Microbrand. Each bronze watch patinas differently as it comes in contact with air. Thus no two watches are ever the same. This one has an American horween leather strap.
 

Jackdaws

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One of my daily drivers. Orient is a well known Japanese brand which offers probably the best bang for your buck when it comes to automatic watches. It is owned by Epson Seiko, which also owns the more popular Seiko watches, but they are not the same company.

For those starting a collection of mechanical watches, I always recommend starting with an Orient - either an Orient Bambino as a dress watch or the Orient Kamasu as a diver.
 

Jackdaws

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A Helm Watch - built like a little tank. ISO certified for diving - with each watch individually submerged and tested for water resistance at 1.25x the advertised depth.

Worn yesterday on a NATO strap.

IMG-20210413-WA0012.jpeg
 

Jackdaws

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Acquired recently

Helm Vanuatu Titanium
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Made of Titanium, so super light. Limited release of 200 units a year so the waiting list now runs into years.

Uses a Japanese movement. Like all Helms, is ISO certified - so tested at 110% depth rating.
 

Sporkstari

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I thought I’d chime in. That HMT Taurus is such a cool piece! I didn’t know about the Citizen Miyota connection—sounds like it was a perfect fit for the needs of the time. I’m really into collecting affordable replicas myself.
 

Nilgiri

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I thought I’d chime in. That HMT Taurus is such a cool piece! I didn’t know about the Citizen Miyota connection—sounds like it was a perfect fit for the needs of the time. I’m really into collecting affordable replicas myself.

Yup HMT was vanguard of Indian technology in many areas post independence.

Hindustan Machine Tools, they produced and exported some very good lathes in world at the time (60s, 70s)....especially to Germany after W. German initial investment into HMT when it was started in the 50s.

If Indian govt was better managed at the time, HMT could have done even better.
 

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