Thanks for the dispute tip. I am an idiot, the seller already responded with a refund offer. eBay didn't notify me for some reason.
What am I looking for? Mechanical movement of course. $20-60 without being a total crapshoot, i.e. avoiding your list of "low quality eBay brands". I seem to have a thing for blue hands. Face should have numbers printed on all or most hours, yet definitely no tachyometer bezel or other complicating numbers. Not gaudy. And around 40-42mm case.
At the same time, this vintage USSR watch is pretty cool looking. Say yes to foreign script. Or should I say да.
So happens I believe we have the same tastes in watches. I hate big/heavy bezels, ESPECIALLY divers and pilots with their massive GMT/tachy/chapter ring bezels.
That's a cool movement. I've been trying to land a different treatment of it for several months, but I haven't quite been willing to pay its going price.
@Thrax Weird that didn't actually notify me that you mentioned me. Probably something to do with the edit? Anyways.
I love this watch. The look, feel, weight are all awesome. The band is already indented and grooved where I wear it (yay soft leather). The only problem I might have with it is that the rotor for the automatic winding is a bit on the loud side. Not a huge deal, I generally like the sound, just something I hadn't considered before getting it.
From a purely aesthetic standpoint I like the Rodina quite a bit, aside from the poor serif typeface for the branding on the dial. But I can't stand that it's such a blatant copy of the Rodina Tangente. And if that wasn't bad enough, the makers pulled the Rodina brand from history. Rodina was a Russian brand made by First Russian Watch Factory (the Poljot folks). I have a hard time getting excited about many of these Chinese mushroom brand watches. To me, they're the horological equivalent of a Fiero kit car that looks like a Ferrari. :/
This one's not actually a mushroom brand. Tianjin-SeaGull purchased the rights to the Rodina brand from FWWF, and this uses the Sea-Gull ST16. It comes with a full SeaGull warranty and manual.
I have to say so far, after almost a week with it, I am EXTREMELY pleased with the Jaragar. It has kept perfect time (it's been exactly 25 seconds ahead of my desktop here at work since Friday), and the power reserve lasts through the night no problem.
For $22, it's hard to ask even that much, and it's gone well beyond expectations.
Oi. I need to stop pulling up these searches. I'm going to go broke, lol.
So far, I have 3 on the way:
1. The skeleton SOKI pictured above ($16.98 shipped). 2. A 38mm Shenhua (a big gamble, but it was $18 shipped, so who knows) I snagged because I really like the casing/face design. It's a steel band with folded links, but they look pretty well put together. At worst, I throw a higher quality band on it. 3. A 39mm K&S. White face with separate day, date, and 24 hour dials. Particularly piqued my interest with the solid links in the band. Sniped that sucker for $17.09 w/free shipping.
Now I just have to wait. That boat from China needs a couple of extra rowers.
Welcome to the dark, dark passage, Nathan. It starts exactly like this.
"Oh, it's only $20. If it works, I more than got my money's worth. If it doesn't, who cares?! It's only 20!"
You even think "sheesh, I'll just replace the strap if it sucks." But you probably won't, because it'll be hard to justify 1.1-2x the value of the watch itself just to get a better strap.
But then you exhaust your field of $20-35 watches, and you start to wonder what the upper echelons are like. So you extend your filter to $70, and start on Bagelsport, Parnis, Tao, Alpha and Minorva watches. You're blown away by the quality they provide for about $75. So again you wonder what the upper echelons are like, so you extend your filter to $150... maybe even $200!
Next thing you know, you own 30 watches and are planning another $10,000 in purchases over the course of a year. And those are just the Chinese watches. Soon you will learn about the Hamilton Khaki Navy for $999. Or brands like Certina, Uhr, Kemmner, Mondaine and Christopher Ward, all of which offer well-made Swiss-powered automatics for ~$500. Woops, there goes $500.
And then suddenly, products like the $2200 Longines Master Collection don't seem all that ridiculous. You could just save for a while and bring it home.
No, but I really do want the Longines Master Collection and, worse yet, a $7000 Sea-Gull tourbillon... to say nothing of the five-digit pieces from the likes of Breguet, A. Lange & Soenhne, Patek Philippe, et. al.
Now watch RGM's "The Art of Guilloché," which explores how America's only in-house watchmaker uses a one-of-a-kind, early 20th century machine weighing several tons to produce some of the most beautiful dials on the planet. Tons upon tons of metal, and decades upon decades of practice and craftsmanship, just to produce engraved patterns on a little metal circle just 40mm across.
Fortunately, with a bunch of bills and (almost) 3 kids, it's really easy to keep my spending down.
I think the highest I'll go (for now, heh) is for one of those Graf von Monte Werher models with the "tourbillon" hour indicator. Even then, I'll be watching to snipe one for as cheap as possible.
FTR: it's not a "tourbillon," it's a tourbillon. It's not a co-axial (explained), but it is a technical tourbillon in that the escapement rotates around a central axis, and that is really the only technical definition. In this respect, the PTS Resources ST1200 Series movement is a 1-hour tourbillon that enables all the alleged counter-gravity effects to the escapement that any other tourbillon would. It's called a "Karussel," and the distinction is drawn because of the 60s vs. 60m timekeeping.
It's probably more likely that you're setting it incorrectly. (Not meaning to be a dick, it's less smug than it sounds, I encountered this problem with a few watches).
Each mechanical watch has its own little temperament when it needs to be set. Generally speaking, though, I set my watch to the NEXT minute coming up on my atomic clock app (phone) and then insert the crown 1 second before it reaches that minute on my phone. Remember that the second hand is largely irrelevant on any non-hacking watch (a watch that doesn't stop the second hand when you pull the crown). IIRC, that watch is non-hacking. So what the second hand does is rotate 60 seconds per minute, but it is not directly related to the timekeeping accuracy of the hour hand. Once I get the hour hand right, and each mechanical is a little different, it's all gravy.
For example, I have one watch that was 20 minutes (wtf) fast every hour, even when setting it at what I thought was the correct time. Instead I just needed to set it a half minute (on the minute hand) faster than the real time, and it's behaved itself every wind since.
Plus the watch will get a little more accurate as it "breaks in."
When this thread first started, I decided to go look for all of my watches that were hidden away in drawers, & boxes, etc... I forgot how many I had. So it's time for show and tell.
From left to right.
Passages Quartz? I know almost nothing about it besides it came in a little gift box bundle that I received as a graduation present. I've worn it a couple times.
Seiko 7N00 - 8A49 It used to belong to my Grandfather. He died back in 2000 and my Grandmother gave it to me about a year after his death. I know he got a lot of use out of it.
Fossil Blue BQ - 9023 I've owned that watch for over 10 years and have worn it more than a 1000 times. Definitely my most used watch out of all of them.
Star Trek watch? Another gift I received around 10 years ago. I've worn it several times.
Timex T21713 It belonged to my Great Grandfather who died back in July. My grandmother offered it to me last month.
Casio AW - 8D I bought it around a year ago for work.
Milan MLN940? I honestly can't remember when or where it came from. Must have been another gift.
AK Homme It arrived in the mail just this afternoon. I saw it on Ebay on an auction that was about to end. I snagged it for $7 + Free shipping. So far I am pleased with it.
Elgin? It was a gift from my Uncle around 10 years ago. He bought it when he was much younger, I don't remember how long he said he had it for. I wish I knew more about it.
I found out a lot about the Illinois pocket watch I inherited by searching serial number databases. If there is enough interest out in the wider world, it's very likely that someone has put together a database with serial number ranges that will tell you everything from the model, to original casements, to approximate build year.
Beware, it's a deep well when you start tracing pocket watch origins. They have a much longer and storied history than wristwatches.
Comments
So, this drawing board has a great many things on it. What are you looking for?
//EDIT: @Tiberiuslazarus Sir, you've had that Parnis for about a week. What are your thoughts on it overall?
What am I looking for? Mechanical movement of course. $20-60 without being a total crapshoot, i.e. avoiding your list of "low quality eBay brands". I seem to have a thing for blue hands. Face should have numbers printed on all or most hours, yet definitely no tachyometer bezel or other complicating numbers. Not gaudy. And around 40-42mm case.
At the same time, this vintage USSR watch is pretty cool looking. Say yes to foreign script. Or should I say да.
I gave up and went ahead and joined watchuseek since 80% of my searches for details ended up pointing me there anyway, heh.
I love this watch. The look, feel, weight are all awesome. The band is already indented and grooved where I wear it (yay soft leather). The only problem I might have with it is that the rotor for the automatic winding is a bit on the loud side. Not a huge deal, I generally like the sound, just something I hadn't considered before getting it.
One day I hope to own a Nomos Orion as well.
For $22, it's hard to ask even that much, and it's gone well beyond expectations.
So far, I have 3 on the way:
1. The skeleton SOKI pictured above ($16.98 shipped).
2. A 38mm Shenhua (a big gamble, but it was $18 shipped, so who knows) I snagged because I really like the casing/face design. It's a steel band with folded links, but they look pretty well put together. At worst, I throw a higher quality band on it.
3. A 39mm K&S. White face with separate day, date, and 24 hour dials. Particularly piqued my interest with the solid links in the band. Sniped that sucker for $17.09 w/free shipping.
Now I just have to wait. That boat from China needs a couple of extra rowers.
"Oh, it's only $20. If it works, I more than got my money's worth. If it doesn't, who cares?! It's only 20!"
You even think "sheesh, I'll just replace the strap if it sucks." But you probably won't, because it'll be hard to justify 1.1-2x the value of the watch itself just to get a better strap.
But then you exhaust your field of $20-35 watches, and you start to wonder what the upper echelons are like. So you extend your filter to $70, and start on Bagelsport, Parnis, Tao, Alpha and Minorva watches. You're blown away by the quality they provide for about $75. So again you wonder what the upper echelons are like, so you extend your filter to $150... maybe even $200!
Next thing you know, you own 30 watches and are planning another $10,000 in purchases over the course of a year. And those are just the Chinese watches. Soon you will learn about the Hamilton Khaki Navy for $999. Or brands like Certina, Uhr, Kemmner, Mondaine and Christopher Ward, all of which offer well-made Swiss-powered automatics for ~$500. Woops, there goes $500.
And then suddenly, products like the $2200 Longines Master Collection don't seem all that ridiculous. You could just save for a while and bring it home.
$100k of handmade beautifulness.
Fortunately, with a bunch of bills and (almost) 3 kids, it's really easy to keep my spending down.
I think the highest I'll go (for now, heh) is for one of those Graf von Monte Werher models with the "tourbillon" hour indicator. Even then, I'll be watching to snipe one for as cheap as possible.
Each mechanical watch has its own little temperament when it needs to be set. Generally speaking, though, I set my watch to the NEXT minute coming up on my atomic clock app (phone) and then insert the crown 1 second before it reaches that minute on my phone. Remember that the second hand is largely irrelevant on any non-hacking watch (a watch that doesn't stop the second hand when you pull the crown). IIRC, that watch is non-hacking. So what the second hand does is rotate 60 seconds per minute, but it is not directly related to the timekeeping accuracy of the hour hand. Once I get the hour hand right, and each mechanical is a little different, it's all gravy.
For example, I have one watch that was 20 minutes (wtf) fast every hour, even when setting it at what I thought was the correct time. Instead I just needed to set it a half minute (on the minute hand) faster than the real time, and it's behaved itself every wind since.
Plus the watch will get a little more accurate as it "breaks in."
When this thread first started, I decided to go look for all of my watches that were hidden away in drawers, & boxes, etc... I forgot how many I had. So it's time for show and tell.
From left to right.
Passages Quartz?
I know almost nothing about it besides it came in a little gift box bundle that I received as a graduation present. I've worn it a couple times.
Seiko 7N00 - 8A49
It used to belong to my Grandfather. He died back in 2000 and my Grandmother gave it to me about a year after his death. I know he got a lot of use out of it.
Fossil Blue BQ - 9023
I've owned that watch for over 10 years and have worn it more than a 1000 times. Definitely my most used watch out of all of them.
Star Trek watch?
Another gift I received around 10 years ago. I've worn it several times.
Timex T21713
It belonged to my Great Grandfather who died back in July. My grandmother offered it to me last month.
Casio AW - 8D
I bought it around a year ago for work.
Milan MLN940?
I honestly can't remember when or where it came from. Must have been another gift.
AK Homme
It arrived in the mail just this afternoon. I saw it on Ebay on an auction that was about to end. I snagged it for $7 + Free shipping. So far I am pleased with it.
Elgin?
It was a gift from my Uncle around 10 years ago. He bought it when he was much younger, I don't remember how long he said he had it for. I wish I knew more about it.
Beware, it's a deep well when you start tracing pocket watch origins. They have a much longer and storied history than wristwatches.
http://pocketwatchdatabase.com/elginwatches/elgin_sn_intro.html
Watch Nerd. Request here.
I had to hand-wind and reset my Jaragar this morning.
This would be sad if it wasn't a $20 watch, heh.
Red leather strap for my Shanghai.