"Regulate me..."
May 8, 2009 6:14 PM Subscribe
at work, someone explain what this is.
posted by Lacking Subtlety at 6:20 PM on May 8, 2009
posted by Lacking Subtlety at 6:20 PM on May 8, 2009
ohh... Watch porn... I thought this was - like - one of those cp threads where people post pictures of cheese pizza and such. Mmmm... pizza...
posted by Avelwood at 6:20 PM on May 8, 2009 [5 favorites]
posted by Avelwood at 6:20 PM on May 8, 2009 [5 favorites]
I had no idea that I craved an old watch before. But I do...badly. This one is just gorgeous and simple in a way that kicks the arse of modern watches. The movement itself just makes me gape and want to take it to pieces and count the bits. Stunning engineering.
An awful lot of the watches on that page would go very nicely with me, actually.
posted by Brockles at 6:21 PM on May 8, 2009
An awful lot of the watches on that page would go very nicely with me, actually.
posted by Brockles at 6:21 PM on May 8, 2009
Why do so many watches these days look like they are more suited for Flavor Flav's neck than my wrist?
posted by gman at 6:27 PM on May 8, 2009
posted by gman at 6:27 PM on May 8, 2009
Yeah, boyyyyeeeeeeee!!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:30 PM on May 8, 2009
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:30 PM on May 8, 2009
Steve McQueen's watch. One day I'm just gonna say fuckit and buy it.
posted by jimmythefish at 6:35 PM on May 8, 2009
posted by jimmythefish at 6:35 PM on May 8, 2009
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Got me. And we were so close to finding out where the big hand and the little hand were.
posted by hal9k at 6:42 PM on May 8, 2009
posted by hal9k at 6:42 PM on May 8, 2009
For added realism, half the time those links in the launchpad should take you to other watch sites with more JPG mosaics instead of the content you were looking for.
This is pretty awesome.
posted by griphus at 6:45 PM on May 8, 2009 [3 favorites]
This is pretty awesome.
posted by griphus at 6:45 PM on May 8, 2009 [3 favorites]
if anybody knows of a wristwatch that has people mechanically fucking on the face, let me know.
posted by Hammond Rye at 7:44 PM on May 8, 2009
posted by Hammond Rye at 7:44 PM on May 8, 2009
I want a watch that is like a complete band. I want the time to light-cycle around it. When it's 7am, a horizontal bar is lit up across the band on the inside of my wrist. At noon it's atop my wrist like a traditional watch face. By 5 pm, the lit-up part is on the outside of my wrist. And by midnight it's on the underside.
posted by cashman at 7:58 PM on May 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by cashman at 7:58 PM on May 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
Here's the watch I desperately want.
posted by ColdChef at 6:31 PM on May 8 [+] [!]
But, as a profession, aren't you a mor ...
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:12 PM on May 8, 2009
posted by ColdChef at 6:31 PM on May 8 [+] [!]
But, as a profession, aren't you a mor ...
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:12 PM on May 8, 2009
The only watch I've ever wanted is the Omega Speedmaster Professional. It's the first watch to be worn on the moon for Pete's sake!!
posted by Lucubrator at 8:13 PM on May 8, 2009
posted by Lucubrator at 8:13 PM on May 8, 2009
scalefree: "This is my only fancy watch."
I carried one of those Molnijas for awhile. Solid timepiece. Once I got a cell phone that clearly displayed time, though, I had to give it up. You can only carry around a certain number of anachronistic items before people start slandering you with that most despised word "steampunk," so it was either the watch or my 1900s smokeglass sunglasses. My cell phone could not block the sun.
posted by The White Hat at 8:15 PM on May 8, 2009
I carried one of those Molnijas for awhile. Solid timepiece. Once I got a cell phone that clearly displayed time, though, I had to give it up. You can only carry around a certain number of anachronistic items before people start slandering you with that most despised word "steampunk," so it was either the watch or my 1900s smokeglass sunglasses. My cell phone could not block the sun.
posted by The White Hat at 8:15 PM on May 8, 2009
If only this made a feasible watch.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 9:02 PM on May 8, 2009
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 9:02 PM on May 8, 2009
Who still wears a watch these days anyway? I've got the time on my phone, on my ipod, my laptop, in my car, in a gazillion places all over the city. Wearing a watch is positively quaint.
posted by monospace at 9:05 PM on May 8, 2009
posted by monospace at 9:05 PM on May 8, 2009
Wearing a watch is positively quaint.
Checking the time on my phone makes me feel like a putz. I want a nice watch.
posted by ColdChef at 9:09 PM on May 8, 2009 [2 favorites]
Checking the time on my phone makes me feel like a putz. I want a nice watch.
posted by ColdChef at 9:09 PM on May 8, 2009 [2 favorites]
I have a watch because I'm too lazy to take my phone out of my pocket to see what time it is.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 9:10 PM on May 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 9:10 PM on May 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
See, I could never make the transition to checking the time on an object, pocketwatch or other, that I had to dig out of my otherwise stuffed nerd pockets. A watch is on my wrist, a quick glance and ah-hah! the time. Although I do admit a high-beat mechanical watch is marginally more fun to wear than a quartz that just plonks along once every second. I'm more likely to check my watch than the clock in the corner of my screen, out of a force of habit.
But I've always liked watches, starting from Swatch collecting as a teen.
posted by Kyol at 9:15 PM on May 8, 2009
But I've always liked watches, starting from Swatch collecting as a teen.
posted by Kyol at 9:15 PM on May 8, 2009
And for people who are automatic-curious, but don't want to spend a couple hundred bucks, the japanese domestic market Seiko 5's on eBay are your solution. Even in the current economic climate, there are reasonable models to be had for under $100, even $60 and under isn't too hard. And now I've got to beat down the JUST ONE MORE WATCH cravings. *sigh*
posted by Kyol at 9:24 PM on May 8, 2009
posted by Kyol at 9:24 PM on May 8, 2009
Automatic watches will never go out of style. The mechanics, the engineering...they really are amazing.
(IWC Aquatimer on the way...)
posted by Joseph Gurl at 9:37 PM on May 8, 2009
(IWC Aquatimer on the way...)
posted by Joseph Gurl at 9:37 PM on May 8, 2009
These are extraordinary. The intricate detail in the mechanism is transcendent, in its own way.
posted by darkstar at 9:46 PM on May 8, 2009
posted by darkstar at 9:46 PM on May 8, 2009
There are a number of shops on Etsy (and I'd imagine elsewhere) that sell jewelry that's pretty much watch movements removed from the casings. They mainly bill it as steampunk, but I find it fascinating -- the pieces are so shiny and intricate and so much like they were designed to be jewelry, yet you know they weren't.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:58 PM on May 8, 2009
posted by jacquilynne at 9:58 PM on May 8, 2009
Of course, the downside to mechanical watches is that they have about as much horological precision as a cow. So if knowing that your watch is synchronized with NIST is important, you'll probably be disappointed with a mechanical watch. If your notion of timekeeping is "about midnight-ish, roughly", then you're golden. And that's sort of the elephant in the room: The cheapest quartz you get out of a gumball dispenser is likely to be more accurate than a $50 mechanical watch. That's when we resort to hand waving about aesthetics and such. There's really no explaining it though, I think you either have the bug or you don't.
ok ok I'm stepping away from the comment box now
posted by Kyol at 10:10 PM on May 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
ok ok I'm stepping away from the comment box now
posted by Kyol at 10:10 PM on May 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
if anybody knows of a wristwatch that has people mechanically fucking on the face, let me know.
posted by Hammond Rye at 9:44 PM on May 8
Try this....
And Kyol, yup i got the bug.... see
here
and, since large wristwatches seem now to be in vogue,
this one.
I just might have too much time on my hands.
posted by drhydro at 10:43 PM on May 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Hammond Rye at 9:44 PM on May 8
Try this....
And Kyol, yup i got the bug.... see
here
and, since large wristwatches seem now to be in vogue,
this one.
I just might have too much time on my hands.
posted by drhydro at 10:43 PM on May 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
Icy watch you did there.
posted by Citizen Premier at 11:16 PM on May 8, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by Citizen Premier at 11:16 PM on May 8, 2009 [2 favorites]
Thanks, this site is pretty much what the internet was made for.
I admit I love the idea of clockwork watches, but don't really like wearing them. Seeing high-resolution shots is a nice compromise.
posted by cj_ at 11:36 PM on May 8, 2009
I admit I love the idea of clockwork watches, but don't really like wearing them. Seeing high-resolution shots is a nice compromise.
posted by cj_ at 11:36 PM on May 8, 2009
If your mechanical watch gains/loses more than a minute per work, it needs to be adjusted.
Well, the usual counter argument is that the cost of finding a tradesman who still has a vibrograf who will do it for under 100% the value of the watch are fairly short odds in most towns, you just sort of learn to live with twiddling it around. And without a 'graf, cracking the back and fiddling with the regulator is awfully random. Considering the average 'net experience with the 7S26 (just to pick a reasonably respectable major manufacturer's automatic, Miyotas are similar) is +- 30sec/day, so 1min/mo is extraordinary. My ETA-2834 based watch was, last I checked, within a few seconds a day while worn. But it was also in a oh-god-that's-expensive watch, so the factory had a bit more incentive to make sure it was well regulated.
That said, although I haven't bothered to synchronize them to NIST (ever, since they don't hack), my three 7S26-based watches are all within a minute or two of each other, which isn't bad considering I pay zero attention to all the usual crown up/crown down/face up/face down positional hoo-ha. One is on my wrist, the other two ride cheap winders, and when I notice one being egregiously out of sync with reality, I adjust it. *shrug*
So yeah, you can get lucky and get a cheap mechanical watch straight from the factory that would have been within COSC limits 60 years ago, but I certainly wouldn't bet anything on it.
posted by Kyol at 11:37 PM on May 8, 2009
Well, the usual counter argument is that the cost of finding a tradesman who still has a vibrograf who will do it for under 100% the value of the watch are fairly short odds in most towns, you just sort of learn to live with twiddling it around. And without a 'graf, cracking the back and fiddling with the regulator is awfully random. Considering the average 'net experience with the 7S26 (just to pick a reasonably respectable major manufacturer's automatic, Miyotas are similar) is +- 30sec/day, so 1min/mo is extraordinary. My ETA-2834 based watch was, last I checked, within a few seconds a day while worn. But it was also in a oh-god-that's-expensive watch, so the factory had a bit more incentive to make sure it was well regulated.
That said, although I haven't bothered to synchronize them to NIST (ever, since they don't hack), my three 7S26-based watches are all within a minute or two of each other, which isn't bad considering I pay zero attention to all the usual crown up/crown down/face up/face down positional hoo-ha. One is on my wrist, the other two ride cheap winders, and when I notice one being egregiously out of sync with reality, I adjust it. *shrug*
So yeah, you can get lucky and get a cheap mechanical watch straight from the factory that would have been within COSC limits 60 years ago, but I certainly wouldn't bet anything on it.
posted by Kyol at 11:37 PM on May 8, 2009
Ech, for all the editing I did:
s/major manufacturer's automatic/major manufacturer's budget automatic/
posted by Kyol at 11:41 PM on May 8, 2009
s/major manufacturer's automatic/major manufacturer's budget automatic/
posted by Kyol at 11:41 PM on May 8, 2009
Who still wears a watch these days anyway? I've got the time on my phone, on my ipod, my laptop, in my car, in a gazillion places all over the city. Wearing a watch is positively quaint.
If you need to check the time a lot -- if you're a slave to an exact multi-point schedule every day -- and you aren't working within sight of a large wall clock or already staring at a computer screen, I imagine it is easier to look at your wrist 200 times than to get out your phone (maybe with dirty hands?) 200 times and press whatever it is you have to press to display the time.
But after it's on your wrist, a watch is part of the uniform. It's jewelry that just happens to also have a function. A bracelet that men can get away with wearing. Conspicuous consumption. So instead of wearing a cheap, accurate watch that anyone can afford, a lot of people start buying fancy shit that, they hope you'll think, only someone with wealth and elegance would wear.
Sometimes it makes sense. When an undertaker says he wants a nice watch, I understand. Who wants an undertaker checking a cheap plastic blinky phone all the time? Is he sending text messages to his girlfriend? Downloading songs? You want to think he isn't. And if he's busy with the body, he doesn't want to be digging out his phone to check the time.
For most people, though, anything other than a cheap Casio-grade watch is just jewelery.
posted by pracowity at 12:31 AM on May 9, 2009 [1 favorite]
If you need to check the time a lot -- if you're a slave to an exact multi-point schedule every day -- and you aren't working within sight of a large wall clock or already staring at a computer screen, I imagine it is easier to look at your wrist 200 times than to get out your phone (maybe with dirty hands?) 200 times and press whatever it is you have to press to display the time.
But after it's on your wrist, a watch is part of the uniform. It's jewelry that just happens to also have a function. A bracelet that men can get away with wearing. Conspicuous consumption. So instead of wearing a cheap, accurate watch that anyone can afford, a lot of people start buying fancy shit that, they hope you'll think, only someone with wealth and elegance would wear.
Sometimes it makes sense. When an undertaker says he wants a nice watch, I understand. Who wants an undertaker checking a cheap plastic blinky phone all the time? Is he sending text messages to his girlfriend? Downloading songs? You want to think he isn't. And if he's busy with the body, he doesn't want to be digging out his phone to check the time.
For most people, though, anything other than a cheap Casio-grade watch is just jewelery.
posted by pracowity at 12:31 AM on May 9, 2009 [1 favorite]
Here is a site with forums for many watch brands. People go bananas over these watches, often having posts such as "HEY GUYS WAHT U WEARIN TODAY?" For example, these IWC folks.
And here's another watch porn site, complete with many wondrous photos of crazy (often times) handbuilt watches (as is the case for the linked watch).
And on another note, some folks, especially the Panerai owners, go totally bananas over custom watch straps.
More amusing to me, however, are the hairy, sometimes corpulent, wrists.
Anyway, as a side note, if you're having trouble with your watch's time, try storing it face-down/face-up, or crown-down/crown-up. It'll gain or lose a few seconds over a period of time, and let you adjust the time without having to manually adjust it.
posted by herrdoktor at 12:50 AM on May 9, 2009
And here's another watch porn site, complete with many wondrous photos of crazy (often times) handbuilt watches (as is the case for the linked watch).
And on another note, some folks, especially the Panerai owners, go totally bananas over custom watch straps.
More amusing to me, however, are the hairy, sometimes corpulent, wrists.
Anyway, as a side note, if you're having trouble with your watch's time, try storing it face-down/face-up, or crown-down/crown-up. It'll gain or lose a few seconds over a period of time, and let you adjust the time without having to manually adjust it.
posted by herrdoktor at 12:50 AM on May 9, 2009
I haven't worn a watch in years. Even if someone gave me a mega amazingly sweet one as a gift I'd never wear it. Everywhere you turn there are clocks (unless you are on the floor of a casino) and then cellphones and whatnot as other have said before. Once I got used to again not having one of my wrists waying slightly more than the other I found I liked it a lot. No more watches for me....ever. I'm finally free!!!!
posted by GavinR at 1:25 AM on May 9, 2009
posted by GavinR at 1:25 AM on May 9, 2009
In case anyone was wondering about the quoted numbers of watch jewels, there you go.
posted by metaplectic at 2:14 AM on May 9, 2009
posted by metaplectic at 2:14 AM on May 9, 2009
An elderly acquaintance of mine, a skilled watchmaker, has bookmarked a site which plays the sounds of various watch escapements. He enjoys them as background music. Listen watch porn?
posted by punilux at 4:15 AM on May 9, 2009
posted by punilux at 4:15 AM on May 9, 2009
The main reason I still wear a watch, despite having the time on my phone, is that it's easier. If I want to know what time it is, I look at my wrist vs. dig in my purse, pull out my phone, flip it open, flip it closed, put it back in my purse.
Checking my phone both takes more time and is significantly more noticeable to the people around me, and in many situations, would give off the impression that I had more important places to be or people to be with than whoever I was with at the time. A subtle glance at your wrist, unless you're doing it frequently, doesn't give the same impression -- they may not even notice.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:22 AM on May 9, 2009
Checking my phone both takes more time and is significantly more noticeable to the people around me, and in many situations, would give off the impression that I had more important places to be or people to be with than whoever I was with at the time. A subtle glance at your wrist, unless you're doing it frequently, doesn't give the same impression -- they may not even notice.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:22 AM on May 9, 2009
Why are watches in advertisements always set to 10:12, 10:10, or 8:20?
posted by Pastabagel at 8:15 AM on May 9, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by Pastabagel at 8:15 AM on May 9, 2009 [2 favorites]
It is difficult to love a quartz controlled watch or clock. Very often, the cases do not even open to show the module (the term "movement" would not be proper, because, in the digital version, nothing moves). There is absolutely nothing to see. Whereas a movement, is another thing altogether! A fine movement, in particular if it is complicated, has the art and the grace of a living thing. The wheels whirl and engage. All the edges are carefully cut-back and beveled. The screws are sometimes heated until they take on a dark electric blue hue. The bridges and plates are gilded or embellished, and are often decorated, engraved or damascened. The jewels generally pressed in gold, gleam. The balance oscillates tirelessly; the hairspring breathes; the anchor goes to and fro and the pallets enter and exit as if alive. - D.S. Landes
In short: it's not about the accuracy. And I say that as someone whose watch is a cheap Casio radio-synchronized digital.
posted by Joe Beese at 8:32 AM on May 9, 2009
In short: it's not about the accuracy. And I say that as someone whose watch is a cheap Casio radio-synchronized digital.
posted by Joe Beese at 8:32 AM on May 9, 2009
And extending the porn connection: An unforgettable watch - like an unforgettable woman - is likely to be very complicated.
posted by Joe Beese at 9:14 AM on May 9, 2009
posted by Joe Beese at 9:14 AM on May 9, 2009
i don't care if my lover catches me looking at this website, again.
posted by the aloha at 12:05 PM on May 9, 2009
posted by the aloha at 12:05 PM on May 9, 2009
if anybody knows of a wristwatch that has people mechanically fucking on the face, let me know.
a friend has a watch with hello-kittyesque bunnies fucking.
can't seem to google it; it was from taipei so possibly requires mandarin google-fu.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:31 PM on May 9, 2009
a friend has a watch with hello-kittyesque bunnies fucking.
can't seem to google it; it was from taipei so possibly requires mandarin google-fu.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:31 PM on May 9, 2009
I haven't worn a wristwatch since I was a land surveyor in Florida and almost ripped off my hand while cutting line with a machete and getting my watch hung up on some hidden wire fencing. I love watches (wrist and pocket) and still have several, including a nice trench watch. Cool site.
posted by Ron Thanagar at 4:40 PM on May 9, 2009
posted by Ron Thanagar at 4:40 PM on May 9, 2009
And to continue the pron references, that last link by Joe Bees actually had this comment:
Really stunning. Thanks for posting. No wrist shot?
Heh.
posted by Ron Thanagar at 4:43 PM on May 9, 2009
Really stunning. Thanks for posting. No wrist shot?
Heh.
posted by Ron Thanagar at 4:43 PM on May 9, 2009
> This is my only fancy watch.
Note to self: If ever you photograph shiny objects, ensure you are wearing clothes.
posted by Decimask at 5:14 PM on May 9, 2009
Note to self: If ever you photograph shiny objects, ensure you are wearing clothes.
posted by Decimask at 5:14 PM on May 9, 2009
More amusing to me, however, are the hairy, sometimes corpulent, wrists.
Klassy, herrdoktor, klassy. I use that site and (sorta) know those people you smug prick.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 7:00 PM on May 9, 2009 [1 favorite]
Klassy, herrdoktor, klassy. I use that site and (sorta) know those people you smug prick.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 7:00 PM on May 9, 2009 [1 favorite]
Okay, since no one has mentioned it, I have to assume widespread ignorance. Gather round.
Watches, like seemingly every other form of new technology, does have its blatantly erotic (so called) side to it, and has done for years and year. A current practitioner is Svend Andersen, though there are others.
posted by IndigoJones at 3:15 PM on May 10, 2009
Watches, like seemingly every other form of new technology, does have its blatantly erotic (so called) side to it, and has done for years and year. A current practitioner is Svend Andersen, though there are others.
posted by IndigoJones at 3:15 PM on May 10, 2009
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posted by stargell at 6:19 PM on May 8, 2009