Every day luxury watch for manual worker!
Discussion
My Tissot, lovely as it is, is proving a bit delicate for daily wear with the polished bezel attracting some marks that ruin the look of this particular watch.
I'm in a hands on engineering job and my watch will occasionally get knocked etc
A colleague has had his Rolex submariner for 10 odd years and wears it every day for work. It was getting a little scruffy but a service soon had it come back looking brand new again, and it's still worth similar to what he paid all those years ago.
This got me thinking, as someone who likes watches, I wouldn't mind my first purchase of a 'proper' watch - but just because it costs a few grand I don't want it to be saved for special occasions, I want to wear it every day.
I like the look of the Rolex Oyster perpetual, as I can imagine it looking good for most occasions be it at work, with casual clothes or smart. There are a couple of Omega I like, and a Breitling, but the Breitling may not look suitable being worn for work as it's a bit dressy and a bit big.
Any suggestions for a hardy and quality every day watch for a manual worker like myself, good for most occasions? Decent residual values would be good. Budget say 3-5k.
Thanks
I'm in a hands on engineering job and my watch will occasionally get knocked etc
A colleague has had his Rolex submariner for 10 odd years and wears it every day for work. It was getting a little scruffy but a service soon had it come back looking brand new again, and it's still worth similar to what he paid all those years ago.
This got me thinking, as someone who likes watches, I wouldn't mind my first purchase of a 'proper' watch - but just because it costs a few grand I don't want it to be saved for special occasions, I want to wear it every day.
I like the look of the Rolex Oyster perpetual, as I can imagine it looking good for most occasions be it at work, with casual clothes or smart. There are a couple of Omega I like, and a Breitling, but the Breitling may not look suitable being worn for work as it's a bit dressy and a bit big.
Any suggestions for a hardy and quality every day watch for a manual worker like myself, good for most occasions? Decent residual values would be good. Budget say 3-5k.
Thanks
I make things with my hands for a living and I've come to the conclusion it's just not worth wearing a nice watch at work.
I don't like it when I bash my £50 Seiko so I don't think I could bring myself to wear anything remotely expensive at work every day...
Each to their own though. There's a lad at work who wears an omega as his every day watch but it looks pretty tatty now and he's had to replace the bracelet at considerable cost. Fair play for getting use out of it and everything, and these watches would probably be up to the job if you don't mind them picking up various blemishes and marks.
I don't like it when I bash my £50 Seiko so I don't think I could bring myself to wear anything remotely expensive at work every day...
Each to their own though. There's a lad at work who wears an omega as his every day watch but it looks pretty tatty now and he's had to replace the bracelet at considerable cost. Fair play for getting use out of it and everything, and these watches would probably be up to the job if you don't mind them picking up various blemishes and marks.
I wear an ND Sub constantly now and it's a reasonably tough cookie. But my Breitlings are far less susceptible to showing bumps knocks and scratches. Would recommend a Chronomat Evolution as an all purpose toughie but smart too.
Another one of a completely different type is Damasko. Mine's a DC66. Harder than a hard thing. Maybe a bit too military/policey tho'. Perfect cop's watch Imo.
Another one of a completely different type is Damasko. Mine's a DC66. Harder than a hard thing. Maybe a bit too military/policey tho'. Perfect cop's watch Imo.
As a left field choice and something that'll sneak under the radar ... Seiko
https://www.jurawatches.co.uk/collections/sale-1-5...
https://www.jurawatches.co.uk/collections/sale-1-5...
I think your friends 10 year old rolex being used no matter what he's up to just goes to show that all these watches advertising their hardened steel cases, ceramics, black coatings, screw down crowns, helium relief valves, etc tend toward marketing rather than engineering.
The outer case's ability to withstand a knock without transferring all of the impact energy straight to the heart of the movement, and thus buggering up the important bit of a watch, is important, and the only way you can do that is by using a case material that is tough but allows small indentations. Rolex I think use 304 stainless steel, which is ideal. I use the 316L alloy of stainless steel which is slightly more ideal. I also set the glass 0.1 mm below the level of the bezel so that a glancing knock on a door frame or something won't shatter the sapphire, and have a second level of energy absorption in the inner movement holder, before the reduced impact energy makes its way into the movement and its incablock movement bearing protection.
Years of breaking other makes that looked tough but weren't eventually led me to actually doing the damn thing properly and building my own chronograph, and the riskiest thing I've discovered about wearing it every day ......
With an edit: 100 of them around the world now and repair rate is about one a year; no matter what you do the heart is a mechanical machine that needs to run at 99.998% accuracy regardless of climate or circumstances. For 'ultimate' dependability a g-shock generally wins, but then who'd wear a g-shock to a board meeting?
The outer case's ability to withstand a knock without transferring all of the impact energy straight to the heart of the movement, and thus buggering up the important bit of a watch, is important, and the only way you can do that is by using a case material that is tough but allows small indentations. Rolex I think use 304 stainless steel, which is ideal. I use the 316L alloy of stainless steel which is slightly more ideal. I also set the glass 0.1 mm below the level of the bezel so that a glancing knock on a door frame or something won't shatter the sapphire, and have a second level of energy absorption in the inner movement holder, before the reduced impact energy makes its way into the movement and its incablock movement bearing protection.
Years of breaking other makes that looked tough but weren't eventually led me to actually doing the damn thing properly and building my own chronograph, and the riskiest thing I've discovered about wearing it every day ......
With an edit: 100 of them around the world now and repair rate is about one a year; no matter what you do the heart is a mechanical machine that needs to run at 99.998% accuracy regardless of climate or circumstances. For 'ultimate' dependability a g-shock generally wins, but then who'd wear a g-shock to a board meeting?
Edited by Lorne on Tuesday 4th July 10:27
CX53 said:
I make things with my hands for a living and I've come to the conclusion it's just not worth wearing a nice watch at work.
I don't like it when I bash my £50 Seiko so I don't think I could bring myself to wear anything remotely expensive at work every day...
Each to their own though. There's a lad at work who wears an omega as his every day watch but it looks pretty tatty now and he's had to replace the bracelet at considerable cost. Fair play for getting use out of it and everything, and these watches would probably be up to the job if you don't mind them picking up various blemishes and marks.
This. I don't like it when I bash my £50 Seiko so I don't think I could bring myself to wear anything remotely expensive at work every day...
Each to their own though. There's a lad at work who wears an omega as his every day watch but it looks pretty tatty now and he's had to replace the bracelet at considerable cost. Fair play for getting use out of it and everything, and these watches would probably be up to the job if you don't mind them picking up various blemishes and marks.
IMO, Damasko or Sinn are good bets.
Watches in the next price category (Breitling/Rolex, etc.) are too finely finished and expensive (male jewelry, more or less) for a daily wearer in a harsh environment.
Wildfire said:
Lorne said:
Made his own Chronograph
If only I had seen this last month! Something to save for..Lorne said:
No rush as they'll be around for years. Mind you I just looked at your profile and I see a TVR AND a Lotus. Are you sure build quality and reliability is high on your general wish list??
They look great! If I hadn't just purchased a new Rado (on a voucher as it was an insurance job), I would have sold the voucher and put it towards one of yours, I really like them.Actually the Lotus went and got replaced with a Ducati and MV Agusta..... I'll never learn....
Wildfire said:
Lorne said:
No rush as they'll be around for years. Mind you I just looked at your profile and I see a TVR AND a Lotus. Are you sure build quality and reliability is high on your general wish list??
They look great! If I hadn't just purchased a new Rado (on a voucher as it was an insurance job), I would have sold the voucher and put it towards one of yours, I really like them.Actually the Lotus went and got replaced with a Ducati and MV Agusta..... I'll never learn....
scherzkeks said:
This.
IMO, Damasko or Sinn are good bets.
Watches in the next price category (Breitling/Rolex, etc.) are too finely finished and expensive (male jewelry, more or less) for a daily wearer in a harsh environment.
Not thisIMO, Damasko or Sinn are good bets.
Watches in the next price category (Breitling/Rolex, etc.) are too finely finished and expensive (male jewelry, more or less) for a daily wearer in a harsh environment.
I've owned my Rolex Oyster for getting on 20 years, when first purchased I was on the tools in the building trade, then i lived in the canaries where it was subjected to sand and sea every day and still to this day I wear it every day to work.
Being worn day in, day out it obviously gets knocks but I'm not overly precious about it-if I'm doing DIY or a tip run I don't take it off.
In that near 20 years it's been serviced twice. Once to replace a slightly chipped glass and once as the power reserve wasn't holding up more than a night.
It still pretty much looks like new.
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