Discussion
I got an Apple Watch a few weeks back, and haven't worn any of my mechanical ones once since.
I can wear it where I want without worrying about it getting robbed, it has multiple functions I use all the time (stopwatch, timer, weather, calendar etc all one press of a screen away), it keeps time far better than my various far more expensive ones - it's genuinely fantastic.
To the extent I am thinking about selling a couple of my mechanical watches. They are expensive dust collectors at the moment.
But before doing so, I wondered if anyone else has done the same? Does the novelty wear off? Or is it really a watch game ender for people?
I can wear it where I want without worrying about it getting robbed, it has multiple functions I use all the time (stopwatch, timer, weather, calendar etc all one press of a screen away), it keeps time far better than my various far more expensive ones - it's genuinely fantastic.
To the extent I am thinking about selling a couple of my mechanical watches. They are expensive dust collectors at the moment.
But before doing so, I wondered if anyone else has done the same? Does the novelty wear off? Or is it really a watch game ender for people?
I have a Samsung Watch 5 Pro so somewhat similar, I bought it in March and have worn it mainly ever since then.
I have sold a number of my watches not all expensive, one Omega, a Couple of G-Shocks. I now am down to three watches consisting of my Samsung, an Omega Seamaster and one remaining G-Shock which is my holiday watch.
I could probably get rid of my remaining Omega for the amount of use it gets but I like having one nice watch to wear occasionally.
I have sold a number of my watches not all expensive, one Omega, a Couple of G-Shocks. I now am down to three watches consisting of my Samsung, an Omega Seamaster and one remaining G-Shock which is my holiday watch.
I could probably get rid of my remaining Omega for the amount of use it gets but I like having one nice watch to wear occasionally.
Interesting thread. I purchased a Apple Watch Ultra today as it was £160 off at John Lewis. I got rid of the previous smart watch as I wanted to wear my mechanical more (Sub date) but felt vulnerable in it recently. I also feel like a bit of a berk wearing it in some of our offices. I swore I wouldn't go back to an Apple Watch but it does fix a lot of my concerns.
Will give it a go for a while and ebay sell it if I hate it.
Will give it a go for a while and ebay sell it if I hate it.
I’m not powerfully walleted enough for one of these new Apple ultra Watches, although a junior colleague has one that I much admire. The bigger case and knurled knob make it look more masculine.
I make do with a garmin fenix and I don’t wear my mechanical watches at all. It’s been more than 2 years.
The local Indy watch dealer’s solution is to wear his watch on the left wrist and the apple on the right.
I make do with a garmin fenix and I don’t wear my mechanical watches at all. It’s been more than 2 years.
The local Indy watch dealer’s solution is to wear his watch on the left wrist and the apple on the right.
Been an AW user since day 1, I do however find that I go through fits and starts with it and sometimes get sick and go months without wearing it and reverting back to my other watches (but can totally see why some would stick solely with the AW).
Your proposal of selling the others has crossed my mind a few times but I’ve never gone through with it, I think I’d regret it tbh.
Your proposal of selling the others has crossed my mind a few times but I’ve never gone through with it, I think I’d regret it tbh.
Do you carry a phone with you? It does everything the watch does, bar health monitoring, and does it better (larger screen, easier interface, etc).
I have a smart watch for monitoring exercise, but I switch it for a mechanical watch the moment I finish exercising...and I'm getting bored of the exercise stats tbh, the smart watch will soon be gathering dust I'm afraid.
I have a smart watch for monitoring exercise, but I switch it for a mechanical watch the moment I finish exercising...and I'm getting bored of the exercise stats tbh, the smart watch will soon be gathering dust I'm afraid.
I bought an Apple Watch when I started travelling internationally for work as it would auto adjust the time zone / show boarding passes / show the weather etc etc. I had a series 2 then upgraded to a series 6 when I started running a lot during Covid. They were ace and I still have my series 6 but I have recently gone back to mechanical watches as I need a detox.
The best and worst thing about Apple is that every device is connected together so when you are sat your desk and receive a message / notification / alert / call etc it buzzes your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. I spent ages trying to adjust all of the settings so I would get the right messages to the right devices but life / work have been hectic recently and it really got on top of me. One day I took it off, put it in a draw and found I was much happier and focussed while not wearing it.
Luckily I kept my mechanical watches, dusted them off, wound them up and started wearing them again and have been happier if a little less connected.
The best and worst thing about Apple is that every device is connected together so when you are sat your desk and receive a message / notification / alert / call etc it buzzes your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. I spent ages trying to adjust all of the settings so I would get the right messages to the right devices but life / work have been hectic recently and it really got on top of me. One day I took it off, put it in a draw and found I was much happier and focussed while not wearing it.
Luckily I kept my mechanical watches, dusted them off, wound them up and started wearing them again and have been happier if a little less connected.
I have a modest collection of mechanical watches (Omega, Panerai, Rolex, Seiko), a couple of G-Shocks that I use for knocking around the garden and for running however my company had an offer on the Apple Watch Ultra that I took advantage of and got EUR350 off.
I think it's useful. I like the fact if I just want to go out quickly I don't have to take my phone and can use the watch to pay for things, open and drive my car (BMW app). The fitness app is far superior the the G-Shock app and I'm doing an IronMan in October and need something to load a route on in GPX format and believe I can do this via an app on the Ultra.
But for me the Apple Watch will not replace my mechanical watches. I wear a "proper" watch every day, sleep with an Oura Ring for sleep tracking and use the Apple Watch really as an "occasional" thing and for working out. As someone else pointed out, I find the Watch quite distracting with all the various notifications (that I know can be customised / switched off), but kind of defeats the object.
I think it's useful. I like the fact if I just want to go out quickly I don't have to take my phone and can use the watch to pay for things, open and drive my car (BMW app). The fitness app is far superior the the G-Shock app and I'm doing an IronMan in October and need something to load a route on in GPX format and believe I can do this via an app on the Ultra.
But for me the Apple Watch will not replace my mechanical watches. I wear a "proper" watch every day, sleep with an Oura Ring for sleep tracking and use the Apple Watch really as an "occasional" thing and for working out. As someone else pointed out, I find the Watch quite distracting with all the various notifications (that I know can be customised / switched off), but kind of defeats the object.
When I go out now most of the time I only take my phone to navigate in the car or to take photos if I'm out with the kids, otherwise I just take my watch - I have the Samsung 5 Pro LTE. Now it's finally got proper WhatsApp I'm significantly contactable and able to do all my stuff without the phone.
Main drawback is it you need to find something out unexpectedly, but won't the Google Assistant is usually good enough, like it you go out and forget the cricket is on.
I use a Tablet when I'm home too, so I wonder why I have a phone at all sometimes.
Main drawback is it you need to find something out unexpectedly, but won't the Google Assistant is usually good enough, like it you go out and forget the cricket is on.
I use a Tablet when I'm home too, so I wonder why I have a phone at all sometimes.
I have had a few models over the years and the biggest benefits to me are the fitness tracking for workouts and being able to wear something of a relatively low value if I’m in the park with my children or going somewhere where I don’t want to attract any unwelcome attention, particularly in the summer when I’m mostly in polo shirts and t shirts.
The rest of my watches are less conspicuous than say, a Rolex (VC, JLC, Blancpain, Breguet etc) but I’m sometimes wary about wearing them to work in Central London, unless they’re hidden under a cuff.
No doubt about it, the tech is impressive but I far prefer wearing a mechanical watch. The novelty wore off on me after a few weeks but I still find the Apple very useful.
The rest of my watches are less conspicuous than say, a Rolex (VC, JLC, Blancpain, Breguet etc) but I’m sometimes wary about wearing them to work in Central London, unless they’re hidden under a cuff.
No doubt about it, the tech is impressive but I far prefer wearing a mechanical watch. The novelty wore off on me after a few weeks but I still find the Apple very useful.
I have some half decent mechanical watches & Apple Watch 7.
The watch I wear most is my Garmin 6x pro
Mostly as it does the fitness stuff better than Apple & the battery lasts 7 days with every sensor switched on..
Button to press for start stop when running.
No Apple Pay.. but I usually have the phone on me anyway. No esim, but that was hopelessly unreliable on my Apple Watch due to the telco cocking up, so binned that as a waste of time for me!
The watch I wear most is my Garmin 6x pro
Mostly as it does the fitness stuff better than Apple & the battery lasts 7 days with every sensor switched on..
Button to press for start stop when running.
No Apple Pay.. but I usually have the phone on me anyway. No esim, but that was hopelessly unreliable on my Apple Watch due to the telco cocking up, so binned that as a waste of time for me!
Mosdef said:
I have had a few models over the years and the biggest benefits to me are the fitness tracking for workouts and being able to wear something of a relatively low value if I’m in the park with my children or going somewhere where I don’t want to attract any unwelcome attention, particularly in the summer when I’m mostly in polo shirts and t shirts.
The rest of my watches are less conspicuous than say, a Rolex (VC, JLC, Blancpain, Breguet etc) but I’m sometimes wary about wearing them to work in Central London, unless they’re hidden under a cuff.
No doubt about it, the tech is impressive but I far prefer wearing a mechanical watch. The novelty wore off on me after a few weeks but I still find the Apple very useful.
Is it genuinely that bad in London?The rest of my watches are less conspicuous than say, a Rolex (VC, JLC, Blancpain, Breguet etc) but I’m sometimes wary about wearing them to work in Central London, unless they’re hidden under a cuff.
No doubt about it, the tech is impressive but I far prefer wearing a mechanical watch. The novelty wore off on me after a few weeks but I still find the Apple very useful.
I have a mate who had his Milgauss nearly torn off his wrist outside a pub but that must be three years ago.
You do read stuff in the press but in reality…..?
If I was visiting London would I have to be that careful these days?
jdw100 said:
Mosdef said:
I have had a few models over the years and the biggest benefits to me are the fitness tracking for workouts and being able to wear something of a relatively low value if I’m in the park with my children or going somewhere where I don’t want to attract any unwelcome attention, particularly in the summer when I’m mostly in polo shirts and t shirts.
The rest of my watches are less conspicuous than say, a Rolex (VC, JLC, Blancpain, Breguet etc) but I’m sometimes wary about wearing them to work in Central London, unless they’re hidden under a cuff.
No doubt about it, the tech is impressive but I far prefer wearing a mechanical watch. The novelty wore off on me after a few weeks but I still find the Apple very useful.
Is it genuinely that bad in London?The rest of my watches are less conspicuous than say, a Rolex (VC, JLC, Blancpain, Breguet etc) but I’m sometimes wary about wearing them to work in Central London, unless they’re hidden under a cuff.
No doubt about it, the tech is impressive but I far prefer wearing a mechanical watch. The novelty wore off on me after a few weeks but I still find the Apple very useful.
I have a mate who had his Milgauss nearly torn off his wrist outside a pub but that must be three years ago.
You do read stuff in the press but in reality…..?
If I was visiting London would I have to be that careful these days?
I never really thought much of it until I went to a cocktail bar in Chiswick a couple of weeks ago with two friends / neighbours. I was the only one wearing a watch (a Breguet) and am absolutely convinced my drink got spiked by the security guard. Admittedly, the bar was pretty empty but he kept hanging around us / chatting to us and he went round to the back of the bar a few times while the bartender was making drinks. I haven’t knowingly had my drink spiked before but I ended up in a really bad way after 3-4 drinks and was a total write off the next day. It’s made me far more careful about what I wear now.
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