What's on your wrist today

Sinn U50 S BS, 1 of 500 pieces, worldwide. 500M Depth rating, Tegimented and PVD hard-coated German submarine steel case and bracelet. One tough motherf*cker...

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Serious question for you watch guys.

Does the cost of the movement in a watch by itself determine if the watch will be reliable? I keep getting a bunch of nice looking Wood watches advertised on my FB feed because I looked at one. I like many of them but when I look at the details and google the actual Movement, they sell for anywhere between $12 and $40, I saw one as high as $70 which was a Seiko movement. So if I really like a watch, and the price is say $200, but the movement only costs $20, am I wasting my money? Right now I am wearing a Citizen Eco that I bought about 20 years ago, and have a Seiko for dress and an old Waltham windup that was my wife's uncle Dons if you recall my Boardwalk Empire thread.
 
Serious question for you watch guys.

Does the cost of the movement in a watch by itself determine if the watch will be reliable? I keep getting a bunch of nice looking Wood watches advertised on my FB feed because I looked at one. I like many of them but when I look at the details and google the actual Movement, they sell for anywhere between $12 and $40, I saw one as high as $70 which was a Seiko movement. So if I really like a watch, and the price is say $200, but the movement only costs $20, am I wasting my money? Right now I am wearing a Citizen Eco that I bought about 20 years ago, and have a Seiko for dress and an old Waltham windup that was my wife's uncle Dons if you recall my Boardwalk Empire thread.

The short answer is no. Quartz watches are accurate and precise. And cheap. Whether it's a $20 or $2000 electronic watch it's going to keep time about the same, and likely much more accurately than a $10k automatic watch. Buy what you like. Oh, and a cell phone or computer is even more accurate, so you really don't need a watch. That said I have many, and still like to wear them for different reasons and purposes, none of which involve accuracy or precision (much).
 
Serious question for you watch guys.

Does the cost of the movement in a watch by itself determine if the watch will be reliable? I keep getting a bunch of nice looking Wood watches advertised on my FB feed because I looked at one. I like many of them but when I look at the details and google the actual Movement, they sell for anywhere between $12 and $40, I saw one as high as $70 which was a Seiko movement. So if I really like a watch, and the price is say $200, but the movement only costs $20, am I wasting my money? Right now I am wearing a Citizen Eco that I bought about 20 years ago, and have a Seiko for dress and an old Waltham windup that was my wife's uncle Dons if you recall my Boardwalk Empire thread.

Hi Brian,

Cost is a factor, but more in the sense of the cost of the materials and parts used. The other key aspect impacting reliability for a watch movement is the precision with which the parts are assembled into the final movement. The movement in the now-classic Seiko SKX (SKX007/SKX009) dive watches, which when I bought mine in 2015 sold for $179 (for the entire watch) was the 7S26. This movement did not hack or hand-wind, but was exceptionally durable. Given the SKXs retailed for ~$180, the wholesale price was likely about $90, which meant Seiko had no more than $45-50 to spend on the entire BOM (Bill of Materials), assembly, QC, bracelet, and packaging for the watch. So, the movement in the venerable SKXs was likely right in the price range for Seiko movement you've cited here. What you should do is see if you can find out what specification Seiko movement is used you're referring to. AFAIK, the 7S26 movement is no longer in production.

Here's a coupla pics of my SKX. First pic is the original watch, and the second is my mod, including a double-dome AR crystal and a ceramic "Batman" bezel insert.
SKXandStrapcode.jpg


Mod...
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If you can source a built-up Seiko movement, e.g. the NH35, you'll have a reliable movement that also hacks.
 
The Original Grain watches use Miyota movements. IiRC, Miyota is a mechanical watch movement company owned by Citizen; they sell mechanical watch movements for other watch companies. They're solid, reliable, and dependable mechanical watch movements.

Thank you! I really like the looks of a few of them.
 
I just received this Original Grain Whiskey Espresso watch for my birthday. Love it! They make watches out of various types of barrels and more recently leftover pcs of Martin Guitars.

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My (newest) G-Shock, the formidable new Mudmaster, ref. GWGB-1000-3A

Bought this at the Meet the Inventor of G-Shock, Kikuo Ibe, event at Topper Jewelers in Burlingame at the very end of October. Been tough to take this one off, as I really love this piece. Amongst it's myriad features, it has a Barometer, so I can tell when it might rain. I also use it to set alarms and such.

I wear it when I'm out on my training rides on the racing bicycle as I don't want to f*ck up the regulation of one of my mechanicals if I happen to fall while on the bike. It also has a stopwatch function, so I can time my rides.

Mudmaster-GWGB-1000.jpg


Oh, and a pic of Ibe-san. What a wonderful person....
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decided to wear the 'bluesy' today .........
 

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