[Backfill]

I see used watches listed for sale in immaculate condition. How does anyone keep his or her watches in pristine condition? I know that I can’t do it.

If I buy a pre-owned watch, I want one in excellent condition. Naturally. But they never stay that way for long. My normal wear and tear seems to beat the hell out of my watches.

So I have got into the habit of buying a watch, wearing it around the house for a short while, taking it off and looking at it for a few days and then deciding if it is a keeper. If I am not sure, I either just leave it in the box and think about it for a while or sell it right away. If I don’t sell it, the watch will get a bit beat up in short order, making it more difficult to sell.

For example, I bought a used PO about three months ago. I immediately knew that this was a keeper. The bracelet didn’t fit quite right, so I took it off of the bracelet and put it on a PO rubber strap - very comfy. A few weeks ago, I bought a second half link and have been wearing it on the bracelet ever since. But I just noticed that the bracelet is now all scuffed and scratched on the 12 o’clock side. Bugger. Some of the scrapes look too deep to buff away.

As well, I put our Christmas lights out a week ago and for a change my wife also wanted some in the back yard, with the plug beside the barbecue. When unplugging the lights for the first time the new extension cord plug wouldn’t come out. When I gave it a good tug it came out suddenly and WHACK, the PO smacked the barbecue shelf. Double Bugger!!! I hit it hard enough that I was expecting to see sapphire shards scattering everywhere. Luckily, the watch came through unscathed with no marks at all and is still keeping perfect time (and I mean bang on – pun intended).

How does anyone keep their watch pristine condition? I guess maybe that is why some people have large collections. By only wearing watches occasionally, there is a much lower probability of marking them. I know that just I can’t do it.

Anyone have similar horror stories?

Cheers,
Phil

 

[Tragic]

I have pretty good luck keeping my watches looking nice.
My secret is a very sedate and inactive lifestyle with as little physical movement as possible. :-!

 

[Backfill]

My secret is a very sedate and inactive lifestyle with as little physical movement as possible. :-!

Yes, but how do you keep an automatic wound? ;-)

 

[04lund2025]

Yes, but how do you keep an automatic wound? ;-)

He uses a watch winder!!!!! :-!

We try to keep all of our watches in really good shape. That is just us we try to take care of our stuff. We paid for with our hard earned cash.

We are also not too active unless we are fishing. Then we wear a watch that if something really bad happens to it no big deal. We also like to get action shots while fishing.....if you had not noticed, :-D

Not long a go I did whack the Blue Surf and looked down and not a scratch on it. |> Boy did I feel lucky.....Now I just hope Sandra does not read this!!!! :think:

Stephen

 

[BIG CHRONO]

I have pretty good luck keeping my watches looking nice.
My secret is a very sedate and inactive lifestyle with as little physical movement as possible. :-!

I'm very sorry, John.
How long have you
been bedridden? Is
there anything from
outside you need that
cannot be brought in
through Internet &
phone ordering? I'll
be glad to assist you.

Truly,
Bruce

 

[sntangerbg]

It is not just you man:-! If it makes you feel better I am in the same boat as you are. i beat the hell out of all my watches. Preferrably in the warranty period, so that if they fail to keep up with me, they go back. Simple as that. I am not a servant to my watches--they serve me. I cannot just keep my watches at home for "easy" wear. I have nought them to enjoy them--everywhere, including at work, climbing ships and shore tanks (and in my younger days, kicking out drunks out of bars:-D) plus--why buy a "tough" watch if not to accompany me in tough work and rough play?
Have a good one, be healthy and active enough to happily beat a ton of tough watches.

 

[XTrooper]

I see used watches listed for sale in immaculate condition. How does anyone keep his or her watches in pristine condition?
Cheers,
Phil

Knock on wood, I've been able to keep all the high-end watches I've owned in "pristine condition" as all of my many buyers will attest. A lot of it is luck, but part of it is being careful. If I'm working under the hood of the 'Vette or doing some other chore, I try to keep Murphy's Law in mind and usually take my watch off first. So far, so good. B-)

 

[rouge]

Wise man

Knock on wood, I've been able to keep all the high-end watches I've owned in "pristine condition" as all of my many buyers will attest. A lot of it is luck, but part of it is being careful. If I'm working under the hood of the 'Vette or doing some other chore, I try to keep Murphy's Law in mind and usually take my watch off first. So far, so good. B-)

:-D :-D :-D You're a wise man, Steve!!!! :-D :-D :-D

Wisdom and prudency are not enough, sometimes :-S .
Got my G-SAR slighly crushed on bezel 3 hours after receiving it O| O| by dropping from a wet stair wearing it, few months ago.
First time - the last one, I hope - it happened to me (I usually take care of my watches as a maniac B-) ).
Lucky is necessary, as well.

 

[Tragic]

I'm very sorry, John.
How long have you
been bedridden? Is
there anything from
outside you need that
cannot be brought in
through Internet &
phone ordering? I'll
be glad to assist you.

Truly,
Bruce

Your concern is touching as always Bruce
I'm not quite bedridden though.
I'm just a man born before my time....
50,000,000 years hence we will hopefully have evolved to the point where our legs aren't necessary....re-incarnation, here I come!

 

[XTrooper]

Re: Wise man

Wisdom and prudency are not enough, sometimes :-S .

I'm afraid you're right, Ugo. As the saying goes, "S**t happens!" O|

;-)

 

[watchboy]

Ah ha how I keep my watches in good condition? Well I am not as wise as Steve(Xtrooper) cos I have over 50 watches and some of them were left untouched after they arrived, cos I simply forgot about them! O| as I discovered them, I had not much love for them and decided to sell them!:-D Besides those, I am tired of thinking which to wear for the day and in the end, I wear the same few most of the time!

Don't ask me why, cos many of the WIS are worst than me! :-D:-D:-D

This is a SICK hobby, cos there bound to always a watch or watches that you like day after day! O|

 

[mrbieler]

My watches that are in immaculate condition are the ones I bought that I later discovered didn't do it for me and thus are in immaculate condition and for sale.

The ones I use get dinged and scratched just doing daily things. Desk diving, working on customers equipment, walking factory floors, and then theirs weekend/fun stuff too.

I don't go out of my way to damage them and try to be aware of them when I'm doing things, but they do show wear.

 

[mr2blue]

For some reason I am just very easy on watches. I think subliminally I think about it and as a result i rarely ever bang my watch on something.
I also pick activity appropriate watches. If I am in the garage working on watch boxes I wear my casio pathfinder.

Last year I had an accident on the table saw while wearing my UTS Adventure. I cut my thumb off (successfully sewed back on) but thankfully the UTS was unscathed.

 

[Tudorman]

That is what a "beater" is for.

If I am at the office I usually have an "office" watch on. At home doing chores I have my "beater" Seiko 6309 on. The Seiko stays on the winder when it is not on my wrist. I have a Raymond Weil Parsifal Chronograph which usually accompanies me to work. They are often swapped one for the other on the winder. The rest languish in restful repose, waiting thier turn.

 

[SHANE 1000]

It's like having a hayabusa that does 227 MPH, what's the point unless your gonna do it, Why buy a Pistol unless you plan to shoot it? why buy a watch if your gonna baby it, I wear mine and if they get the piss beaten out of them then so be it that's what it was built for to tell the time, nothing more nothing less Timex to Panerai all the same, wear them and tell the time with em.

The more expensive a watch the less wear you get from it 90% of the time, Hard work = Cheap beaters, same as desk diving wear expensive at the office = wearing cheap A$$ beaters in the sea.

I have heard that very expensive watches tell the time BETTER than cheaper one's :-D :-D :-D LMFAO.

 

[rouge]

It's like having a hayabusa that does 227 MPH, what's the point unless your gonna do it, Why buy a Pistol unless you plan to shoot it? why buy a watch if your gonna baby it, I wear mine and if they get the piss beaten out of them then so be it that's what it was built for to tell the time, nothing more nothing less Timex to Panerai all the same, wear them and tell the time with em.

The more expensive a watch the less wear you get from it 90% of the time, Hard work = Cheap beaters, same as desk diving wear expensive at the office = wearing cheap A$$ beaters in the sea.

I have heard that very expensive watches tell the time BETTER than cheaper one's :-D :-D :-D LMFAO.

:-D I agree!!!
I use my watches, no matter their value, and I usually wear them in office, on leisure, at home.
Of course, in case of operations that would bring easily to damage them I take the watch I'm wearing off for some minutes, but I usually wear my wirstwatches.

I cannot see any reason to deprive myself of the pleasure of wearing them :-S !!!

 

[JAD3703]

I only really baby one of my watches - that's my TAG-Heuer Carrera Classic on black leather with deployant. That's my suit and dress watch and is a truly beautiful and classic automatic timepiece.

As for the rest of my watches (Kobolds, TAG-Heuers, Poljot, Zenos, Doxas, etc), I consider them working watches, so beat the snot out of them as part of everyday wear (not intentionally, but because of my job I am hard on watches).

I find that the ones that I sell are the ones that I always subconsciously knew I would not be keeping -I never really connected with them when they arrived. So I never really abused them/inflicted my day-to-day wear on them.

James

 

[Dave E]

I wear my watches, but I'm not very hard on them. I don't tend to bang them much, and I have a desk job, so my work doesn't do anything except add 'desk swirlies'. I also don't really do much physical work on cars, houses etc (both through inclination and ability), so don't get them into situations where they're likely to get banged. If I am doing something that might cause them to get bashed up, I wear something that I don't mind bashing up as much (like a G-Shock). In general, though, I'm just not that hard on watches!

 

[Backfill]

Wow, lots of different perspectives on this! And thanks for the comments. I feel better (not sure why) knowing that others also have problems keeping watches pristine.

As an aside, I also have a Swiss army quartz and a timex ironman that I wear when things are going to get really nasty, such as mountain biking or construction around the house. But I just ordered a refinishing pen and a cape cod polishing cloth to try and keep the watches looking good.

I love wearing my watches so I am just going to do that and fix them when they need it. For now, though, I am going to switch the PO back to the rubber strap. At least it can take a beating!

cheers,
Phil

 

[Backfill]

Last year I had an accident on the table saw while wearing my UTS Adventure. I cut my thumb off (successfully sewed back on) but thankfully the UTS was unscathed.

Sorry to hear about your thumb, but it is good to hear it is back where it is supposed to be! It is a good thing you didn't hit the UTS - that thing might have messed up the blade on the saw!:-D

Be careful around those saws.

cheers,
Phil