[Wimads]

I agree and disagree with what you said.

I agree because :

• Recent browsing of WUS threads about the reasons everyone had to buy watches. I was shocked but no one seemed to have thought as "needing one" as a valid motive.
• Availability of time telling alternatives (phones mainly, but also cars clocks etc.).
• This week I had among my clients a woman with a 7.5 inches wrist, and an extremely small, yet classy golden watch. It looked something like this (15 to 20 mm case I think), but without seconds hand :
  Yet, her wrists being even larger than mine, it looked minuscule on her. I gently teased her about it by asking if the time wasn't too hard to read on it, and placing my 42 mm Field right next. She said that no, but she just liked it, and did read the time on the watch : 16h. Yet, it was in fact 10h50. Her watch had stopped since an undefined moment. 😅

Now, I disagree because :

• Some professions do absolutely need a time telling device. It might only be as a backup in case of technical failure, but having none in case of main device failure can make the difference between trouble or not. Even without those spectacular circumstances, for someone as simple as a doctor, if you need to check the pulse of your patient, or his/her respiratory frequency, you only need yourself and a 3 hands watch.
• Alternate time telling does not mean better. Sure, phone, or computers can tell time, but are they always a better idea ? If we reuse the example above, the previous doctor could have no watch, but use his/her phone to tell the time, an electronic sphygmomanometer to check pulse and blood pressure, and an electronic saturometer to get an idea of breathing. Yet.. well, the sphygmomanometer will require one or two minutes to tell the pressure and cardiac frequency. It might also provide inaccurate results in case of irregular pulse, or low battery. Plus it will require the doctor to touch the device after having touched the patient, hence contaminating it with the patient's bacterias. Does he wants to check the time ? Yeah, sure, take you phone with your soiled hands, and press the button you already touched 20x times today. Same story for the saturometer, not to mention how imperfect the parameter is depending on ambiant temperature. To sum-up, not even mentioning the small cart to carry around that cookware, using that stuff will be less precise, more energy and time consuming, and considerably dirtier in terms of hygiene.... instead of just tilting your wrist and looking at a simple watch.
• Practicality. It takes one to two seconds to tilt your wrist to check the time on a legible field watch. Reaching out for your phone in your pocket, pressing the button will require 6-10, not to mention a free hand to do so.
• Ecology. Sure even if you're not a professional, you could use a phone to tell the time. Which will action the 5' LCD screen, the processor, the backlighting, the vibrator upon pressing the buttons, all of that just to read the time. It'll then require to be charged again every few days, with its lithium battery, before eventually replacing it after one year or two. Compare that to a good quartz which minute battery will last 5 years, or with a mechanical which does not consumes other energy than your own movement, and there's no comparison about which solution wastes more energy. And that without even relating to night related legibility, where engaging a 5' inch at full strength can't compare with the smartness of Luminova in terms of energy management, at least in the first hours.

So yeah, while most people don't actually require a watch, I still think it's often a better solution for time related needs; even more for some professionals.


There is what we need and what we want. To create the former by using the latter is a matter of marketing and design.

We don't disagree. A watch is a useful tool, even without any particular professional requirement.

But the reasoning of someone practicing [insert hobby/profession] needs a [insert style]-watch is purely emotional, especially now a days - and it is something marketing loves to latch onto, creating categories, to make people buy something that they really don't need.

 

[usclassic]

In my experience doctors no longer check pulse rate with a watch nor do nurses anymore.

 

[badgerracer]

I agree and disagree with what you said.

I agree because :

• Recent browsing of WUS threads about the reasons everyone had to buy watches. I was shocked but no one seemed to have thought as "needing one" as a valid motive.
• Availability of time telling alternatives (phones mainly, but also cars clocks etc.).
• This week I had among my clients a woman with a 7.5 inches wrist, and an extremely small, yet classy golden watch. It looked something like this (15 to 20 mm case I think), but without seconds hand :
  Yet, her wrists being even larger than mine, it looked minuscule on her. I gently teased her about it by asking if the time wasn't too hard to read on it, and placing my 42 mm Field right next. She said that no, but she just liked it, and did read the time on the watch : 16h. Yet, it was in fact 10h50. Her watch had stopped since an undefined moment.

Now, I disagree because :

• Some professions do absolutely need a time telling device. It might only be as a backup in case of technical failure, but having none in case of main device failure can make the difference between trouble or not. Even without those spectacular circumstances, for someone as simple as a doctor, if you need to check the pulse of your patient, or his/her respiratory frequency, you only need yourself and a 3 hands watch.
• Alternate time telling does not mean better. Sure, phone, or computers can tell time, but are they always a better idea ? If we reuse the example above, the previous doctor could have no watch, but use his/her phone to tell the time, an electronic sphygmomanometer to check pulse and blood pressure, and an electronic saturometer to get an idea of breathing. Yet.. well, the sphygmomanometer will require one or two minutes to tell the pressure and cardiac frequency. It might also provide inaccurate results in case of irregular pulse, or low battery. Plus it will require the doctor to touch the device after having touched the patient, hence contaminating it with the patient's bacterias. Does he wants to check the time ? Yeah, sure, take you phone with your soiled hands, and press the button you already touched 20x times today. Same story for the saturometer, not to mention how imperfect the parameter is depending on ambiant temperature. To sum-up, not even mentioning the small cart to carry around that cookware, using that stuff will be less precise, more energy and time consuming, and considerably dirtier in terms of hygiene.... instead of just tilting your wrist and looking at a simple watch.
• Practicality. It takes one to two seconds to tilt your wrist to check the time on a legible field watch. Reaching out for your phone in your pocket, pressing the button will require 6-10, not to mention a free hand to do so.
• Ecology. Sure even if you're not a professional, you could use a phone to tell the time. Which will action the 5' LCD screen, the processor, the backlighting, the vibrator upon pressing the buttons, all of that just to read the time. It'll then require to be charged again every few days, with its lithium battery, before eventually replacing it after one year or two. Compare that to a good quartz which minute battery will last 5 years, or with a mechanical which does not consumes other energy than your own movement, and there's no comparison about which solution wastes more energy. And that without even relating to night related legibility, where engaging a 5' inch at full strength can't compare with the smartness of Luminova in terms of energy management, at least in the first hours.

So yeah, while most people don't actually require a watch, I still think it's often a better solution for time related needs; even more for some professionals.


There is what we need and what we want. To create the former by using the latter is a matter of marketing and design.

The part about you client’s battery being dead doesn’t surprise me. My wife doesn’t wear a watch often, but the 3 she has all have dead batteries. One of my coworkers for had a watch she wore everyday despite the fact that the Quartz movement had completely broken (the crown would no longer change the time), and I have a good friends who has a watch that he likes because his wife gave it to him that he wears despite the minute hand working but the hour hand stuck in place. Third coworker has an orient mako that he bought because he read an article saying it was a great watch. We work on 4 day work week and he only wears it to work, so it goes dead every weekend. After a while he stopped setting the day-date, then he stopped setting the time altogether. Moral of the story, for the non-WUS crowd they are wearing their watches for fashion primarily, and isn’t that uncommon to wear it past its usefulness as an accurate time telling device.


Also your point about ecology i think isn’t really valid since we are going to have a phone whether we have a watch or not, and checking the time every now and again won’t drain the battery enough to change our charging habits.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[grifball]

We don't disagree. A watch is a useful tool, even without any particular professional requirement.

But the reasoning of someone practicing [insert hobby/profession] needs a [insert style]-watch is purely emotional, especially now a days - and it is something marketing loves to latch onto, creating categories, to make people buy something that they really don't need.

So I want to back up here a moment.

Yes, you're absolutely right, nobody 'needs' a particular watch because they get into a certain hobby.

But at the end of the day, isn't watch collecting just another hobby? And as such, do we really need any justification to buy a watch beyond, "I want to have it in the collection."?

I know we're all for not buying watches here in this group, but surely none of us think that this mentality should be applied to the whole industry and the whole lot of watch collectors.

That would be a bit like the guy who smokes socially five or six days a week looking down on the guy who smokes a pack a day. It's a bit hypocritical to say, "you're allowed to like watches, but only if you don't have/buy more than X."

I want to make sure we're not losing the thread here. All well and good to bash each other's choices for being pointless, but when it comes to the industry as a whole, I can't condemn other people for wanting to collect watches or watch brands for making watches for them to collect. I do the same.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

[jmariorebelo]

So I want to back up here a moment.

Yes, you're absolutely right, nobody 'needs' a particular watch because they get into a certain hobby.

But at the end of the day, isn't watch collecting just another hobby? And as such, do we really need any justification to buy a watch beyond, "I want to have it in the collection."?

I know we're all for not buying watches here in this group, but surely none of us think that this mentality should be applied to the whole industry and the whole lot of watch collectors.

That would be a bit like the guy who smokes socially five or six days a week looking down on the guy who smokes a pack a day. It's a bit hypocritical to say, "you're allowed to like watches, but only if you don't have/buy more than X."

I want to make sure we're not losing the thread here. All well and good to bash each other's choices for being pointless, but when it comes to the industry as a whole, I can't condemn other people for wanting to collect watches or watch brands for making watches for them to collect. I do the same.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

+1 on all of the above. Nothing wrong with having watches sinply because you like them.

It's something I've noticed a few times in this thread. People get too carried away with the bashing and anti-purchasing and go to the other extreme of bashing the hobby and the enjoyment of watches altogether. That's a thought I simply can't and won't share.

Life's not binary. There's many levels between having a few hundreds watches and saying "it's a tool and you don't need more than one". If I only did what was an absolute necessity life would be painfully and unbearably boring.

 

[grifball]

+1 on all of the above. Nothing wrong with having watches sinply because you like them.

It's something I've noticed a few times in this thread. People get too carried away with the bashing and anti-purchasing and go to the other extreme of bashing the hobby and the enjoyment of watches altogether. That's a thought I simply can't and won't share.

Life's not binary. There's many levels between having a few hundreds watches and saying "it's a tool and you don't need more than one". If I only did what was an absolute necessity life would be painfully and unbearably boring.

Right. If we only had what we needed, we'd only have one or two pairs of pants, a couple shirts, one economy sedan, etc.

Having a collection of watches is not that different from having several shirts or jackets to choose from, except in price.

Hell, my wedding ring cost more than most of my watches, and I don't NEED that. No woman is going to come up and hit on me if I don't wear it, and I already know I'm married!

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

[ryan850]

I guess my only hobby is diving because I only have dive watches

 

[Zzyzx]

It's something I've noticed a few times in this thread. People get too carried away with the bashing and anti-purchasing and go to the other extreme of bashing the hobby and the enjoyment of watches altogether. That's a thought I simply can't and won't share.

Definitely this. Can we please remember that we're here to have fun? All I wanna do is have some fun. I've got the feeling I'm not the only one...

Right. If we only had what we needed, we'd only have one or two pairs of pants, a couple shirts, one economy sedan, etc.

Having a collection of watches is not that different from having several shirts or jackets to choose from, except in price.

Hell, my wedding ring cost more than most of my watches, and I don't NEED that. No woman is going to come up and hit on me if I don't wear it, and I already know I'm married!

Oddly enough, in most other aspects of my life I have minimized down to just what I need. I'm just more comfortable that way. It's nice to think I could pack a backpack full of stuff and disappear into the wilderness. Even though I'll probably never do that, and my area of Germany has a distinct lack of "wilderness" to disappear into.

And it's funny you mention the wedding ring, because I took mine off during the first lockdown a year ago. So much handwashing that the ring was starting to rub my hands raw. I just put it back on today, and then needed to smash some pallets for some elderly family members. So off came the ring again, and the watch too.

Makes me wonder again why I was ever so enamoured of mechanical watches when I have to regularly remove them to do various activities. (I needed to take it off to adjust something on a bike today, and then my kiddo stepped on it. No harm, though.) But that's another topic that's been done to death probably since Seiko released the Astron...

 

[Szechuan]

+1 on all of the above. Nothing wrong with having watches sinply because you like them.

It's something I've noticed a few times in this thread. People get too carried away with the bashing and anti-purchasing and go to the other extreme of bashing the hobby and the enjoyment of watches altogether. That's a thought I simply can't and won't share.

Life's not binary. There's many levels between having a few hundreds watches and saying "it's a tool and you don't need more than one". If I only did what was an absolute necessity life would be painfully and unbearably boring.

Wait your telling me I've been cutting back on hookers for naught?

 

[Wimads]

So I want to back up here a moment.

Yes, you're absolutely right, nobody 'needs' a particular watch because they get into a certain hobby.

But at the end of the day, isn't watch collecting just another hobby? And as such, do we really need any justification to buy a watch beyond, "I want to have it in the collection."?

I know we're all for not buying watches here in this group, but surely none of us think that this mentality should be applied to the whole industry and the whole lot of watch collectors.

That would be a bit like the guy who smokes socially five or six days a week looking down on the guy who smokes a pack a day. It's a bit hypocritical to say, "you're allowed to like watches, but only if you don't have/buy more than X."

I want to make sure we're not losing the thread here. All well and good to bash each other's choices for being pointless, but when it comes to the industry as a whole, I can't condemn other people for wanting to collect watches or watch brands for making watches for them to collect. I do the same.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

My criticism is within the context of this thread. I'm just questioning all the reasons we make up for buying more watches - since that's what we're trying to get under control here. Nothing personal. Trying to get anyone to think about their own reasoning and behaviors - not judging, just questioning and observing.

 

[grifball]

My criticism is within the context of this thread. I'm just questioning all the reasons we make up for buying more watches - since that's what we're trying to get under control here. Nothing personal. Trying to get anyone to think about their own reasoning and behaviors - not judging, just questioning and observing.

Cool. I think that's perfectly reasonable.

For me, the reasons I buy watches are primarily, "because I like watches", usually paired with, "and I haven't tried this one yet."

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

[georgefl74]

Ok I bought a funky Oris - and it’s real funky and I love it. However it was a reward to myself for taking another important step. Listed another 6 for sale which would see me down to 18

That's a nice color scheme. A bit baffled with this bracelet though. Is it all polished? As in mirror polished center links and slightly less polished outer part?

 

[TgeekB]

In my experience doctors no longer check pulse rate with a watch nor do nurses anymore.

View attachment 15724394

Doctors don't check any vital signs, at least where I come from. Nurses do.
You're right though, pulse oximeters and other instruments like a dynamap are routinely used my medical professionals today.

 

[TgeekB]

So I want to back up here a moment.

Yes, you're absolutely right, nobody 'needs' a particular watch because they get into a certain hobby.

But at the end of the day, isn't watch collecting just another hobby? And as such, do we really need any justification to buy a watch beyond, "I want to have it in the collection."?

I know we're all for not buying watches here in this group, but surely none of us think that this mentality should be applied to the whole industry and the whole lot of watch collectors.

That would be a bit like the guy who smokes socially five or six days a week looking down on the guy who smokes a pack a day. It's a bit hypocritical to say, "you're allowed to like watches, but only if you don't have/buy more than X."

I want to make sure we're not losing the thread here. All well and good to bash each other's choices for being pointless, but when it comes to the industry as a whole, I can't condemn other people for wanting to collect watches or watch brands for making watches for them to collect. I do the same.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

I think you may be taking the conversation too personal. No one is bashing anyone, it's just a conversation bringing up different viewpoints between strangers on the internet. It's how we learn. I don't believe anyone is taking one side completely over the other. Like I said above, it takes both a company marketing a product and an individual being attracted to it to make this all work.

We are in a thread about abstinence so I find the conversation applicable to most of what we talk about here. Let's just have fun with it.

 

[georgefl74]

I agree and disagree with what you said.
Now, I disagree because :

• Some professions do absolutely need a time telling device. It might only be as a backup in case of technical failure, but having none in case of main device failure can make the difference between trouble or not. Even without those spectacular circumstances, for someone as simple as a doctor, if you need to check the pulse of your patient, or his/her respiratory frequency, you only need yourself and a 3 hands watch.
• Alternate time telling does not mean better. Sure, phone, or computers can tell time, but are they always a better idea ? If we reuse the example above, the previous doctor could have no watch, but use his/her phone to tell the time, an electronic sphygmomanometer to check pulse and blood pressure, and an electronic saturometer to get an idea of breathing. Yet.. well, the sphygmomanometer will require one or two minutes to tell the pressure and cardiac frequency. It might also provide inaccurate results in case of irregular pulse, or low battery. Plus it will require the doctor to touch the device after having touched the patient, hence contaminating it with the patient's bacterias. Does he wants to check the time ? Yeah, sure, take you phone with your soiled hands, and press the button you already touched 20x times today. Same story for the saturometer, not to mention how imperfect the parameter is depending on ambiant temperature. To sum-up, not even mentioning the small cart to carry around that cookware, using that stuff will be less precise, more energy and time consuming, and considerably dirtier in terms of hygiene.... instead of just tilting your wrist and looking at a simple watch.
• Practicality. It takes one to two seconds to tilt your wrist to check the time on a legible field watch. Reaching out for your phone in your pocket, pressing the button will require 6-10, not to mention a free hand to do so.
• Ecology. Sure even if you're not a professional, you could use a phone to tell the time. Which will action the 5' LCD screen, the processor, the backlighting, the vibrator upon pressing the buttons, all of that just to read the time. It'll then require to be charged again every few days, with its lithium battery, before eventually replacing it after one year or two. Compare that to a good quartz which minute battery will last 5 years, or with a mechanical which does not consumes other energy than your own movement, and there's no comparison about which solution wastes more energy. And that without even relating to night related legibility, where engaging a 5' inch at full strength can't compare with the smartness of Luminova in terms of energy management, at least in the first hours.

So yeah, while most people don't actually require a watch, I still think it's often a better solution for time related needs; even more for some professionals.


There is what we need and what we want. To create the former by using the latter is a matter of marketing and design.

While I did love the OCD in the second point in reality if you need to check the pulse on a patient old-style then you'd have to place three bare fingers on his bare wrist. Obviously not the thing to do in COVID-time. Everyone nowadays just takes the pulse with the contraption that measures pO2. Cardiologists will do an ECG. And you can't check a wristwatch if you're suited up for COVID. Its best if you don't wear a watch anymore in a ward, period. I'm thoroughly washing mine when I'm off from work (and only wear steel bracelets now at work) but I don't routinely handle patients up close so it doesn't really apply to me.

Legibility is also much higher with my cell phone's always on OLED screen. Just pull it off my pocket and bingo. The ecology bit? Dunno. Most quartz batteries last a couple of years and may end up in a landfill. Li-on batteries typically get recycled with the phone or when they are replaced, now that this is no longer a user serviceable part (meaning replace yourself and toss)

 

[TgeekB]

While I did love the OCD in the second point in reality if you need to check the pulse on a patient old-style then you'd have to place three bare fingers on his bare wrist. Obviously not the thing to do in COVID-time. Everyone nowadays just takes the pulse with the contraption that measures pO2. Cardiologists will do an ECG. And you can't check a wristwatch if you're suited up for COVID. Its best if you don't wear a watch anymore in a ward, period. I'm thoroughly washing mine when I'm off from work (and only wear steel bracelets now at work) but I don't routinely handle patients up close so it doesn't really apply to me.

Legibility is also much higher with my cell phone's always on OLED screen. Just pull it off my pocket and bingo. The ecology bit? Dunno. Most quartz batteries last a couple of years and may end up in a landfill. Li-on batteries typically get recycled with the phone or when they are replaced, now that this is no longer a user serviceable part (meaning replace yourself and toss)

Yup, I've only worn steel or rubber straps to the hospital overy the last year and will probably continue to so in the future.

 

[grifball]

I think you may be taking the conversation too personal. No one is bashing anyone, it's just a conversation bringing up different viewpoints between strangers on the internet. It's how we learn. I don't believe anyone is taking one side completely over the other. Like I said above, it takes both a company marketing a product and an individual being attracted to it to make this all work.

We are in a thread about abstinence so I find the conversation applicable to most of what we talk about here. Let's just have fun with it.

More than anything, I was trying to make sure I was understanding the conversation correctly.

Talking about not buying watches in an abstinence thread makes sense. I was starting to get the impression that the conversation was turning to a more general condemnation of the watch industry and people who buy multiple watches, which I think is a bit silly for anyone with a membership on a watch enthusiast site.

Sounds like that impression was unwarranted though.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

[TgeekB]

More than anything, I was trying to make sure I was understanding the conversation correctly.

Talking about not buying watches in an abstinence thread makes sense. I was starting to get the impression that the conversation was turning to a more general condemnation of the watch industry and people who buy multiple watches, which I think is a bit silly for anyone with a membership on a watch enthusiast site.

Sounds like that impression was unwarranted though.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

LOL, anyone here that does that is walking around with blinders on!

It's no different than a lot of other things in life we do. I'm turning 60 this year and can look back a lot and ask, why? We're imperfect creatures and do crazy things for crazy reasons. As long as we're not hurting other people, why not? It's fun to find other crazy people who think similarly and that's why I'm here. It gives me a sense of normalcy.

 

[mconlonx]

Just sold a preorder to someone else. One less watch on the way...

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

Just sold a preorder to someone else. One less watch on the way...

Nicely done!