Watches - another OCD problem
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@mclaincausey has taught me to be very annoyed about war and peace adorning the face of watches.....
"OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011
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@Giles said in Watches - another OCD problem:
@mclaincausey has taught me to be very annoyed about war and peace adorning the face of watches.....
And that is why @mclaincausey is eyeing up a Parmigiani Fleurieur with a minimalist dial.
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One of the things about the PF is that the minimalism extends to the GMT mechanism. Even to the extent that it disappears when not needed. Balancing economy of information and functionality is something I value. That means minimal but also instantly understandable.
Think it, be it.
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@mclaincausey said in Watches - another OCD problem:
the minimalism extends to the GMT mechanism. Even to the extent that it disappears when not needed. Balancing economy of information .
So does this (though economy is not a word that readily springs to mind)....
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Hehe there’s that I suppose G.
I mentioned spelunking specifically because that was the Explorer II pitch: when you’re spelunking, or in a polar region, or whatever where you can’t tell if it’s day or night, you need this functionality.
That is what we call in product management an “edge case” that I don’t personally need to account for in a GMT.
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Spelunking is a Greek origin word and has something to do with caves. I assume cave exploring or something of this short.
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@kkibbey23 I took a look at a Bathyscaphe in titanium in November, and that was a nice piece. I'm on team large wrists, so I can get away with bigger watches.
I'm with @mclaincausey that I generally know roughly what the relative time will be compared to the local. For example, it's currently 8:30 pm on the East Coast of Australia, I know that the UK is earlier, so I'd figure out that the time on my 12-hour GMT would correspond to 9:30 am, not 9:30 pm.
But, of course, we need our watches to be over specified for diving in an Antarctic cave, even though they'll never see anything more extreme than an office desk...
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I don’t mind an over speced GMT function as much as a He escape valve. Talk about edge case. An edge case on the case edge
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@mclaincausey said in Watches - another OCD problem:
@JDelage if you’re not on a multi day spelunking expedition or something those might not strictly be necessary, thus their inclusion could be superfluous depending upon use case
Yes, in the most obvious case of a trip from Europe to the US, or reverse, it's fine. (Then again, in such a case one doesn't really "need" GMT at all generally.) In the case of a multi continent, multi leg trip involving much jet lag and sleep deprivation it can get more difficult.
Purely from a watch appreciation standpoint, it would be fun to see a watch go to the extremes of the 2 time zone functions, with some indication of day/night for home time (I prefer a 24hr scale personally) and a quick adjustment of the current time down to the 1/2hr (since some time zones require that). I don't know that any exist.
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I think 24 hour clocks are much better in general (see above about appreciating economy, understandability, etc) and that sounds like a great watch to me!
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@JDelage I understand your preference for a full 24hr scale on a GMT watch. One of the nicest executions of this in my opinion is the LUC GMT One.
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@mclaincausey I agree that most complications on mechanical watches have become "edge case". I can not think of many complications in a watch that I use on a regular basis other than date function and the dive watch rotating bezel for rough timing duties (typically for me when cooking).
The smartphone has pretty much killed off the relevance of all mechanical watch complications. One exception I can think of is a favourite of @Graeme the Patek 5212A weekly calendar calatrava. I might be missing how to configure it, but my smart phone does not seem to have the weekly calendar function?
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I find it quite endearing that complications in mechanical watches are a beautiful tribute and legacy to craftsmanship and engineering ingenuity through the ages.
Yes a digital smart watch / phone packs some serious processing power but for me they are not even comparable to a mechanical timepiece. Useful,......absolutely,.......but not a like for like comparison.
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@TinMan Yep. agree there is some really good info and opinions on this thread.
The good news is that the further away from the main brands you look the more likely you are to find something that is rarer, ideal for yourself and sometimes a bit of a bargain, particularly on the pre owned market.
L.U.C (Chopard) are one such example of a small in house company who make some serious horological treats that not very many people other than enthusiasts are aware of.
That L.U.C. GMT One is a far nicer hand finished, made in small numbers, and cheaper watch when compared to anything from the big brand brands.
The same blacked out limited edition (only 250 pieces made) watch that I pictured can be picked up brand new unused for $10-$11k. Compare this to a mass produced GMT master II, Retail for these starts from around $10,700 if you can get one. The L.U.C. offers some serious horological bang for your buck in comparison.
I am a bit of an L.U.C. fanboy which is probably coming across on this thread. I like the company, they make some excellent watches. I also really like that they are not afraid to put some serious heavyweight complications (perpetual calendar) into a steel case.
Most watch companies only put the high end complications in precious metal cases. We are still talking big money but $30k will get you a brand new perpetual calendar watch (Perpetual twin model in steel), compare this to a precious metal Patek or Vacheron which is going to be 4 x the price.
