Watches

[BigMarine]

Same here.

The guy whos does my watch servicing and repair told me the Breitling movement is superior, but the Rolex movement will last longer.

[ToddG]

My Breitlings are keep far more accurate time than my Rolexs do.

Are your Breits autos or quartz? Both of my Breits are quartz (they call it Superquartz) and keep phenomenal time, usually +/- 10sec per year.

The movements in Breitlings are ETAs which are then refined by Breitling. The Rolexes all have in house movements. In theory I guess the Rolex movement is supposed to be more robust, but since the first sign of wear is usually that the watch stops telling time well, that's sort of cheating. Most Rolexes don't tell time well out of the box.

We only have one Rolex in the house, my wife's. Both when new and after its most recent service, it still loses 15+ seconds per day. In comparison, we have three other autos between us (a Kobold, an Omega, and a Zenith) which all keep at or better than +/- 1sec per day.

Then again, my daily wear around watch is a Sinn UX which uses the same thermally compensated quartz mechanism as the Breit Superquartz watches (all made by ETA) and it's lost one half of one second since DST began on 9-March.

And yes, I do have the Naval Observatory atomic clock on my cell phone's speed dial. It's a sickness.

[RyanB]

I want a Submariner on a NATO strap but I'd feel like such a poser.

[toddackerman]

I wear a Omega Seamaster.



C4

Me too.

I had 2 Rolex watches (Sub-Mariner and Date Just) and the Omega tells extremely better time (even after having the Rolex's adjusted) and it doesn't have to worn to be wound because it is a battery powered watch. Rolex's standard is +/- 30 seconds per month. The Omega standard is 1 second per month.

I got mine at Costco in 2001 for $just over $1,000.

[ToddG]

toddackerman -- In fairness, you're comparing apples and oranges. Any quartz watch, even a mediocre Casio, is going to be much more accurate than just about any automatic. Nonetheless, watch enthusiasts (WIS, Watch Idiot Savants) almost universally consider automatic watches far more desirable than quartz.

I'm in no way busting on your Omega. I've got four quartz watches, and two of them (my Sinn UX and Breitling B1) are the ones I wear almost every day. As you said, the incredible convenience of a watch that runs for days or even months without having to wind it or reset it is a big deal.

If you get a chance, I'd be interested to see a pic of your Seamaster or get the product code for it. I didn't think the Seamaster quartzes used thermocompensated movements, and were rated for the quartz standard of +/- 15sec per month. They're not COSC certified to the best of my recollection (COSC certification requires thermocompensation).

[toddackerman]

toddackerman -- In fairness, you're comparing apples and oranges. Any quartz watch, even a mediocre Casio, is going to be much more accurate than just about any automatic. Nonetheless, watch enthusiasts (WIS, Watch Idiot Savants) almost universally consider automatic watches far more desirable than quartz.

I'm in no way busting on your Omega. I've got four quartz watches, and two of them (my Sinn UX and Breitling B1) are the ones I wear almost every day. As you said, the incredible convenience of a watch that runs for days or even months without having to wind it or reset it is a big deal.

If you get a chance, I'd be interested to see a pic of your Seamaster or get the product code for it. I didn't think the Seamaster quartzes used thermocompensated movements, and were rated for the quartz standard of +/- 15sec per month. They're not COSC certified to the best of my recollection (COSC certification requires thermocompensation).

No offense taken, and I know that the 2 platforms are different, but a watch is suppose to first and foremost IMHO tell good time. That was my only point.

Regarding thermocompensated movements...I have no idea what that means, and my reference to accuracy was based on me checking one of these 2 sources every month or so to get the "Real Time".

303-499-7111 or this website: http://nist.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Mountain/d/-7/java

My Omega Seamaster is just labeled on the front with:

Omega Seamaster Professional 300m/1000ft Swiss Made

The back of the watch just has the Omega Sea Master logo

[ToddG]

Todd -- Agree 100% that a watch's first job is to tell time. That's what's separates normal people from WIS. To me, a watch that loses minutes per month is unbelievably frustrating. But then I'm an accuracy nut when it comes to watches, which is why I have so many thermocomp quartzes.

What is thermocompensation? Short version is that after crystal quality, the next biggest factor in a quartz movement's accuracy is thermal stability. The quartz crystal is affected by ambient temperature. A thermocompensated quartz watch, then, has a mechanism for measuring ambient temperature and slowing/speeding the movement according to an algorithm that forces it to keep the proper time regardless of temperature.

In the case of your Omega, if it's keeping +/- 1 second per month, right off the bat you know you've got a very good crystal. And while the ETA quartz movements that Omega uses are certainly good movements, you've got a particularly good one. It's like lucking out and getting a stock Colt that shoots 1/2 MOA.

Since it's not thermocompensated, odds are you either wear it almost every day or its "resting place" when not being worn has an ambient temperature close to skin temperature.

Thermocompensation isn't necessary for maximum accuracy, and in fact the most accurate watch in the world (the Citizen Chronomaster and its A660 movement) is rated for +/- 5 seconds per year but is not thermocompensated. So you have to wear it every day (I believe they recommend 12 hours) to get that level of accuracy.

I've got a Suunto X-Lander Military that keeps right around +/- 1 second per month, and it's not a thermocomp. Again, that's just luck of the draw. But if I was wearing it every day in varying temperature conditions, the accuracy would probably suffer a bit compared to being in my house all the time.

The premium paid for a thermocomp quartz basically takes the luck out of the equation. They're generally made with the highest quality crystals (which can also be used in non-TC'd quartz, like the Omega SMP) and then have the added temperature control and shock resistance features needed to earn COSC certification.

A standard quartz is expected to run +/- 15 seconds per month, but most will run much better (+/- 5 seconds per month). A standard TC'd quartz is usually expected to run +/- 15 seconds per year and anything under 10 is considered great.

[ToddG]

Todd -- that definitely plays a role in the accuracy. I'm not surprised it runs even with the shooting you do. A lot of watch nuts freak out about wearing watches when golfing because of the stress it puts on the watch, but a watch like your Omega shouldn't even notice. I don't have any watches I wouldn't wear while shooting.

But even with the all-day wear, it sounds like you got yourself a particularly great SMP. Enjoy it!

[BigMarine]

Are your Breits autos or quartz? Both of my Breits are quartz (they call it Superquartz) and keep phenomenal time, usually +/- 10sec per year.

The movements in Breitlings are ETAs which are then refined by Breitling. The Rolexes all have in house movements. In theory I guess the Rolex movement is supposed to be more robust, but since the first sign of wear is usually that the watch stops telling time well, that's sort of cheating. Most Rolexes don't tell time well out of the box.

We only have one Rolex in the house, my wife's. Both when new and after its most recent service, it still loses 15+ seconds per day. In comparison, we have three other autos between us (a Kobold, an Omega, and a Zenith) which all keep at or better than +/- 1sec per day.

Then again, my daily wear around watch is a Sinn UX which uses the same thermally compensated quartz mechanism as the Breit Superquartz watches (all made by ETA) and it's lost one half of one second since DST began on 9-March.

And yes, I do have the Naval Observatory atomic clock on my cell phone's speed dial. It's a sickness.

I have a Headwind and a Skyland Avenger, both being automatic movements.

[uspopo]

The prices of Swiss watches have really gotten out of control and with the weak US dollar and the strength of the Euro I really can't afford to buy new anymore (LOL, BTW I just dropped 1400.00 for a new upper from Wes/MSTN). I wear a Casio G-Shock solar GW-2300 for patrol and my EDC watch is a Citizen Ti EcoZilla. I have a D Series Sea Dweller that I purchased brand new in 2006 and the new retail is 6250.00 (Yikes!!). The secondary market is where I will looking for my future purchases. My favorite watch that hasn't come home yet will be a HOT (Hands of Time/Randall Benson) fully restored Seiko 6105-8110 diver.

Stan