That’s the last watch I have ever worn, and I took it of after I got off active duty in June 1992. Other than National Guard weekends up until 1999, I have not worn a watch since. I don’t need one. There are clocks everywhere- on the computer in the car on the signs on your phone, etc.
And even though I am an Apple fanboi, this Samsung Galaxy watch has intrigued me and I can not wait until Mistermix reviews it. If I could put my iPhone on my wrist, and not have to wonder where it is or having it rattle around my shorts, I would be on the iWatch like stink on shit.
Also too, use this thread to discuss your shows.
PsiFighter37
Anyone else seem ‘Hello Ladies’ on HBO? I watched the first two episodes, and holy hell, they were the most cringe-worthy comedic pieces I’ve seen in a long time. But it’s fucking hilarious…absolutely great.
trollhattan
@PsiFighter37:
Oh yeah, it’s pretty clear the Ricky Gervais factor is infectious. Until Larry David returns he’ll do, he’ll do.
ETA–hope the DVRs are all set for “The Birthday Boys.”
http://www.ifc.com/the-birthday-boys/videos/the-birthday-boys-thetas
dmsilev
You could buy a Pebble watch now and do a lot of what the Samsung does without needing to also have a late-model Samsung smartphone to pair with the watch.
West of the Rockies
You know, I see Timex and I still hear John Cameron Swayze’s voice saying, “Timex… it takes a licking and keeps on ticking….”
And, no, never heard of Hello, Ladies, but I don’t have satellite/cable.
Linnaeus
I’m thinking about packing up and moving away. Like, not right now, but in the foreseeable future.
Suzanne
@Linnaeus: “Away” being like, Jersey, or, like, out of the country away? Like AWAY away?
Linnaeus
@Suzanne:
No, I’d be staying in the country. Just wondering if it’s time for a fresh start. Though I know changing places doesn’t solve everything.
Suzanne
@Linnaeus: I have the same fantasy at least weekly. Denver is the leading contender.
cathyx
An iwatch? How could you ever be able to read it?
PsiFighter37
Sierra Nevada Flipside IPA is awesome.
PF37 +5
dexwood
@Linnaeus:
Best thing I ever did… but I was much younger then, I:m older than that now. Could still work. Have a 66 year old friend moving to Ecuador in three weeks. He did his research by living there for one year, teaching English.
eric
@cathyx: with an ieye i suppose
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I’ve never worn a watch. Nor even a humble wedding ring. Nope. Never going to wear a watch, either. That’s what clocks are for. If there aren’t any clocks handy, that’s what other people who do wear watches are for. If there aren’t any of those handy, there’s always the sun.
MattR
Back before smartphones had airplane mode, that was the one place I missed having a watch.
Linnaeus
@efgoldman:
*laugh* The beauty of blogs is that I can maintain multiple presences.
@Suzanne:
I might consider moving southward on the west coast. Just flirting with the idea right now; I have a lot of unfinished business here anyway.
Linnaeus
@dexwood:
I already moved across the country once – back in 1997 to start grad school. I could do it again if need be.
cathyx
@eric: You should have said with iglasses.
RobertDSC-iPhone 4
My current watch was purchased in December 2005. I’ve gone through several batteries and watch bands since then. In that time, I’ve worn it all day every day, save for when I shower. Then the watch band gets washed separately.
When I was a kid, I had a “habit” of losing my watches. When I bought my first with my own money, I wore it everywhere just to break that “habit” of losing them. Now I feel naked without my watch.
My current watch has the distinction of being worn on stage and in the dressing room of a strip club. I didn’t wear it at the time. My now-retired favorite dancer did. LOL.
eric
@cathyx: i made an imistake…
dexwood
@Linnaeus:
See, there you go, I didn’t know that. Cool. You know how to do it. Good luck whatever you decide.
MikeJ
I like watches. Yes, you always have your phone, but there was a time when you always had a pocket watch. They were fucking inconvenient.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
Since this is one of them there open thread thingies, I’ve been wondering something. From time to time,Balloon Juice has fundraisers for one worthy cause or another. Has anybody on this thread ever had a hand in any of those? As some of you might know, since I bring it up with wearisome regularity, I raise money for teachers at a school in Honduras, and I was wondering how to get some kind of fundraiser up for that. I wrote to a front pager or two and to John Cole, but I didn’t hear anything. I don’t want to hassle the front pagers or Cole, since I know they have other things to deal with, but does anybody know how much I should push this before I make myself into an incorrigible pest? What do people think? Would it be too pushy to follow up? I have a 501(c)3 letter from the I.R.S., so it’s a legitimate cause.
Linnaeus
Re: watches. I have a watch that I use mainly when I go walking or running because I need to time walks or runs and it’s easier to do it with a watch. Plus I don’t always like digging in my pocket or whatever to get my phone out. Lastly, it’s water resistant, and if I have to check the time when I’m out in the field in the rain, I’d rather use my watch than my phone.
It didn’t hurt that I got the watch entirely free (a Timex Expedition…probably 30-40 bucks) when my former roommate moved out and left a bunch of stuff for me to take care of (by mutual agreement) and I happened to find it.
CaseyL
@MikeJ: I have a very cool pocket watch: the inner workings are visible, and you can open both sides to get an even better view of all the little cogs and gears and flywheels.
I hardly ever remember to wind it, though. And you’re right about inconvenient. If you think having to fish it out of a pocket is bad, try rooting around in a purse.
But it is very cute and very cool.
Higgs Boson's Mate (Crystal Set)
Or, you could have it surgically implanted. I think the only reason they don’t offer that already is because they’d have too many takers. “Get the new Apple iHead!”
Fuzzy
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): I Have never worn a watch or a ring either but I worked in a shipyard or a ranch and they can get caught on too many things and do real harm to you.
James E. Powell
I stopped wearing a watch when I stopped practicing law. I deemed a badge of slavery.
schrodinger's cat
I have a blue Timex Iron man watch that I use when I am running. BTW where do you guys go to get the battery in your watch changed?
raven
@Fuzzy: I had what I thought was a phobia about wearing rings for years until someone reminded me that my drill sergeant would have stressed it to me.
JPL
I believe that there is a gene for watch people. My father loved watches and my brother has his collection. One of my sons has watches, (notice the plural) and he has already asked my ex for his old hamilton cuz of some reason.
There is a watch gene. I’ve no use for them.
raven
@schrodinger’s cat: You can do it yourself, it’s probably got the battery code on the back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjMClefLsA4
schrodinger's cat
@James E. Powell: I don’t wear a watch on the weekends, same idea.
Baud
@schrodinger’s cat:
No pants. Same reason.
Wally Ballou
1-0 Tigers. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout.
JPL
@Baud: So I have an uncanny sense of time which is why I don’t wear I watch and you have?????????
trollhattan
@Baud:
Who’s gettin’ me another beer while I clean this one out of the k^@$(ard?
schrodinger's cat
@raven: I don’t have the tiny instruments you need to open the watch.
realbtl
I quit wearing a watch when I retired but I keep my grandfather’s gold Elgin pocket watch wound daily and use it when I’m playing music, don’t like a wrist watch for that and I like to get my breaks on time.
I do love my 150 yo Seth Thomas clock though, the chimes are beautiful.
Linnaeus
@schrodinger’s cat:
I just go to the jewelry & watch counter at my local JC Penney.
raven
@schrodinger’s cat: An eyeglass screwdriver kit with a phillips would do.
schrodinger's cat
@Linnaeus: How much do they charge? The Jewelry store at the local mall wanted $10 per watch. I thought that was too much.
blueskies
Weirdness. Very weirdness. THAT’s the last watch I ever wore (regularly), too. Main difference, though, is that I stopped wearing it long before all the digital crap came along. No…I stopped wearing it because I started taking the time things take to get done.
And I stopped worrying.
I.am. old.! ;)
SiubhanDuinne
Seems to be running about 1hr 15mi fast.
Ash Can
@schrodinger’s cat: Just take it to any jeweler. It shouldn’t be expensive. The ones in my neck of the woods charge five bucks to replace a watch battery, and it takes them about 30 seconds to do it.
ETA: Look up neighborhood mom-and-pop places online or in the yellow pages and call around. You’re right, $10 is steep.
John O
@cathyx:
I don’t even surf much on my phone because of the legibility issues. I’m with you, it isn’t happening on a watch.
I might wear a jewelry watch, if I had one, but I don’t so I’ll continue my 30 year watchless streak.
TheMightyTrowel
Oh Ugh. Getting back to work after 10 days holiday SUCKS. Writing lectures is BORING, but dealing with 2 weeks accumulated admin is worse.
trollhattan
@raven:
Caution: I had a brand new Casio nerd watch the battery went dead after a week or two and plumbing my inner cheapskate, opened the back (avec jeweler’s screwdriver) and a couple of contact springs went “sproing” and I was never able to put them back in the right spots. Neither could two different watch guys.
Most are simple but, caveat emptor.
Old Dan and Little Ann
My sister bought me a watch when I was 20 or something and I found myself constantly checking the time. Drove me nuts for a few weeks and I quit wearing it. All my friends have obnoxious watches. Fuck that noise.
Steeplejack
@schrodinger’s cat:
Most jewelry stores can change watch batteries, and there are usually a few hole-in-the-wall watch/shoe repair places in every mall. You never notice them until you need one.
What I would like to find (in the NoVa area) is someone who actually repairs watches and can do more than just replace a battery. I tried a guy near Ballston with mixed results and a guy at Union Station with negative results. I wonder if this is becoming a lost art.
mikej
Pedroia just showed why John Henry paid $50M for the Boston Globe and $110M for a player.
Ash Can
I have a collection of vintage wind-up watches that I’ve bought at estate sales over the years. Granted, I usually have to sink some bucks into getting them fixed (it helps that they cost only a few bucks in the first place), but once they’re fixed, they stay fixed for a long time and run very well.
p.a.
@JPL: I have the gene, but I stopped wearing watches at work when I changed departments and now have to work around dc and ac power. Have a Wittnauer with a 20 year battery that is nearing its time: it has an unreplacable pacemaker battery, although I hear there is a kit to modify it for watch batteries. Bought a Citizen Eco-Drive and 2 weeks later got my 25 year gift catalog. One of my potential choices was, of course, an Eco-Drive. My watch rules: round, never square or rectangular, Arabic numbers or no numbers, never Roman numerals. Never digital readout. Metal clip band or leather band, no stretch metal band. Rubber/synthetic band OK on sports watches. Perhaps I’ve put too much thought into this.
Best basic ‘I just wanna be able to tell time anytime’ watch: Timex Indiglow.
SiubhanDuinne
When watches wer expensive, delicate Swiss jewel mechanisms, I counted mtpyself lucky to own both a “daytime” and a “dress” wristwatch.
Today, with funky watches costing around $12-15, and keeping fine time, I probably own something on the order of 20 watches. They cost the same as sunglasses, or earrings (costume jewelry). They are a cheap, fun accessory. Excessive? Yeah, certainly. But they amuse me. I like the feeling of a heavy piece of technology/jewelry on my left wrist and would feel kind of naked without it.
muddy
I was looking at my father’s things today as this would have been his 100th birthday if he were yet with us. I think I’m going to get some links taken out of the watchband of his gold retirement watch so I can wear it. It’s tiresome to have to get the phone out of my pocketbook. My nephew has Dad’s pocket watch from his youth, I made a more modern chain for it, it’s pretty cool.
The deeply carved art on the swimming medals is interesting, kind of Soviet or something. They’re quite heavy.
I always bought my dad hardware or tools for his birthday, I still get something every year on the occasion. I slacked this year and have yet not shopped. Any suggestions of a tool I might consider? Hand or power. Keeping in mind that I have most everything already between his hoard and my own.
JPL
@Ash Can: Proves my theory that there is a watch gene. Did someone in your family cherish watches? hmmm
Ash Can
@p.a.: Old wind-up Timexes are pretty good watches. Real workhorses, sturdy and reliable.
lamh36
So far, I’ve had only 3 “new” shows that I’ve added to my weekly DVR queue. 2 of which I actually consistently watch at the end of every week…Sleepy Hollow and The Blacklist. The other show is Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. which I admit, I do watch,but rarely watch “live” without commercials. I usually just save it for a weekend view.
Now there is another new showing coming on Fox in November that I’m REALLY interested in. It’s called Almost Human. It stars Karl Urban (who’ve I find so cute, even before his turn as Bones in the Star Trek movies) and Michael Ealy (I’m telling ya, ask any sista to list the hottest African American actors out right now, and Ealy WILL be top 10 if not top 5).
Executive producers who brought us Fringe: JJ Abrams and J.H. Wyman, plus it just so happens to premiere on Nov 4th (the day before my birthday…make note).
Geoduck
I’ve been wearing the same Timex for about 15 years now.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: My mom bought bulova’s for my sister and I for xmas in the earliy sixties with chipped diamonds.. I still have mine. The diamonds are really chipped, though.
Comrade Mary
Anyone got any recommendations for a good stainless steel or titanium watch at a price that won’t make me cry?
I’ve been buying nothing but stainless steel for the past few years, but I have a habit of catching the stem on things and ripping it off. Killed my last two watches exactly the same way.
My latest replacement watch — allegedly stainless steel — irritates the skin on my wrist. Both the watch back and the wristband swear that they’re stainless, but my wrist objects nonetheless. A little Googling suggests that stainless steel allergies may actually exist.
So is is just cheap stainless that can bother people? Is there actually a good stainless steel watch out there? Titanium watches just seem to be priced ridiculously.
catclub
@efgoldman: There are also the ten thousand year clocks.
and these – which only cost the price of an upscale Mercedes Benz – or more;
http://www.erwinsattler.de/en/
Jerry
Personal timepieces are for chumps. Yeah, I said it. (I’m only jealous ’cause wearing a watch on my wrist makes my skin break out in terrible rashes.)
Am I the only one watching “The Amazing Race”? Go team bearded California metalhead guys.
Ash Can
@JPL: Not really. It’s just that I love poking through old jewelry at estate sales, and once in a while I run across an Omega or Elgin or Wittnauer or Girard Perregaux or whatever — sometimes solid gold — mixed in with the junk, with a three-dollar price tag on it, and I can’t resist. Like I keep saying to my husband, “If they’re gonna give the damned thing away, I’m gonna take it.”
JPL
OT.. For those watching Last Tango in Halifax and The Paradise on PBS, is Sarah Lancashire not great? It’s hard to believe it’s the same actress in both series.
Klare
OK , watch story. Don’t normally wear a watch. Time conscious enough. But I have my mother’s watch. A tiny Bulova windup. She died when I was 17. She was an extraordinary person, loved with total ease. The watch quit keeping time in the car wreck that killed her. But I wear the watch when I need a reminder to be decent to someone who annoys me. I would have needed to wear it if I were in DC this afternoon. The dust-up in front of the Whitehouse and the confederate flag presence really frosted me.
Steeplejack
@JPL:
I have the watch gene. As a friend used to joke, they are one of the few ways in which a gentleman can accessorize, and I just like the incredible diversity of style and functionality that’s out there. I have an accumulation of cheap Timex and Casio models, analog and digital, and also a few nice ones.
It may be similar to the car gene (or the guitar gene or the tool gene, etc.). All you really need is something to get you from point A to point B, but some guys are totally into cars. (I do not have the car gene, or at least it’s recessive.) I think it’s connected to having opposable thumbs and being descended from tool users.
Right now I happen to be wearing a Mondaine “railroad” watch that I lent to a female friend almost 20 years ago. She gave it back to me a few months ago, and with a new battery and band it is running like a top.
Ash Can
@Jerry: Get a pocket watch and chain, then. :)
muddy
@JPL: Like her friend said on Halifax, “magnificent!”. I said it as soon as I saw her on The Paradise.
Roger Moore
For a while, I was in the habit of wearing a watch on each wrist. One was a digital and one was a mechanical. At the time, I was working in a lab with a high field magnet, and I could always tell how much time I had spent close to the magnet because it would stop the mechanical watch but not the digital. I gave up the two watch thing, but I still wear one enough of the time that my wrist feels naked without one.
Ash Can
@Klare: That’s a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing it.
JPL
@Klare: That’s a sweet story.. The entire watch itself is probably not a half inch by a little less than that with a 1/4 to 3/8 inch band. amiright…
Steeplejack
@Ash Can:
How did you find your (presumably reliable) watch-fixing person? I am looking for such a person and not having much luck.
Roger Moore
@Comrade Mary:
It may be. There are lots of different varieties of stainless, so it’s entirely possible that one may bother you and another one won’t. I wouldn’t be so sure that it has to do with the price, though; it could very easily have to do with the exact alloy.
Mike in NC
I bought my last watch at the NEX at Rota, Spain in 1984 after completing a long and miserable six month deployment to the Persian Gulf. Saved up a lot of money since there was basically nowhere to spend it. Got a simple model Rolex that you have to manually wind every other day. It cost about $300 and still works great. In hindsight I wish I’d bought a dozen of them for what they’re worth now…
JPL
@Steeplejack: Have you looked for a clock person? Sometimes they are one and the same although, not always.
schrodinger's cat
My dream watch is the Cartier tank watch. Currently it is too expensive for me, someday..
Garbo
@muddy: I get a catalog called Garrett Wade that has lots of lovely tools. I’ve bought my brother some gimlets and my father a ship’s bell, both excellent quality.
Yatsuno
@mikej: Pedroia needs to shave. Along with the rest of the damn team. I know full well baseball players are superstitious fucks (I lost my virginity to one) but it’s getting fucking ridiculous.
MsSKWEsq
I can never wear a watch. I am allergic to most metals (everything actually) and I am left handed and watches catch on things more on the other wrist. Also I must have some weird electro magnetic vibe as no matter what, they always go wonky and stop keeping time on me. Cheap or very expensive Swiss watches have all gone wonky.
schrodinger's cat
Has anybody made brownies with butternut squash puree? I found a recipe and am thinking of giving it a try.
muddy
@Garbo: Thanks, I’d not heard of that one.
JPL
@Yatsuno: In the words of that short term MA senator… Bqhatevwr’
pseudonymous in nc
The Galaxy Gear has received consistently awful reviews.
Whatever Apple’s doing, I don’t think it’s a “watch” in the way the Gear is. Watches are still personal things: they generally differ in design and scale for men and women: it’s hard to sell squillions of the exact same watch unless it’s a Casio digital: even Swatch was all about variation. And we’ve had zero leaks related to the Mysterious Wrist Product, which to me suggests that it’s either a fakeout or people don’t know what to look for from the usual suppliers.
I got to see a large tray of broken watches at a flea market the other week, and it was like a kind of 20th century archaeology, going through the LED phase, the “weird design” phase, and various periods of common influences. Along with a few timeless (literally, since broken) designs.
I got a black Timex over the summer as an understated cheap dress watch. I may get a Japanese automatic towards the end of the year.
cmorenc
@John Cole:
I often wear TWO watches at a time, one on each wrist, several times each week. Why? Because I referee a lot of soccer matches, and need to run an extra stopwatch for backup. However, I almost never wear a watch (not even one) except while refereeing soccer matches, and then mainly only use the stopwatch functions on each. The time-of-day function is only briefly useful for making sure I start the match by the scheduled time (and get the necessary preliminaries done in a timely fashion, e.g. collecting rosters, coin toss, etc).
Other than that, I’m with you: digital clock displays abound in my everyday surroundings, and when not, I can check the time on my iPhone.
Thlayli
@Yatsuno:
It’s all the teams. I think they’re having an ugly-beard contest. Brian Wilson is winning, but the Sox have some contenders.
Steeplejack
@muddy:
Oh, hell, yeah, Garrett Wade is a tool-lover’s paradise.
I was going to suggest a Japanese pull saw, if you don’t already have one. Really nice to use, once you get the hang of it, and surprisingly versatile.
John O
I fell in love with a very handsome Raymond Weil once, and had the money to buy it, but just couldn’t justify spending that much on something decorative. It was a beauty, though. I think the model was called Parsifal.
Ash Can
@Steeplejack: The neighborhood jeweler has a cousin who’s a watch guy. I take my watches to the jeweler and he sends them out to his cousin.
Maybe you could call around to local independent jewelers who have been in the business for a while, and if they don’t do repairs themselves ask them for recommendations. Maybe you could also look on websites such as Yelp for recommendations. And if any of your friends are particular about their watches, you could ask them too.
Klare
@JPL: You sure are. My arms & hands look like hers, so it’s a nice thing to see. Fits very snug.
Baud
trollhattan
@Comrade Mary:
Lots of stainless contains nickel so I’ll guess it’s the well-documented nickel allergy at work.
schrodinger's cat
@JPL: Your puppy has a cute! Saw his photo on the other thread. Does he have a name yet?
muddy
@Steeplejack: Oh, that is nice! I like that it is not thinner at the end. Yes the Garrett Wade was a great suggestion, I dove right into it. How could I have not heard of this before? Gods!
I learned about a cool product yesterday that I didn’t know about, and I was very excited. I searched on Amazon for Stuffits, these things for wet smelly shoes. It came up with other things that said stuffit (none of them rude even!) and there is fine copper mesh that comes on a roll. Like a long delicate metal sock.
Cassidy
Analog. You need the second hand to take vitals.
hells littlest angel
I haven’t worn a watch since I was eight. If I want to know what time it is, I ask someone who’s wearing a watch. I think the last time I wanted to know what time it was was in the early 90s.
Klare
@Ash Can: Thanks AC
Yatsuno
@SiubhanDuinne: I haz you found on Book of Faces BTW. I sent a request, we’ll see if this one takes.
@Thlayli: I get it. Honestly. I really do. But it’s getting to tacky as fuck proportions now.
Roger Moore
@catclub:
For some reason, that kind of thing just really rubs me the wrong way. It seems like somebody who is working on the refinement to perfection of the horse buggy. Yes, their designs are impressive, but they’re ultimately about pushing the limits of an obsolete technology. The idea that people are pouring enough money into one clock to feed a family for a year is just crazy.
BruceFromOhio
Unicorns! Show ponies! Where’s the beef?!
Linnaeus
@schrodinger’s cat:
Oops, sorry, I missed this. I don’t remember what I was charged, but it was less than $10, I’m pretty sure.
Omnes Omnibus
@Comrade Mary: I have a three watches, all stainless. LL Bean field watch, currently on a beat-up, dark brown leather strap. A Seiko, on tan leather. And a Maurice Lacroix on black leather.
Wally Ballou
2-0 Tigers.
schrodinger's cat
@Linnaeus: Will try JCP next weekend or may be tomorrow, thanks for the tip!
Steeplejack
@JPL:
I have tried that. There’s a guy close to me that does only clock and watch repair (he doesn’t sell jewelry), and I gave him a go on replacing a couple of batteries and a leather band and chatted him up while he was doing that. I think he may actually know his stuff, but he seemed sort of eccentric in a not confidence-inspiring way, and he irritated me a little because right in the middle of our interaction another customer came in and he abruptly dropped me and waited on the other person. In his defense, I think the other guy was coming back about a clock repair that didn’t fix the problem, so maybe he has doing damage control, but he could at least have given me an eye roll and a “Sorry, I’ve got to handle this.” Yeah, I know—First World problems.
And there is a guy who works on my brother’s extremely old grandfather clock—he even makes house calls!—but he is not a watch guy and didn’t know any watch guys when I asked him about it. So I’m still looking.
lamh36
ok, am I the only one who doesn’t wear watch because my wrist are too damn fat! I’m a girl, I want a nice cute little fashion lady watch, but with my fat wrist I can’t find one that NOT a metal elastic band.
Is it too much to want a leather band to wear! Is it?! Ist it?!
The Pale Scot
@Steeplejack:
There was this guy I read about in Graphic Novel Once..
Steeplejack
@Ash Can:
Yeah, I’m in the process. I tried the guy at Union Station because his store’s ad on late-night TV specifically mentioned “We specialize in watch repair!,” but I was underwhelmed. I have one watch (analog) that I really like that works fine except that the date doesn’t automatically advance at midnight, and he hemmed and hawed about that and eventually said he could replace some part of the mechanism for about $70. But he didn’t sound really sure about that; it sounded like a “throw something against the wall” approach, so I said I’d get back to him.
The next candidate is a guy on Columbia Pike in Arlington who has good Yelp reviews. Gonna go see him maybe this week.
The subtext here is that I would love to do what you do. I sometimes accompany my brother to antique shows and estate sales (he’s a furniture and art guy), and all I’m typically interested in is glassware and watches. I see lots of non-working watches that would be really cool if they could be rehabbed and fixed. But I don’t know how to do it and don’t know anyone who does.
Wally Ballou
5-0 Tigers in the 6th. Very nice.
Ash Can
@Steeplejack: Maybe you could try asking the repair people what kind of watches they specialize in, and/or whether they have experience with (and knowledge of) vintage watches. Maybe that will help give you an idea of whether they can do anything beyond replacing batteries in quartz movements.
The Pale Scot
@JPL: Don’t forget nanny Adipose.
Steeplejack
@The Pale Scot:
Har-de-har-har.
Comrade Mary
@trollhattan: The nickel is supposed to be bound up tightly enough not to be an issue, but I have obvious doubts about that now, for sure.
@Omnes Omnibus: All very nice! I’m hell on leather, though, as I tend to destroy the little loop that is supposed to hold the end of the band.
Between the allergies, the leather issues, and the way I destroy crowns, may be this is the FSM’s way of telling me that I shouldn’t be wearing watches at all. /sigh
Or maybe it’s time to get my Mum’s old gold watch up and working. It’s a little fiddly for me, and I’ve always been worried about losing it, but it’s not doing anyone any good packed away right now, is it?
NotMax
Used to enjoy carrying a pocket watch.
Still have a 19th century key-wound one sitting in a drawer somewhere here.
The few times wore a wristwatch, always preferred wearing it on the right wrist.
John O
Red Sox first team ever to be no-hit through 5 in two consecutive playoff games.
Make it 5 2/3.
I’m for Detroit. They deserve another massive party/riot.
Steeplejack
@Ash Can:
That’s a great idea! One of the problems I have found in vetting these guys is how to basically ask them if they know what they’re doing without offending them. But if I go with the “vintage watches” angle that leaves both of us with a face-saving out.
The Pale Scot
Thanks for the point to Garrett WadeL I was a cabinet maker for a bit, the trad methods are really cool.
Omnes Omnibus
@Comrade Mary: I am going to need to replace the stupid strap on the Lacroix because I have wrecked one of the loops and the other is wearing thin. The only way you could possibly find a gold watch on my wrist is if it was an old one – when new they seem rather flashy and nouveau riche – so an inherited watch sounds great (even if fiddly).
Anne Laurie
@Comrade Mary:
What I’ve been told by allergists is that anything not labelled “surgical steel” probably contains nickel, and it’s the nickel that gives people like you & me rashes. If you can find a watch you like with a non-metal band (or have a jeweler put your watch on a leather or cloth band), sometimes coating the back of the watch itself with clear nail polish is enough of a shield.
I can recommend the hypoallergenic qualties of Simply Whisper earrings & chains, but I’ve never tried their watches. (I’m hard on jewelry, so when I wore a watch, it was a cheap/disposable Timex on a leather strap.)
Jerry
@Ash Can:
Yes! Somewhere in this world I have a vintage KGB pocket watch. I need to dig it up and carry it along with the matching KGB flask.
Culture of Truth
I wore a watch for a while. Then there were clocks everywhere. Then stopped caring. Then realized time is an illusion.
Omnes Omnibus
@Comrade Mary: I am going to need to replace the stupid strap on the Lacroix because I have wreck one of the loops and the other is wearing thin. The only way you could possibly find a gold watch on my wrist is if it was an old one – when new they seem rather flashy and nouveau riche – so an inherited watch sounds great (even if fiddly).
? Martin
It is atrocious. For one, it only works if you also own a Samsung Galaxy Note 3. If you don’t have one, you lose much of the functionality in the watch. You need to charge it daily. It’s large – which probably isn’t a problem for you, you’re not, er, dainty.
I think the Pebble is a much better product overall. It lacks the phone feature, which only works if the phone is already in your pocket, so it saves you having to take the phone out of your pocket, and replaces that with the convenience of holding an entirely non-private conference call on your wrist every single time.
Get the Pebble or wait for another proper watch implementation to come out. This one is a turd.
joel hanes
@lamh36:
Go to a Renaissance Faire or other arts fair where leatherworkers display their goods. Choose one that seems likely, and chat them up about a custom watchband.
scav
Time, Time, Time, See what’s become of me.
Omnes Omnibus
@scav: Or this.
Steeplejack
@lamh36:
You should be able to easily find a “men’s” watchband that is longer than those usually found on women’s watches.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Men’s bands are wider in general so they won’t fit a ladies watch.
catclub
@Roger Moore: I agree, but still like to look, on occasion.
Culture of Truth
You don’t want that Samsung watch.
Catching Hello Ladies now. Think I’m kind of not as much into cringe tv so much
hilts
@John O:
I’m for whoever plays Detroit in the World Series. Fuck the Tigers.
Omnes Omnibus
@Roger Moore:
This could be said of any luxury good. Sometimes, though, the simple pursuit of perfection (in anything) is worthwhile.
@hilts: You sound like my mom, except she reserves her hatred for St Louis.
catclub
@Culture of Truth: The last line of a short poem:
… my clock has lost both hands and chime, and only tells eternity.
I really should get that book. ‘Grooks’ by Piet Hein.
pseudonymous in nc
@Anne Laurie:
There’s an EU directive that limits the percentage of nickel in alloys that come into contact with the skin — especially useful for rings and earrings. So looking for EU-conformant straps might help here.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@John O:
There have been a few major sports championships in Detroit since ’84 that haven’t caused riots. If anything happened after either of the “Bad Boys” NBA championships, I don’t remember it, and none of the Wings’ championships since ’97 have caused one, either- nor did the Pistons’ championship in 2004. I think the ’84 WS riot still looms as a major embarrassment.
catclub
@Omnes Omnibus: Not only that, if the choice is between buying an Erwin Sattler clock, and giving money to, say, Club For Growth, the clock doesn’t sound so bad.
Omnes Omnibus
@catclub: Ha!
Rathskeller
I work for a company that Samsung partnered with for the Gear launch. Avoid this watch at all costs. They have a great marketing department, but their internal engineering process is apparently based on a foundation hysteria, abuse, and unrealistic deadlines. My team and I were honestly staggered by the low quality of their releases and the sheer imbecility of their QA department. The kindest thing you could say is they were unrealistic in the extreme.
In the middle of the project, my personal phone died, and I replaced it with a Moto X (which has been great, btw). It will be years before I consider making a Samsung purchase again.
SectionH
@MsSKWEsq: My aunt swore she killed watches just by wearing them. They simply wouldn’t keep time after a week or two. I’m not sure what to think, but I have inherited a half-dozen watches (not cheap ones, either) from her, and none of them work.
I dislike wearing watches, or bracelets, for that matter. Gave up on them many years ago.
Mr S used to swear by the $3 watch he bought at EvilMart & and said you couldn’t lose a $3 watch. He had one for years. I think the maker offered a “lifetime guarantee” w/ repair/replacement available for “only” $5 postage and handling. So when the first one gave out (got damaged? I can’t remember), he bought another $3 watch. That one he lost…
I’m not sure why he ever bothered with a watch. He’s one of those people who has a really good time sense. I mean, like he’s usually accurate within 5 minutes, or even less, of his “guess” -which sort of balances out my v. bad time sense.
pseudonymous in nc
@Roger Moore:
I hear you — and dear god, spare me from the Instagram trustafarians with their watch bling — but it’s a craft that pays a decent wage. So I think of the watchmakers who start as apprentices and work their way up, not the marketeers or the blingy buyers.
Lots of “obsolete” technologies persist, and that’s not a bad thing.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
Through the first sixteen innings of this series, the Red Sox have one run, three hits, nine walks and have struck out thirty times.
Bill E Pilgrim
The French comic playwright Tristan Bernard was knocked over on the streets of Paris by a man carrying a grandfather clock one day. Bernard had a reputation for being witty without being mean, unlike so many of the other caustic wits of the day, and people with him were waiting to see if he’d keep his cool this time also. He dusted himself off and said “My good man, why don’t you just wear a watch like everyone else?”
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
I disagree (a bit). Watchbands are measured by the size of the point of attachment to the watch, e.g., 16mm, 18mm, 20mm. There are men’s watches that take thin bands and women’s watches that take thick bands. So, at 16mm, say, you can find many bands of different lengths. Unless she is wearing one of those really tiny women’s watches, I think there’s a good chance she could find a band that’s long enough. But I could be wrong.
? Martin
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): Are there enough people left in Detroit to produce a riot?
Omnes Omnibus
@SectionH:
A watch is one of the few things a man can wear as an accessory without looking like a Guido. OTOH, if one is wearing a $3 watch, it isn’t really an accessory.
catclub
@pseudonymous in nc: have you found the 10,000 year clocks that some guys are designing? Neal Stephenson was inspired by those in his book Anathem.
There are web sites.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Fair enough. I was speaking on average. Men’s bands tend to be wider.
ETA: Are you watching Raffles? Nosferatu is coming up.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@? Martin:
It was a lot of people from the ‘burbs who started the riot at the park in ’84, and the population of metro Detroit, though it’s slipped a smidge since 2000, is still pretty large.
Bill E Pilgrim
I can’t do the non-watch thing. My brother swears by it, saying that having the phone is enough. Not the same at all, for me, any time I’ve forgotten the watch I find myself having to open the holster that the phone is in, pull it out, put it back– way more work than just a glance at the wrist. I think maybe it’s different for people who drive all the time, clock’s right there at a glance. For people who spend most of their time walking in a city, it’s a whole extra maneuver, or two, to check the phone rather than a watch.
? Martin
@Rathskeller:
The folks on the inside have indicated that Samsung panicked at the prospect of an Apple watch and determined to get their own on the market first, at all costs. Not the first time they’ve done something like that. I don’t think they’ve quite realized that Apple is almost never first to market, so being first isn’t what has led to Apple’s success. So who knows why the rush.
scav
Oh, and it’s finally an open, well, relatively open if ticking thread. Frontiers of Research Time! Eating popcorn in the cinema makes people immune to advertising. Might just be the chewing, might just be bored researchers having us on, but with the amount of popcorn being passed around locally? Food for thought.
Omnes Omnibus
@? Martin: FWIW I don’t want a “smart” watch. I like my nice analog watches on leather bands. I don’t want to look like an extra from Space 1999.
Jennifer
I love watches and have a half dozen of them, all different colors and styles. I wear them daily. Mostly because I’ve always liked the way they look, but also because I’m one of the few in these modern times that refuses to be permanently tethered to a cell phone. I really resent the hell out of cell phones, which is kinda weird since I was one of the very early adopters. I got my first cellphone in 1995; back then they were bulky and very expensive to use and I only got one because I had a travelling job. I refused to give the number to anyone because with roaming and long-distance charges, you really only wanted to use the damn thing if you absolutely had to. All the cell providers were complete bastards also, which may be one of the reasons why I’m less than enamored of the phones today. I still refuse to text and carry what I call “the dumb phone” because it’s your basic flip phone model for sending or receiving calls (WTF do I need internet on a phone for, when I have access at home and through a work-provided iPad?). The utility of typing shit on a tiny keypad continues to elude me; I consider it a massive and frustrating waste of time when I could much more quickly have a brief conversation on a device that was, after all, invented for voice communication. I get that smartphones allow people without other means of access the ability to get on the internet, but I’m not one of those people.
Someone OT, but I can’t be the only one who’s noticed that every other fucking commercial on TV is either for a newer model of phone or a cell provider. As much as I commiserate with the average person’s lower standard of living now vs 25 years ago, I can’t help but do the math: there’s a lot of broke-ass people out there who are paying $50 and up per month for a cellphone; for a family, multiply that figure by a factor of 3 or more. Part of the reason people got no money these days is because they’re paying $50 – $150 per month for cell phone(s), $75 or more for cable or satellite, another $75 or so if they have high speed internet at home, etc. Back in the 60’s & early 70’s, you had a home phone bill and that was it. For TV you had an antenna or rabbit ears at a cost of $0 per month.
Now get off my lawn, you damn kids.
Belafon
@Omnes Omnibus: I’ll take anything that gets me closer to a brain implant with a math coprocessor and extra memory.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
No on Raffles. I’ve been bouncing between football and baseball. But Nosferatu and Vampyr make a nice double feature coming up. I never get tired of looking at Nosferatu. Vampyr is not quite as hypnotic for me, but I usually check in when it’s on.
There are some interesting Lillian Gish movies coming on later. I’m not a big fan of hers, but I remember Broken Blossoms as being worth a look.
Omnes Omnibus
@Belafon: Glenn Reynolds, is that you?
Sorry.
Belafon
@Omnes Omnibus: Nope. My kids will tell you I’ve been asking for that for years.
Omnes Omnibus
@Belafon: Jesus. Do.not.want.
? Martin
Ms Martin works for an estate appraiser who is extremely popular with celebs. There are a number of watch collectors they’ve done – fascinating stuff. One guy has probably 200 watches, with plenty of one-offs. One was mechanical animated and in addition to showing the time, also showed a man and woman having sex on a motorcycle. Something like $2M worth of watches. And they’ve done a few estates like that.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Quite mind-boggling is that Lillian Gish’s film career lasted for 75 years, from 1912 – 1987.
Jay C
BTW, 165 comments in and no one, AFAICT, has congratulated John on having such a seriously cool watch.
John: that is some seriously cool watch: basic, simple, easy-to-read, and probably keeps accurate-enough time for anything but the geekiest application. Now that I see it, I want one: my own favorite is a 1999 Swiss Army “cavalry” watch that I got for $40 on eBay, not too large: simple and reasonably accurate. Given my druthers (and an unlimited budget), I’d probably get a Bell & Ross “Instrument” watch: which looks something like your Timex (but costs $4000) – I’d be better off getting 100 SA “cavalry” ones instead…..
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: FWIW Gish was an America Firster. And Mary Pickford was prettier.
? Martin
@Jennifer:
Samsung is spending 3x as much on marketing as Coca Cola. About half is direct marketing, about half is partner marketing through the carriers (and appears to comprise the majority of the carrier marketing). I know a lot of people complain about the quantity of Apple’s marketing, but Samsung is spending more than 10x as much as Apple on marketing. It’s really just staggering.
Hill Dweller
@? Martin: Eric Clapton, who is a watch fanatic, just sold his platinum Patek Philippe 2499 for $3.65 million.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
One movie where I really did like her was The Night of the Hunter (1955). Still creepy.
Jerry
@Anne Laurie:
There is only one Surgical Steel: http://youtu.be/5hVzgvsCWpQ
mikej
grand fuckin slam
Omnes Omnibus
@Jay C: My LL Bean field watch is basically the same thing. I got one of the Timexes right after went into the Army. I broke it fairly quickly. I replaced it with an LL Bean which I also broke. The LL Bean replacement policy meant that I got two more new ones. I have had the one I currently use since the early 90s – bunch of new bands, but fuck it.
Redshift
@Bill E Pilgrim: I only occasionally miss wearing a watch, usually when it’s too bright out to read my phone. But I spend all day in front of a computer screen, plus a little bit in the car.
Yatsuno
@Omnes Omnibus: I’ve had random musings about whether they could install microchips into the hip implants when I get them. For increased computing power, and stuff. It’s unfortunately impractical.
Omnes Omnibus
@Yatsuno: Dude, when your hip becomes self-aware, don’t come crying to me. Just saying.
Redshift
Also, I almost never found wrist watches comfortable. Even though I always thought they were cool, because they were invented for French air racers who couldn’t a read pocket watch with their hands on the controls.
the Conster
BIG PAPI OMFG
Jewish Steel
Sports fans. The greatest people!
SectionH
@Omnes Omnibus: That’s true. I think the $3 watch thing was partially reverse-snobbery, but he’s generally just not interested in clothes.
SmallAxe
Big Papi, Boston strong and worth every penny, a Grand Salami.
pseudonymous in nc
@Jennifer:
But you also got screwed by the local monopoly and then for long-distance. In Eurosocialistopia, you can happily pay $20 a month for mobile service and get unlimited lots of things. No contract. It’s the contract that kills, and the relative lack of non-contract options or device portability in the US — and the marketing is all about getting people signed up to another two years’ commitment. I refuse to do that.
@Jay C:
That’s the Camper. Basically modelled after the US field watch, but not quite the same. And cheaper than the J.Crew special edition.
Punchy
Why do Boston players need to display such faux solidarity by growing such stupidly over-the-top beards? Detroit in 5 and then I buy stock in Gilette.
Redshift
In one of his stories, Larry Niven wrote about a watch implanted under the skin of the wrist. That I could go for.
NotMax
Always liked the look of the various watches from Movado (samples), but way too pricey for my budget.
Redshift
@Punchy: It’s not just Boston. It seems to have taken over the whole league this year.
pseudonymous in nc
@? Martin:
William Gibson wrote a piece about getting the watch bug (and eBay bug) back in the 90s.
A glance at watch forums shows that it’s pretty common.
bodacious
So sorry, but Pulp Fiction’s stuck in my head? Just cause you don’t wear a watch doesn’t mean you can’t carry one with you. Just sayin’.
PsiFighter37
@Punchy: Overcompensation for other factors. #FucktheRedSux
ETA: Also, too, I love how everyone conveniently forgets that Ortiz juiced. That fucker was a nobody benchwarmer on the Twins before he started bulking up via the juice and becoming a somebody. Shithead would’ve kept warming the bench in the middle of nowhere otherwise.
Omnes Omnibus
@NotMax: Never liked Movado. Probably because I dated a few women who loved them but were otherwise awful (okay, they were quite attractive physically and I have been shallow as hell at times in my life) and I associate Movado with them. This is a perfect watch.
rikyrah
Red Sox just won
rikyrah
Have not worn a watch in years. Dream watch is a Rolex
PsiFighter37
In response to your original inquiry John – I wouldn’t buy the shit Samsung puts out before Apple. If anything, they’ve demonstrated they can refine what Apple does to a potentially better level, but they are nowhere near as good on the original shit. Their watch is crap. Curved smartphones? Who the fuck wants something funny-feeling in their pocket, aside from a RWNJ looking for a reacharound?
Right now, they’re just dicking around and treading water until Apple shows them which way the trail to Emerald City is.
Davis X. Machina
@Jay C: James Fallows on the cult of the cheap watch — He’s a charter member.
hilts
@SmallAxe:
About fucking time.
Ruckus
@James E. Powell:
I like that.
I’ve had watches for years, still have about 3 but the batteries are dead in 2 of them. And the watches are worth less than the batteries cost. I’ve only had one job in the last 50 yrs that I needed a watch for and that was to make sure that I didn’t miss airplanes, because I might be on 2-6 flights a week. Now? I don’t really care what time it is except to get up for work. Phone alarm works for that. Otherwise it’s daylight or night. Really not important which.
SmallAxe
On the watch thing, I went thru the collectors phase. Had a Tag, an antique $10k LeCoultre that was a gift, and a Tissot. The one I get the most compliments on is the one I wear today: a $5 EBay special Chinese digital LED with a white plastic band that looks like a nano. Bought a bunch and give them out as gifts whenever I get a compliment on it. No lie I’ve had people offer me $ for it in the line at the supermarket, I’m a cheap watch convert for sure.
Steeplejack
@Davis X. Machina:
I don’t have a problem with the cheap-watch philosophy. As I said above, I have an accumulation of various Casio and Timex watches. I differ with Fallows in his having multiple copies of the same model. Why not mix it up a little? There are multiple styles even down around the $30 price point.
Ruckus
@Comrade Mary:
There are several grades of stainless and they are quite different in their specs. I work as a machinist and we machine many different types of steels and stainless steels. Also remember that it is stainLESS not stainproof. Some types are very resistant to corrosion, some much less so. Some are even mildly magnetic.
I would look at overstock.com for watches. They have a huge selection, you can search by brand, type etc. I have bought a few things from them including the watch I now would wear if I wore one and always been satisfied.
Ruckus
@Steeplejack:
Anyone who is a master at their craft should not be upset that you ask about their qualifications. Crafts people spend years getting good at whatever it is and usually enjoy talking about it. They understand that not everyone knows what it takes to get the experience and understanding to do what they do. Craft work takes pride and most people are not offended when you ask. I’m almost more offended when people don’t ask. Think of it as hiring an employee. You want to know what they know and how well they can use the knowledge. You are going to pay them to perform a task, you should have some idea they know how to do that or you should be willing to risk having the task performed poorly while they learn(or not!) at your expense.
Davis X. Machina
@Steeplejack: I’ve got the twin of Fallows’ — bought it for nighttime legibility, and for a deck watch for navigation.The indiglo works better for me than luminous hands — I’m very nearsighted w/o the glasses and they don’t seem very sharp. With the big white face — and there’s usually some ambient light — I don’t even use the backlight that much.
Accurate to 4 sec/month, checked against WWV (I do a little celestial navigation as a hobby…)
Suzanne
I am not a watch person. I will occasionally wear cheap bracelets, but once I sit at my desk at work, they always come off. Don’t like the sensation of something on my wrist when I want to rest my wrists on the table. Me. Suzanne has his grandfather’s pocket watch, but he doesn’t use it. The ex-Mr. Suzanne, however, loves watches and has many cool ones. Probably none of them are over $200, but he has some very stylish ones. But watches are his only real style thing.
Everyone has a thing, I guess. I am very much into hats.
? Martin
@Suzanne: Ms Martin would be a watch person if we had the income for it. Bought her a nice watch for our 5th anniversary – a mid-range Tissot self-winding that she was particularly enamored with and which she wears near every day. But if we had the income, I’m pretty sure we’d have 100 watches in the house. She doesn’t like the cheap ones, though – side effect I think of the appraisal work – she only is interested in stuff like that if it holds its value, and those kinds of things tend to cost. It’s another benefit of being rich – if you know what you’re doing, you can put a lot of your money into things you like but which don’t depreciate.
Comrade Mary
@Ruckus: Thanks! I can see that this Swiss watch has a surgical stainless steel case, but from what I can see, that may mean a higher nickel content.
Steeplejack
@Ruckus:
I take your points, and I agree, but it seems like some of these guys are unduly sensitive to any questions about how they know what it is that needs to be done and how they’re going to do it.
In addition to changing a couple of batteries, I had the Union Station guy look at a watch that runs slow. It’s a quartz movement, and it doesn’t run “reliably” slow. But at random times the second hand will stop for a second or two and then proceed. On any given day the watch might run fine, lose a few minutes or (occasionally) lose an hour or more.
The guy said he thought the second hand might be slightly off balance and occasionally touching the crystal. He said he would adjust it. I left for about 20 minutes to give them time to do everything. When I came back the guy wasn’t there, so I paid the assistant and took the watches home. The slow watch was still doing the exact same thing. (At least he didn’t charge me for that, because he said it was a simple adjustment.)
I wondered whether the guy had even done anything with the watch—20 minutes doesn’t seem like a lot of time to change two batteries and open another watch and do an adjustment on it—so I called the next day and asked him if he was able to do anything with the watch (trying to ask a non-loaded question). Like maybe something else had come up and he didn’t get a chance to work on it.
He said he had adjusted it, then said, “Is it still running slow? . . . Well, bring it in tomorrow and we’ll get it fixed.”
That just doesn’t inspire confidence. If he knew what he was doing, why didn’t he fix it the first time? And if there was a range of possibilities he was looking at, how about clueing me in and not giving me some generic “We’ll get it fixed” line? And at what cost?
Sorry to go off on a rant. I am sensitive to these issues because I dealt with them (from the other side) when I used to do freelance PC and software support back in the MS-DOS days. People were (rightfully) paranoid about what was wrong with their computers and what hideous cost would be required to fix them, and I took great pains to keep them aware of what was going on and to let them know when I had reached the limit of what I could do. And what the costs would be.
I hate the thought that watches are becoming like appliances: don’t repair it, throw it away and get a new one. That’s fine at the really low end, but I have some nice (but not expensive) watches that I would like to keep going.
Ruckus
@Steeplejack:
I suspect that there are fewer and fewer good watch repair people around. Look at this post, most people that wear a watch wear a relatively cheap digital, because it keeps good time and they aren’t trying to impress anyone including themselves. That’s not to say a nice watch isn’t nice to have but for me over the last few years I’ve had lots better things to spend money on. Food, survival, that sort of thing. So with fewer and fewer people, those with lesser skills can make a living. I know that sounds a little ass backwards but it isn’t. So you have to search for that person. My experience is that Rolex watches require regular tune ups so if you know an owner or find someone wearing one, ask them. Really almost any mechanical watch will require work if used regularly.
Ruckus
@Comrade Mary:
I’d have to look up the different alloys to see which has a lower nickel content, I don’t remember off the top of my head. The link did give you some good info, just not enough. On the other hand I doubt you could find out what alloy a watch is made from unless the mfg stated so in the specs. But off the top of my head there are at least nine, explicit different alloys with some more variations among those that probably wouldn’t effect the material for this use. Of the nine some wouldn’t be used for watch cases, they would be bad choices for mfg reasons. I work on parts for a medical device company and we use a lot of stainless steel in that work, mostly in the 300 series. I’ve also made things like bone saw blades and they were all 300 series alloys.
Personally if I was allergic I’d choose titanium. Any of the alloys of titanium, and there are 3 common ones, would be fine, so not to worry there. As your link states they are used for implants all the time with very, very, very, limited problems.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Linnaeus:
That’s what they say. I’ve done it twice, and yes it solves a lot. Maybe not everything, but 80%. You have an effect on your environment, but your environment also has an effect on you. If you’re living some place where the culture doesn’t match the way you see the wrold. GTFO.
Ruckus
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:
Good advice.
Have used it three times. Works wonders.
I think a lot of people like to have solid roots and can’t see changing them. Maybe they fear making things worse. Personally, if things look, feel and smell like shit, they probably are shit and it’s time to move on.
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
@Cassidy:
Que? Heh. My practice is so far from what I learned in school.
Rate is fast, slow, or normal.
Somewhat fast/slow, or very fast/slow? If very fast/slow the sick/not sick. If not very sick, you have time to think. If very sick, they damn we’ll better be on a monitor, and you know the vitals already.
TL/DR? I don’t take vitals (my patients ore mostly monitored)
I also don’t wear a watch.
TheronWare
Last night’s “Walking Dead” premiere! Oh god, oh god, nightmares for days!
Chet Manly
@Davis X. Machina: Fallows is exactly right about the Timex Indiglo. For time or date at a glance it’s the most well designed watch there ever was or will be. It’s also so understated it looks good with any outfit more dressy than gym clothes and less dressy than a tux.
mike with a mic
@Chet Manly:
The best watch illumination system you can get is tritium gas vials. These things glow non stop for about a decade and are rather bright. Good brands are Marathon (which is what I was issued), Nite, and Traser. Cost for these things is anywhere from around 100 for your typical quartz watch to about 800 for a top of the line self winding automatic with a good depth rating.
A decade is right around the time you’d want to service the mechanical movement as well.
If you want something more dressy Ball uses them in dress watches. At about 2grand to start they aren’t “cheap”, more like a lowish end luxury brand (IE Tag, Omega). Rolex used to have tritium paint but stopped… they might be willing to use some though if you have an older submariner.
Steeplejack
@Chet Manly:
Grumpy postscript: “Timex Indiglo” is next to meaningless as a model descriptor. Indiglo is the backlight system used on hundreds of different Timex models. This is a “Timex Indiglo.” And this is also a “Timex Indiglo.”
MissBarbie
@RobertDSC-iPhone 4:
I’ve worn a water-resistant watch for years – a cheap one at that. Of course, the band and the skin it’s in contact with needs to be cleaned/deodorized regularly, but I haven’t misplaced it since I bought it.
Miss Barbie
fastEddie
Samsung Gear watch is just a remote for your “real” phone. I don’t think a usable smartphone could be made that small – no room for a keyboard. A dumbphone is probably doable.
Comrade Mary
@Ruckus: thanks so much! I’m currently wearing a cheap watch with a leather band, and I’ve applied 2 coats of clear nail polish to the back. No problems so far! Titanium is gorgeous, but probably outside of my budget right now. I’ll keep looking at overstock, though.
LanceThruster
“Do you know what time it is?”
“You mean *now*?”
Ked
John, I know I’m waaaaay late on this thread, but for your sake I strongly encourage you to read the Ars review of this gadget before you buy it.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/death-by-incompatibility-a-samsung-galaxy-gear-review/
I think we’re a couple gear generations (call it three/four years) away from a smartwatch that really lives up to the idea. The biggest technical issue is probably simply the battery density/energy consumption, and that will come sooner rather than later. The real killer though is ergonomics – how do you build an interface in a 1.5-2″ screen, and how do you make the physical interface (camera, phone, power connection, watch band) more pleasant to use.
To be totally clear, if you don’t want to hit the review, THIS IS NOT A WATCH PHONE. It’s a watch device which bluetooth connects to a phone you have somewhere on your person. The advertising (which is slick) does not mention this at all.