OT - Help me choose a new wristwatch? :)

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 3:43 am

It's time for a new watch, and I've no idea what to get. Looking for suggestions on interesting timepieces that people might have seen in stores or online.

My current watch, a <a href="http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... 608">Casio Forester</a>, has been arguing with me for some time about whether or not the wristband should stay in place, and has finally won the battle. After attempting to escape in New York, Seattle, Utah, Ireland, and Italy, one of the wristband pins is now likely residing in the hoover/vacuum bags of the UCL Science Library. I've replaced the pins several times, so I think it's the watch body instead of the pins that is the problem.

So it's time to get a new one. But not just any watch - I always prefer to have a watch that does something interesting in addition to just keeping time. Past items have been:

1980's:
Talking watch - handmedown from my father
Bowling game watch - handmedown from my father (it must be genetic)
<a href="http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Misc/Armi ... ">Armitron calculator watch</a> - THE coolest watch in existence. Standard calculator, but also played ten music notes depending on which button you pressed, and had a space-invaders-style game. I lost it on a school bus and have been trying to find another ever since.
Swiss army type 'survival kit in hidden compartment' watch
thermometer watch

1990's:
data bank calculator watch
Russian army watch (glass face - too heavy!)
'waterproof' diving watch (till I had to replace the battery, then I didn't trust it)
AM/FM radio watch
digital compass watch - returned to the shop when I found out it only worked when the sun was out (for orientation) - what use is that?

And then the Casio Forester since 2000, which tells the tide levels, moon phase, and sunrise/set times.

Barring a rediscovery of a musical watch like the Armitron, I'm thinking perhaps another thermometer watch, or I'd love to have a *real* digital compass that doesn't require you to have a sunny day - rare in London. An altimeter might be useful if I could use it to see how far *underground* I am when on the tube!

Suggestions? Since I don't know of any interesting contenders, I don't know where to start looking.

GaryKelly · Post by **GaryKelly** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:02 am

http://www.creativewatch.co.uk/

All the watches you can eat. With barometers/thermometers/fluxgate compasses, you name it...

I like the Citizen eco-drives... charged by sunlight, never needs batteries. Had mine for a few years now, still going strong (even though we don't get much sun in the UK!).

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 5:18 am

GaryKelly wrote:http://www.creativewatch.co.uk/

All the watches you can eat. With barometers/thermometers/fluxgate compasses, you name it...

I like the Citizen eco-drives... charged by sunlight, never needs batteries. Had mine for a few years now, still going strong (even though we don't get much sun in the UK!).

WOW!. I love to eat watches. Right up there with whistles and leather carrying devices. Thanks Gary.

Here's a US based watch site

Note that if you are in the Mother Country you can save about half by ordering through the US site.

lixnaw · Post by **lixnaw** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 5:36 am

i don't need a watch, but if i did, it would be without a battery.
i can feel the effect of a battery if i had to wear it all the time.

there's watches without batteries http://www.europastar.com/europastar/wa ... ryless.jsp

lixnaw · Post by **lixnaw** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 5:42 am

lixnaw wrote:i don't need a watch, but if i did, it would be without a battery.
i can feel the effect of a battery if i had to wear it all the time.

there's watches without batteries http://www.europastar.com/europastar/wa ... ryless.jsp

but i wouldn't mind the battery if the watch played music

http://www.i4u.com/article1095.html

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 5:46 am

I think I found one I want. The Citizen Eco-Drive Men's Skyhawk Watch.

It's lacking a altimeter, barometer, thermometer and pedometer but I guess I can live with that.

TonyHiggins · Post by **TonyHiggins** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 12:25 pm

I'v been getting watches with a digital compass (not sun reliant) for the past 2 watches. I like them when I get lost in San Francisco and I'm looking at a map (cursing, usually) and trying to figure out which direction I'm facing so the map makes sense. The problem is that city constantly changes the highway off-ramps or their names (never sure which) and as soon as I arrive in the city with my written directions, as soon as I hit the city streets, I'm disoriented. No idea where I am and only a vague idea of which way I'm facing. If I'm hiking on a winding dirt trail, on the other hand, I usually have a good idea which way I'm going.

Tony

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 1:52 pm

If you get an altimeter watch, don't get a Casio. They make you send the watch back just to replace the battery.

I have a Suunto Vector (altimeter / barometer / thermometer / compass / watch) which I like a lot, but they're rather expensive and rather large.

Cheers,
John

Scott McCallister · Post by **Scott McCallister** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 2:08 pm

Here's my vote!

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 2:30 pm

How about getting a pocket watch instead?

I hate wristwatches...I've never been able to wear one (or any jewellry on my hands or wrists in fact), so all I've ever owned is pocket watches. They are so cool. The one I'm using now is an antique, made in 1910, that I bought for $35 at a flea market about 20 years ago. It keeps perfect time and is beautiful.

Another alternative: a lot of people now carry cellphones or iPods around with them, both of which work well as a portable watch.

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 2:35 pm

bradhurley wrote:How about getting a pocket watch instead?

I hate wristwatches...I've never been able to wear one (or any jewellry on my hands or wrists in fact), so all I've ever owned is pocket watches. They are so cool. The one I'm using now is an antique, made in 1910, that I bought for $35 at a flea market about 20 years ago. It keeps perfect time and is beautiful.

Another alternative: a lot of people now carry cellphones or iPods around with them, both of which work well as a portable watch.

Do you have a chain on the watch / pocket, also?

My mom Can't wear watches. After several days they all stop. She has tried all types, cheapos, not so cheap, silver, gold, alloys- hmm, but maybe not plastic. At any rate the only way she could wear a watch that woud keep working was she used to wear one on a chain around her neck.

Tom

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 2:56 pm

TomB wrote:
Do you have a chain on the watch / pocket, also?

Nah, chains are for mafiosos

I use a thin leather strap. L.L. Bean used to sell these for years, up until the 1980s or so. I don't think you can get them there anymore, so I had a cobbler make mine, it cost about $5.

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 3:01 pm

bradhurley wrote:How about getting a pocket watch instead?

They are so cool. The one I'm using now is an antique, made in 1910, that I bought for $35 at a flea market about 20 years ago. It keeps perfect time and is beautiful.

Pocket watches are cool

Brad has provided a perfect Trivia opportunity as well:

Check the following link and see if you can determine what these are, how they are made, and in what way they are not OT to C&F. No cheating by going to the link's home page now..... (This will be way too easy for Brad)

Here's the link: http://www.rgmwatches.com/engine99.html

Loren

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:17 pm

I usually buy Timexes, because they cost less than $10 and last for many years.

Right now i'm wearing a Nike watch meant for serious cross-country skiiers, which has chronometer, altimeter, termometer, compass, barometer, weather prediction and probably some other things i've forgotten. It's a perfecly mismatched watch, since i don't even know (or want to learn) how to ski. It was an impulse buy at a huge discount (still a lot more than $10) and i've been trying to wear it out for a few years.

When i manage to wear out the Nike, i may be sorely tempted to get one of those so-called "atomic" watches that keep themselves synchronized to the official time reference. Good geek potential.

Or, why not go overboard and get a binary watch?

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:35 pm

jsluder wrote:If you get an altimeter watch, don't get a Casio. They make you send the watch back just to replace the battery.
Cheers,
John

I had the battery changed at a local jeweler's shop with no trouble. I've checked the altimeter of my Casio against a mountain of known elevation in the Adirondacks, and it was right on the money. The barometer feature is nice, but it's only accurate if you stay at one altitude. My Casio takes a barometric reading every two hours and plots them on a little graph. I have a lot of fun when people start small-talking about the weather and I look at my watch and say "Looks like a storm is coming!".