I agree, Rolex’s are well built, will last forever, and they (IMHO) look great. But they cost about twice what you’d pay for a similar watch by a lesser name brand. The flip side of that, however, is that they hold their value better than any other watch other than Patek, so you can always sell it and get your money back. In fact, for a while there the street price on a few Rolex models was even higher than the retail price, so if you could find a shop selling new Daytonas, for example, you could buy it, flip it, and make a nice profit!
I’m a long-time collector of antique pocket watches and have even written a book on the subject (“The New Collectors Guide to Pocket Watches” to be precise).
By the end of the 19th century, a number of American companies were producing extremely well-made pocket watches that were both accurate and durable. The most famous of these were the so-called “railroad” watches that had to meet stringent requirements for use on the American railroads. These requirements included accuracy to within 30 seconds per week and consistency in timekeeping regardless of the position in which the watch was held. Many watches were made that exceeded these requirements.
Of course, these companies also made much lower grade watches for other markets, and you can’t really point to a single company and say “their watches are the best”. Each company made “premier” watches, however, and these include the following:
Waltham (a.k.a. the American Waltham Watch Company) made the “Vanguard” and the “Riverside Maximus”.
Hamilton made the “940”, the “950” and the “992”.
Illinois made the “Bunn Special” and “Sangamo Special” (each of which came in many different varieties.
Elgin Made the “Veritas” the “B.W. Raymond” and the “Father Time”.
Hampden made the “Special Railway” and the “New Railway”.
The list goes on and on, but any of these watches are likely to last for hundreds of years with proper maintenance (I have a number of them which are already over 100 years old) and really represent the pinnacle of watchmaking technology.
Regards,
Barry
Cool, godzillatemple! I’ll have to bring my grandfather’s pocket watch in and see if you can tell if it’s worth anything or how old it is (I’m guessing not old at all, maybe 1940s or even '50s). I’ve never been able to open the back, even with a knife—how does one do that?
Eve: Try this page I created:
How to Open the Back of a Pocket Watch
For additional general information, check out my Helpful Watch Information page.
Regards,
Barry
Thanks, I printed that out and will take it home with me . . .
I have a Vostok and 2 Polyot Russian watches, am quite pleased with the quality for the price. Nothing to get real excited over but good for mass-produced watches. Design seems to be circa 1960.
I’ve got two Vostok Russian-made watches, one with a KGB face, one with a submariner face. Both are decent inertia-wind watches (meaning that if you don’t wear it for 24 hours or so, the movement stops). I paid about 5 USD for each in Vladivostok three years ago at a vendor off the pavement near the market square.
If you can’t get to Vladivostok (and Ghod knows it’s not a tourist destination), Soveitski Collection has them for about 35 USD.
For everday wear, I have a stainless Wenger Swiss Army watch. No maintenance, easy to read, and the toughest watch I’ve ever owned.
False Gode:
Pardon the hijcak, but I couldn’t help noticing your sig line. Am I imagining things, or is that really Latin for “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”
Barry
[sorry – make that “False_God”. Not to mention “hijack”. sigh]
shelbo: Yeah, those Daytonas were going nutty a couple of years ago. If I want a watch with a lot of dials, though, I’ll get an Omega Speedmaster “Moon Watch”. I like the idea of it being “official”. Besides, s Speedy is cheaper than the least expensive Rolex.
I wear a Skagen from Denmark. My wife got me the watch for two reason, first and foremost because the developer of the brand is a husband and wife team. So through the bond of undying love come a superb brand of watch, the Skagen.
Those of you from Denmark may know it.
Oh by the way, I got it on valentines day last year…Oh I love my wife…
BLAHCK!!! ENOUGH SAP ALREADY…
its just a damn fine watch
I can’t afford the really fancy watches- I love Hamiltons, though. There are a couple of vintage watch websites that I have bought Hamiltons through- try welovewatches.com. It’smy absolute fave.
Oh yes, my friend. The second line reads (roughly)
“Oh? Was I speaking Latin again? My bad. It just slips out.”
I was going to link the W. Odets article but I saw that shelbo already did. If you are interested in automatics the higher end Seiko automatics and the automatic Omegas are nice place to start and wonlt bankrupt you. If you;re going to be doing the Patek or Lange scene you’d better have some pretty serious cheese.
Rolex makes an OK watch and generation or two ago there were pacesetters in automatic watch technology and waterproofing the case, but that time has passed. Rolex is mainly a set of average automatic guts in very nicely crafted and finished case and bracelet. Rolex is less an expression of fine timepiece technology and more piece of jewelry at this point. This is one area though, where Rolex is the absolute King of the World and that is in marketing and managing their brand name. I can’t think of any company that even comes close with the possible exception of DeBeers.
If I had to pick one timepiece to wear forever, it would have to be the coolest wristwatch ever. It’s the one Neil Armstrong wore to the moon.
I really like it because of its classic good looks, without calling attention to itself. If I wore a Rolex Submariner (a beautiful watch), I would always be self conscious, figuring that my co-workers are thinking I’m putting on airs. Folks can see that the “moon watch” looks cool, but I doubt that anyone at work knows how expensive the darned thing was.
There’s something about a mechanical watch that’s so pleasing – I don’t care if it can’t keep time like my quartz Seiko.
This is my other favorite watch. It’s a heavy sonofagun – it looks good on my arm, but it probably would look silly on some other folks. Sadly, mine stopped recently, and I am afraid that I am going to have to spend a king’s ransom to get it overhauled (recommended every three years!).
I covet the official Dirk Pitt watch, Doxa 300T Searambler, but I can’t imagine how I would convince the wife that it would be a reasonable purchase.
minor7flat5: Almost nobody noticed my GMT II when I got it. One co-worker did, and a couple of strangers who were wearing Subs. One gas station attendant recently said I had a pretty watch. AFAIK, no one has noticed the Subs, except for the girl down at the corner pizza place who liked the NATO “James Bond” band on the '61. (She didn’t notice the watch itself.) I think that’s because they’re such a classic design. Casio makes a popular Submariner look-alike, as do several other brands. Seiko makes President-style watches. So I’m pretty sure that if you wear a Rolex no one will notice or care. Fine by me! 
The Omega Speedmaster you started your post off with is my other favourite watch. I love it! I haven’t gotten one yet, but someday…
I like the Omega Seamaster you linked to. It’s a very pretty watch. Hey, if it’s good enough for James Bond it’s good enough for me! The only thing I don’t like about it is that I think the hands are too short. The hour hand in particular looks stubby to me.
But that Speedmaster “Moon Watch”… [drooooooolllllll!!!]
I have a Seiko that I found under the backseat of an old beater car I bought in the mid 80’s. It was bought brand new at a Weisfield’s Jewelers in July of 1969. The old beater was a 69 Ford LTD. The watch was in the original Weisfield’s bag and Seiko box. Someone paid $600 for it too. It has 11 diamonds and a gold plated case. My only complaint? It’s a wind up watch. I only wear it a few times a year so I guess that shouldn’t bother me too much. I still wonder who would pay $600 for a brand new watch and not look a little harder when it came up missing.
Cool find, racer72!
This is dad’s Seiko. I like it a lot and I wear its duplicate every other day.
I agree. It’s my own self-conscious thing.
Clearly, one’s line of business also has an effect – a pilot wouldn’t be caught dead without a Swiss watch on his wrist, so the Rolex is quite at home on your arm. I have yet to encounter a fellow computer geek who appreciates a nice mechanical watch.
Come to think of it, it does.
A more practical problem I have with it: the attractive cutouts in the bezel are useless – it is challenging to turn the bezel with wet hands. In addition, its weight (the chronograph version) can be annoying on hot sweaty days; it’s somewhat heavier than a Submariner.
In defense of the Seamaster, it’s more accurate than the Moon Watch (at least it was before it stopped), and it is substantially more rugged. I foolishly wear my watches while doing yard work or working in my shop, so this is a significant concern of mine. My moon watch bears a few scars on its bezel and plastic crystal to attest to this. The Seamaster has been pounded worse and it simply gathered a light patina of fine scratches over the years.
Zodiac GoldSpot
ABSOLUTLELY the best diving watch I’ve ever owned.