is four years old, made of plastic, came from Wal-mart, and cost $5–and is running from the original battery.
When I change it twice a year for time changes, it’s never more than a minute off.
…I bought as a gift for my wife over ten years ago. Remember when all that Soviet Union crap was cool? The club-boys and -girls wore those little red-star medals pinned to their lapels?
It’s a Soviet Tank Officer’s watch, huge and ungainly, heavy steel case with a massive bolt-thing on the side to protect the stem. Looks like a prop from Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS; you expect it to release a gout of live steam when the hour strikes.
The wife took one look at it and handed it back to me (she would’ve walked with a list if she’d kept it)…had to get her something else, but that watch has stayed with me since. Have to change the heavy leather strap every couple of years, but the watch itself hasn’t lost a minute since 1989.
Uke
An old Seiko I bought at Monkey Wards on sale in 1979. A new battery and a cleaning every now and then and it’s fine.
Ahhh. But what do you buy a watch for? Consumer Reports tested watches a few years ago. The conclusion? A quartz watch is as accurate as they come right now. And you can get a quartz for just a few dollars.
Additional money buys things like protection of the parts and waterproofing…up to a point. After that the watch becomes jewelry that happens to tell the time. And a bunch of those real expensive numbers don’t tell time that well.
My Casio G-Shock. I got it 10 years ago, and if the band hadn’t cracked on it, I’d still be wearing it. Instead, I bought a new G-Shock with that neat Indiglo thingy. I’m expecting at least 10 years out of this one, too.
Jeremy…
I can think of no more stirring symbol of man’s humanity to man than a fire engine - Kurt Vonnegut
I’ve had my current Timex for about 10 years. Last winter it spent aboput 5 months in the hay mow after the strap broke and I didn’t realize it until after it was buried. The spring comes and my father finds it in the manger still running. It’s a good thing, because the cheapy I bought to replace it was a piece of junk.
Ahhh, watches. Something that I love and have had well over 10 of them ( probably more) in my life. Watches to me are the greatest fashion accessory there is outside of a smile.
I’m a firm believer that you can judge someone by the shoes and watch they wear 
( Just a little Shirleyism.)
The best and still running (and I still wear it from time to time) is the wind up Timex that was given to me in first grade. It came with a suede blue wrist band that turned my wrist blue when I would sweat. I love it.
When my children start school, I shall give them a Timex.
When I graduated from High School my mom worked for a company that could get just about anything at cost.(too bad this company went under due to mismanagement because I would have done all my xmas shopping through them.It is where I learned the cold cruelty of the world of cost and mark up of a product and why I will never/rarely pay full price.) She gave me a catalog from Seiko and told me to pick out a couple of watches that I liked and she would get one for me. I picked out the styles that were very trendy that year, the “fake rolex” looking, two tone watches.It matched everything and I received tons of compliments on it all the time. Nothing overly feminine, but very good looking. I wore that watch for years for everything ( like swimming) and never had a problem. Until a string of really stupid cracking the crystal repairs ( three right in a row doing the same GD thing) put it in the shop for months at a time. As a result , the interior started to rust and I have retired it to the bin of discarded watches as the repair job alone to get it back up to snuff would cost more than a similar replacement watch.
I bought a Timex Indiglo that I loved for a trip to Germany that had the standard clock on it with the military numbers in smaller print. I loved this watch and when it died on me over there I nearly panicked. I’ve never gone without a watch in my life and here I was stuck in a small town with no watches ( except expensive ones) so that day ( I’m not sure HOW I managed this) told hubby that I HAD TO GO TO HAMBURG ( only an hour away) and that it was IMPERATIVE, but I really didn’t tell him why. He dropped me off in Hamburg with his 15 year old german cousin ( who spoke english) and (went somewhere with his Dad) and I hit about 20 watch/department stores before I found a Swatch that was dayglow colors or outrageously priced. It is a man’s watch ( Silver with a blue face and a silver band) and has the 24 hour clock on it that I like. It cost me $80 and I wore it constantly until the band broke ( It has been repaired 5 times and finally a jeweler told me it was not repairable anymore because the break is on a stress point.) I cannot find the exact same band here anywhere ( Swatch, I’ve learned, only sells their bands to jewelers in lots of 12. since the plastic bands are more popular I could have gone this way, but I want the exact same band.) but I finally found a replacement place ( after a years search) in Lancaster PN.) So, I just have to motivate and send in the check to order it.
BUT, I recently found the watch that I have wanted for years when I did alot of travel (of course, after I stopped traveling.). It has two small clock faces for dual time zones. It is silver and it doesn’t match my wedding ring, so I wear my mom’s wedding ring ( it’s too small for her now) and wear mine on my left hand. It retailed for around $125 but I picked it up for $30.
My watch tips: ( You just know I had to give advice on this subject, like everything else.)
Do not go to the Penney’s, Sears places to get a battery replaced if the attendant there is under 30 years of age ( or basically a teenager.) I did this with my Seiko and I firmly beleive the girl there didn’t seal the back up properly and that is where the problem with the rusting started.
Do not spend a truck load of cash on a watch. They are easily broken or lost.That way you won’t be heartbroken when it dies on you and you shelled out $900. Get a couple of different ones to fit the mood you are in or what you are doing.
Another interesting tidbit on watches, and related to a column that Uncle Cecil did. Whether you personally believe this to be a problem or not, is up to you.
I have an aunt and an uncle (brother and sister) that cannot wear watches for very long due to whatever it is (magnetic field or whatever) inside their bodies that cause watches to stop. My uncle ( a businessman) has tried everything over his 76 years to keep a watch going and has tried the expensive to the cheap.Nothing lasted more than a few weeks. He found a Timex about 10 years ago that lasts about six months on him ( the longest yet) and he bought a bunch of them as back up.
My aunt, OTOH, gave up and hasn’t worn watches since she was 25. Her philosophy is that she can ask the person next to her for the time because everyone else wears on.
My parents bought me a Tissot watch as a graduation present. On the back it says: stainless steel, water resistant, saphire crystal. It’s held up well in the year and a half I’ve had it, and I really like it. The numbers and hand glow faintly in the dark (so you can only tell time in pitch darkness and not half-darkness). But still I really like the watch.
The chain is absolute crap though and it falls apart every few days.
But I love the watch itself.
“I’m just too much for human existence – I should be animated.”
–Wayne Knight
numbers and HANDS, that is. I normally wouldn’t post a correction post but out of respect for the watch I felt I should 
“I’m just too much for human existence – I should be animated.”
–Wayne Knight
I’ve got a digital Texas Instruments watch that is 15-20 years old and running fine.
I’ve got a timex indiglo ironman watch that I’m wearing right now that seems to be immune to whatever weird force kills all my other watches within a few months. Though maybe i don’t have it as bad as Shirley’s family, because mine usually last at least a month or two.
This ironman is going strong now in it’s third year.
My mom is a watch-stopper too. She’s also allergic to most metals, so hasn’t worn any jewelry since he wedding day. She took the ring off after the photographs were taken.
I’ll be there
Where I’ll teach what I’ve been taught
And I’ve been taught…