Help ME find a watch

I hate to add yet another "need a new watch" thread, but I've got a particular style in mind and maybe I can keep the other threads more for recommendations rather than such a narrow and specific look that I want.

I've read the other threads, and the Stowa really catches my eye. I'd like a simplistic watch (hands, numbers, prefer a date, brown leather strap, white or cream face, Sapphire/scratch resistant face, preferably no gold, and Automatic)

Much like this Marine Automatic:



The only thing I don't like is the blue hands, but I suppose I could live with them.

The Antea Creme is also very nice:



I'd like to keep it around $500 or less. Any suggestions?

You like Bau Haus style watches which is what the above are. It is a great style. Look at the Nomos Tangente as well as the various Stowa Anteas like you have above. Tissot also makes a couple Bau Haus style watches I believe.

Dennis

Thanks. I really like the Marine but am not sure I could get over the blue hands. everything else on it is perfect.

PaulR said:

I'd like to keep it around $500 or less. Any suggestions?

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Well I guess this won't work for you:

I've actually already got one of those, but I'm looking for something for casual Friday.

PaulR said:

Thanks. I really like the Marine but am not sure I could get over the blue hands. everything else on it is perfect.

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The hands are blued steel or made to look that way. they are styled after very old designs. I find that watch very attractive and to me the hands are appropriate to the watch. A real beauty.

All that being said, a watch maker can change the hands for you if your really hate them.

Regards,

Mike

They are starting to grow on me. Now my next question is about mechanical wind watches. I'm leaning towards an automatic (and have never owned anything that didn't have a battery in it). How long will most watches give you on a full wind?

Any benefits/drawbacks to manual/auto aside from the obvious?

Well, obviously an automatic is more convenient.

All things being equal, the auto has more moving parts and theoretically more to fail.

The auto's main spring is not fastened hard to the shaft like a manual is. This prevents it from being over wound; it will actually slip on the shaft when it gets too tight, even if wound manually.

Winding the manual every day puts wear on the winding arbor seal so it will have to work harder to remain moisture tight. An auto, once you get it set, if worn every day will not need to be fiddled with but once a month or so.

I have had both kinds, probably around 30 watches. I had one watch, an old Tudor that had an automatic winding mechanism fail. But who knows the life the watch had prior to my owning it. So that failure should be taken with a grain of salt. I wouldn't let it deter me from an automatic.

I personally prefer an automatic above a manual, but have been wearing a quartz Seiko chronograph that looks like a Speed Master for about 10 years of rough service and have just recently noticed a bit of moisture in it.

I think I have had some manuals that last about a day and a half and some that went two days on a winding. Springs don’t exert the same amount of force through the run down. They are more linear during the first half. So one of the reasons you might get two days out of a wind as opposed to one, is that they designed it to still be in the linear region of the run down and all things being equal would be the more accurate of the two watches.

With the advent of quartz movements, you don’t hear too much about “certified number of positions” for watches to be certified for use by rail roads they had to be accurate within certain standards and they had to do it in several positions. Crown down, crown up, dial up, dial down etc. It was at one time one of the criteria used to tell how well the watch was engineered and made. Real bragging rights came when they could achieve chronometer status in a wrist watch such as an old Omega Constellation. That would be (if memory serves <6 seconds a day and that what ever the gain or loss was that it remained the same amount in the same direction each day. Then you can predict over an extended number of days, what the correct time is by adding or subtracting that amount each day and the watch could then be used for accurate navigation.

Regards,


Mike

Just as a note, most of the Swiss watches you are considering probably have the same ETA brand movement.
Jim

Thanks fellas.

Oris make some beautiful watches.