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Stainless steel sports watches, wear & scratches... or not?


By-Tor

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Do you "baby" your stainless steel sports watches?

When it comes to my reps, I don't. I'm not particularly hard on my watches though. When I do some construction work at my house or summer cottage, I usually wear my WM9 Sub. I only remove it when I swim or chop wood (because I've heard the shocks are bad for the hairspring). Abuse and hard use are two different things.

I think scratches and "natural aging" are just handsome on a watch bracelet. Especially on a watch like Submariner. Dings on a bezel and crystal are a bit different... I try to avoid them. But on a Oyster bracelet... you don't even see the scratches, unless you look really closely. And besides, how can you avoid the scratches on the clasp, for example?

Sports watches are made for hard use... so why not use them appropriately? And even better when you can use a rep for the "hard parts of life".

PS: Nanuq doesn't count in this poll... he probably drives a Jeep over his gen double red every week.

They are handsome though... aren't they?

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PS: If you have some watches that have "serious battlescars", please post 'em.

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My 1680 has lived a hard life. Yes, you can throw a cat through the end link gaps and the crown is *cough* slightly worn. Crown guards? They used to be meaty, many many rock strikes ago.

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I use them as intended. I make sure most are water resistant to cover running water, or swimming and use them in all conditions.

However, I also like the "well maintained / serviced look". In my opinion, there should be a natural ebb and flow of New/Serviced looking to getting Worn-- only to be serviced again and looking fresh to getting worn again. Swapping Acrylic Rolex crystals is a breeze, as is using PolyWatch. If I can't read the dial through scratches, it is time for some attention.

I think most people apply the same logic to auto maintenance. I don't keep a cracked windshield on my car, or let my tires wear down to cords. The same reason, I keep my car washed and waxed. For me, this same principle of 'taking care' comes into play with my watches.

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I use them as intended. I make sure most are water resistant to cover running water, or swimming and use them in all conditions.

However, I also like the "well maintained / serviced look". In my opinion, there should be a natural ebb and flow of New/Serviced looking to getting Worn-- only to be serviced again and looking fresh to getting worn again. Swapping Acrylic Rolex crystals is a breeze, as is using PolyWatch. If I can't read the dial through scratches, it is time for some attention.

I agree 100% w/ Ronin. My three rough-use watches....

No date Sub from JMB...

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Gen Hamilton Khaki Field Auto from Seafoam...

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My 20 yr old Gen 16610 Sub. Had it last serviced in 2008. Up to then, it looked like it had been taken care of by Nanuq. The 1665 GW gets the baby treatment (thx Vly)...

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I don't baby any of my watches. While I might have watches for particular activities, I treat them all with equal indifference while doing so :lol: While I would not intentionally wear my DJ while heading out on a camping trip (I would choose my Heritage on webbing strap) if I was to suddenly find myself in a survival situation while wearing the DJ, I would not immediately remove the watch, wrap it in a sock, and then carry it around like a baby bird :lol: I would do whatever I needed to do, and if it took a few knocks and picked up a few dings along the way, then so be it :pardon: I've mentioned before that when I was younger, I never felt like a watch was 'mine', until it had picked up its first major ding/scratch which took it away from Factory Mint. Until then, it was simply a new watch which I owned. Once it picked up said ding/scratch, it was my watch :victory::good::drinks:

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