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$1000 Watch Suggestions/genuine Preferred


crystalcranium

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Watchdude,

I agree 100% on the Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon series. I read the Ball website overview of these watches and they're simply amazing. 300M water res, 12,000 A/m antimagnetic, 7,500 x g shock resistant, operable down to -40oC, tritium GTLS tubes. Those things are the M1A1 Abrams of the watch world! The chrono w/ ETA Val7750 can be had for ~$2000. A lot of cheddar to be sure ... but worth it IMO. This is the only watch I would pay thousands for. Good call.

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If you like dive watches check out the Marathon G-SAR (Automatic) or T-SAR (Quartz).

197822-2507.jpg

http://www.broadarrow.net/sale.htm

Very tough diving tool watch . Gets rave reviews on dive watch forums.

The auto is around $700 and the quartz around $450. Plenty of high end professional users go for them. For example the auto is used by some Canadian and US Gov customers. NASA search and rescue use the quartz.

As a bonus this will still leave enough for a nice rep as well.

Edited by dangerman
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Hamilton X-Wind Auto Chrono---$650

http://www.hamiltonwatch.com/index_flash.html

Zodiac Oceanaire Diver---$450

http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2889753/0~2376...2373966&P=5

Budget Pick; Diesel Metal Chrono---$195

http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2930795/0~2376...2373966&P=1

Zodiac Super Sea Dragon---$275

http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2907319/0~2376...2373966&P=4

Chase-Durer Abyss 1000---$899 on shopnbc.com

http://www.chase-durer.com/watches/abyss1000dia2.html

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Oh man, what a photo! If I just had $2000 to spend, I'd get one in each color

You should be able to get them for under a grand, I bought the blue one from a AD a few years ago for $950AUD (on bracelet but I also ordered the strap) and the black one I picked up in a trade on the board.

Very solid watches at 44mm, I love em!

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You should be able to get them for under a grand, I bought the blue one from a AD a few years ago for $950AUD (on bracelet but I also ordered the strap) and the black one I picked up in a trade on the board.

Very solid watches at 44mm, I love em!

Some important updates.

My wife doesnt hate the Oris TT1 Date in blue. That's quite an endorsement from her!

My preference, of course, would be the regulator Oris diver because of the bullet proof certification etc... but it is an odd looking watch and a little over the budget (but this wouldn't be a typical decision from me without pushing the limits a bit!). I love the 1000M diver but it only comes on titanium and I don't want a 44mm watch that weighs 75 grams. So if it's going to be an Oris diver, it looks like the 300M SS Blue dial/bezel diver.

Also under serious consideration is the Ball engineer Diver II. Does anyone have any information on the modern history of the Ball watch company? I know the ancient history of Webb Ball and the railroad watches but this company looks like a Swiss buyout of the name with no real lineage to the Ball Watch Company from 1890, like Hamilton watches have no real association to the Hamilton watch company from Lancaster, PA.

The Fortis and Sinn watches are a little too austere and functional.

Still open to suggestions!!!!! For those of you suggesting watches <$1000, I really want to spend all of this money in one shot!!!! :Jumpy:

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Crystalcranium,

I'm unsure of the current history of Ball watches myself. I read somewhere that they are a Swiss company but the corporate history (via website www.ballwatch.com) indicates american origins. The movements seem to be Swiss ETA or slight modifications of the base ETA movt., so, probably very reliable. I did read somewhere that the expression "Get on the ball" was a reference to the accuracy of these watches ... a way of telling the conductors to get an accurate watch & be on time. Kind of cool having a common expression attributed to a watch.

My fascination w/ Ball stems from their exception engineering of the watch housing. I participate in a lot of X-game style activites (motocross, skiing, rollerblading, jetskiing, skydiving, kyacking) so a durable watch is my primary concern. Buying "ready-to-go" ETA movements seems like a way to devote most R&D efforts into the case itself. Plus, I've owned a tritium watch before (Chase-Durer, before switch to Superluminova) and I really miss the tritium. You have to own a T3 watch to appreciate its appeal. Glows non-stop for 20-25 years. I wish there were more tritium + chronograph options besides the Luminox & Traser ones. : (

Question: Anyone know the durability of Quartz vrs Mechanical movements for "explorer" type conditions? Which movement is tougher, more resistant to natural phenemenon (cold, heat, magnets, shocks, water, etc). I've heard differing views on the subject.

The Fortis, H X-wind & Oris seem to be excellent & nice looking watches but just don't have the "Guess what my watch can do/take" conversational value of the Balls.

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If you like dive watches check out the Marathon G-SAR (Automatic) or T-SAR (Quartz).

http://www.broadarrow.net/sale.htm

Very tough diving tool watch . Gets rave reviews on dive watch forums.

The auto is around $700 and the quartz around $450. Plenty of high end professional users go for them. For example the auto is used by some Canadian and US Gov customers. NASA search and rescue use the quartz.

As a bonus this will still leave enough for a nice rep as well.

Always found the military stuff like Marathon overpriced because all the wannabes drive up the price too much. Do just as well with a rep and spend a little extra to get a good water seal on it. Oris gets my vote.

/Tim

Edited by Tim
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I did read somewhere that the expression "Get on the ball" was a reference to the accuracy of these watches ... a way of telling the conductors to get an accurate watch & be on time. Kind of cool having a common expression attributed to a watch.

"On the ball" pre-dates wristwatches as a phrase. What you heard is called advertising. :whistling:

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My choice :

Seiko Marine Master 300M (a bit off your budget tough)

Oris TT1 Divers Titan Chronograph

Oris TT1 Meistertaucher Regulateur

Omega Aqua Terra (quartz)

Omega SMP Black (quartz)

Tag Heuer Aquaracer (quartz)

Tudor Prince Date Chrono

How about :

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms (vintage)

Breitling SOS

Eterna Kontiki

Mido Ocean Star Commander (70's style; about $500)

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Crystalcranium,

I'm unsure of the current history of Ball watches myself. I read somewhere that they are a Swiss company but the corporate history (via website www.ballwatch.com) indicates american origins. The movements seem to be Swiss ETA or slight modifications of the base ETA movt., so, probably very reliable. I did read somewhere that the expression "Get on the ball" was a reference to the accuracy of these watches ... a way of telling the conductors to get an accurate watch & be on time. Kind of cool having a common expression attributed to a watch.

My fascination w/ Ball stems from their exception engineering of the watch housing. I participate in a lot of X-game style activites (motocross, skiing, rollerblading, jetskiing, skydiving, kyacking) so a durable watch is my primary concern. Buying "ready-to-go" ETA movements seems like a way to devote most R&D efforts into the case itself. Plus, I've owned a tritium watch before (Chase-Durer, before switch to Superluminova) and I really miss the tritium. You have to own a T3 watch to appreciate its appeal. Glows non-stop for 20-25 years. I wish there were more tritium + chronograph options besides the Luminox & Traser ones. : (

Question: Anyone know the durability of Quartz vrs Mechanical movements for "explorer" type conditions? Which movement is tougher, more resistant to natural phenemenon (cold, heat, magnets, shocks, water, etc). I've heard differing views on the subject.

The Fortis, H X-wind & Oris seem to be excellent & nice looking watches but just don't have the "Guess what my watch can do/take" conversational value of the Balls.

Yes the origins are American....19th century America and the Ball watch company was bought by Hamilton USA I believe so the original Webb C Ball company that made railroad standard pocket watches is long gone as an independent organization. The modern watches are very nice but I don't especially care for the idea that this is a new company that bought the trademark rights for an old name.

Super luminova has an inexhaustable life span with no loss of its' ability to absorb and emit light.

I would think any electric watch would suffer from extreme temperature problems. The Speedmaster manual Moonwatch survived numerous torture tests of extreme temps and conditions.

Just an update on the watch. My wife has upped the ante saying she'll chip in for my birthday so now the target price is around $1800.

Looks like an Oris Artilier Chronograph is in the crosshairs.

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