nikki6 Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 The D!ck Tracey watch is closer than you think. You can now buy a watch that doubles as your cell phone. People were stopping wearing watches altogeather and using their cell phones as a clock. I guess this is the watch getting it's own back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shundi Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 What i do think will happen is the cooperation of digital elements to elegant mechanical time pieces. The saying "if you can't beat them join them" expresses my prediction perfectly. I for one am excited about the possible advances in the watch making industry, from solar energy faces to digital displays emulating analog (such as is in Merc S-Class) Very eloquently put GrantR! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakortheblue Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 I think the elite factor will keep mechanicals around for awhile. Look at the antiquing craze when you can get everything in plastic and aluminum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
By-Tor Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 My first ever watch was an automatic Longines. A gift from my dad. But when I was 9-10 years old I wanted this: It made my schoolmates green with envy. I wish I still had it. I could even buy one of these again... just for the memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shundi Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 My first ever watch was an automatic Longines. A gift from my dad. But when I was 9-10 years old I wanted this: It made my schoolmates green with envy. I wish I still had it. I could even buy one of these again... just for the memories. Hmm...I don't think the link is working... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
By-Tor Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 Yeah, the site apparently doesn't like hyperlinking. Fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USMC8404 Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 Never. The whole point is that it has basically been perfect for two hundred years and the bar it set at improving craftmanship and design as opposed to making something which is technically superior. The machine that is the mechanical timepiece is the marvel and to me, and as such nothing that is digital - watch or otherwise could ever peak my interest. I agree with Robbie! There is something about the marvel of the micro mechanics setting on my wrist that could never be matched by anything digital. Digital has its place, but never something so personal as a watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omni Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 Very eloquent posts with much to ponder and I'll probably repeat some of the good thoughts: The old saying that quartz has no soul still rings in my ears although I'm only a recent mechanical watch fan of 4 years and I've been around a long time, always the nerd with the latest digital tool watch. I still know the value and accuracy of quartz/digital and ramifications of the new LG video watch phone just revealed at the Vegas Electronics show convention. No real diver will put his life on the line with a mechanical movement when he can have the accuracy of a digital dive watch with a hellavu lot more functions than how much air time he has left. Nor a climber who needs more accuracy than a mechanical can give. Personally, I'm also now at the advanced age that I need an analog watch dial in an emergency as I can no longer make out digital numbers on a small watch dial without glasses , no reading glasses and I can't see the digits. I guess that's why us older folks are going for analog dials and my gravitation towards the bigger cased watches. I lost my love for the busy faced Breitling only because I could no longer have fun working the bezel timing computations without really squinting with my reading glasses! Luxury items will always be there for the wealthy, collectors, WIS, so there will always be a market for the Swiss mechanical watch producers, but only for the well established Pateks, Vacherons, Breguets, Omegas, Rolexes; not the fad stuff we have seen recently with the likes of Hublot Big Bang. The designer brands, Mont Blanc, Cartier, etc. will suffer. There is going to be attrition/shrinkage again in the Swiss watch industry as the younger generation use their cellphones to tell time instead of wearing watches, or wear their cellphone watches and us older generation pass on. For the last 30 year I have seen the typical business salesperson (mainly USA) that consider the entry level businessman's watch of choice that you've arrived is a Rolex sub, which is a perfect example of style/persona over its actual intended purpose, but I think that will also change. I have two sons in their 20's, both quite tech enabled, they prefer looking at their phones for the time and very seldom wear a watch. One likes my watches, but so far only the gizmos quartz that have functions other than time, its just a sign of the times. They can afford good mechanical watches but don't desire them, although if they inherit them, I'm sure the mechanicals will have some meaning. I am still buying some latest quartz for beach/yard/tool, and as I said above, if I could see all the midgit digital numbers, I'd have the latest coolest tech toy. But these are the kind of watches you throw away or give away rather than have someone like offshore fix. When they crump, there is no emotional attachment. Mechanical, on the other hand, will always have a following that the afficianado will pay to have fixed if it is status, artistic, rare and antique value, they will never dissappear or be wiped out by Digital. Digital Quartz is a precise tool, Mechanical is gear art, two different mindsets. I don't think one will kill the other, but some producers may blend like the Seiko springdrive to survive financially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highoeyazmuhudee Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 a quartz watch lacks a real soul. a mechanical watch has a heart beat you can fall asleep to... if you die, your mechanical watch can rundown and die with out you. it's a testament to mans engineering, accuracy and functionality all comes down to a simple hairsping literally no thicker than a human hair. at least these are my feelings on the matter : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakemaster Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 Nostalgia aside, most people under 30 don't even wear watches now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobbieG Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 My first ever watch was an automatic Longines. A gift from my dad. But when I was 9-10 years old I wanted this: It made my schoolmates green with envy. I wish I still had it. I could even buy one of these again... just for the memories. Yeah, I had one like it for a while. You are showing your age BT. I also was enamoured with the quartz TAG Formula watches when they came out in the 80's. I have often thought of buying watches from the past for the same sake but of course it would be wasteful... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 I agree with Robbie! There is something about the marvel of the micro mechanics setting on my wrist that could never be matched by anything digital. Digital has its place, but never something so personal as a watch. I don't know... For everyday wear, I'd agree, mechanical is much nicer, but, I think there is still a time and a place (or rather, activities and environments) where the accuracy of a digital could mean the difference between life and death... Very eloquent posts with much to ponder and I'll probably repeat some of the good thoughts: The old saying that quartz has no soul still rings in my ears although I'm only a recent mechanical watch fan of 4 years and I've been around a long time, always the nerd with the latest digital tool watch. I still know the value and accuracy of quartz/digital and ramifications of the new LG video watch phone just revealed at the Vegas Electronics show convention. No real diver will put his life on the line with a mechanical movement when he can have the accuracy of a digital dive watch with a hellavu lot more functions than how much air time he has left. Nor a climber who needs more accuracy than a mechanical can give. Personally, I'm also now at the advanced age that I need an analog watch dial in an emergency as I can no longer make out digital numbers on a small watch dial without glasses , no reading glasses and I can't see the digits. I guess that's why us older folks are going for analog dials and my gravitation towards the bigger cased watches. I lost my love for the busy faced Breitling only because I could no longer have fun working the bezel timing computations without really squinting with my reading glasses! Luxury items will always be there for the wealthy, collectors, WIS, so there will always be a market for the Swiss mechanical watch producers, but only for the well established Pateks, Vacherons, Breguets, Omegas, Rolexes; not the fad stuff we have seen recently with the likes of Hublot Big Bang. The designer brands, Mont Blanc, Cartier, etc. will suffer. There is going to be attrition/shrinkage again in the Swiss watch industry as the younger generation use their cellphones to tell time instead of wearing watches, or wear their cellphone watches and us older generation pass on. For the last 30 year I have seen the typical business salesperson (mainly USA) that consider the entry level businessman's watch of choice that you've arrived is a Rolex sub, which is a perfect example of style/persona over its actual intended purpose, but I think that will also change. I have two sons in their 20's, both quite tech enabled, they prefer looking at their phones for the time and very seldom wear a watch. One likes my watches, but so far only the gizmos quartz that have functions other than time, its just a sign of the times. They can afford good mechanical watches but don't desire them, although if they inherit them, I'm sure the mechanicals will have some meaning. I am still buying some latest quartz for beach/yard/tool, and as I said above, if I could see all the midgit digital numbers, I'd have the latest coolest tech toy. But these are the kind of watches you throw away or give away rather than have someone like offshore fix. When they crump, there is no emotional attachment. Mechanical, on the other hand, will always have a following that the afficianado will pay to have fixed if it is status, artistic, rare and antique value, they will never dissappear or be wiped out by Digital. Digital Quartz is a precise tool, Mechanical is gear art, two different mindsets. I don't think one will kill the other, but some producers may blend like the Seiko springdrive to survive financially. I agree with a lot of what you've said, but that particular phrase made me think of something. In the past, people used to carry their watches in pockets, rather than on their wrists... Perhaps from the perspective of someone from that era, they might see people using cell phones for the time, as a sign of people going back to pocket based, rather than wrist based time keeping, regardless of the actual mechanism being used to track the time Just a thought a quartz watch lacks a real soul. a mechanical watch has a heart beat you can fall asleep to... if you die, your mechanical watch can rundown and die with out you. it's a testament to mans engineering, accuracy and functionality all comes down to a simple hairsping literally no thicker than a human hair. at least these are my feelings on the matter : ) To quote from Ogasmo, "I don't want to sound like a queer, or nothing..." but that put a lump in my throat I actually read that more as "if you die, your mechanical watch will run down and die with you", it really gives the watch the personality of a loyal companion, who chooses to die with its Master, knowing it won't be needed anymore. Sorry guys, I'll toughen up Arrrrgh... Who saw that Bears game last night? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobbieG Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 You are starting to worry me my Libran brother... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 You are starting to worry me my Libran brother... Sorry, bro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Tracy Posted January 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Thanks to everyone for the intelligent & thoughful posts on this subject. I agree with much of what was posted, though there are some issues that would like to throw into the arena for further thought. It was said that if digital watches were going to take over mechanicals then it was decades ago that it would have occured. I disagree. Now, more than ever, with this age of green sentimentality combined with our ecomomic woes and amazing new technology, electronic watches are posed stronger than ever before to push pretty hard the Swiss watch industry to the edge. Green: Atomic, Solar driven, Kinetic, never need battery replacements. Economic: The cost factors of electronic watches are too good to ignore when financial times are tight, and styles change like the winds. Technology: Never before has there been so much available on the wrist, from communication to entertainment, to life saving and information of every type, electonics cannot be beat, and can adapt to any time and place. As for reading digital readouts with mature eyes, there are watches that speak the time to you, and even brail for the blind. I personally think that one day the readouts will be transferred via bluetooth to the lenses of one's glasses when needed. I will always love mechanical watches as I said before, and I don't think that they will ever die out completely, though I do believe that the Swiss watch industry will either adapt, or face an ever shrinking marketing base, as their product is viewed more & more, as vanity, ego, or gaudy status symbols, nostolgic pieces or curios of the past that are held onto not for their functionality, which has been clearly overshadowed, but for emotional, sentimental reasoning, which is not up to par for logical discussion and thus, like religion, best left to each his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guinea Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 Green: Atomic, Solar driven, Kinetic, never need battery replacements. Hmm. I don't have much faith in Seiko Kinetics. I've had a couple. The first needed a new capacitor every three years at a cost of around Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard lawton Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 Hi Richard, I have been an avid watch collector now for the past 25yrs, and must fully agree with your first statement. " Let me start by saying that I love mechanical watches,... always have and always will". I must also admit that I have several quartz watches in my collection including a Breitling Emergency Mission, Tag Microtimer and Rolex Oyster Quartz to name but a few. (All different styles of watches), but when I wear them there's never any need to adjust them, wind them, check the time etc and after a while there's just something about a mechanical movement that you miss. So if you obtain your pleasure from mechinical watches don't go back to a Quartz. Just my opinion Best Regards Richard Lawton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Tracy Posted January 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 Hi Richard, I have been an avid watch collector now for the past 25yrs, and must fully agree with your first statement. " Let me start by saying that I love mechanical watches,... always have and always will". I must also admit that I have several quartz watches in my collection including a Breitling Emergency Mission, Tag Microtimer and Rolex Oyster Quartz to name but a few. (All different styles of watches), but when I wear them there's never any need to adjust them, wind them, check the time etc and after a while there's just something about a mechanical movement that you miss. So if you obtain your pleasure from mechinical watches don't go back to a Quartz. Just my opinion Best Regards Richard Lawton Thanks for the thoughts Richard ! I do love the heartbeat of mechanicals, though I also tend to gravitate towards gadgets,.. and in particular alarms which I have found is best when combined with a backlight feature... I will never abandon mechanicals, though will explore to the very latest edge of what is available from a technological standpoint, and I think that will be common for many future watch buyers to the detriment or at least, to the shifting of ground under the feet of the Swiss watch industry, which will need to alter their stance or dig in deeper, both actions of which the results are unsure. Though the watch industry as a whole is losing market share to cell phones companies, and mini computers, the mechanical watch industry is under attack from two directions, which is a fight that can be rarely won... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highoeyazmuhudee Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 quartz feels like a toy to me now. I remember thinking as a kid when i grew up I was going to get the best watch in the entire world. The one i saw was a casio calculator watch and the one with a digital chrono feature and one that could control any tv set ever made! pfft, kids... the Oyster Quartz hand sweeps correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KB Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 Ok I'm late to this but my thoughts.... Digital did in fact sweep the floor of the mechanical age, I don't know where to find the figures but I'm sure if someone could come up with them they will see mechanical watches are very much a minority of todays watch sales around the world. Next point to remember is that our hobby is not just mechanical watches but high end watches and they will be around forever, does anyone truly believe they will see the day when they walk into an exclusive country club and see everyone talking to their wrist's? The mp3 watch was supposed to be something special but already are becoming another kids toy and so too will any new innovative digital watch, once sales start rocking the prices will come down and everyone will have them, the whole point of luxury items are their exclusivity and for this one will always need to go to the Swiss watch makers. At the end of the day most will be more interested in video conferencing on the mobile phones than watches anyway due to the larger screen size. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormTooper4 Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE ONE OF THESE BAD BOYS?????? Seriously, L.E.D its the future, Mark my words ST4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobbieG Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Ok I'm late to this but my thoughts.... Digital did in fact sweep the floor of the mechanical age, I don't know where to find the figures but I'm sure if someone could come up with them they will see mechanical watches are very much a minority of todays watch sales around the world. Next point to remember is that our hobby is not just mechanical watches but high end watches and they will be around forever, does anyone truly believe they will see the day when they walk into an exclusive country club and see everyone talking to their wrist's? The mp3 watch was supposed to be something special but already are becoming another kids toy and so too will any new innovative digital watch, once sales start rocking the prices will come down and everyone will have them, the whole point of luxury items are their exclusivity and for this one will always need to go to the Swiss watch makers. At the end of the day most will be more interested in video conferencing on the mobile phones than watches anyway due to the larger screen size. Ken Thank God someone said what I wanted to but couldn't find the words. Yes, the whole thing with mechanical watches is that they are dominated by the high end market based on exclusivity. If something isn't a challenge to make or expensive, it will never be exclusive. Hence digiatl watches will never take over for mechanicals or otherwise phase them out. The failure of the MP3 watch is a good example. Another certainty believe it or not is the iconic nature of certain brands. As long as there is Rolex they will always have competitors and that means there will always be an industry. Even before the watch boom, Rolex has been experiencing their own boom for decades - selling watches to rich people. The "boom" was just when rich people started buying other watches besides Rolex's because they needed more ways to spend their money. LOL. It may not look like it sometimes and I'm sure many here think that because of the current state of the economy there is a serious damper on riches. Not true in any practical sense. Where I live, there are no less than a dozen communities with hundreds of homes each where the average net worth of those living there is 10M+. There is one neighborhood where the average net is 25M+ and another still where it is 50M+. If you haven't been exposed to it, sometimes it is hard to believe that there could be this many insanely wealthy people around - but there are. It is dizzying. The point is that even if they were all doing as bad as they could and were invested in only in big cap indices and their portfolios are down 40%, it has made no real dent in their lifestyle and I can tell just being out and about in town and in restaurants, stores, etc. on a regular basis. Not much has changed with the rich here - watch wise or otherwise. My firends the jewelers and AD's are still doing fine too. And the Swiss have handled it well by essentially just decreasing supply to pump up demand. The only brands that are suffering are continent specifi ones like certain brands that appealed to Russians. But the arabs are still buying everthing in sight. I know that my area is the exception in the US (there are others though - Socal, NYC, Napa, Aspen, etc.), but it is a good gauge as there is a inordinate amount of wealth here, and that is valuable information for this discussion. The kind of wealth that these luxury item buyers have does not really get affected by booms or busts or the state of an industry. Why? Because compared to other stuff they buy watches really aren't all that expensive, except the highest complications. So as long as there are rich people there will always be a luxury watch market. I have spent a lot of time in these neighborhoods and if EVERYONE in them doesn't have at least one Rolex I'll eat my UN. LOL. And they always will and there won't ever be a time that they will choose a digital watch for accuracy over a big hunk of shiny yellow gold that loses 8 seconds a day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KB Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE ONE OF THESE BAD BOYS?????? Seriously, L.E.D its the future, Mark my words ST4 Honestly I have seen 10 buck digitals I like better than that Breitling. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Honestly I have seen 10 buck digitals I like better than that Breitling. Ken I was going to say I quite liked it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard lawton Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Hi All I have many digital watches in my collection, but this is still my all time favourite Cir 1973 and still working perfectly Regards Richard Lawton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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