Digital Eventuallity

[omni]

As a sworn gearhead from the day I greeted adulthood, I loved digital when I first saw Johnny Carson exhibit the first Pulsar on the Tonight Show in the '60's, it was so cool and hip for the times. (Yes I'm very dated) I find it very serendipity with Richard's post that the very first "replica quartz" watch I ever actually purchased was a Tag Microtimer from Richard Lawton, which had to be at least 3 years ago? I would just buy anything "rep" at that time after careful consideration to the gen. You know you have the rep. fever if you can consider buying a rep. digital watch! (Do you hear that Teejay with your Suunto rep copies?) Here we are talking about digital becoming the king again. I believe it is the same as radios, at first as big as refrigerators because of the tubes, then down to the size of iPods when they first came out because of the invention of the transistor, then the "boom box" era as radios got bigger because of the backlash of the "sound quality" and wanting bling of a big boombox on your shoulder (think 60's - 70"s when most of the members were just being born.) It made no sense with the advance of micro electronics. How history repeats itself as if you think all your ideals and thoughts of fashion and taste were original. When you get my age, you kinda hafta laugh at the thought of your parents laughing at you when you swore you were the cutting edge and knew more about "where it was at" than they did..................Gad, life is such a joke and if you have a sense of humor, you can laugh with it, if you can't it's just a never ending swim upstream in the river of life that will sour your sense of humor like vinegar. Even if digital phones/watches/clothing/whatever accessory becomes mainstream, history will teach us sooner than later that we will all harken back to the past in perception that in our youth or our parents' generation that it was better times, so we latch onto the things that remind of us those times. All fashion is regurgitated, since I laugh that if I had kept my leather trimmed - embroidered hippy-dippy bell-bottom jeans from the late '60's they'd be right in style (think bootcut jeans today). What's old will become new, what's new will become old, TODAY'S LATEST WILL BECOME TOMORROW'S COLLECTIBLE COMMODITY.

Mechanical watches already are what they are, mechanical works of art of a past era, coveted for when craftsmanship was an individual and tangible commodity. Its not really nostalgia, its exclusivity of appreciating the craftsmanship versus machine stamped manufacturing. Hand craftsmanship will always be exclusive no matter how great the advances of any industry. Couple that with the gizmo aspect of the male persona, you can see why this has always been mainly a man's passion through the ages since the first clock. Even if it is now considered a mainly male jewelry "accessory", it still is a gizmo that most women roll their eyes at and don't get. They like it for the jewelry aspect, we like it for the gear aspect whether it be digital/electronic or purist mechanical. Its irreverent whether we need something on our wrist to tell the time or not today with all the things that tell us time, Passion will always trump practicality.

[trailboss]

Let me start by saying that I doubt that mecehanical watches will ever die. Brands may, I think Rolex are in for a big shock soonish but the whole concept of a micro mechanical marvel on your wrist will allways appeal. Personaly I have wanted an auto since I first saw adverts for the Speedy moon watch all those years ago. Thank you Popular Mechanics. The worlds space programs still use mechanical watches. Even the Chinese. I don't see the Seiko Space Watch being adopted by seriuos space flight, ever. For starters it's near three times the price of a Speedy.

However so say that there is no design merit in a high end quartz is false. I have mentioned a few times here that Offshore has recently brought my favorite Seiko back to life. Appart from the fact that it was a 21st present it's a marvel of its own. It uses the seiko 7A38 MVT, one of the worlds top three quartz MVTs. Within it's case are no less than four stepper motors, one for each dial. An all steel MVT, not a skerick of plastic to be found. It can be ajusted to an accurecy of .026 sec a day and has a service interval of fifty years. How is this not an achivement? These MVTs are truly a work of art. A different art for shure but an art all the same.

Yes, it spends most of it's time in the watch box while I wear a 108 dollar noob sub but that's simply because I have no intention of wrecking an irreplaceable jewel. Should I manage to obtain a spare crystal, bracelet and MVT for the jigger it will get a lot more wrist time.

I think we should be more concerned about the watch itself dieing out. As has been stated the younger crowed hardly wear a watch at all. Let alone a mechanical one.

Omni: You can get a rep Micro Timer? I must have a look for one.

Stormtrooper4: Sorry matey, that Breit is just plain ugly.

Robby: Ya, the truly well off are never short of readies. Even during the great depression they had money to burn. So far this time 'round the top end of any market is not showing signes of dropping off. Cars, boats, planes or watches. The middle ground is suffering tho. Thus Rolex's problem. Of cause, the rep industry will get the blame for their own over pricing of what is basicly a manufactered object. The truly top end, the propperly hand made pieces from the likes of VC etc will allways have a steady stream of clientel.

Col.

[Ronin]

First a funny story, I dated a girl once who could not tell time on a watch/clock with hands. She could only tell time on a Digital. I also know some youth, that grew up after the rotary phone, that can't tell time on anything but digital. Bizzare.

Digital will not kill mechanical.

For the same reason Vinyl Record Sales are UP. Vinyl Record Sales up, nail in CD's Coffin?

My two analog passions are mechanical watches and vinyl records.

Nostalgia- Give me Tube Amps, a killer turn-table, and a mechanical watch. Does not take much to please me!

[Richard Tracy]

Let me start by saying that I doubt that mecehanical watches will ever die. Brands may, I think Rolex are in for a big shock soonish but the whole concept of a micro mechanical marvel on your wrist will allways appeal. Personaly I have wanted an auto since I first saw adverts for the Speedy moon watch all those years ago. Thank you Popular Mechanics. The worlds space programs still use mechanical watches. Even the Chinese. I don't see the Seiko Space Watch being adopted by seriuos space flight, ever. For starters it's near three times the price of a Speedy.

However so say that there is no design merit in a high end quartz is false. I have mentioned a few times here that Offshore has recently brought my favorite Seiko back to life. Appart from the fact that it was a 21st present it's a marvel of its own. It uses the seiko 7A38 MVT, one of the worlds top three quartz MVTs. Within it's case are no less than four stepper motors, one for each dial. An all steel MVT, not a skerick of plastic to be found. It can be ajusted to an accurecy of .026 sec a day and has a service interval of fifty years. How is this not an achivement? These MVTs are truly a work of art. A different art for shure but an art all the same.

Yes, it spends most of it's time in the watch box while I wear a 108 dollar noob sub but that's simply because I have no intention of wrecking an irreplaceable jewel. Should I manage to obtain a spare crystal, bracelet and MVT for the jigger it will get a lot more wrist time.

I think we should be more concerned about the watch itself dieing out. As has been stated the younger crowed hardly wear a watch at all. Let alone a mechanical one.

Robby: Ya, the truly well off are never short of readies. Even during the great depression they had money to burn. So far this time 'round the top end of any market is not showing signes of dropping off. Cars, boats, planes or watches. The middle ground is suffering tho. Thus Rolex's problem. Of cause, the rep industry will get the blame for their own over pricing of what is basicly a manufactered object. The truly top end, the propperly hand made pieces from the likes of VC etc will allways have a steady stream of clientel.

Col.

Perfect Post,.... could not have said it better myself.

To believe that the high end buyers are the base of the market is not based in fact.

The base were working class people who once felt that they were obtaining their piece of the pie by copying the gaudy rich and spending like the good times were never going to end.

Reality however has dawned on the masses, which includes the rich, and we are all wiser because of it.

Liberace like gaudy demostrations of waste, are less and less seen as a mark of the winner but now as the sign of the shortsighted, or gullible, greedy & selfish fiends who flaunt

the waste of resources when their fellow man can't feed the future adults who will lead us one day.

Now before some of you get up on your high horse and shout that this is a communist or socialist viewpoint, I would point out that a wave of a green and milimalistic mindset is set to

move across the globe, which is anti waste, and pro equilibrium for all humanity.

Which in light of China & India posed to engulf already limited resources like a vacuum, is an essential counterbalance to a tipping of the scales which will place us all in jeopardy.

Keep in mind however that we replica lovers are part of the counterbalance of waste, and in my opinion we also we chip away at the Swiss watch industry, {though some would like to believe

otherwise,}.. if in nothing else, our exposure to styles that don't hold our attention for long, are genuines that we would never purchase.

Lastly to answer the question of the future, do I really believe that one day many people will be talking on their video watch phones ? Yes I do !

[KB]

and has a service interval of fifty years

So let's see....offshore just got it going again....you got it for a 21st present.....that makes you 71 Col

Ken

[trailboss]

So let's see....offshore just got it going again....you got it for a 21st present.....that makes you 71 Col

Ken

Oh and arn't we just a smartybum!

Acording to Seiko it should only require batteries and seals over it's 50 year service life. It looks like the problem with mine was as minor as a dirty gear somwhere in the train. I,v been doing a lot of reading on them and they realy are an amazing MVT. Far better than anything Seiko make today. This is the same MVT as the RAF Seikos including the Vulcan special that is one of the most colectable quartz watches of all. It was only issued to the crews of longrange nuclear bombers.

Some of the RAF specials are ilistrated below with the Vulcan at the botom.

Good examples of the various RAF chronos start at about $180 and rise to 'round $500 for the rarer ones. IF you stumble across an example of the Vulcan for anything less than 1000USD, buy it. The one above went for $1280.

Col.

[offshore]

@trailboss,

Glad to hear she's still running strong mate.

No major technical expertise on my part- new battery, clean the contacts, and a 10sec burst on the demag, was all that was needed...total repair time about 5 minutes! (As you know! )

It may have been any one of the stepping motors with the problem, but I really suspect cleaning the contacts was the main assist. Interestingly, sometimes these, after a new battery install, can take up to 3 or 4 minutes, to actually "come back to life". Can't for the life of me figure out why, but have seen this, especially with older Seikos, quite regularly.

Offshore

[trailboss]

Fingers still crossed but still going and looking good to stay that way.

Yeah, five min fix that Seiko wanted 500 bucks for!

Now I just gotta wait untill you master that new timeing machine and the Seiko and the sub are due for another visit to "Uncle Offshore".

Col.