My wife convinced me to go with her to the mall as she needed to exchange one article. Going to malls is not my cup of tea, specially during the Holidays but we agreed for an "in and out", quick turn around stop. As we entered the mall, I saw a watch repair shop and I could see from outside the shop, a large assortment of straps that were on display. I told my wife to go on as I wanted to look at the straps. I noticed a sign on the wall "Watchmaker on Premise" and I asked the lady behind the counter if the watchmaker would work on all types of watches... and the conversation went like this... Lady: Yes but not all watches can be repaired. Me: Yes, I understand. Do you work on automatic watches? Lady: What type of automatic watches? Me: Any standard ETA, automatic movement. Lady: ETA is not an automatic watch, Sir. Me: [brief silence]...... ok thanks, let me take a look at the straps....thanks again. Don't think this is the right place to service my watches....
Sounds like the type place where a watchmaker is someone who changes batteries and adjusts bracelets, period.
I was into an Omega/Longines/Zenith etc.... etc... dealer last year and had the lady behind the counter ask me how old the interesting old watch on my wrist was. ( a second world war USN Elgin canteen) When I told her "1942" she said it must be quartz then...... because, she said, mechanical was a new invention........ yeah..... and she hoped to sell me a $7000 watch.....
I once went to an Omega AD, and the lady told there me that the Planet Ocean features a "super accurate quartz movement". A different lady at the same AD also told me a couple weeks ago that the 300 Spectre and the regular 300 are the exact same.
In a sense, aren't quartz watches automatic? Perhaps the better term might have been mechanical? But then again, if 'ETA' didn't ring any bells, you were right to walk away.
No, quartz watches are "Atomic" not "Automatic" don't you know... It doesn't surprise me, I once had a conversation with a seasoned watchmaker and mentioned the Zenith El Primero, certainly a movement that most watchmakers have at least heard of, he had no idea what it was or where it was used... Rob
Yes, many are uniformed, but every now and then you can hit upon a great experience. I once visited a flagship Tourneau store and had a wonderful conversation with a sales rep about watches. As I walked up to the counter, she immediately noticed and commented on my 105.003. Then I noticed what was on her wrist... a minty 2998! Turns out she was heavily into vintage watches, and had just "discovered" this one at an estate sale that past weekend & was giving it a spin before having it serviced. After trying on her watch (yes, it appeared to be all correct) and spending a pleasant fifteen or twenty minutes discussing vintage Speedmasters, we got down to business. She knew every little detail about the watches they had in the store, and could correctly identify the year of manufacture and the caliber without even looking at a reference. She walked me through a half a dozen gorgeous Pateks (I was halfheartedly looking for a vintage calatrava at the time), but we didn't come across anything that suited. Eventually, she convinced me to look at a first-execution Lange Datograph, all the while giving me a complete history of the manufacture, its owners, and the development of the recently released 1815 chronograph! She then called their in-house watchmaker up to the counter, and he proceeded to open up the back so I could take a close look at the movement with his personal loupe! I was just about to buy it when I woke up.
My early learning experience was with my Speedmaster. This is a found watch and it languished in various drawers for years.I finally discovered it's appeal and determined to have it serviced. I had no idea where to take it. I was considering sending it off to various distant repair shops when I saw a local jeweler advertising "Luxury watches serviced!" I took in my old Speedy and the young clerk looked at it, looked at me and asked "Do you want us to change the battery?" I should have walked out IMMEDIATELY but being naturally stupid and well educated in ignorance I didn't.
I've always wanted to bring a mechanical to one of those battery change places and act stupid and see what they say. But, I don't have a mechanical that I'm willing to risk! I guess this is a case for owning a Vostock! Tom
Sort of like the day I took my 37 year old hobby car to a "quick oil change" place. While they were doing the necessary, a flunky came over to me and suggested they clean the "injectors"! Sure, the car looks like new, but C'mon! One of the techs took the air cleaner off and showed him the 2-barrel carb!
I stopped in a Tissot botique while waiting for a movie to begin and asked the salesperson if they had a particular manual-wind watch I was interested in seeing. I said it was a "COSC certified Chronometer". The salesperson replied "A what?" I repeated "a C-O-S-C certified Chronometer. It means the watch has been certified to meet a certain standard of precision." The salesperson then said "I don't know what that is, but I can have someone contact you by phone or e-mail to answer your question. Over here we have some other chronometers on display that you might be interested in" as she pointed to a couple of battery-powered chronographs.
A lot of people on the retail side, including those in management, know almost nothing about "luxury" watches except that they're made in Switzerland. One that I bought was sent to the repair department for a new battery before it was delivered, because someone noticed it wasn't running. But it wasn't running not because it needed a new battery, but because it was a manual wind mechanical. On the other hand, the guy behind the counter at one small jewelry/watch shop recognized my friend's Vacheron Overseas from 10 feet away.
The sales manager at a local high-end jewelry store near me (Patek, IWC, Rolex, JLC, Pam, etc) gives new employees 3 months to learn everything there is to know about every make/model they sell. If they don't they are out.
Many reasons to own a Vostok, the amount of engineering firsts in a watch the same price of a G shock is fantastic. I AM NOT TRYING TO CONVINCE ANYONE TO BUY ONE, but feel free if you want to watch the video in the interest of learning and horology.
But at least from a historical and functional point of view it is an interesting video. Min is keeping +2 secs a day better than my speedy, my second one is keeping +4 sec a day.