How rough are you on your mechanical watches?

Canuck · Apr 29, 2020

@Annapolis was the one that asked the question. He was a little less certain about wearing an antique or vintage watch as a daily driver. My answer was calculated to lend some perspective to him about how older watches should be worn. He was uncertain. You, on the other hand, have probably gained little from my answer because you seemingly don’t give any thought to the matter of how an older watch should be worn. There is no “one size fits all” answer to the question of how an older watch should be worn. But I fix watches for a living, and I regularly have to deal with watches that have been worn beyond reasonable limits. Read into it what you will.

alfanator · Apr 29, 2020

If maintained and serviced to specs, I'd use them as intended, including Scuba diving. I also shoot a traditional bow, cook with cast iron, used to daily drive an old air cooled car. All, if well maintained, do their jobs really really well. When the burden of maintenance do not balance with the delight derived, I am happy to move on as well. No longer drive old air cooled car, clutch not so delightful in commute traffic.

Wooden_spoon · Apr 29, 2020

I am of the opinion that you should wear them. You own the watches, not the other way around. I get all my watches serviced and pressure tested and take them running, cycling, snowboarding, etc. I would think twice about mountain biking and swimming but otherwise, life is short I say.

Canuck · Apr 29, 2020

Canuck
Watchmakers take great delight when people start talking about treating a 50+ year old watch as a daily driver!

And I repeat!

Syzygy · Apr 29, 2020

Define "daily" when it comes to the activity...today, like the past six weeks, I've been working from the safety of my home office during this lock-down. I find I'm more drawn to wearing my Timex Flying Snoopy...because, let's face it, in these times we all need a little grin when we look down at our wrist.

Back when I was out in the wild and kicking around the job sites, my daily is my 3592.50 Apollo XI. While not "vintage" compared to 50+ year old watches, I'd like to keep it in good shape for the rest of my life, and hopefully by then it will officially qualify and remain a nice specimen. Therefore, I take it off and put it in the pocket of the golf bag when in greens therapy sessions, and I swing my arm behind my back when I pass through doorways and around corners. I'm a project manager, so let's face it, not much risk involved.

Now, there's no way in hell I would have worn "my precious" back when I was a ladder jockey installing miles of fiber optics and low voltage around office buildings and data centers...no, for that, I'd strap on my Skagen diver that cost me the price of a battery, or to be completely honest, would have not worn a watch on my wrist at all due to risk of physical injury.

Speaking of that Skagen diver...time to explore the lock-down challenge thread of finding a decent diver for less that $70 (haven't figured out how to do the pound sign + 50). Maybe I can find a Devil Diver (ha! for less than $70...good luck!) or something of the like that can push the Skagen further down on the rotation...possibly to 'worn only during gardening'.

Be well folks. This forum and it's members have been a welcome and comforting escape from my 8 day weeks of sheer insanity at work.

"Coffee break is over, back on your heads!" (belongs in Tell me a Joke...I know, but live with it!)

chipsotoole · Apr 30, 2020

I keep a couple of quartz divers in the garden shed and swap out when I'm working in the garden or toolshed. other than that modern dive watches for swimming and going on holidays. I've had one nasty accident with an Omega Stingray whilst riding my bike but you gotta take chances sometimes...

...that said, I do find I'm more careful with my vintage 40s/50s JLC watches. They're the ones I tend to wear when I know there won't be much strain on them...An evening out or lazy Sunday....They have a tendency to be a bit more fragile.

valkyrie_rider · Apr 30, 2020

I take my vintage pieces (Speedmaster Mark II from 1970, Speedmaster Mark III from 1972, Speedmaster 125 from 1973, Speedmaster Mark 4.5 from 1976) shooting, riding motorcycles, etc.

I'm only careful with water (i.e. if it is a rainy day, I will use one of my modern divers like the Longines Legend Diver or a Seiko).

What is the point of owning a nice timepiece if you won't enjoy it?

Remember that explorers in the past were wearing mechanical watches. Mechanical watches are much tougher than we generally give them credit.

Archer · Apr 30, 2020

Annapolis
To be clear, I'm assuming here that one would be careful enough to avoid any kind of hard contact---I'm moreso wondering whether old movements can handle the little impact-free/muted g-forces that come with bike tires handling potholes, for example, or arm-swings on a jog.

There's no reason why a vintage watch can't be worn as an everyday watch. I wear one frequently when I'm not wearing one of my modern watches, and I tend to wear the same watch for weeks at a time. I don't baby the watches, and wear them just the same as I would a modern watch for the most part, with the exception being if the vintage watch isn't fully water resistant.

Your specific concerns about the movement - I the movement has shock protection on the balance, then there's absolutely no reason why it can't be worn doing some jogging or riding a bike. As others have pointed out, these watches were all there was at one point, and were used as daily watches by all kinds of people doing all kinds of things.

Some would have you believe that wearing a vintage watch daily will cause it to implode or something, but as long as it's well maintained and not abused, you will be fine.

Cheers, Al

efauser · Apr 30, 2020

Lazy_Lightning
This is how I wear vintage watches.

I recommend bubble wrap. It's easier to read the time.

mzinski · Apr 30, 2020

Archer
There's no reason why a vintage watch can't be worn as an everyday watch. I wear one frequently when I'm not wearing one of my modern watches, and I tend to wear the same watch for weeks at a time. I don't baby the watches, and wear them just the same as I would a modern watch for the most part, with the exception being if the vintage watch isn't fully water resistant.

Your specific concerns about the movement - I the movement has shock protection on the balance, then there's absolutely no reason why it can't be worn doing some jogging or riding a bike. As others have pointed out, these watches were all there was at one point, and were used as daily watches by all kinds of people doing all kinds of things.

Some would have you believe that wearing a vintage watch daily will cause it to implode or something, but as long as it's well maintained and not abused, you will be fine.

Cheers, Al

^^^ This!

KstateSkier · Apr 30, 2020

Archer
There's no reason why a vintage watch can't be worn as an everyday watch. I wear one frequently when I'm not wearing one of my modern watches, and I tend to wear the same watch for weeks at a time. I don't baby the watches, and wear them just the same as I would a modern watch for the most part, with the exception being if the vintage watch isn't fully water resistant.

Your specific concerns about the movement - I the movement has shock protection on the balance, then there's absolutely no reason why it can't be worn doing some jogging or riding a bike. As others have pointed out, these watches were all there was at one point, and were used as daily watches by all kinds of people doing all kinds of things.

Some would have you believe that wearing a vintage watch daily will cause it to implode or something, but as long as it's well maintained and not abused, you will be fine.

Cheers, Al

With guys like Al around I'll do whatever I please with my watches on. And if they break I'll have him fix em. haha!

aj_tucker · Apr 30, 2020

I think context matters:

Daily = Daily normal life. I live in a city and work at a desk, so daily to me means commuting on the subway, dealing with rain, walking crowded streets, etc. In these cases, yes. Outside of a torrential downpour, my vintage pieces are truly daily wearers.

Does Daily = literally any condition? No. I don't wear them on the plane (but do travel) because they are likely to get a major ding. I won't wear them in the ocean or in the pool, on a hike, while doing any physical activity (gym, golf, tennis, basketball, etc.). I hear when folks say they are built like tanks - that's great, but I've never owned a tank, and if I did, I'd probably not wear a 50 year old vintage sub in there.

I'm much more comfortable wearing something modern in those conditions, but honestly, do I need a watch on 24/7? No. It's an accessory - and a mean's to tell the time.

How rough are you on your mechanical watches?

Canuck

alfanator

Wooden_spoon

Canuck

Syzygy

chipsotoole

valkyrie_rider

Archer

efauser

mzinski

KstateSkier

aj_tucker

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