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kohster
·So I only have a few mechanical watches, and they're all family/heirloom type things. I want to keep the ones I want to wear nicely serviced and operating well just because of the sentimental value even if they aren't objectively worth a lot of money on the open market.
On the other side of the coin, so to speak, I've been thinking about a number of other mechanical watches that also aren't that expensive but that I just think are neat. Certainly they probably wouldn't have the same level of sentimental value if I just bought some for the fun of it. I'm thinking about a Seiko 5, or an Orient, or heck even the $120 Armitron skeletonized thing that a coworker picked up on a whim. For those of you who have watches like that, what's your thought process when it comes to servicing and regulation for those? I could see some people wanting to also maintain a regular service practice, since one of the main points of mechanical watches is that they can theoretically last forever with the right service. I could also see some people just wearing a watch in that price category until it just seizes up and dies, which could also be many years at least. To me that seems to go against the spirit of why I at least would be looking at a mechanical watch, but again assuming not as much sentimental/emotional value, how many times could someone send a $200 watch in for full servicing that is going to cost at the very least close to $200 on the low end?
Obviously opinions and approaches are going to vary widely on this, and there's no right answer; I'm just curious to hear from folks as to what they think and/or what their real life practices are on this.
On the other side of the coin, so to speak, I've been thinking about a number of other mechanical watches that also aren't that expensive but that I just think are neat. Certainly they probably wouldn't have the same level of sentimental value if I just bought some for the fun of it. I'm thinking about a Seiko 5, or an Orient, or heck even the $120 Armitron skeletonized thing that a coworker picked up on a whim. For those of you who have watches like that, what's your thought process when it comes to servicing and regulation for those? I could see some people wanting to also maintain a regular service practice, since one of the main points of mechanical watches is that they can theoretically last forever with the right service. I could also see some people just wearing a watch in that price category until it just seizes up and dies, which could also be many years at least. To me that seems to go against the spirit of why I at least would be looking at a mechanical watch, but again assuming not as much sentimental/emotional value, how many times could someone send a $200 watch in for full servicing that is going to cost at the very least close to $200 on the low end?
Obviously opinions and approaches are going to vary widely on this, and there's no right answer; I'm just curious to hear from folks as to what they think and/or what their real life practices are on this.
