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The Great Big Introductions Thread

  1. Shibata Dec 22, 2016

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    Hi Everyone,
    I have been here a few weeks and just realized I haven't formerly introduced myself. I am new to watches and watch collecting. It's been over 20 years since I last wore a watch. Last month out of the blue I got the Idea that I MUST have a wristwatch. After a little research I decided to get Hamilton Khaki automatic 38mm and give it to my wife to give me for Christmas. After that I continued to lurk around the forums and became hooked. I am basically at the point now researching watches consumes about 99% of my online activity.
    I stumbled upon this forum a few weeks ago and find myself here more than any other site. This forum introduced me to vintage watch collecting and thanks to the people here I now own a 50 year old Seamaster that I absolutely love. The information I learned reading the vintage forum definitely helped me avoid making mistakes in my purchase. Hopefully some day I will have enough knowledge to contribute to the discussions here. For now you will just have to live with me liking posts and adding the occasional " very nice " comment when someone posts a pretty picture of a watch. :)
     
    kkt, STANDY, Jwit and 1 other person like this.
  2. ulackfocus Dec 22, 2016

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    I love checking this thread out. It lets me know who the fresh meat is.

    MonB.jpg
     
    kkt, C4L18R3, Barking mad and 2 others like this.
  3. danicycle Dec 22, 2016

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    IMG_2822.JPG
     
  4. eeki Dec 25, 2016

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    Hello everyone & greetings from Finland!

    I've been obsessed with wristwatches for a couple of years now, starting quite innocently with a modern Certina chrono. Unfortunately for my wallet I then discovered the wonderful world of vintage watches, starting out with a Tissot Navigator 7734 chrono. After this I fell quite heavily for vintage Seiko (hence the avatar) - current small collection is mostly Seiko and Citizen from the 60s and 70s, with the exception of a 105.012-66 HF Speedmaster I got recently.

    Anyway, thanks for the amazing forum, I've been reading the different sections for quite a while now (signed up already in Feb 2015!), I hope I can also contribute to the discussions at some point.
     
  5. styggpyggeno1 ΩF Enforcer ....and thread killer Dec 25, 2016

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    Welcome!

    If you have been lurking around for such a along time it is now time to start sharing your vintage Seikos and Citizens with us. We are many here that like the vintage ones of those brands. As a half Swedish, half Åland (a part of Finland for you not familiar with the countrys around the Baltic sea), I am very pleased to see yet a brother of the north here on OF. We are already quite a few and our plan is a friendly take over of the place in the upcoming year.
     
    Jwit likes this.
  6. eeki Dec 25, 2016

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    Tack så mycket! :)

    I won't clutter the thread too much, but here's a duo of my favourite divers:
    [​IMG]

    Both from May 1977 coincidentally!
     
    styggpyggeno1 likes this.
  7. Daksu Dec 25, 2016

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    Hello,

    my name is Davide, I’m an italian settled in Helsinki, Finland.
    Since few weeks, I got an Omega Chronostop 145.010 “driver”. Immediately, I was looking for the right forum where to learn and share more information. I apologise for not introducing myself earlier and I want to thank you all to let me participate to this fantastic forum.
    I already got a big help in finding someone to change the leather strap and fix the clasp of the Chronostop. Now, I’m waiting to see result and the new style.
    This is my first Omega wrist watch after been looking for a while. However I have also an Omega Grand Prix 1900 pocket watch got as a present last Christmas.

    Thank you for your attention.
    Here a picture of the new family member.

    Davide

    Omega_Chronostop_1.jpg
     
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  8. dodge1029 Dec 26, 2016

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    Good morning everybody my name is Paul and I starting my watch journey today , I've wanted an Omega for years now but my wife never understood why they cost so much , I now realise she will never come around so I'll buy one anyway. It may sound sad but it is the Bond theme that has got me hooked
     
    Rodmar likes this.
  9. fatkids Dec 26, 2016

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    Hi everyone. My name is fatkids and i have been itching to get my first "real" watch for quite some time. I got married earlier this year, and the preset from my wife will be a watch. I say real because i have a fitbit that i use while exercising but i do not consider it a proper watch

    I've had a swatch watch when i was a young child that i didn't take care of and every since then, i have been using my cellphone as a timepiece. For the last few months, i have been looking at watches trying to figure out what i would like and enjoy as my entry into the watch world.

    I've settled pretty early on an Omega Speedmaster and then spend quite a bit of time deciding on which model i prefer. It was a close tossup between the 3570.50, 3573.50 and the 3576.50 moonphase. I initially wanted the 3576.50 but after much thought, i came to the conclusion that i much prefer having a moonphase on a white dial. I also liked the appeal of the 3570.50 being as close to the original moon watch and the history behind it, plus i think the hesalite crystal gives it a much warmer look.

    I plan on purchasing a 3570.50 in the next week or two from a very reputable member and i have to start shopping for a leather band :)

    In the future i would love to own an A. Lange & Sohne watch but for now, it is only a dream :oops:
     
    Kreindog24 likes this.
  10. Jwit Not a doctor, but plays one on ΩF Dec 26, 2016

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    Damn. You must have hated your parents in grade school.

    Welcome to OF largechild, looking forward to seeing pictures of the watch you end up getting. And congrats on the wedding!
     
    Rodmar and Traveler like this.
  11. mkwandra Dec 26, 2016

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    Hey, mkwandra here. I've been lurking for a couple weeks. I'm not a watch collector, but I have a '99 Breitling Colt Superocean, Ernst Benz Chronosport, Movado something-or-other, Hamilton Jazzmaster, a couple Nixons that my family buy me for the occasional birthday, a Tissot PRC200, an Invicta Reserve Subaqua GMT, and a sterile Egiziano homage that I had to have because it's 60mm across (I hope that's okay). And before all that I had a Casio that was big enough to fit over the sleeve of my flightsuit. I am looking for a Speedmaster Mark II to "complete" my collection, and I greatly enjoy reading the posts on this forum. Thanks!
     
  12. corn18 Dec 26, 2016

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    Welcome aboard! Looks like a CH-47, army type in your avatar.
     
  13. mkwandra Dec 26, 2016

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    It is. I flew Cobra's, Huey's, and Chinooks for the NY National Guard.
     
  14. TimelessQuality Dec 27, 2016

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    Hi all,

    I just signed up on the forum as I am on the hunt for a vintage Omega. Looking forward to reading through everything I can - this forums information is invaluable, a great resource. At some point hopefully I can be one of those helpful contributors!

    Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk
     
  15. t_swiss_t Dec 27, 2016

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    Totally missed this thread. Whoops.

    I'm Andrew, been on here for a few years but had bookmarked the vintage page and didn't really venture anywhere else until recently. I'm a hematology/oncology fellow (read: physician in his second set of training after medical school with a lot of debt and not yet making a decent wage) and medical ethicist. I'm from the Chicago, IL, USA, and have a giant Russian immigrant family that continued our cultural inferiority complex by being Cubs fans for the past 50 years (after this year we don't know what to do with ourselves).

    Looking to collect no more than 7 watches at a time and so far I've been focused on the standard bearers of the golden age, 50-60's Heuer Carrera's, Omega Speedmasters, and Rolex Sub's and GMT's. As rules must be broken once to be right, I'm vintage only except for Journe.

    Cheers --
     
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  16. Smokerjoker Dec 28, 2016

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    Hello,
    As a long time lurker, I think it is time that I properly introduced myself and do an “all in one post” to give you some insight into some of my 2016 purchases.

    My name is George and I live in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area. I work for a local bio-pharmaceutical company. I am truly blessed to enjoy my work, the opportunities that it provides me to travel, and most importantly of all, the knowledge that the company I work for has such an impact on so many people’s lives,

    It is hard to believe that I have been collecting watches for close to 20 years now. I wouldn’t say that I am recent convert to the Omega brand as I have been a fan of the Speedmaster Professional. In my early days of collecting I knew I wanted the “moon watch” and it had to be like the ones the astronauts wore. It was then I found about the caliber 321.

    It should not be a surprise that the growth of my collection was related to the expansion of the internet and the emergence of eBay. The first purchase I made on eBay was for a vintage Speedmaster almost 20 years ago for less than $1000! The one thing I remember about eBay early on was that you could search for “watch” and peruse all the listings easily. During these searches, there were two watches that really caught my eye that were somewhat related. They were the Heuer Monaco 1133B and the Speedmaster 125. Both were “firsts” as the first automatic chronograph and as the first automatic chronograph chronometer. I thought they looked “cool”—big clunky watches of the 1970s that I remember seeing when I was a lot younger.

    I am sure that I share the same story as many of you, I never “pulled the trigger” on either of these two watches. I seem to remember a $100 difference between me and a local seller of a pristine Monaco with full kit for around $4,500. I also lost out on a number of perfect Speedmaster 125s that in hindsight I should of purchased. I was so intent on making a good deal “great” that I missed out.
    Anyway, so that background will help explain how I ended up on this forum. Earlier this year I started looking at these “lost” opportunities. I found my “complete” Heuer and managed to pick it up in person at the Brussels main train station. I also started my search for the Speedmaster 125 which is how I ended up on this forum. There was so much information here about that particular watch—serial numbered watches, correct bracelets, and even conspiracy theories/statistical analysis about how many were really made. To make a long story short, with this information in hand, I found a suitable Speedy 125---from eBay of course!
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    You might think that might be the end of the story—and my wife certainly wishes it ended there. I became the “victim” of information shrapnel—looking at details about the Speedmaster 125 and saw details about other iconic Omega watches from the 1970s. So in May, I bought a vintage Ploprof from a local seller. I also found a white gold plated Time Computer 1. I also did something that I never have done before—bought a watch that I never have seen in person—a complete Omega Marine Chronometer 1516. It was not an easy purchase for me as I could never imagine spending this much on a quartz watch. That aside, from a style perspective, it hit all the marks for me and the technology behind it makes it one of the most special watches ever manufactured. The best analogy about these watches is that they were very much like the Concorde—there was nothing like it before, nothing like since, incredible expensive to maintain, and it is not foreseeable anyone will make anything like in the future.
    [​IMG]
    I wore this watch pretty much religiously until it took a fall and then it started to run erratically. I took it to my local watch maker and he was able to service it no problem since he had a surplus of parts. Ok—just kidding about the local watch maker. It was thanks to this forum that I knew that my watch had to make the journey to visit the fine people at Swiss Time Services in the UK.
    While I was waiting for my watch to get serviced, I found a reasonably priced 1511. When the 1511 arrived, I liked the case style over the 1516, I started looking for more watches and that was when I really got in trouble and found the stardust 1510s. I won’t bore you with the details but now have what I would consider to be some stellar examples and extra parts to include dials in case of an emergency. I also found one of the gold 2.4 MHz dials which I might fit into a gold case.
    [​IMG]
    Apologies for the long winded introduction but at least you have some insight into me and my collection. Thank you again for this forum and to the willingness of its members to share their information. I am a big fan and if there is anything I can do to help anyone out here in California, please let me know. If needed, I can help courier watches to STS as I visit the UK frequently.
    If I had the opportunity to make one change to this forum, I would ask that you open up the “want to buy” area for noobs like me instead of waiting for the obligatory 200 posts.

    Kindest Regards, George
     
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  17. ChrisF Jan 1, 2017

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    Hi everyone. My name is Chris and I found this forum after doing some initial searches for my first Omega. My hobbies are so far in this order:
    1. Photography
    2. My car
    3. Automatic watches (preferably Omega)
    3. 501st legion

    I have had the luck to be able to buy my first Seamaster and now I am researching what vintage watch shall be my next. From my time reading thru all your posts I am truly in awe of all the knowledge you all have and how much sharing is going on. It is very similar to some of my other hobbies that I enjoy taking part in. the camaraderie in a forum or group is the glue that keeps it together and growing.

    I am very happy to be here and soon to be be whittling down the list of vintage watches to my next ownership.
     
    Rodmar likes this.
  18. C4L18R3 Jan 2, 2017

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    HELLO!

    I've been a member on here for some time now and figured I'd introduce myself as my first post! This forum has been a great resource and I think it is time I participated and contributed. My journey with watches began in the late 80's but it was only until I decided to purchase a Speedmaster a few years ago that I truly got hooked on Omegas. I'm a big fan of vintage, specially chronographs, and I am a Seikoholic too. My collection revolves around a very retro aesthetic and is dominated by chronographs. I have set myself a limit to the number of watches I collect so I am able to wear and enjoy them with the intention of eventually handing them over to my boys when the time comes. I enjoy changing, mixing and matching straps and do my own (Seiko) mods when I have the time (as an outlet for an overactive imagination).

    Here are my Speedmasters...
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    I've just acquired a Broad Arrow Moonphase 3575.30 (no pics yet) and wish to add a few more pieces as I continue on my quest... maybe a Mark III, a Rail- or Flightmaster in the not too distant future... oh and an Aqua Terra too!

    Here are a couple of my Seiko 6138s...
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    ...and a sample of what I do with Seikos when I get bored (all 6309 based)... now no longer with me...
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Happy to be here... and Happy New Year to everyone!

    Cheers!

    - C4L18R3
     
    ahartfie likes this.
  19. WindUp Jan 2, 2017

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    Hi to you all,
    I thought it was about time I stopped lurking, sign up and introduce myself.
    My interest in watches started in my twenties, I'd just buy a new watch whenever
    funds allowed. Nothing too expensive just new watches I liked the look of, these could be anything from a Swatch to a smart/dress watch (Raymond Weil), chrono (Boss) or divers (Tag, AquaLung).
    In recent years I inherited my fathers Longines dress watch that I estimate is early eighties and this started my interest in older watches.
    Early last year, my wife and I toured through Switzerland in our motorhome (RV for those of you stateside), stopping in Geneva for a brief visit to the Patek Philippe museum which I thought was amazing. I just wish I'd had more time as I only had two hours before they closed and there was just too much to take in, my head was buzzing when I came out!
    While there we also visited Le Chaux De Fonds, and it was here that I found my first vintage watch at a small watch specialist called Juval. After much debate I decided on this early 50's steel Omega Seamaster Calendar cal 353. I make sure it gets worn at least once a month and it keeps good time. I love wearing something that was made before I was born and still works correctly!

    As soon as funds permit I'll be on the lookout for my next Omega.

    Happy New Year
    image.jpeg
    image.jpeg
     
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  20. kkt Jan 6, 2017

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    I love how Omega prints "CALENDAR" above the date window... just in case you thought "31" was the temperature in Celsius? ;)
    Lovely watch!