I have owned vintage, and new Rolex, Omega and other diver, pilot and field watches. The issue is with the prices and cost increases these watches are becoming more collector pieces than tools like they were intended in my opinion. Any thoughts?

 

Switzerland has spoken, and they say stainless steel is a precious metal now.

 

It would seem so...

 

It's no secret that computers, Ipads, Smart phones and smart watches have handily replaced them. I would say they have become jewellery imbibed in nostalgia more than collectors pieces. Even dive watches have become pretty glitzy. I think watches, old or new, simply convey the nostalgia of the days they were actually used as tools and this is what endears us to them. I have no doubt that watch manufacturers target the nostalgic rather than the professional. The Rolex DSSD comes to mind as well as the one everybody loves around here. The Omega Speedmaster. The Speedmaster may be the last pure tool watch but who uses it as a bona fide tool?

Cheers,

 

What I've always found interesting to see is when people post pictures of a vintage diver,or pilot watches with scars and fading. Watches that were used as they were intended. I have a Seiko skx175 and it has been used as a true tool watch and has held up wonderfully.

 

Yes, that's the spirit of attraction!

Today you will have a better chance to encounter a Submariner in a board room meeting than on a diving expedition yet how many hundreds of thousands are sold? Not many have "diving" in mind when they buy their brand new Sub!

 

If you mean as a tool to tell the time at a glance, then I do almost every day - and even with some watches that aren't Speedmasters.

If a tool's value can be measured by its effectiveness at its intended purpose, then a watch makes a very good tool. Like a hammer or a hand saw.

 

I think they are out there, as people have noted Seiko. As also noted they are anachronisms. Divers use computers and not watches. No need for wrist watches in rally driving, timing systems are more accurate for race cars and available at every track. Pilots use iPads.

 

I do! One of my jobs after pushback from the gate is to start the engines on the MD-88/90 which includes starter cycle timing and engine warm up prior to takeoff. Sometimes the instrument panel clock (directly above my ring finger in the first pic below) will malfunction...so I will time the start cycles and engine warm ups using my Speedmaster stop watch function. Works great lasts long time!

 

For the most part, people looking for tools, any kind of tool, aren't going to spend 100 x what they have to. The people who just want a tool watch are buying Japanese quartz; it's the economically rational thing to do. I'm glad there are enough people who get enjoyment out of the mechanicals to keep that market alive.

 

I stand corrected...I should have said "not many use them as tools anymore"..

 

@Faz seikos are still used in diving. I'll admit my POC has only seen pools but my skx has hit 150feet

 

Hey @Mad Dog !Keep the plane on Auto-Pilot[emoji41]

 

I have a SubmarinerLV and a Pelagos and dive with both of them (not at the same time, though). There are both excellent dive watches that I check more than my computers for dive time because they're so easy to read, as well as that's how I've been doing it for decades (and a mechanical watch can partially flood and still function, while dive computers quit if they get wet). They are better "tool watches" than their ancestors, and the only people who don't think they're tool watches are people on watch forums and youtube channels who have never actually used a dive watch for what it's for. Yes they are expensive. Rolex dive watches have always been expensive. So are Snap-On tools. Hey, you want to go for economy when it comes to your tools and instruments, go right ahead. It always cracks me up when people go cheap on a dive watch "in case something happens, I'm not out all that money." Brilliant. This is one of the few occasions where your watch's accuracy and ability to stay waterproof can be very important; even critical. A lot of cheaper watches do fine-for a while. Then they have "issues." There's a reason all those old Submariners are still around, even though so many were actually used for diving before the invasion of the poser class we see today. The latest version is the best one they've ever made, and will last even longer.

 

Poseur class? That's a bit harsh, by that reasoning no one should have a PO or sea dweller unless they sat dive.

Don't get me started on overkill gear on divers. Fully sealed first stages for divers that refuse to dive cold water? Tech harnesses with tank swivel mounts and horseshoe bags for pure recreational use. The costs and or buoyancy problems just to have the biggest baddest gear set...

Look I dive a custom ranger bcd personally modified for what I do, even that is overkill for most of the diving I do but I'm a big guy who does cold water diving and runs multi tank setups periodically and sometimes does some recovery work, or work as a safety diver for advanced classes. I'm in the minority but when I see pure recreational divers with more hardcore tech gear then me and spent twice as much and have to deal with the horrible buoyancy of tech gear I have to laugh a little.

 

Currently in Bali, diving. I have a pretty nice diver on, I trust it. That's because it's been serviced and pressure tested. Ready to go! Dive computer is pretty new with good battery, all set! But those things can go out on you (and they have, it is a terrible feeling). That's what a dive buddy is for, they should have a 'puter too. Anyways, I categorize most of these wonderful mechanical watches as 'Tool' watches, even if they seem like luxury items to most.

 

When I started diving back in the 70s, I was amazed at the guys who would have a regulator, weight belt, pressure gauge, depth gauge and watch. That was it. And they were like dolphins underwater. Perfect bouyancy control, low air consumption, and perfectly comfortable no matter the circumstance. Plan your dive, dive your plan, and minimize complications. It taught me a lot. I totally don't get having more superstructure on your person than the wreck you're visiting. To think I used to use twin 45s all the time. Now I free dive whenever possible!

 

LOL...so I guess everyone that has ever purchased a GMT is a poser pilot, and what about the Explorer is that strictly for the guys that scaled Everest? I thought you could buy them because you liked the design...damn I screwed up.

 

I love that my PloProf was used by its original owner for - gasp - diving. Nowadays, this is as near to water as it's likely to get:

 

Sinn still makes tool watches and pretty good ones too.