My tool-watches earn their keep, whether it’s diving, flying, racing or exploring.
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As it should be. 
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This thread is well (or poorly) timed. I used to have a small collection of vintage Seikos, but I sold them off when the prices went up.
Getting tired of having to use my phone to tell time, so I’m back in the market.
I have some Euro friends that have Sinns, and I’ve always liked their (relative) rarity and German practicality. Now I’m waiting until I find a (slight) deal on a 556.
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Nice.
Very nice collection of watches gentlemen
I used to wear watches all of the time. I don’t anymore but I still have my very small collection.
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Do you fly as well Ian?
When I used to fly (many years ago) I had a really nice watch that displayed time in ‘Zulu’ And whatever the set local time was. Really miss that watch as I don’t know what happened to it.
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here is my Seiko SKX 007 - I wear it every day since 2012 with over a dozen different wristbands
I prefer Zulu Bands and most of them are more colourful like “gulfy” or the “classic bond” in black/red/green
please click on “the off topic” in the link and not on the “(Licht_edited)”
I still add my smartwatch(Samsung Gear S2) to the same wrist, for some fun, from time to time. It´s the first usable one on the market - in my humble opinion - and so I talked with my wife about it - she bought it for me and now I have to keep it
I would love a Sinn, though my priorities went away from EDC(each day carry) stuff and the fun budgets flow more into photography and audio
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My brother that I mentioned earlier in this thread has the same Seiko as yours, I believe!
I prefer the Seiko to his Oris. 
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How Low Can You Go: Cheap Chinese Watches
In the spirit of replicating the “Cheap IEM” and “Chinese IEM” threads, here’s my experience with very low cost watches from GearBest and AliExpress. I doubt that @Torq will turn a headphone site into a watch site and split this thread into many. But if so, I have a bunch of ideas for pocket knife threads too!
A few years back I was buying random batches of goods from China. This included audio gear (often good to great) and pocket knives (often good to fantastic, but many intellectual property issues), and threw in some watches. The photo below shows four products from Chinese vendors, along with a US release Invicta for comparison.
Bottom line: Regrets, I have several. The Chinese models cost between $13 and $30 but often weren’t worth even that much. I may get one as costume jewelry for Halloween, or perhaps as an ironic gift for @pennstac. Next time I’ll buy Seiko movements or better. [My actual everyday watches are generally Citizen solar models.]
Descriptions follow the photo.
Left Side: Jaragar JARA-034 Navitimer Homage Automatic Watch (paid about $25). This is functional costume jewelry, and downright huge. It looks impressive from 10 feet away, but up close the non-functional sub dials become obvious. The buttons are also fakes. I have a soft spot for Breitling and can’t hate it.
Top Middle: Tevise 356 Automatic Watch (paid $20, now $27). Don’t let the looks fool you, this is complete garbage. No reserve power or ability to wind, so shake it up. Cosmetic and non-functional sub dials, cosmetic and non-functional buttons. The hour hand is offset so one can never set it quite accurately, or be sure if it’s 2:15 or 3:15. Sigh.
Top Right: Invicta 8926OB Submariner clone and extremely common in the US (I paid perhaps $65 and it’s widely available for <$100, or as much as $300 among the gullible). It has a Seiko movement and a non-Japanese body/band. So, it’s actually pretty decent. It’s as functional as possible in the <$100 automatic watch market.
Bottom Middle: Jijia 810 Skeletonized Automatic Watch ($13). Absolute garbage in every way. Has no reserve or even a winding feature, so shake, shake, shake and hope it lasts for a few hours. It’s not fog proof, so good luck actually even reading the time. But, skeletonized!
Bottom Right: Soki S86 Automatic Watch ($15) – Plastic crystal Submariner clone. It keeps time reasonably well but is flimsy. It came with the world’s smallest steel bracelet. I swapped it for a NATO strap (as shown). Perhaps a good option for developing watch servicing skills.
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I’m in
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One could get an original budget Casio and call it a day
It’s style-ish(my wife wears some, so take it as a fact),
a sort of heritage and some are highly respected among enthusiasts
Who does not remember the 1980s “databank” calculator watch 
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I became frustrated at not being able to tell what time it was in the middle of the night because the lume on my watches had faded - I have sleep issues. So I bought a watch with radioactive tritium capsules that stay fully illuminated all the time. T100 has a half life of 12.5 years so the lume should be good for about 20. My phone is not great at low level light conditions so I included a couple of photos from the manufacture’s website as well as my own. The watch has a quartz Ronda 715Li movement, which is mediocre in terms of accuracy (gains or loses 10-20 seconds/month) but has a stated battery life of ten years.
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I’m suddenly aware of skin cancer risks and radioactivity. What element is used for this?
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Cool. No gamma particles turning you green like Hulk, and is safe. Good to learn things
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I believe Luminox uses similar technology.
There are other watch manufacturers that use tritium for luminescence such as Ball and Deep Blue. I will die or get sick from other causes, such as an angry wife who can’t sleep because my watch is too bright, before anything related to tritium radiation.
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I got this Seiko last June for my birthday:
World Time, heavy and very well built!
This one is really BIG and HEAVY!
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You left out “it’s big.” That TOTALLY matters!
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Good tip! I own somewhere between 1 & 2 dozen old Hamilton tanks, from their glory days in the '40s, '50s & '60s. Also have 8-10 Hamilton electrics, including several extremely desirable models. Only problem: none of them work or apparently ever will.
I see latter day Hamiltons from time to time in watch stores, and it’s kinda sad: the soul of that brand, their imaginative & well-executed designs, seems lacking now.
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