I've been around here a couple years and somehow never knew there was a Pinball and Watches thread! Great stuff, some beautiful pieces in here. Rolex and Panerai make up the majority of my collection but I also like IWC, Sinn and a couple others.

The colorway on this IWC Petronas makes me want a Bond LE to match!

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Me too! It uses a very slick quick-change strap system, even easier than Panerai's push-button quick-change setup. Came with a second strap that turns it into a more dressy (less "fun"/flashy) than the bright color rubber strap. Makes it a pretty flexible watch.

Ti case so it wears really nice for a watch of its size.

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Very much a case where "buy the seller" is a good rule when buying second hand. I only buy nicer watches from people I have past experience with or who have an extremely good, long-running reputation. I'd rather have confidence in the purchase than pinch the $ when it comes to watches, personally.

And as a registered cheap bastard, that pains me to type out.

My 70's matte dial sub. My neighbor doesn't have one.

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Man, they really do. I have an old t-dial Speedmaster and an IWC chrono that both have that kind of creamy patina on the indices. This one's deeper than the others but something special about those old watches.

Some people are buying to flip, although if you pay "secondary" (marked up above MSRP), most sellers have taken the available profit. If you manage to find a dealer who will sell you one at retail, whether through a good relationship with them or whatever other means, they're likely going to expect you to keep it. But lots of people end up flipping them as a pinball machine worth of profit is hard for some to pass up.

Spending above retail on a watch is no different than spending above retail on a pin or on a car or on concert tickets. People are paying it and the prices are where they are because the demand is crazy compared to the supply. If there weren't people paying double the original retail, prices wouldn't be where they are. They weren't a few years ago!

I think it's safe to say that the Rolex market has been this way for a few years, the blowup started before COVID. But back in 2015/2016 and earlier, you could buy modern Rolex below retail without an issue and without any kind of wait.

They're great watches, they are very durable, and they have ultimate brand recognition. There are some old sayings about how Rolex are basically an international currency because of their rep - you could easily a Rolex most populated places around the globe quickly if you got in a pinch.

Are they for everyone? Nope. Neither is pinball or plenty of other hobbies. They are a luxury item. One that historically has held its value quite well. Will I pay a huge markup on one? No, I won't. I've bought a couple from Rolex AD's over the last few years but stopped buying them second hand when the prices went stupid. Not unlike many long time pinball enthusiasts have seen with this hobby. Just like machines sell for well over what they cost new because there's hype or demand or because they're great - or some combination of all of those.

Some people buy pins, some buy cars, some buy paintings or other collectible stuff. Horses for courses as they say, everybody's got their thing.

My $0.02 as a "collector" of the brand.

The point about being careful is a good one but that's just a good general rule. Look flashy and you're going to need to be a bit more aware.

A relationship with an AD really helps when it comes to purchases. A friend at an AD helped me with a new Datejust 41 Wimbledon dial earlier this year. I wasn't asked to make any additional purchases but I ended up buying a nice new anniversary ring for my wife at the same time. You know things have gotten wild when there's a wait to buy a Datejust!

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Thanks Mike! It's a little dressy for me but it works with a suit and works with shorts and flip-flops too. The green surrounds on the numerals are very subtle. Sometimes they seem bright and POP but other times they're almost not there. Fun watch.

$10.5K retail

Man, that black/green destro GMT is hot, hot, hot! The modern Jubilee bracelet is truly a pleasure to wear too.

That is really cool. And Omega is always good at coming up with names for their stuff that make me chuckle.

Congrats! I really love Bond and there's supposed to be a new code release coming next week that fixes the current lack of mode stacking. Won't get all of the modes next week but at least you won't get booted out of a mode when you start multiball. Lots of great stuff promised in a recent stream with Gomez and Vinikour.

Pulled out the Bell & Ross V2-93 yesterday
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I travel at times for my job and the GMT is really handy for that. Lets me keep track of local time as well as time at home. The math for the time offset isn't hard domestically but nice for a quick glance when on overseas travel. Obviously good for personal travel in the event that you need to reach out to someone at home.

I also work with people overseas so it's nice to have their time zone handy as the second function so I can quickly know whether to expect that my email is hitting them outside their work hours or if I need to text or call, I can do so at a respectful hour. I have some watch friends who use GMT for that same purpose but for family that live multiple time zones away.

Not necessary for everyone, but most people travel at some point and that's when GMT function is obviously most useful.

Best I can do on that request. T-dial Speedmaster is the only Omega in my collection.
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Vintage Rolex is probably a better match for Connery era Bond though. I'd make a shot with a 6538 Big Crown if I had one Tudor Black Bay 58 is probably the closest visually, this side of the real deal.
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Turtle is a great watch in any of its variants, and that cushion case is so comfy to wear. Great choice!

Great watch! Love the BB58

I'm a Sinn fanboy to be sure. Every one I've owned has been extremely durable and super super consistent for timekeeping. Not sure if it's their antimagnetic stuff or what but mine have always run awesome.

That's fantastic. Where did you buy it?

I ended up buying one of these, couldn't resist. Gave it to my wife so I will see it on Father's Day, Birthday, Christmas, sometime.

Dirty enablers!!

Nice! Which ref is this? Looks like a LAB-ID but with a different dial? Also interesting to see the strap wound the opposite direction, just more comfortable for you this way? Usually the tang is on the 12:00 side.

Personally, I find the date at 4:30 disruptive. The XX always had such a pretty dial. Give me the previous version all day, for my money.

Yeah, I'm not inherently anti-4:30, I have watches with a date there that work for me. What I dislike is that placement on THIS watch. It was so clean and symmetric that this busies the dial in an unfortunate way, IMHO. If you have to have a date, include it like on the Transatlantique and put a white-on-black date box at 6:00 so it doesn't ruin the otherwise brilliant Breguet style.

A buddy and I swapped watches a couple years ago at an event we were both attending, so I had the pleasure of wearing his Datograph Up/Down for a day. It really was a fantastic watch.
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Had some running around to do this afternoon so I grabbed the SD43. Haven't worn this one in a minute.

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I think these new Sideral Powermatic 80's are really fun throwback-style pieces. I may try to grab the yellow one.
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Beautiful Speedy, any idea what year?

Fantastic! Congrats, that lume is great too! I haven't grabbed one yet, need to reach out to my local guy. Enjoy!

I did end up picking up one of the Tissot Sideral Powermatic 80's. Fun, colorful summer throwback piece in forged carbon. Super comfortable and a joy to wear. Funky Apple Watch style pin/rubber strap setup on quick change is quite cool.

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Agree that it would be best if the movement could be serviced. And the irony of the whole "bioceramic" greenwash for an un-serviceable $400 watch is not lost on me. But whoever provided those estimated lifespans is full of shit in my experience.

I bought one of the original Sistem51 watches in 2014 shortly after they came to the US as I thought it was a fun watch and I appreciated the relatively simplicity (51 parts, one screw) of the movement. That watch was $150, a throwaway by any stretch, but also kind of a marvel to me to have an automatic movement at that price point. Mine is only worn occasionally, but runs perfectly fine, now 9 years into its time with me. My friends who bought them in that same timeframe have had the same experience.

Many people came to the Moonswatch or are looking at the Fifty Fathomswatch and expecting more than what they should. It's a Swatch. It's plastic and feels cheap. That aspect is 100% on-brand for Swatch and always has been. They're supposed to be fun and lighthearted, at least as much fashion as serious timepiece. If you keep it in that category and enjoy it for what it is, it's fun.

Old tritium dial Panerai 243. Aging in nicely.

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I don't own many microbrand watches any more but I really do like this one. Serica 5303-3 Destro.

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A friend turned me on to them some time back. I really like the super clean design, vintage diver styling, subtle branding, ceramic bezel, domed sapphire crystal, and mesh bracelet. Like most other microbrands, they use a fairly "standard" movement, in this case a Soprod Newton automatic with a 44 hour power reserve.

Movement runs very well, watch suits my tastes and it's very comfortable on mesh. I don't have any others from Serica but they have GMT and Field Watch options that are similarly nice. My main collection is fairly focused but I do have a few watches that are just fun or nice looking and this watch hits those marks for me.

I'm no expert on vintage Omega but given the age of the watch it may be a challenge for a watchmaker / restorer to source parts for this kind of project. But you should be able to get that info pretty quickly. I wish you the best, it would be very cool to make it happen.

Their mass/weight (or lack thereof) doesn't do them any favors, and the cheap strap is a drag too. But they're fun and I really like that there are so many color options. My son recently got the Jupiter version and I really dig it. Switching to a fitted silicone strap really helps the feel. I'd like to scare up a Mars version and set it up this way. I have a vintage (as much as it hurts me to use that word ) Speedmaster so for me the primary attraction are the fun colorways.
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I think the mistake that some have made is buying a MoonSwatch and expecting it to feel high quality or be of even remotely similar quality or feel to an actual Speedmaster Pro. It's a Swatch, that's why it's $270 and not $6-7k like a modern Speedy.

Taken as what they are, watches like the MoonSwatch, G-Shocks, etc. are just good clean fun. Some turn their nose up at them but for me, there's room for watches that do nothing more than tell the time and make me smile, alongside cornerstone pieces like Rolex, Omega, Panerai, etc. We are fortunate to have so many choices at so many price points!

Rolling with my Panerai 292 Black Seal Ceramic the last couple days. A classic. I'm usually a big black watch guy, but the matte black really suits this watch. Sandwich dial, Radiomir - it checks a lot of boxes for me.
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I have one that I was able to buy shortly after they were released in 2017. They're fantastic watches. The Sea Dweller has always been the Sub's beefier brother with a significantly deeper depth rating. Although originally they were in very similar cases, the caseback and crystal were typically thicker adding to the overall thickness.

The 126600 (sometimes nicknamed the SD43 or Sea Dweller 50th) is definitely bigger/thicker than a Submariner. Some people love that extra beef, some others don't. I've always enjoyed divers and have always been a Panerai fan so the size was a non-issue for me. The 126600 is much more evenly proportioned than the Deep Sea and has a little less wrist presence. I like the size, the heft, the nicely proportioned lugs/bracelet (to the larger watch head), the historic tip-of-the-hat dash of red text and the matte dial.

Criticisms of the reference seem to most often be around Rolex's choice to include a cyclops on a Sea Dweller, which was never part of the model in the past. It doesn't bother me and makes the date much more readable for me, so I actually prefer having it. But like with all things, to each their own.

I love the SD43 and wear mine often.

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Good deal. It's a great watch and much less common than the Submariner. They've (Rolex) all got a huge amount of hype/demand these days. I waited about 7 months for my Datejust, which is wild to think about. When I started collecting Rolex stuff, watches like the Daytona frequently sat and usually sold for well below retail. Dealers had Subs available to buy and watches like the Datejust were dogs from a sales perspective. Things have changed greatly over the last 5-ish years and it's turned lots of folks off. Hope your AD hooks you up in a reasonable timeframe.

It's a funny thing with Rolex. There's definitely some degree of stigma and sterotyping, etc. Thankfully for me, I gave up giving a damn what anyone else thought, decades ago. I have several Rolex and have been into them since well before the recent nonsense. For sure, movement finishing is not their thing, they are tool / sport watches. There's a good reason they don't have much in the way of display back pieces. Most of my Rolex are modern-ish, some are new, but my favorites are the vintage pieces. Unfortunately, vintage Rolex has gotten even crazier than new stuff, so my days of buying vintage Rolex are mostly over.

The demand and the secondary market for Rolex got wild. So did Pinball and plenty of other hobbies. Some of it has started to "correct" and that goes for most goods, so we'll see where it all lands. Will it get to the point of being able to walk into an AD and by a Sub on the spot? Or a Daytona below retail? It's got a looooong way to go before we get there, so it should be interesting over the longer haul.

The great part about watches and watch collecting is that for many, it changes over time - and there is a vast, vast world of timepieces to enjoy. And at price points where most anyone can participate and enjoy. My advice to younger collectors when asked is "buy what you love, and enjoy it." Sometimes people get weird about prescribed "rules" to collecting and other nonsense, whether it's certain pieces or some specific recipe of variety. IMHO that's silly. Your watch or your watch collection should be made up of what YOU want it to be.

It's a hobby, it's supposed to be fun and bring enrichment and enjoyment into your life. Nobody NEEDS a nice watch. Wear one because it makes you smile when you look at your wrist, whether it's a Timex or a Patek or anything in between.

Gotta love a tall "tophat" plexi. Pretty watch!

So clean! Love their watches.

Great watch! A local friend is a big B&R guy, love the brand.

I'm a PAM junkie, my personal favorite. 44mm Luminor on a Bund is one chonky setup! Looks great on you.

Yeah a fresh Luminox tritium vial insert watch might be good call for what you are looking for. They're quite durable, not terribly expensive and the glow from vials is excellent, although fading over time as you note. I've beaten a few up over the years and they are an easily-read option for a real-world beater in situations where a vial is important.

I really wanted to brush the center links on my GMT Master II but decided to just wear it for a while and do it once the center links got their inevitable swirls on the polished surfaces. And in the end, I just left it be - and ended up really enjoying the worn-in look.