doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Slightly OT: Wristwatches and doubles?

This could go lots of different directions, clearly, considering the barrage of watch infomercials I seem to be encountering online these days.

No matter, what that barrage of information did for me was to help me to focus on what I find myself reaching for when I head out the door these days. Like many men, I suppose, I find myself now with a battery of watches I can wear. Some I bought, some I inherited, and some that were gifts (from my bride & otherwise). I am grateful for them all and give them the care and concern that they deserve (as I do with most of my personal possessions).

Something that I have noticed lately is my preference for using a smaller, lighter watch with a cloth band. Especially when I'm doing outdoorsey things. That includes work in the yard, cleaning up the various parts of the house (garage & kitchen) and of course shooting (& hunting). I wore a fairly expensive watch for years as a younger man (and I'm sure for all the usual reasons). I still like that watch very much, but... when it came time to service it after a few years of hard use, the cost from Omega to do so nearly caused me to pitch a fit. I finally had them do the necessary repairs and service, but I haven't worn it since. It sits in it's original box in my gun safe awaiting the proper moment to be either gifted on worn again. Amongst other things, my father made his living buying and selling private aircraft for most of my childhood and accordingly he owned and wore a Breitling's pilot watch for many years, so my interest in such things isn't anything new in my family (& my grandfather wore an Omega Constellation).

So it seems a bit unusual now that I employ a cheap, plain, & light field watch...a better than average Timex(egad!). I use it to hunt and shoot almost exclusively now and when I get blood on it while cleaning a deer (or a bird or a fish) I don't even give it a second thought (because I won't be spending $800 to get it serviced!). It cleans up easily with soap and warm water and then I'm back at it shortly thereafter. I also don't miss the added weight of my other, bigger, mechanical (tool) watches with their heavy metal bracelets when I'm shooting (probably an old man's complaint) as I'm more interested in comfort than I am in impressing anyone. The added weight when shooting is nothing a stronger young man would even notice but...I seem to do so now, sadly. My better (fancier) watches are now treated like jewellery, and I use them for more formal affairs (church, dinners out, etc.). I still like them just fine, but not for "play" anymore.

Does this subject have any resonance for the other denizens here?

Lloyd,
Why yes it does. I do know that Rolex's and other expensive watches need costly servicing requiring them to be sent away for it, I've come to prefer a quartz watch instead of a mechanical spring one. The quartz watches are accurate needing only a battery yearly. The mechanical ones are more sought after and prized, but I've come to prefer a couple of Bulova Marine Star's for both dress and out and about use. I believe the more expensive watches serve more as jewelry than anything else. Form should always follow function!
Karl

Times and styles change.
Now I wear a Garmin Fenix 99% of the time.
Email, text, gps, and can keep track of my dogs when afield.

I wear nicer watches when the situation warrants, but for me, it’s more a sentimental thing.
I wear an automatic watch when on a site because it was my dad’s. I wear a conductor’s watch when riding trains, because my wife’s grandfather was an engineer on the Ann Arbor line. Etc.

When abroad, every crook knows what an American wearing a Rolex looks like.

Not for me. I don’t wear a watch. Never have.

Well, that’s not quite true. When I was in my mid twenties I was dating this very nice young lady. She thought I’d look good wearing a watch. So put one on my wrist that she had inherited. I knew nothing of watches or their value. I wore the watch for the rest of the time we dated and when we stopped, naturally I returned it to her. Only later did I come to understand the value of a vintage Patek Philippe. Kinda ruined me for anything less. Lol. Like learning to shoot with a Boss or Purdey.

I hate wrist watches. I don't wear rings either. Things on my wrist or fingers are hazardous around equipment like I work around daily, which have so many moving parts . . . .chains, belts, DC voltage, etc. But, I've never had the habit of wearing a wrist watch, even in school. Before I got a cell phone I carried a Swiss Army pocket watch. But, once I got a cell phone, which is with me constantly all my waking hours, I have zero need for a watch.

Working outside daily as I do I taught myself to estimate the time very closely, many decades ago. Now, for fun, I'll look at the sun, estimate the time of day, then check it on my cell phone home screen. Keeps you on your toes.

If I may ask a question, for those of you who wear a wrist watch and also keep a cell phone on your person all the time . . . . WHY? Is the wrist watch more of a fashion statement you want to make? I mean, isn't one accurate source of time enough? Do you wear a belt and a set of suspenders too?

My cell phone has the time, and it changes automatically when I cross into a different time zone and updates for daylight Saving Time. Also, the time is down in the bottom right corner of the computer screen and on the dashboard of all my vehicles. What do I need a watch for?

Watch, yes. Cell phone, absolutely no.


I have the watch I bought my dad for Christmas perhaps a decade ago. He wore it daily, but, gently, he was in his early 70s. It is a Zodiac Marine Life self winder, that needs to be serviced. It is a good quality Swiss watch, the ebauche is the same ETA 2824-2 used in the big money Swiss watches. It was a discontinued watch, and not very expensive. Since I won’t end up with a watch when I retire, I’ll have it serviced when I do and wear it when I accompany the missus on a date night, or, when I carry one of his old guns out in the field, instead of the Timex Indiglo that is usually on my wrist.

Dad would have liked that.

My son has the Zodiac Seawolf dad bought before his tour in south east Asia, and while it has been serviced and keeps good time, it looks like a Marine wore it for 60 years, cause, he did. My son wears it now, and has a cell phone in his pocket. His reason is the phone might not work, but, grampa’s watch always does.

Dad would have like that, too.

Best,
Ted

I feel absolutely naked without a wristwatch. I have worn one since high school and every day since (no smart phones back then). Old fashioned doctors use a watch 2nd hand to check heart and respiratory rate, as I did every day that I worked. A watch was a necessity for me. I will wear one for the rest of my life, maybe even on the deathbed? I find a watch to be utilitarian no matter that folks like Stanley consider watches only superfluous jewelry/fashion statements. Crazy.....

Nothing wrong with nostalgia. I'm very much a nostalgic person myself. But, my cell phone has never caused me to be late for an appointment, a meeting, church, a hunting trip, or any family or social event I needed to be on time for. Maybe I'm just lucky, but it's a long string of luck.

It's Stanton, not Stanley. But, you and your tag teammate jOe always knew that, didn'tja' Willie?