Teddy is a workhorse man. Steady pumping out bangers. It's rare that i can binge a channels older content while they are still feeding me videos i auto click in real time.
How about helium escape valves? Absolutely useless complication for 99.99% of all watch wearers, even those of us who do use our watches while diving. The population of Heliox divers (ie, people who need a helium escape valve) in the world would fit into a decent sized high school auditorium. For the rest of us? It's an extra potential point of failure in the case.
It's a marketing thing more than anything. All of Omegas watches can handle all commercial applications because of the HE valve as to where Rolexs submariner can only handle limited commercial applications.
Hi Teddy, I've been watching your videos for a couple of months now and just wanted to say it's extremely refreshing to see such a young Lad making such good quality and measured videos. The watch industry needs younger folk to be buying and promoting watches. Well done and I hope you continue.
Accuracy for me: if it runs +8 a day or less, it's a good watch. It means it will be off by a minute in a week. Anything +15 or over and you will notice it if you need a watch for keeping appointments etc. If a watch can't keep decent time first and foremost, you may as well just go out and buy a fancy bracelet.
I couldn't agree more. I had the same thought, may as well buy a bracelet. If accuracy doesn't matter, then why do high-end watches all have high accuracy (high performance) calibers? A high-accuracy mechanical movement can be admired for its engineering performance, even if it doesn't perform as well in accuracy as a quarts movement. You aren't just buying it to keep the time only sufficiently enough for your daily tasks. I'd like to see Teddy buy a $10K watch and not care that it runs just as accurately as a watch with a Miyota movement, I'm sure he'd care about the engineering quality that goes into the movement.
with you on that. I'm wearing a watch so it keeps time! ..the cool factor is nice but secondary. yeah, if it doesn't keep time then go for a bling bracelet *not* containing a multi$K watch 🤣 you kinda advertise being a dummy when the time on your R or O or whatever is off 🤣 you can be sure that when I see a fancy timepiece, the immediate next thing I also look for is how close is it to real time. is it a minute+ off? you get a smirk. is it
You make great points but I would argue this: nearly all mechanical watches aren’t necessary to begin with so we buy them to admire the engineering and design. The new crazy Omega diver is interesting to me despite knowing I’ll never come close to using its capabilities. The reason it catches my eye is because it’s amazing they pulled it off.
Honestly for these prices, every single watch made by these companies/GRAND Seiko/Rolex/Richard Mille/Ulysse Nardin/Piaget/Omega/Brequet/Panerai/Breitling/Hublot/Vacheron Chopard/Patek and so on, SHOULD, MAYBE be made out of Titanium,even if its disguised titanium, meaning they can still keep the look their going for, but just add that durability, it should DEFINITELY have sapphire glass,it should DEFINITELY be 200mm+ water resistant,it should be solar and it should be atomic, no matter which watch it is/if the watch is over $1000 it should have ALL OF THESE FEATURES/the value of these parts are DEFINITELY not worth the price tag anyway, your paying for a name and to be honest, they should make ALL of their watches keep time to 1 second a year,even if they aren't using quartz, or just perfect it,even if Atomic is built in or if it uses a satellite of some kind, after all for these prices, there is no limit/for the price their charging, NOTHING should be left out/left off,no excuses,we should DEFINITELY hold these companies to higher standards/I think if you buy a watch at these prices, it should have ALL of these features and you should have access to their time keeping satellites,that could auto wind your watch/send a signal to automatically set/wind your clock at midnight, every night or when ever you want to manually set your watch,to the time keeping satellites. We need to hold these companies to a higher standard/they can't ask for crazy prices,without offering everything other watch manufacturers are offering, for much cheaper prices/we don't want to just be buying a name, to fit in,we want quality made products. These are good watches,SOME lack SOME features,but they are all at least built well/they are not just junk/they will actually hold up; Bulova Sea King Omega Ploprof Omega Seamaster Ultra Deep Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Titanium Rolex Deepsea dweller Tudor Pelagos 25600tn-bkti Titanium Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon Deepquest ii Shinola The Ice Monster Seiko Tuna Orient Triton MTG-G1000D Steel GST-B100 MTG-B1000XBD Mudman Rangeman Frogman ProTreks GW-5610 GSW-H1000 GPR-B1000 Rangeman
Honestly for most people watches aren't even necessary, they are just jewellery to most people that wear them and will even still whip out the phone to check the time
hey Teddy, a minor correction about the water resistance: the x meters of water resistance means it can withstand the pressure if placed stationary in that depth, but that is not all the watch “experiences” in water. Let’s say you are standing in a pool with only your head above water, and arms on your side. You can try to swing your arms back and forth, but it would be a lot more difficult to do it in water than in air. This is because your arm experiences more pressure when moving. The same apply to watches. Though you might not be swimming in a 5 meter pool, brining a 5 meters water resistant watch swimming is a bad idea.
Yes! I was going to write something similar about the difference between static and dynamic water pressure and that our watches are rated at static pressure. The example you gave is perfect to explain this difference. 😊
But dynamic pressure is pretty much negligible. I doubt theres many people diving below 10 meters let alone moving more than 14m per second at which point the resistance of 30m would be plenty
Accuracy is a big one for me. I think that a watch should fulfill its main purpose, telling you the time, as well as possible. Chronometers, Spring Drives and GShock multi band watches are all part of my collections because they are so accurate. If I’m justifying the cost of a watch, it’s gotta do a good job keeping me on time
I agree. Would like to see more high accuracy quartz (haq) watches. Preferably combined with solar. A Mondaine watch with a Bulova like smooth second hand, solar and haq would be a superwatch to me.
@@MichielJ71 I have never understood why Bulova hasn’t used the Precisionist movement in a less polarizing watch design! I think it’s an incredible bit of engineering, but I don’t like any of the designs they use. Total missed opportunity by them so far. If they put that movement in a more traditional diver design I would buy it immediately
If you want accuracy, you should never be looking at mechanical watches in the first place. You will always want quartz, or better yet, a quartz synchronized with an atomic clock. If you want a sweeping seconds hand, oh well, then you're left with either the humongous Accutron or the recently overhyped Spring Drive.
Hey Teddy, great video. Would love to see the opposite video on under rated features like the micro adjust you mentioned. Maybe quick set dates and things of that nature which are SUPER useful for most wearers.
Strong agree. This was excellent on overrated features (I would have added dates and especially days. I don't need 'em on my watch). Underrated is the natural sequel. Example: legibility is underrated. Lug-to-lug measurements are often underrated.
I would like to see every bracelet with at least the option for a sliding micro adjust clasp. I had to find an aftermarket one that worked well and switched it out. Would've just been nice to jave the option when buying. Also, I'd be willing to pay a small premium for a micro adjust
There's something to be said for ultra thin watches, if you can say it's a feature. I'm wearing more and more of them the comfort is supreme, it's probably the best feature we lost in the quartz crisis.
@@Not_Mark_Twain legibility, that's part why pilot watches and divers are appealing to the masses they can't really screw this up or either they're kinda pointless, for dress watches who cares but that's 10% of the market. It should be a crime to make everyday watches you can't read at glance.
Teddy's potential is insane. Solid production and content, well spoken, good demeanor, and kind hearted. He could be a top tier TV personality. Don't get me wrong, I hope he keeps making watch videos. I absolutely love them, but watch videos have no business being this high quality hahaha.
I totally agree that great lume on a watch is not at all 'necessary', but it is one of my favorite things about a dive watch. Brings a big smile to my face when I walk into a room and it lights up bright. It's not rational that it's high on my priority list, but lume is simply a ton of fun and is something I look forward to seeing.
Water resistance is an important feature for me. I do not wear my watch while swimming or showering. However, when I'm going to spent my time anywhere near body of water, or when it's about to rain, I will surely grab my G-Shock.
The water resistance one is a bit tricky. You rarely go down to 100 m but moving your arms underwater while swimming/snorkeling etc. increases the pressure that is affecting the watch. I would advise against going for a swim with anything below 10 bar/100m WR. Doing the dishes can also be problematic if you are the Hulk :).
1) Moving your arms makes a negligible difference in pressure. 2) 100m depth is significant pressure: Around 162 pounds per square inch. Way more than you need to go for a swim on the surface. 3) The recreational dive limit is 40m. Any WR greater than 100m is just for bragging rights and is of no practical value. 4) Professional divers wear dive computers, not luxury mechanical watches.
@@David-fu5kb while divers, both recreational and commercial, use dive computers, many of them use a dive watch as a backup; after all computers crash, run out of battery, and so on. That said, you don't need to get a luxury brand dive watch; there are good options made by divers, for divers. One that comes to mind is Scurfa watches.
I remember my mother buying me a cheap 50m watch in Gran Canaria as a kid. I'd jump in the pool and dive to the bottom at like 2 meters, And that watch immediately got all misty inside. Got a replacement and the same thing happened again. So we have two possibilities: 1) 50m water resistance is not enough to even dive 2 meters down and move around under water like hyperactive kids tend to do. OR 2) The water rating on those cheap watches was bullsh*it. They also sold knock-off games for Game Boy around there so this seems quite plausible. Personally, I do believe reason 2 but if someone has bought a reputable 50m watch and then had it leak in the pool, share your story :)
I love analog watches, grew up wearing an omega speed master handed down by my old man, but when I started to care about being on time, accuracy really became a priority. It also became annoying having to adjust the time every week and change the date every month. In the end, I look at my watch far easier and often then my mobile. At that point only quartz analog became the focus of my collection, not opposed to digital but you just can't beat the elegance of the analog dial.
Here’s the most underrated watch complication: the day of the week. Less and less watches have it. At least where I live, “what day it is?” is in the top 5 most asked questions people ask each other. Me included, I find one of the most useful feature.
For some strange reason, the day feature tends to appear on chronographs, like the Little Prince and others from IWC. I think a chronograph is the last watch that needs a day function: It's dial is busy enough. On the other hand Omega doesn't even put a day display on its annual calendar watches.
@@highnrising It’s probably the Valjoux 7750 heritage that still lives on. I really don’t buy the “busy” argument. A day complication is very useful, and can be executed in good symmetry. Otherwise anything beyond the Movado Museum is way too busy.
1) I'm not knocking anybody, but I love it when people call a $1000 watch "affordable". 2) The problem with not getting an OEM strap is that most people do not swap the OEM signed buckle (the most important part) to the new strap.
Every point you discussed is accurate. 1) I swim but I don't dive in the deep. I don't need a lot of water resistant 2) I normally always buy an aftermarket strap for a new watch. 3) I don't buy watches to flip or for investments. 4) In the last 13 years, I probably use the lume on my watch maybe 3 times. 5) I prefer screw links, but not a dealbreaker. 6) Is it nice to have a COSC certified watch, yes! Just arrive to your destination early. 7)Heritage is nice, but in a few years some of the new microbrands will be old🙂
i guess its all about your lifestyle...1) i dive up to 200 feet... so i dont need omega 1200m for that... but i like 300-600m on my watch... 2) straps are very personal... i change my straps every 6 months because it makes the watch look different and new. 3) i agree with you there.. i buy a watch because i love how it looks on me and i wear them not put them in a box and pray on them. 4) i use loom all the time in fact besides longines heritage 1945 i have all of my watches have lume. like most of the people i use my cell phone but i rarely pull it out just to look at the time. 5) the accuracy of my watch is a deal breaker for me... i hate to adjust time on my watch because its running +-30s per day. i dont mind 5-10s but 30 would drive me crazy and i would most likely take it to my watch guy to get it adjusted so it runs to my specs. But i do agree there is nothing wrong with microbrands, in fact i own a few of them. Zelos / Baltic / Scurfa just to name a few. i am one of those crazy people that will wear a different watch every day.
@@triumph2013 i have a few... my favorites are zelos hammerhead 2 / movado series 800 (i bought about 10 years ago) / hamilton khaki navy frogman... all of them have great lume... i have a few others but these 3 i use all the time
Good points, Teddy. A very good watchmaker told me a while ago actually pin and collar is the most secure way to keep a bracelet from undoing itself. I don’t know if that’s correct or not, but he said that this is the only system where he never saw a pin or screw work its way out by itself.
I saw on Tim's channel, someone complained that a Patek Philippe that he was showing had pins and sleeves in the bracelet--and that Patek must have been trying to save money. I said, Patek was making a traditional watch. Traditional watch bracelets use pins and sleeves. If I owned a Patek Philippe, I'm sure I'd bring it in to a watch dealer if I wanted to resize the bracelet.
It is so true. I never had an issue with pin and collar. But I had some issues with screws. You have to use LockTight to secure them after sizing. And some are difficult to unscrew and you have to be really careful not to damage them.
I agree with 85% of the list, but lume is super high on my requirements (except for my dress watches) I have many low light situations were the lume is really important: how bright it is, how long it lasts, what is marked, and over all legibility. I need to be able to "glance" at my watch and get the time quickly. To this point I also avoid watches with low contrast between dial and hands for the same reason.
I get the low contrast and legibility at a glance. But what are specific scenarios where you're actually walking in the dark? Even if you're walking outside at night, humans refuse to allow darkness to prevail by having a light source every few steps
Good segment Teddy. Good water resistance isn't much to ask for as we all go outside and run into bad weather from time to time. But not 200 meters deep! Decent lume is a big one for me as well. Tritium is my top choice. About straps, yes...100% lol!
The water resistance ratings are misleading, you can't actually take a 200m watch 200m deep in the water. 200m (or 20 atmosphere) is usually only recommended for activities like snorkelling
@@archygrey9093 Maybe accurate specifications is a high value thing then. Some watches that say 200m actually are 200m safe and others are not. It’s like buying a watch that claims to be accurate to 15 seconds a day and it’s actually 45 seconds per day. Or buying a watch that is supposed to have a sapphire crystal but it’s really just ordinary glass. Why are some kinds of b.s. (like water depth ratings) tolerated and others are not (like accuracy ratings)?
I used to be in the ocean alot, spearfishing, diving, surfing. I am not a serious diver. My deepest dive was 77 feet. Never got passed the century mark. Not gonna lie, once I got passed 60 feet I got nervous. Looking up, seemed like a long way to the surface. 77ft = 23.5 meters. I'm with you Teddy, when I hear people saying 100m is too little, I'm like REALLY???? I get that it is an indication of the cases ruggedness, but after 100m, its rugged for real. If it's a dress watch with 10m, I'm good.
it's not always about how deep you go though. if you're hitting the water hard and fast often, like i do at my work as a kayak instructor in summer, then having more than 100m really helps with peace of mind. for everyone else who dont work on water, 100m is MORE than enough.
@@Fanasz This is just wrong and needs to stop being repeated. It’s just an excuse for the manufacturer to lie and put a bigger number on the dial. Any ISO rated watch will operate down to its rated depth in the real world. Mark from Long Island watch did a whole video where he shows the math that dynamic pressure is BS. He has a masters in mechanical engineering so he knows what he’s talking about.
@@TheTimeFarmdid you ever ride a bike under the rain with cheap raingear? Well that is the reason why static pressure is a measurement that doesn’t make any sense in real world, 100 m of water resistance is just enough for a jump in the water and it is a bit disappointing that a person like Teddy doesn’t know it.
Great list, Teddy! Thanks for having the courage to say what needed to be said about so many of these items. My add would be the screw-down crown. Completely unnecessary from an engineering standpoint on any sports watch rated at less that 150 meters of water resistance. Yet you hear so many RUclipsrs and comment-leavers opining that the lack thereof is a deal-breaker for them on watches the outstanding Globemaster, for example. Ridiculous.
I have to say accuracy and Lume are to must have for me. I use my watch to tell time so I want it to be very accurate. I use a winder so I am rarely setting the time. A little fast is better makes it easier the adjust. I just like Lume I mean if you have really good lume and you are in the sun then you walk into the shade and your watch is lit 🔥 up yea that puts a smile on my face.
I agree with the accuracy statement 100%... worked in a company where we had strict breaks. On a 5 minute break even 30 seconds off was a big deal since then I would have my short break even shortened. So I always wore my G-Shock instead of my automatics
Well thought out and well balanced thoughts, as usual. Glad to hear the quick-adjust clasps weren't on the 'over-rated' list 🙂 And I really enjoy the macro camera work for eye candy throughout. Very polished and professional. Keep up the good work!!
I just ordered my first true Swiss Mechanical timepiece. Found a Tissot Gentleman 80 hour and the last one in that gorgeous Green dial for 33% off, I feel lucky 🍀
I had serious reservations before purchasing a Seiko Field SRPG29K1. I watched Teddy's video about it and bought it in a heartbeat. Thank you Teddy for clearing the confusion. It is now my go to watch.
Accuracy and lume are really important to me. I want the watch I'm wearing to be accurate down to the second because I just like being really precise, and I don't want to have to set it daily or even multiple times per day. Lume, or any other integrated illumination for that matter, is important to me because I work in a theatre and during a show, my phone is too bright even at the lowest brightness (which I might not have it set at upon turning it on). The illumination button on my Casio F91-W is broken and I miss it every day.
Totally agree with the whole list. None of that stuff really matters. All that matters is whether or not you like the watch. Although... I do use the heritage argument against my buddy that's only interested in hype watches fairly often. Usually in a good natured attempt to educate him. "Your Daytona wouldn't exist without the Zenith El Primero" is my favorite.
I totally agree with the helium escape Valve, and the depth capabilities lol. I promise 99 percent of people do not to go further than a deep end of a pool. Unreal expectations of accurateness too. I feel like complications, basically anything else on a watch is a literal feature that isn't used. More status maybe. If your worried about accurateness, your phone is on a satellite.
Hey how about a video on "how complicated is this complication"? I'd love to see a discussion of complications like chronographs, power meters, DST, moon-phases, perpetual calendars, etc.
About accuracy: For the vast majority of us, I'll agree that an accuracy rate of +/- 10 seconds, while nice, isn't really necessary. Most of us would be content with not being late for an appointment, in which case we either tolerate a watch that's under a minute fast, or set the watch a minute ahead if its accuracy is under a minute on the slow side. (And we may also see resetting the watch to the correct accuracy as a daily or otherwise regular ritual.)
Wrt to accuracy, who in day to day life reflects at night over the loss of tens of seconds? This makes me laugh that a loss of 5/10 seconds in a day is such an issue. haha
It’s a really strange one. Even if you’re wearing the same watch for weeks then of course it will start to lose more and more accuracy over time. But is it such a big deal to make a slight tweak now and again?…it takes seconds.
I agree, although somewhat begrudgingly. I have a Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic that gains about 3 seconds per day. I love this watch for a lot of reasons, including this one. I also have a Seiko Baby Alpinist which cost almost twice as much, but loses about 15 seconds per day. I’ll live with it because my wife gave it to me for Christmas, and I’ll do the “Reset Ritual” every couple of days, but I’ll never buy another Seiko, or any other unregulated watch for that money.
The purpose of owning a watch(historically) is to tell time. Accuracy is important, at least to me. Agree about the straps(except for resale) and water resistance(although think 100m is kinda where vI want to be for swimming or hot tubs or cleaning). Since I’m older(late 50’s) I still look at my wrist for the time and if my watch doesn’t have lume (as is the case with a dress watch) and I’m trying to check the time at night it kinda bothers me. I also think screw in links are very important, especially for those who go up and down in weight.
I like historical accuracy as much as actual accuracy. I don’t expect my vintage watches to perform like they did 50+ years ago. However, I appreciate the fact that they were, at one time, the best.
@@Zion-18 We can dichotomize the words but he was saying it wasn’t that important. It’s OK, I like Teddy but I don’t always have to agree with him. Don’t get me started on his friendship with O’Leary…
Interesting discussion. Required water presure resistance isn't just depth. Water pressure increases based on type of activity such as water skiing or jet skiing, come off at 10 knots, when your watch hits the water the pressure increases greatly. I think it is too easy to demand nice to haves. It is easy to get used to my Astron that is GPS and perpetual calender driven and adjusts easily to the time zone when travelling. Makes my other mechanicals and quartz movements seem high maintenance by comparison and I don't have to charge it every night like my smart watch.
Totally agree with lume. My Hamilton automatic Khaki has decent lume and I have never used it. It looks neat but if I need to know the time in the dark I look at my phone.
I kinda disagree.. I really love putting down a watch on friday evening, put it on on monday morning and it's still running and I don't have to set the time.. Sure it's not the most important thing but I wouldn't say it's overrated..
@4lleyezonme it is overrated as every watch that this applies to, will still be running Monday morning. Keeping in mind, we aren't talking about "likes". Just like many of the points Teddy mentioned. For people not to buy a watch because it only has 50 hours of power reserve, makes no sense. If that important, buy a quartz. Not a shot at you mate, just another thing we watch snobs go crazy about. Lol.
@@vvvhhhhhbb yes it does.. I was thinking about buying the JLC Polaris Automatic as an every day (monday to friday) watch but it just has 40 hours reserve which is just not enough for me. If you think reserve is overrated, in that case literally everything is overrated and we could just stick to our 40 Euro Casio.
@@anonimushbosh that might count for you, but not for everyone.. If you have more than 5 watches it's just not possible to wear them all. I wear different watches on the weekend than in my office. So yes, for me it is important for at least some of them. I don't care about power reserve on dress watches but surely on other ones.
I beg to differ on accuracy (for automatic watches) and lume, especially lume. -While those who yern for ultra-accurate timekeeping can always go to quartz watch, smart watch or digital devices, some occasions do call for a more elegant automatic watch as an accessory, and having an automatic watch with higher accuracy could at least save the trouble of having to adjust time or recalibrate the movement from time to time. -Lume is big for me. Among the features mentioned I believe this is the most useful in daily scenarios. We frequently find ourselves having to take a glance to tell time amid dim lighting, like at dusk/night, in a movie theater, when the street lighting does not work, or at overnight flights during sleeping hours with dim lighting; even the dimmest lume is better than having to scramble to find adequate lighting. I insist that all my watches have lume or a press button for background lighting (Casio). It is also because of this (and the fact that my current working and living situations do not call for it) that I could not make up my mind to buy a good dress watch as the majority of them do not have lume.
I completely agree with you. Watches are utilitarian devices first and foremost. The reduction of emphasis on accuracy and visibility will turn watches into a fashion statement rather than reliable tools. I personally prioritise lume and backlight very much. That’s why I haven’t bought a Casioak yet. The negative display and the low comtrast dial is really disappointing.
This was helpful. When I started searching, I wanted high accuracy. I have since decided that less accuracy is just an opportunity to set and admire my future watch. And value never enters my mind. When I finally pull the trigger I am not selling it.
I really agree with #7 Bulova for example, is really overpriced for what they are now, especially their Lunar Pilot models that they keep milking and I think you seen enough of complaints about their latest quality for their price.
I find myself reminiscing about the period up to the mid to late 00s where watches were an absolute necessity and most of us would just wear what we had, regardless of WR, solid end-links, accuracy etc. Hell, I even probably wore watches that were too big, purely because they were a birthday present from some 14th cousin or smth! I constantly find myself over-analysing things that never would've crossed my mind in the pre-internet days. (Right now I'm wearing a Debenhams-branded, cheap quartz watch that's slightly over-sized, but that means the world because it was a present from my mum!)
I just put a battery in my Elgin FM-121 TI my sister gave me a boot camp graduation gift in 2002. Great little watch that has been around the world with me 😎
While I like all of the points that Teddy makes, they should be kept in context. Water resistance is much more important in a watch that might be worn while waterskiing than it is in a dress watch. Accuracy is probably not why one buys a hand-wound model, but it is always appreciated if one is not carrying a mobile phone. Lume (and a high-contrast dial and hands) are much more important in a dive or tool watch than something primarily meant to make a fashion statement. Heritage is more important for impressing others than it is crucial for overall enjoyment.
Agreed with accuracy - if it's not over a minute off I'll never even notice it. I use my watch more as a reference time versus perfect time. Power reserve too, most of my watches die by the time i go through my rotation and I'll just wind it and wear nbd
Success is not built on success. It's built on failure, It's built on fraustration. it's built on fear that you have to overcome. I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life
Good list. I think the thing with screwed in links and/or water resistance is that they're a proxy for attention to detail in manufacturing/assembly. If somebody made a dive watch with 30m water resistance, which is conceptually dissonant, is the watch itself well made? Does the extra steps and complexity of screwed in links versus pinned links indicate better skill or capability? Neither are a real impact day to day, but it's hard from the outside to really know if a watch is well made or just LOOKS well made, so the signals can matter.
About the water resistance: One of the main problems with watch buying is, there' s no real objective standard to measure a watch's durability; the closest stat we have *is* the rated WR. The shock standard for a G-Shock (surviving a drop at 10 meters) is not a universal one. Also, the thing to remember about WR, especially for those of us who swim while wearing a watch, is the perception that a stronger WR equates to more time actually in water activities before the gaskets need to be replaced. So while it makes sense for a 10ATM WR watch to be looked at after 5 years of use while swimming on a regular basis, a 20ATM watch in similar circumstances can be considered to require an inspection for gasket replacement / pressure testing after 7 years or more.
For me, the most important things about a watch are the accuracy of the mechanism, the brand heritage and the materials used for housing and bracelet. I always bet on Rolex, Patek Philippe and Seiko.
The problem with water resistance ratings is that the numbers (30 m, 100 m, 200 m, etc.) don't actually correspond to practical use depth, just static testing depth. In practice, a watch rated at 30 m just means that you can wash your hands without worrying about water getting in. If you went snorkeling with it, even if you never went lower than 10 m, water would get in. A rating of 100 m just means you can swim casually with it. If you took it scuba diving at 50 m, water would get in. That's why 100 m is actually a good minimum. It means that if some drunk guy accidentally pushes you into a pool or you slip while fishing in a river, your expensive watch won't be ruined.
I find lum extremely important. I wake up to get kids ready for school. I haven’t used an alarm clock in a decade. No digital clocks in the room. So yeah lum is why I actually didn’t get this beautiful Grand Seiko. Super important to me
Teddy, you have spoken the TRUTH on all topics in this video. I don't need heritage as much as I want a nice watch that doesn't break the bank account. I also think that Omega keeps that helium escape valve to make the Seamaster feel more important than what it truly is in reality. Like you said, just how many of us have gone deep sea diving this week? (LOL) Concerning the screws in bracelets, I hate them. They Loctite the screws in and if the proper screwdriver or bracelet sizing tool is not used, you can scratch the screw head as well the bracelet. They look nice, but are not really needed. And yes as much as I love the Grand Seiko models, I just can't understand why they don't offer micro adjustments in the clasp. That is what keeps me from buying one with a bracelet. I resorted by buying the 9F quart with the nylon strap for this very reason.
Your objectivity is always a great grounder. Especially when it's easy to get carried away with the romance of mechanical watches. Looking forward to the next release 😊
Let's watch the language! 😁😁 I'm serious when I ask this, what is it that you do in your day to day life that you need a watch with 200m or more water resistance?
@@sinjinadams2862 My guy having all the openings be threaded with gaskets will prevent ingress of water over time. it will reduce the possibility of corrosion and maintain a superior internal atmosphere. I wash my hands, go swimming in the pool, take showers, swim in the ocean, and even go diving! Humans are around water a lot!
Teddy, thanks for the great video! I agree with just about everything you said. As for water resistance, I'd like to say this: WR is tested in a static environment, i.e. the watch is at rest. What does that mean? If you're swimming on the surface, you should have at lest 50 meters, if not 100 meters, of WR. Why? Because your arms are moving around, which will put more dynamic pressure on the watch; while moving your arms around as you swim through the water, the watch might see the same dynamic pressure it would see while resting at its rated depth. SO! If you engage in any aquatic pursuits, high water resistance is a must.
Great video/ info. I’ve been buying/ wearing mechanical watches (and quartz) for over 40 years. There’s a lot of good advice here. However, for me personally, as an airline pilot, traveling all the time (every week); having a truly waterproof watch is necessary. Here’s the scenario: you’re by yourself at the pool or at the beach on your layover. You want to go for a swim. If you don’t KNOW your watch is water-resistant for say snorkeling (100 meter rating), then you either have to leave your watch alone on your towel or not ever go for a swim. Believe it or not, that’s the exact scenario that started me down the rabbit hole off watch addiction: I started looking for a truly water-resistant watch. In addition, a 10” meter water-resistant watch with a screw-down crown usually also has a more rugged build quality. Just my thoughts. Since I travel the world’s time zones weekly, I have settled on a Tudor BB GMT. It fits my needs, and it’s sizing is okay for me.
I agree with you with everything you said, except the accuracy. My old Citizen radio controlled eco drive watches run for years and still show the correct time and day. However I ordered 2 mechanical watches now and I will have to see if I can live with an accuracy of 2 seconds per day.
Teddy, this is one of the most helpful videos you’ve made. We all can get wrapped around the axle at times and evaluate good facts inaccurately. Thanks for an extremely helpful video!
Great vid! I was surprised to see Number 3, ‘Accuracy’ as an overrated feature @ 4:47 Which begs the question… what IS your primary feature consideration when purchasing? 🤔
I've got to disagree with you on one point: helium escape valves are very important. They let me pretend to be James Bond. Personally, I find myself pressing down on it all the time; When I need to use the watch's built in cutting laser, or start and stop the timer on my remote explosive devices, or activate the intrusion countermeasures on my car.....
I can dig the water-resistance claim. Naturally, I don't want to have to take off my watch when I wash my hands or when it rains outside, but I can't help but chuckle putting on my Seiko diver knowing I live in a desert and the nearest beach is either a day's drive or in another country.
As a recreational scuba diver, I’m not sure I would trust 100m on a dive. There is just so much variability in manufacturer ratings. If I’m using the watch as a tool on a dive, I want the ISO compliance and at least 200m.
Thanks for your list - I eventually worked out my own list of preferences -- then realised, for me, there is only one watch for daily wear. With heritage - I expect companies to regularly update and improve their watch movements - a 30 year old design is not acceptabel. Would like a watch collection that includes a range of different technologies - Co-axial escapement, spring drive, etc.
Hi Teddy. Good points here. Just last Sunday, I bought the Super DS500 M Certina, the orange version. I chose this because I consider myself as an outdoor person. There are times I knock my watch when I get pass a door. With the DS anti shock feature and its nivachrome inclusive, I considered this watch to spend for. The heritage is quite the icing on the cake so to speak. Am a subscriber/follower of your channel. Thank you as always!
Good video, Teddy. For me, in order from least important: 1. Original strap 2. Lume 3. Screwed-in links 4. WR (important, though, for my dive watches, of course; I am a diver) 5. Investment value 6. Accuracy 7. Heritage.
Amen brother. This is why your channel is so popular and why you will see continued growth in your business. No nonsense, common sense, and not pretentious. The vast majority of people want this, and not the elitist jargon so many try to push in this market.
1. Strap - if it bothers you, change it 2. Water resistance - You won't even be hanging out at 30 feet. 3. Accuracy - Of course. Its annoying to keep setting it. Take it in for service. 4. Lume - Just how often are you in the dark for periods of time? 5. Investment - Buy it to enjoy it. Don't be a speculator. 6. Bracelet links - i hate bracelets. See number 1. 7. Heritage - While that can be appreciated, it should not be a benchmark.
@4:00 100m water resistance doesn't translate to being able to take it 100m deep underwater. Believe it or not with 100m (or 10 atmosphere) resistance it is only recommended for surface swimming. With 200m resistance you can do snorkelling and other diving that doesn't need scuba gear.
I'm a pilot. I need a chrono or timer for engine starter limits and non precision instrument approaches. I need reliability, accuracy but dont care if its off by 20 seconds. I'll quote IWC president on the water resistance "If you are flying and in 50ft of water you have bigger problems." Lume is also important for night flying but that's about all I need.
I find the Water Resistance thing funny. Pretty new to watches, and found super confusing how a 100M rated WR, let alone a 100m rated diver for some, is not good enough for going into a pool or swimming. I've been steered away from this from some people on forums. Teddy mentioning "If it's not 200m WR, ... then the guy doesn't even wear it in the bathtub" gave me a good chuckle.
I absolutely love watching your videos but I gotta say, I love your outfits as much as the watches you mention. Out of curiosity, where'd you grab the jacket?
I'm with you on accuracy. I collect very particular clocks; Master clocks and Slave clocks. All the clocks in the house are either slave clocks driven by the masters or the electro-mechanical pendulum master clocks. I do not need to adjust any of them between putting the clocks forward or back, every six months or so. Now they are nowhere as accurate as a cheap quartz watch but they are easily within 30 seconds in those six months. That's good enough. (Actually that pretty fecking good for a pendulum clock, but in historical terms, Harrison et al didn't have central heating to keep them at a constant temperature.) Traditionally you wound your watch in the morning and set it to your house clock, and on your way home from work you set your watch to a public clock and then set the house clock to the watch when you got home a few minutes later. Sound circular, but you reference is a good public clock. hopefully. In Edinburgh the mid day cannon was fired from a watch set by the captain of the guard to a clock in the local jewellers who set his clock from the mid day cannon... Allegedly. Your watch if not automatic is set every time you wind it, so how accurate do you need it? Why are we buying watches again?
I like chronographs but I've haven't used one to time anything in years. I watched a video on how to use a tachymeter bezel and just got confused, and I don't think I would use it even if I knew how to use it. But I still love both.
Great video. People might agree or disagree with some points but it's always important to put them in perspective, which Teddy does here extremely well.
I had wrote off the quartz Grand Seikos until I discovered those quartz movements don't need serviced for 50 YEARS! They are back on the table for me now.
I care more about accuracy than anything else, GMT second priority, and beautiful finishing third. That’s why I have a quartz GS. Mine gains around five seconds per year. Phenomenal watch!
For everyday use and at work (water meter reading) i use a square gshock, much easier to read the time and date at just a glance and a stopwatch function is literally required for my job to measure leak rates. If they made the square GS with slightly bigger buttons and an alarm loud enough to wake me up it would be a perfect watch
Respect dude, been watching quite some of your videos lately, especially older ones. Your lighting and color grading has gotten top notch. May I ask, what you’re filming with nowadays?
Good points here but accuracy IS important. If I bought an expensive watch and it isn't accurate I would bring it back. Accuracy is implied in the price. It also means fewer adjustments I had a Rolex once that was off 15-20 seconds a day from new. That was unacceptable! I have a Hamilton Khaki right now that is fast 1-2 seconds a day. What a difference! I can rely on it without having to wonder if it's accurate. All it needs is a reset once a month. One overrated feature in my opinion is the date function.It's hard to get a watch these days without it but it's a bother. I like a watch to just tell me the time without this added complication.I know what day it is lol.
Hyper accuracy can be a critical feature in one watch of your collection. This is where I go for either a super quartz or an atomic hacking watch. When I was an active aircrew member the atomic hack was awesome! But you only really need one of your watches to be hyper accurate. When it’s important, grab that watch from your dresser.
I think you were pretty spot on for the most part but: 1. I'm def a Lume Fanatic. My friend who is also into watches a bit thinks Lume is overrated. It probably is. But I described it like cars, such as a fancy supercar. You can get supercar "performance" (accuracy, functionality), supercar looks (case, color and finish), but if you want that supercar SOUND, you need good Lume. Lume is the exhaust. 2. I will definitely argue screwed in links are not overrated, they are HUGE value. There's very little reason not to have screwed in links for watches over $500 retail IMO. I think of Seiko Samurai as a prime example, you can get an Invicta Sub Clone with 4R35 for like 100 dollars with the same functionality of the Samurai. Why am I paying so much more for push pin links and the same function. The lume is obviously better on the Samurai but it's not 300 dollars better. While you are correct "how often do you change the sizing?" but for me it's about being able to easily adjust watches without slide adjusters in a milled clasp because I tend to swell and shrink with the weather, I don't want to have to deal with push pin links because the weather changed. It's also less parts to worry about keeping track of. (As exampled by the Zelos Swordfish which is IMO what the Seiko Samurai should be [with the updated milled clasp and micro adjust slider]).
I hate screwed-in links. To date I have never successfully changed one and always needed to go to a shop that has the correct tool (which are crazy expensive). Pins and collars are quick and easy, using Amazon tools.
Great video Teddy. It's about time somebody with a respected voice in the watch community raised these questions. I agree with every point you made here. Watch accuracy is greatly overrated if, like most of us I suspect, you rotate your watches. Having a watch that is out by 30 seconds or even more in a day has absolutely no effect on my life. However, if you have paid thousands of pounds for a luxury brand, you do have every right to expect it to be running within COSC parameters. Anyone seriously into diving is almost certainly going to be relying on a dive computer rather than a watch, so 100 metres of WR should be fine, allowing watches to be lighter, thinner and more comfortable to wear. This video should be compulsory viewing for anyone starting out on their watch collecting journey. It could help them make wiser choices, and save them a lot of money in the process!
Teddy is a workhorse man. Steady pumping out bangers. It's rare that i can binge a channels older content while they are still feeding me videos i auto click in real time.
honestly can't say enough how much you have taught me through my new and young journey of love for watches.
So true. Without this channel I probably would never even think about watch collection
Teddy is making that sweet RUclips dollar 😂😂
How about helium escape valves? Absolutely useless complication for 99.99% of all watch wearers, even those of us who do use our watches while diving. The population of Heliox divers (ie, people who need a helium escape valve) in the world would fit into a decent sized high school auditorium. For the rest of us? It's an extra potential point of failure in the case.
Sinn don't fit them Tyler, they design their watches properly to start with! 🙂👋
It's a marketing thing more than anything. All of Omegas watches can handle all commercial applications because of the HE valve as to where Rolexs submariner can only handle limited commercial applications.
Teddy mentions them briefly at 4:26.
If the omega seamaster didn't have that ugly Espace valve at 10 o'clock i would bought one already.
@@StreetEquus I feel your frustration, brother! 🙂
Hi Teddy, I've been watching your videos for a couple of months now and just wanted to say it's extremely refreshing to see such a young Lad making such good quality and measured videos. The watch industry needs younger folk to be buying and promoting watches. Well done and I hope you continue.
Thank you, Mark! I greatly appreciate the support!
Agreed! 🙏
Accuracy for me: if it runs +8 a day or less, it's a good watch. It means it will be off by a minute in a week. Anything +15 or over and you will notice it if you need a watch for keeping appointments etc. If a watch can't keep decent time first and foremost, you may as well just go out and buy a fancy bracelet.
For a modern watch I'd rate accuracy pretty high but I'd be more forgiving for vintage watches.
I couldn't agree more. I had the same thought, may as well buy a bracelet. If accuracy doesn't matter, then why do high-end watches all have high accuracy (high performance) calibers? A high-accuracy mechanical movement can be admired for its engineering performance, even if it doesn't perform as well in accuracy as a quarts movement. You aren't just buying it to keep the time only sufficiently enough for your daily tasks. I'd like to see Teddy buy a $10K watch and not care that it runs just as accurately as a watch with a Miyota movement, I'm sure he'd care about the engineering quality that goes into the movement.
with you on that. I'm wearing a watch so it keeps time! ..the cool factor is nice but secondary. yeah, if it doesn't keep time then go for a bling bracelet *not* containing a multi$K watch 🤣
you kinda advertise being a dummy when the time on your R or O or whatever is off 🤣
you can be sure that when I see a fancy timepiece, the immediate next thing I also look for is how close is it to real time. is it a minute+ off? you get a smirk. is it
@@mobilemcsmarty1466npc
+12 is my limit. But i typically let watches die in between use and have to reset anyways. no watch winders for me lol
You make great points but I would argue this: nearly all mechanical watches aren’t necessary to begin with so we buy them to admire the engineering and design. The new crazy Omega diver is interesting to me despite knowing I’ll never come close to using its capabilities. The reason it catches my eye is because it’s amazing they pulled it off.
See my identical comment. Mechanical watches celebrate old-world innovation. Completely unnecessary today, but, oh, so satisfying! 😊
@@richardnedbalek1968 Indeed . . . like vinyl albums and steam locomotives . . . and gas powered cars soon!
Honestly for these prices, every single watch made by these companies/GRAND Seiko/Rolex/Richard Mille/Ulysse Nardin/Piaget/Omega/Brequet/Panerai/Breitling/Hublot/Vacheron Chopard/Patek and so on, SHOULD, MAYBE be made out of Titanium,even if its disguised titanium, meaning they can still keep the look their going for, but just add that durability, it should DEFINITELY have sapphire glass,it should DEFINITELY be 200mm+ water resistant,it should be solar and it should be atomic, no matter which watch it is/if the watch is over $1000 it should have ALL OF THESE FEATURES/the value of these parts are DEFINITELY not worth the price tag anyway, your paying for a name and to be honest, they should make ALL of their watches keep time to 1 second a year,even if they aren't using quartz, or just perfect it,even if Atomic is built in or if it uses a satellite of some kind, after all for these prices, there is no limit/for the price their charging, NOTHING should be left out/left off,no excuses,we should DEFINITELY hold these companies to higher standards/I think if you buy a watch at these prices, it should have ALL of these features and you should have access to their time keeping satellites,that could auto wind your watch/send a signal to automatically set/wind your clock at midnight, every night or when ever you want to manually set your watch,to the time keeping satellites.
We need to hold these companies to a higher standard/they can't ask for crazy prices,without offering everything other watch manufacturers are offering, for much cheaper prices/we don't want to just be buying a name, to fit in,we want quality made products.
These are good watches,SOME lack SOME features,but they are all at least built well/they are not just junk/they will actually hold up;
Bulova Sea King
Omega Ploprof
Omega Seamaster Ultra Deep
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Titanium
Rolex Deepsea dweller
Tudor Pelagos 25600tn-bkti Titanium
Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon Deepquest ii
Shinola The Ice Monster
Seiko Tuna
Orient Triton
MTG-G1000D
Steel GST-B100
MTG-B1000XBD
Mudman
Rangeman
Frogman
ProTreks
GW-5610
GSW-H1000
GPR-B1000 Rangeman
Honestly for most people watches aren't even necessary, they are just jewellery to most people that wear them and will even still whip out the phone to check the time
hey Teddy, a minor correction about the water resistance: the x meters of water resistance means it can withstand the pressure if placed stationary in that depth, but that is not all the watch “experiences” in water. Let’s say you are standing in a pool with only your head above water, and arms on your side. You can try to swing your arms back and forth, but it would be a lot more difficult to do it in water than in air. This is because your arm experiences more pressure when moving. The same apply to watches. Though you might not be swimming in a 5 meter pool, brining a 5 meters water resistant watch swimming is a bad idea.
Yes! I was going to write something similar about the difference between static and dynamic water pressure and that our watches are rated at static pressure. The example you gave is perfect to explain this difference. 😊
But dynamic pressure is pretty much negligible. I doubt theres many people diving below 10 meters let alone moving more than 14m per second at which point the resistance of 30m would be plenty
Yep was going to say the same the water resistance part was totally miss leading
A wipe out while surfing or other high energy water sports can create a high dynamic pressure. I’ll stick with my 500+ meter water resistance watch..
@@ats440you still over kill because you’ll only find those speed at the surface but if you want to do that thats your choice
Accuracy is a big one for me. I think that a watch should fulfill its main purpose, telling you the time, as well as possible. Chronometers, Spring Drives and GShock multi band watches are all part of my collections because they are so accurate. If I’m justifying the cost of a watch, it’s gotta do a good job keeping me on time
💯
I agree. Would like to see more high accuracy quartz (haq) watches. Preferably combined with solar. A Mondaine watch with a Bulova like smooth second hand, solar and haq would be a superwatch to me.
@@MichielJ71 I have never understood why Bulova hasn’t used the Precisionist movement in a less polarizing watch design! I think it’s an incredible bit of engineering, but I don’t like any of the designs they use. Total missed opportunity by them so far. If they put that movement in a more traditional diver design I would buy it immediately
@@ethanbluth3211 their 262 kHz movement has also been put in other watches, like the Bulova Lunar Pilot, their moonwatch.
If you want accuracy, you should never be looking at mechanical watches in the first place. You will always want quartz, or better yet, a quartz synchronized with an atomic clock. If you want a sweeping seconds hand, oh well, then you're left with either the humongous Accutron or the recently overhyped Spring Drive.
Hey Teddy, great video. Would love to see the opposite video on under rated features like the micro adjust you mentioned. Maybe quick set dates and things of that nature which are SUPER useful for most wearers.
And like Day/Date...I find a date is pointless without the day.......Lol
Strong agree. This was excellent on overrated features (I would have added dates and especially days. I don't need 'em on my watch). Underrated is the natural sequel. Example: legibility is underrated. Lug-to-lug measurements are often underrated.
I would like to see every bracelet with at least the option for a sliding micro adjust clasp. I had to find an aftermarket one that worked well and switched it out. Would've just been nice to jave the option when buying. Also, I'd be willing to pay a small premium for a micro adjust
There's something to be said for ultra thin watches, if you can say it's a feature. I'm wearing more and more of them the comfort is supreme, it's probably the best feature we lost in the quartz crisis.
@@Not_Mark_Twain legibility, that's part why pilot watches and divers are appealing to the masses they can't really screw this up or either they're kinda pointless, for dress watches who cares but that's 10% of the market.
It should be a crime to make everyday watches you can't read at glance.
Teddy's potential is insane. Solid production and content, well spoken, good demeanor, and kind hearted. He could be a top tier TV personality. Don't get me wrong, I hope he keeps making watch videos. I absolutely love them, but watch videos have no business being this high quality hahaha.
I totally agree that great lume on a watch is not at all 'necessary', but it is one of my favorite things about a dive watch. Brings a big smile to my face when I walk into a room and it lights up bright. It's not rational that it's high on my priority list, but lume is simply a ton of fun and is something I look forward to seeing.
Especially on full lume dial watches. They look so cool haha
Water resistance is an important feature for me. I do not wear my watch while swimming or showering. However, when I'm going to spent my time anywhere near body of water, or when it's about to rain, I will surely grab my G-Shock.
The water resistance one is a bit tricky. You rarely go down to 100 m but moving your arms underwater while swimming/snorkeling etc. increases the pressure that is affecting the watch. I would advise against going for a swim with anything below 10 bar/100m WR. Doing the dishes can also be problematic if you are the Hulk :).
5 bar is 72 PSI; so you're telling me your swimming strokes are like 100 psi. I think your just making sh!t up.
You aren't moving your arms fast enough to cause much pressure.
1) Moving your arms makes a negligible difference in pressure. 2) 100m depth is significant pressure: Around 162 pounds per square inch. Way more than you need to go for a swim on the surface. 3) The recreational dive limit is 40m. Any WR greater than 100m is just for bragging rights and is of no practical value. 4) Professional divers wear dive computers, not luxury mechanical watches.
@@David-fu5kb while divers, both recreational and commercial, use dive computers, many of them use a dive watch as a backup; after all computers crash, run out of battery, and so on. That said, you don't need to get a luxury brand dive watch; there are good options made by divers, for divers. One that comes to mind is Scurfa watches.
I remember my mother buying me a cheap 50m watch in Gran Canaria as a kid.
I'd jump in the pool and dive to the bottom at like 2 meters,
And that watch immediately got all misty inside.
Got a replacement and the same thing happened again.
So we have two possibilities:
1) 50m water resistance is not enough to even dive 2 meters down and move around under water like hyperactive kids tend to do.
OR
2) The water rating on those cheap watches was bullsh*it. They also sold knock-off games for Game Boy around there so this seems quite plausible.
Personally, I do believe reason 2 but if someone has bought a reputable 50m watch and then had it leak in the pool, share your story :)
Nothing better than waking up on a Saturday, having a coffee and watching Teddy.
Hummmm??? 🤔
I love analog watches, grew up wearing an omega speed master handed down by my old man, but when I started to care about being on time, accuracy really became a priority. It also became annoying having to adjust the time every week and change the date every month.
In the end, I look at my watch far easier and often then my mobile. At that point only quartz analog became the focus of my collection, not opposed to digital but you just can't beat the elegance of the analog dial.
Here’s the most underrated watch complication: the day of the week. Less and less watches have it. At least where I live, “what day it is?” is in the top 5 most asked questions people ask each other. Me included, I find one of the most useful feature.
Shout out to day complication. Agree one hundred percent
For some strange reason, the day feature tends to appear on chronographs, like the Little Prince and others from IWC. I think a chronograph is the last watch that needs a day function: It's dial is busy enough. On the other hand Omega doesn't even put a day display on its annual calendar watches.
@@highnrising It’s probably the Valjoux 7750 heritage that still lives on. I really don’t buy the “busy” argument. A day complication is very useful, and can be executed in good symmetry. Otherwise anything beyond the Movado Museum is way too busy.
If you have an erratic work schedule (like me), it becomes surprisingly easy to get mixed up. Then the day/date comes in real handy.
Just buy a annual or perpetual calendar lol
1) I'm not knocking anybody, but I love it when people call a $1000 watch "affordable".
2) The problem with not getting an OEM strap is that most people do not swap the OEM signed buckle (the most important part) to the new strap.
Every point you discussed is accurate. 1) I swim but I don't dive in the deep. I don't need a lot of water resistant 2) I normally always buy an aftermarket strap for a new watch. 3) I don't buy watches to flip or for investments. 4) In the last 13 years, I probably use the lume on my watch maybe 3 times. 5) I prefer screw links, but not a dealbreaker. 6) Is it nice to have a COSC certified watch, yes! Just arrive to your destination early. 7)Heritage is nice, but in a few years some of the new microbrands will be old🙂
i guess its all about your lifestyle...1) i dive up to 200 feet... so i dont need omega 1200m for that... but i like 300-600m on my watch... 2) straps are very personal... i change my straps every 6 months because it makes the watch look different and new. 3) i agree with you there.. i buy a watch because i love how it looks on me and i wear them not put them in a box and pray on them. 4) i use loom all the time in fact besides longines heritage 1945 i have all of my watches have lume. like most of the people i use my cell phone but i rarely pull it out just to look at the time. 5) the accuracy of my watch is a deal breaker for me... i hate to adjust time on my watch because its running +-30s per day. i dont mind 5-10s but 30 would drive me crazy and i would most likely take it to my watch guy to get it adjusted so it runs to my specs. But i do agree there is nothing wrong with microbrands, in fact i own a few of them. Zelos / Baltic / Scurfa just to name a few. i am one of those crazy people that will wear a different watch every day.
@@Gawriify ...Which watches do you dive with? . I luv looking at the lume, I simply don't need it, but it is nice to have when you are at a concert!
@@triumph2013 i have a few... my favorites are zelos hammerhead 2 / movado series 800 (i bought about 10 years ago) / hamilton khaki navy frogman... all of them have great lume... i have a few others but these 3 i use all the time
Good points, Teddy. A very good watchmaker told me a while ago actually pin and collar is the most secure way to keep a bracelet from undoing itself. I don’t know if that’s correct or not, but he said that this is the only system where he never saw a pin or screw work its way out by itself.
I saw on Tim's channel, someone complained that a Patek Philippe that he was showing had pins and sleeves in the bracelet--and that Patek must have been trying to save money. I said, Patek was making a traditional watch. Traditional watch bracelets use pins and sleeves. If I owned a Patek Philippe, I'm sure I'd bring it in to a watch dealer if I wanted to resize the bracelet.
It is so true. I never had an issue with pin and collar. But I had some issues with screws. You have to use LockTight to secure them after sizing. And some are difficult to unscrew and you have to be really careful not to damage them.
@@IRguyIR Precisely!
I agree with 85% of the list, but lume is super high on my requirements (except for my dress watches) I have many low light situations were the lume is really important: how bright it is, how long it lasts, what is marked, and over all legibility. I need to be able to "glance" at my watch and get the time quickly. To this point I also avoid watches with low contrast between dial and hands for the same reason.
I get the low contrast and legibility at a glance. But what are specific scenarios where you're actually walking in the dark? Even if you're walking outside at night, humans refuse to allow darkness to prevail by having a light source every few steps
What are some of your recommendations for watches with the best lume?
Don't you glance at your phone in the dark instead?
@Tarek Midani once you have to feed a baby every 2 hours, you will appreciate a good lume.
@John Davolta not if you have a sleep-deprived wife and a fussy newborn in the room.
Good segment Teddy. Good water resistance isn't much to ask for as we all go outside and run into bad weather from time to time. But not 200 meters deep! Decent lume is a big one for me as well. Tritium is my top choice. About straps, yes...100% lol!
The water resistance ratings are misleading, you can't actually take a 200m watch 200m deep in the water.
200m (or 20 atmosphere) is usually only recommended for activities like snorkelling
@@archygrey9093 Maybe accurate specifications is a high value thing then. Some watches that say 200m actually are 200m safe and others are not. It’s like buying a watch that claims to be accurate to 15 seconds a day and it’s actually 45 seconds per day. Or buying a watch that is supposed to have a sapphire crystal but it’s really just ordinary glass. Why are some kinds of b.s. (like water depth ratings) tolerated and others are not (like accuracy ratings)?
I used to be in the ocean alot, spearfishing, diving, surfing. I am not a serious diver. My deepest dive was 77 feet. Never got passed the century mark. Not gonna lie, once I got passed 60 feet I got nervous. Looking up, seemed like a long way to the surface. 77ft = 23.5 meters. I'm with you Teddy, when I hear people saying 100m is too little, I'm like REALLY???? I get that it is an indication of the cases ruggedness, but after 100m, its rugged for real. If it's a dress watch with 10m, I'm good.
100m on the watch doesn't mean 100m in the water
it's not always about how deep you go though. if you're hitting the water hard and fast often, like i do at my work as a kayak instructor in summer, then having more than 100m really helps with peace of mind.
for everyone else who dont work on water, 100m is MORE than enough.
@@Fanasz This is just wrong and needs to stop being repeated. It’s just an excuse for the manufacturer to lie and put a bigger number on the dial. Any ISO rated watch will operate down to its rated depth in the real world. Mark from Long Island watch did a whole video where he shows the math that dynamic pressure is BS. He has a masters in mechanical engineering so he knows what he’s talking about.
@@TheTimeFarm yes but most affordable divers aren't ISO rated, so if i am buying a seiko to swim and scuba dive with i'd like to see 200m
@@TheTimeFarmdid you ever ride a bike under the rain with cheap raingear? Well that is the reason why static pressure is a measurement that doesn’t make any sense in real world, 100 m of water resistance is just enough for a jump in the water and it is a bit disappointing that a person like Teddy doesn’t know it.
Great video, Teddy. I was smiling when you talked about a “checklist” at the beginning of the video. My personal paranoia is anti-magnetism.
Great list, Teddy! Thanks for having the courage to say what needed to be said about so many of these items. My add would be the screw-down crown. Completely unnecessary from an engineering standpoint on any sports watch rated at less that 150 meters of water resistance. Yet you hear so many RUclipsrs and comment-leavers opining that the lack thereof is a deal-breaker for them on watches the outstanding Globemaster, for example. Ridiculous.
I have to say accuracy and Lume are to must have for me. I use my watch to tell time so I want it to be very accurate. I use a winder so I am rarely setting the time. A little fast is better makes it easier the adjust. I just like Lume I mean if you have really good lume and you are in the sun then you walk into the shade and your watch is lit 🔥 up yea that puts a smile on my face.
I agree with the accuracy statement 100%... worked in a company where we had strict breaks. On a 5 minute break even 30 seconds off was a big deal since then I would have my short break even shortened. So I always wore my G-Shock instead of my automatics
Seiko just don’t regulate their watch more accurately, they can.
@@samkuong3121 yes; I just got my Turtle regulated and it's keeping up with my Omega Aqua Terra.
Grand Seiko quartz; accurate to within 10 seconds a year, with some models having that great Seiko lume.
I really enjoy my Certina with Precidrive movement that has +/-10 seconds per year accuracy
Well thought out and well balanced thoughts, as usual. Glad to hear the quick-adjust clasps weren't on the 'over-rated' list 🙂 And I really enjoy the macro camera work for eye candy throughout. Very polished and professional. Keep up the good work!!
I just ordered my first true Swiss Mechanical timepiece. Found a Tissot Gentleman 80 hour and the last one in that gorgeous Green dial for 33% off, I feel lucky 🍀
I had serious reservations before purchasing a Seiko Field SRPG29K1. I watched Teddy's video about it and bought it in a heartbeat. Thank you Teddy for clearing the confusion. It is now my go to watch.
Accuracy and lume are really important to me. I want the watch I'm wearing to be accurate down to the second because I just like being really precise, and I don't want to have to set it daily or even multiple times per day. Lume, or any other integrated illumination for that matter, is important to me because I work in a theatre and during a show, my phone is too bright even at the lowest brightness (which I might not have it set at upon turning it on). The illumination button on my Casio F91-W is broken and I miss it every day.
One point regarding accuracy of mechanical watches: once upon a time (say,
Totally agree with the whole list. None of that stuff really matters. All that matters is whether or not you like the watch.
Although... I do use the heritage argument against my buddy that's only interested in hype watches fairly often. Usually in a good natured attempt to educate him. "Your Daytona wouldn't exist without the Zenith El Primero" is my favorite.
I totally agree with the helium escape Valve, and the depth capabilities lol. I promise 99 percent of people do not to go further than a deep end of a pool. Unreal expectations of accurateness too. I feel like complications, basically anything else on a watch is a literal feature that isn't used. More status maybe. If your worried about accurateness, your phone is on a satellite.
Hell, 99.9% of _divers_ never need a He valve.
Hey how about a video on "how complicated is this complication"? I'd love to see a discussion of complications like chronographs, power meters, DST, moon-phases, perpetual calendars, etc.
Thanks Teddy, it's always a nice thing for us when you upload a new video!
About accuracy:
For the vast majority of us, I'll agree that an accuracy rate of +/- 10 seconds, while nice, isn't really necessary. Most of us would be content with not being late for an appointment, in which case we either tolerate a watch that's under a minute fast, or set the watch a minute ahead if its accuracy is under a minute on the slow side. (And we may also see resetting the watch to the correct accuracy as a daily or otherwise regular ritual.)
Wrt to accuracy, who in day to day life reflects at night over the loss of tens of seconds?
This makes me laugh that a loss of 5/10 seconds in a day is such an issue. haha
It’s a really strange one. Even if you’re wearing the same watch for weeks then of course it will start to lose more and more accuracy over time. But is it such a big deal to make a slight tweak now and again?…it takes seconds.
I agree, although somewhat begrudgingly. I have a Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic that gains about 3 seconds per day. I love this watch for a lot of reasons, including this one. I also have a Seiko Baby Alpinist which cost almost twice as much, but loses about 15 seconds per day. I’ll live with it because my wife gave it to me for Christmas, and I’ll do the “Reset Ritual” every couple of days, but I’ll never buy another Seiko, or any other unregulated watch for that money.
The purpose of owning a watch(historically) is to tell time. Accuracy is important, at least to me. Agree about the straps(except for resale) and water resistance(although think 100m is kinda where vI want to be for swimming or hot tubs or cleaning). Since I’m older(late 50’s) I still look at my wrist for the time and if my watch doesn’t have lume (as is the case with a dress watch) and I’m trying to check the time at night it kinda bothers me. I also think screw in links are very important, especially for those who go up and down in weight.
He didn't say it's unimportant. He basically said people sometimes overvalue it.
I like historical accuracy as much as actual accuracy. I don’t expect my vintage watches to perform like they did 50+ years ago. However, I appreciate the fact that they were, at one time, the best.
@@Zion-18 We can dichotomize the words but he was saying it wasn’t that important. It’s OK, I like Teddy but I don’t always have to agree with him. Don’t get me started on his friendship with O’Leary…
@@Iexpedite1 wise ass.
@@DWilliam1
You may have taken this wrong.
Interesting discussion. Required water presure resistance isn't just depth. Water pressure increases based on type of activity such as water skiing or jet skiing, come off at 10 knots, when your watch hits the water the pressure increases greatly. I think it is too easy to demand nice to haves. It is easy to get used to my Astron that is GPS and perpetual calender driven and adjusts easily to the time zone when travelling. Makes my other mechanicals and quartz movements seem high maintenance by comparison and I don't have to charge it every night like my smart watch.
Totally agree with lume. My Hamilton automatic Khaki has decent lume and I have never used it. It looks neat but if I need to know the time in the dark I look at my phone.
Agreed. Especially the reserve. It's not that difficult to wind / set you watch when it stops.
I kinda disagree.. I really love putting down a watch on friday evening, put it on on monday morning and it's still running and I don't have to set the time.. Sure it's not the most important thing but I wouldn't say it's overrated..
@4lleyezonme it is overrated as every watch that this applies to, will still be running Monday morning. Keeping in mind, we aren't talking about "likes". Just like many of the points Teddy mentioned. For people not to buy a watch because it only has 50 hours of power reserve, makes no sense. If that important, buy a quartz. Not a shot at you mate, just another thing we watch snobs go crazy about. Lol.
@@vvvhhhhhbb yes it does.. I was thinking about buying the JLC Polaris Automatic as an every day (monday to friday) watch but it just has 40 hours reserve which is just not enough for me. If you think reserve is overrated, in that case literally everything is overrated and we could just stick to our 40 Euro Casio.
@@anonimushbosh that might count for you, but not for everyone.. If you have more than 5 watches it's just not possible to wear them all. I wear different watches on the weekend than in my office. So yes, for me it is important for at least some of them. I don't care about power reserve on dress watches but surely on other ones.
@@anonimushbosh yes I did?
I beg to differ on accuracy (for automatic watches) and lume, especially lume.
-While those who yern for ultra-accurate timekeeping can always go to quartz watch, smart watch or digital devices, some occasions do call for a more elegant automatic watch as an accessory, and having an automatic watch with higher accuracy could at least save the trouble of having to adjust time or recalibrate the movement from time to time.
-Lume is big for me. Among the features mentioned I believe this is the most useful in daily scenarios. We frequently find ourselves having to take a glance to tell time amid dim lighting, like at dusk/night, in a movie theater, when the street lighting does not work, or at overnight flights during sleeping hours with dim lighting; even the dimmest lume is better than having to scramble to find adequate lighting. I insist that all my watches have lume or a press button for background lighting (Casio). It is also because of this (and the fact that my current working and living situations do not call for it) that I could not make up my mind to buy a good dress watch as the majority of them do not have lume.
I completely agree with you. Watches are utilitarian devices first and foremost. The reduction of emphasis on accuracy and visibility will turn watches into a fashion statement rather than reliable tools.
I personally prioritise lume and backlight very much. That’s why I haven’t bought a Casioak yet. The negative display and the low comtrast dial is really disappointing.
@@dilipkumar711 I share your concern for Casioak. I am also staying away from that watch for now.
This was helpful. When I started searching, I wanted high accuracy. I have since decided that less accuracy is just an opportunity to set and admire my future watch. And value never enters my mind. When I finally pull the trigger I am not selling it.
Phew, good to know I'm sound ( in Mr B's view) about obsessing over sapphire vs mineral & the quality (& hue) of the anti-reflexive capabilities.
I really agree with #7
Bulova for example, is really overpriced for what they are now, especially their Lunar Pilot models that they keep milking and I think you seen enough of complaints about their latest quality for their price.
The Lunar Pilots not overrated or priced. It's a great watch hence its popularity...
I find myself reminiscing about the period up to the mid to late 00s where watches were an absolute necessity and most of us would just wear what we had, regardless of WR, solid end-links, accuracy etc. Hell, I even probably wore watches that were too big, purely because they were a birthday present from some 14th cousin or smth! I constantly find myself over-analysing things that never would've crossed my mind in the pre-internet days. (Right now I'm wearing a Debenhams-branded, cheap quartz watch that's slightly over-sized, but that means the world because it was a present from my mum!)
I just put a battery in my Elgin FM-121 TI my sister gave me a boot camp graduation gift in 2002. Great little watch that has been around the world with me 😎
@@lebowskiunderachiever3591 Those are the best! Don't they just remind you of more innocent times?
While I like all of the points that Teddy makes, they should be kept in context. Water resistance is much more important in a watch that might be worn while waterskiing than it is in a dress watch. Accuracy is probably not why one buys a hand-wound model, but it is always appreciated if one is not carrying a mobile phone. Lume (and a high-contrast dial and hands) are much more important in a dive or tool watch than something primarily meant to make a fashion statement. Heritage is more important for impressing others than it is crucial for overall enjoyment.
Color grading of this episode is by far the best 👌
Agreed with accuracy - if it's not over a minute off I'll never even notice it. I use my watch more as a reference time versus perfect time. Power reserve too, most of my watches die by the time i go through my rotation and I'll just wind it and wear nbd
Agreed mate.
my watch loses 2 seconds a day. i set it 15-20 seconds fast and reset the time every 2-3 weeks
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Good list. I think the thing with screwed in links and/or water resistance is that they're a proxy for attention to detail in manufacturing/assembly. If somebody made a dive watch with 30m water resistance, which is conceptually dissonant, is the watch itself well made? Does the extra steps and complexity of screwed in links versus pinned links indicate better skill or capability? Neither are a real impact day to day, but it's hard from the outside to really know if a watch is well made or just LOOKS well made, so the signals can matter.
Teddy you are definitely the Bill Nye of watches and I always come away from your videos with more insight and knowledge then I came in with. Cheers!!
About the water resistance:
One of the main problems with watch buying is, there' s no real objective standard to measure a watch's durability; the closest stat we have *is* the rated WR. The shock standard for a G-Shock (surviving a drop at 10 meters) is not a universal one.
Also, the thing to remember about WR, especially for those of us who swim while wearing a watch, is the perception that a stronger WR equates to more time actually in water activities before the gaskets need to be replaced. So while it makes sense for a 10ATM WR watch to be looked at after 5 years of use while swimming on a regular basis, a 20ATM watch in similar circumstances can be considered to require an inspection for gasket replacement / pressure testing after 7 years or more.
For me, the most important things about a watch are the accuracy of the mechanism, the brand heritage and the materials used for housing and bracelet. I always bet on Rolex, Patek Philippe and Seiko.
As usual, great points, Teddy. I've wished that watches were sold head-only. I always switch out the strap (not a big fan of bracelets).
Valid points outlined and explained clearly. This will help in making future buying decisions,thank you
The problem with water resistance ratings is that the numbers (30 m, 100 m, 200 m, etc.) don't actually correspond to practical use depth, just static testing depth. In practice, a watch rated at 30 m just means that you can wash your hands without worrying about water getting in. If you went snorkeling with it, even if you never went lower than 10 m, water would get in. A rating of 100 m just means you can swim casually with it. If you took it scuba diving at 50 m, water would get in. That's why 100 m is actually a good minimum. It means that if some drunk guy accidentally pushes you into a pool or you slip while fishing in a river, your expensive watch won't be ruined.
Correct!
Most swiss watches above 10k will never see water deeper than the bathroom sink
I find lum extremely important. I wake up to get kids ready for school. I haven’t used an alarm clock in a decade. No digital clocks in the room. So yeah lum is why I actually didn’t get this beautiful Grand Seiko. Super important to me
Teddy, you have spoken the TRUTH on all topics in this video. I don't need heritage as much as I want a nice watch that doesn't break the bank account. I also think that Omega keeps that helium escape valve to make the Seamaster feel more important than what it truly is in reality. Like you said, just how many of us have gone deep sea diving this week? (LOL)
Concerning the screws in bracelets, I hate them. They Loctite the screws in and if the proper screwdriver or bracelet sizing tool is not used, you can scratch the screw head as well the bracelet. They look nice, but are not really needed. And yes as much as I love the Grand Seiko models, I just can't understand why they don't offer micro adjustments in the clasp. That is what keeps me from buying one with a bracelet. I resorted by buying the 9F quart with the nylon strap for this very reason.
Your objectivity is always a great grounder. Especially when it's easy to get carried away with the romance of mechanical watches. Looking forward to the next release 😊
HOw is fucking water resistance over rated? My god.
Let's watch the language! 😁😁 I'm serious when I ask this, what is it that you do in your day to day life that you need a watch with 200m or more water resistance?
@@sinjinadams2862 My guy having all the openings be threaded with gaskets will prevent ingress of water over time. it will reduce the possibility of corrosion and maintain a superior internal atmosphere. I wash my hands, go swimming in the pool, take showers, swim in the ocean, and even go diving! Humans are around water a lot!
Teddy, thanks for the great video! I agree with just about everything you said. As for water resistance, I'd like to say this: WR is tested in a static environment, i.e. the watch is at rest. What does that mean? If you're swimming on the surface, you should have at lest 50 meters, if not 100 meters, of WR. Why? Because your arms are moving around, which will put more dynamic pressure on the watch; while moving your arms around as you swim through the water, the watch might see the same dynamic pressure it would see while resting at its rated depth. SO! If you engage in any aquatic pursuits, high water resistance is a must.
Great video/ info. I’ve been buying/ wearing mechanical watches (and quartz) for over 40 years. There’s a lot of good advice here.
However, for me personally, as an airline pilot, traveling all the time (every week); having a truly waterproof watch is necessary. Here’s the scenario: you’re by yourself at the pool or at the beach on your layover. You want to go for a swim. If you don’t KNOW your watch is water-resistant for say snorkeling (100 meter rating), then you either have to leave your watch alone on your towel or not ever go for a swim. Believe it or not, that’s the exact scenario that started me down the rabbit hole off watch addiction: I started looking for a truly water-resistant watch. In addition, a 10” meter water-resistant watch with a screw-down crown usually also has a more rugged build quality.
Just my thoughts.
Since I travel the world’s time zones weekly, I have settled on a Tudor BB GMT. It fits my needs, and it’s sizing is okay for me.
I agree with you with everything you said, except the accuracy. My old Citizen radio controlled eco drive watches run for years and still show the correct time and day. However I ordered 2 mechanical watches now and I will have to see if I can live with an accuracy of 2 seconds per day.
Teddy, this is one of the most helpful videos you’ve made. We all can get wrapped around the axle at times and evaluate good facts inaccurately. Thanks for an extremely helpful video!
Great vid! I was surprised to see Number 3, ‘Accuracy’ as an overrated feature @ 4:47
Which begs the question… what IS your primary feature consideration when purchasing? 🤔
I've got to disagree with you on one point: helium escape valves are very important.
They let me pretend to be James Bond. Personally, I find myself pressing down on it all the time; When I need to use the watch's built in cutting laser, or start and stop the timer on my remote explosive devices, or activate the intrusion countermeasures on my car.....
Few people need GMTs. They only make sense if you constantly travel or contact people in other time zones.
I can dig the water-resistance claim. Naturally, I don't want to have to take off my watch when I wash my hands or when it rains outside, but I can't help but chuckle putting on my Seiko diver knowing I live in a desert and the nearest beach is either a day's drive or in another country.
As a recreational scuba diver, I’m not sure I would trust 100m on a dive. There is just so much variability in manufacturer ratings. If I’m using the watch as a tool on a dive, I want the ISO compliance and at least 200m.
Divers I know today don't wear dive watches, they have dive computers
@@billybenson3834 as do I, but I always take a dive watch with me as a backup timer. Redundancy is a wonderful thing.
Thanks for your list - I eventually worked out my own list of preferences -- then realised, for me, there is only one watch for daily wear.
With heritage - I expect companies to regularly update and improve their watch movements - a 30 year old design is not acceptabel.
Would like a watch collection that includes a range of different technologies - Co-axial escapement, spring drive, etc.
Hi Teddy. Good points here. Just last Sunday, I bought the Super DS500 M Certina, the orange version. I chose this because I consider myself as an outdoor person. There are times I knock my watch when I get pass a door. With the DS anti shock feature and its nivachrome inclusive, I considered this watch to spend for. The heritage is quite the icing on the cake so to speak. Am a subscriber/follower of your channel. Thank you as always!
Good video, Teddy. For me, in order from least important:
1. Original strap
2. Lume
3. Screwed-in links
4. WR (important, though, for my dive watches, of course; I am a diver)
5. Investment value
6. Accuracy
7. Heritage.
Good lesson and thank you for sharing.
Amen brother. This is why your channel is so popular and why you will see continued growth in your business. No nonsense, common sense, and not pretentious. The vast majority of people want this, and not the elitist jargon so many try to push in this market.
1. Strap - if it bothers you, change it
2. Water resistance - You won't even be hanging out at 30 feet.
3. Accuracy - Of course. Its annoying to keep setting it. Take it in for service.
4. Lume - Just how often are you in the dark for periods of time?
5. Investment - Buy it to enjoy it. Don't be a speculator.
6. Bracelet links - i hate bracelets. See number 1.
7. Heritage - While that can be appreciated, it should not be a benchmark.
Excellent and super informative video my friend! greetings from a watch enthusiast in Mexico!
I subscribe from first to last word. Great video Teddy.
Another great video! Lots of things to consider here. Thanks for sharing!
Agree 100% on lume. Bright lume is cool, but when it’s not there, I have to admit I don’t miss it at all.
@4:00 100m water resistance doesn't translate to being able to take it 100m deep underwater.
Believe it or not with 100m (or 10 atmosphere) resistance it is only recommended for surface swimming.
With 200m resistance you can do snorkelling and other diving that doesn't need scuba gear.
I'm a pilot. I need a chrono or timer for engine starter limits and non precision instrument approaches. I need reliability, accuracy but dont care if its off by 20 seconds. I'll quote IWC president on the water resistance "If you are flying and in 50ft of water you have bigger problems." Lume is also important for night flying but that's about all I need.
Funny how both Teddy and Jenni posted a similar video topic at around the exact same time lol
I find the Water Resistance thing funny. Pretty new to watches, and found super confusing how a 100M rated WR, let alone a 100m rated diver for some, is not good enough for going into a pool or swimming.
I've been steered away from this from some people on forums.
Teddy mentioning "If it's not 200m WR, ... then the guy doesn't even wear it in the bathtub" gave me a good chuckle.
As a surfer and someone who is around the ocean a lot, having decent water resistance is a must
I absolutely love watching your videos but I gotta say, I love your outfits as much as the watches you mention. Out of curiosity, where'd you grab the jacket?
I'm with you on accuracy. I collect very particular clocks; Master clocks and Slave clocks. All the clocks in the house are either slave clocks driven by the masters or the electro-mechanical pendulum master clocks. I do not need to adjust any of them between putting the clocks forward or back, every six months or so. Now they are nowhere as accurate as a cheap quartz watch but they are easily within 30 seconds in those six months. That's good enough. (Actually that pretty fecking good for a pendulum clock, but in historical terms, Harrison et al didn't have central heating to keep them at a constant temperature.)
Traditionally you wound your watch in the morning and set it to your house clock, and on your way home from work you set your watch to a public clock and then set the house clock to the watch when you got home a few minutes later. Sound circular, but you reference is a good public clock. hopefully.
In Edinburgh the mid day cannon was fired from a watch set by the captain of the guard to a clock in the local jewellers who set his clock from the mid day cannon... Allegedly.
Your watch if not automatic is set every time you wind it, so how accurate do you need it? Why are we buying watches again?
Great list Teddy. Don't fully agree with the screw in links. You won't use it a lot but when you do, its a dream!! Anyway, great video as always
I like chronographs but I've haven't used one to time anything in years. I watched a video on how to use a tachymeter bezel and just got confused, and I don't think I would use it even if I knew how to use it. But I still love both.
Agree with the water resistance, even as a lover of dive watches
Something tells me this isn’t the first time you’ve unpacked these topics, Teddy. Just a sense 😅🙌🏼 amen to it all.
Great video. People might agree or disagree with some points but it's always important to put them in perspective, which Teddy does here extremely well.
I had wrote off the quartz Grand Seikos until I discovered those quartz movements don't need serviced for 50 YEARS!
They are back on the table for me now.
A really well balanced perspective, thank you.
I care more about accuracy than anything else, GMT second priority, and beautiful finishing third. That’s why I have a quartz GS. Mine gains around five seconds per year. Phenomenal watch!
For everyday use and at work (water meter reading) i use a square gshock, much easier to read the time and date at just a glance and a stopwatch function is literally required for my job to measure leak rates.
If they made the square GS with slightly bigger buttons and an alarm loud enough to wake me up it would be a perfect watch
@@archygrey9093 I was talking about Grand Seiko, although I do also have and love my square G-SHOCK :D
Respect dude, been watching quite some of your videos lately, especially older ones. Your lighting and color grading has gotten top notch. May I ask, what you’re filming with nowadays?
Good points here but accuracy IS important. If I bought an expensive watch and it isn't accurate I would bring it back. Accuracy is implied in the price. It also means fewer adjustments I had a Rolex once that was off 15-20 seconds a day from new. That was unacceptable! I have a Hamilton Khaki right now that is fast 1-2 seconds a day. What a difference! I can rely on it without having to wonder if it's accurate. All it needs is a reset once a month.
One overrated feature in my opinion is the date function.It's hard to get a watch these days without it but it's a bother. I like a watch to just tell me the time without this added complication.I know what day it is lol.
Would you consider doing a video on starting a collection with limited funds: what you would start with if you had $2,500 - $5,000 - $7,500 to spend.
Hyper accuracy can be a critical feature in one watch of your collection. This is where I go for either a super quartz or an atomic hacking watch.
When I was an active aircrew member the atomic hack was awesome! But you only really need one of your watches to be hyper accurate. When it’s important, grab that watch from your dresser.
I think you were pretty spot on for the most part but:
1. I'm def a Lume Fanatic. My friend who is also into watches a bit thinks Lume is overrated. It probably is. But I described it like cars, such as a fancy supercar. You can get supercar "performance" (accuracy, functionality), supercar looks (case, color and finish), but if you want that supercar SOUND, you need good Lume. Lume is the exhaust.
2. I will definitely argue screwed in links are not overrated, they are HUGE value. There's very little reason not to have screwed in links for watches over $500 retail IMO. I think of Seiko Samurai as a prime example, you can get an Invicta Sub Clone with 4R35 for like 100 dollars with the same functionality of the Samurai. Why am I paying so much more for push pin links and the same function. The lume is obviously better on the Samurai but it's not 300 dollars better. While you are correct "how often do you change the sizing?" but for me it's about being able to easily adjust watches without slide adjusters in a milled clasp because I tend to swell and shrink with the weather, I don't want to have to deal with push pin links because the weather changed. It's also less parts to worry about keeping track of. (As exampled by the Zelos Swordfish which is IMO what the Seiko Samurai should be [with the updated milled clasp and micro adjust slider]).
Re accuracy: When a watch is heavily advertised as having a certain accuracy/precision (looking at you Rolex), and then it's not, that would bug me.
I hate screwed-in links. To date I have never successfully changed one and always needed to go to a shop that has the correct tool (which are crazy expensive). Pins and collars are quick and easy, using Amazon tools.
Funny that you showed the Citizen Challenge Diver when discussing accuracy. Mine is dead on, day after day.
Great video Teddy. It's about time somebody with a respected voice in the watch community raised these questions. I agree with every point you made here. Watch accuracy is greatly overrated if, like most of us I suspect, you rotate your watches. Having a watch that is out by 30 seconds or even more in a day has absolutely no effect on my life. However, if you have paid thousands of pounds for a luxury brand, you do have every right to expect it to be running within COSC parameters. Anyone seriously into diving is almost certainly going to be relying on a dive computer rather than a watch, so 100 metres of WR should be fine, allowing watches to be lighter, thinner and more comfortable to wear. This video should be compulsory viewing for anyone starting out on their watch collecting journey. It could help them make wiser choices, and save them a lot of money in the process!