Most useless feature on any watch you've owned....

**maseman** · 16th February 2011, 00:54

Probably everything except the time. And I've had watches that pretty much did everything !!
Still you never know when you might need to know your gps coordinates, what the tide is like, whether it's worth hunting beaver etc !!!! LOL
How many of you have tools in the garage that were bought on " oh that'll come in handy" and have never been used. Part of the male psyche I'm afraid. !!!!!!!

**doctorj** · 16th February 2011, 01:08

Originally Posted by mr noble

Originally Posted by IANAN

Originally Posted by tangaroa

I sail, so I've found a moonphase useful when passage planning as it gives you an idea of what the tide will be doing (whether it's springs/neaps etc). You (generally) can't see the moon during the day and even if you could, you wouldn't know if it was waxing or waning.

If you can see the moon, imagine drawing a line through it that will join the apparent poles (for a crescent it would between the tips of the "horns"). Look at the lit portion and see if the line would descend to form a lower case "p" or rise to form a lower case "d". If it is a "p" then the Moon is waxing, if it is a "d" then the Moon is waning (remember the French "premier" for first and "dernier" for last to help decide which is which"). That was the trick one of my old Astro-Navigation instructors taught me at the start of my RAF career and it has served me very well ever since.

I do it a different way.

Remember the movie Karate Kid? Wax on Wax off.

Change it to wax on wane off and there you have it :)

If the dark part is coming in from the top right it's waxing, if the dark part is exiting toward the bottom left, it's waning. It only goes one way (the shadow) from top right to bottom left.

Simples.

Oh and for the moon phase on a watch, it's quite handy to know when you might want to plan a stargazing evening :)

Although it's just as easy to look at your iPhone :drunken:

One of you is Australian, right? Because, and I only think I'm understanding you both correctly, these methods give the exact opposite meaning. Dark part in top right would mean a d.

The most useless feature I had on a watch was a combined hrm and speed thing for the bike. If it was close enough to the wheel to detect the speed, it was too far away to read.

**IANAN** · 16th February 2011, 01:23

Originally Posted by doctorj

One of you is Australian, right? Because, and I only think I'm understanding you both correctly, these methods give the exact opposite meaning. Dark part in top right would mean a d.

In my version, these would produce a "p" which would indicate waxing.

And these would produce a "d" indicating waning.

**Josh B** · 16th February 2011, 02:31

For me it is definitely those 3 blooming hands that keep obscuring the "Rolex" on the dial. I mean just how am I supposed to impress my mates with an "OLE" at 1.53 am?

**Tokyo Tokei** · 16th February 2011, 03:29

Stopwatch on this :

Bought it specifically for running, when training for a marathon ( not very subtle boast there, sorry

) due to it being light, and of course, having a stopwatch.

Didn't realise the stopwatch only timed to 1 hour though.

I'm not that fast.

Ran the marathon in my Speedmaster.

Forgot to press stop when I crossed the line.

TT

**markrlondon** · 16th February 2011, 12:04

Originally Posted by vRSG60

Did anyone actually use the calculator on those quartz calculator watches :?:

Yup, me, all the time (in the past).

The first watch I bought for myself was a Casio CA-901 when I was 10/11 and I used the calculator a lot at school. The next watch I bought was a CFX-400 scientific calculator watch when I was about 13/14 and I properly used the features of that too. ;-)

**IANAN** · 16th February 2011, 12:05

Originally Posted by Josh B

For me it is definitely those 3 blooming hands that keep obscuring the "Rolex" on the dial. I mean just how am I supposed to impress my mates with an "OLE" at 1.53 am?

Move to Spain and pronounce it "¡Olé!".

**markrlondon** · 16th February 2011, 12:10

Originally Posted by o u t a t i m e

Never quite understood the 24 hour hand that cannot be adjusted independently and just follows the standard hour hand (like on my Speedmaster). I mean, if I don't know if it's 2 am or 2 pm, maybe time is the least of my worries.

That type of hand does make sense on a watch with a 24 hour rotateable bezel. Unlike the Omega.

**Beau** · 16th February 2011, 12:15

Originally Posted by Seabadger

The internal compass bezel on my Alpinist. I know it's very much a design cue of these watches, but it doesn't strike me as something I'll ever use.

not usually a Seko fan but that is a bobby dazzler...

**notenoughwrists** · 16th February 2011, 12:48

I don't want to knock an SC post or the chap selling - but I need to mention there's a watch for sale now that features a calculator for the trajectory of a sniper's bullet, it factors in windspeed and muzzle velocity to give you angle of shot, or something. Unbelievable. I almost want to buy it

**craigvmax** · 16th February 2011, 12:56

Ha, I saw that too.

As an aside, does anyone know of a watch that can accurately record speed, ie in a car, when moving?

**SpeedFlight** · 16th February 2011, 12:59

To me, it would be the Slide rule on a Seiko Aerospace, I mean how do you use it? seeing the numbers is a bit of a challenge too..

:)

**gentlemenpreferhats** · 16th February 2011, 13:05

I haven't driven a car in a while but I'm sure there was an instrument built into the dashboard for that purpose :wink: .

Originally Posted by craigvmax

Ha, I saw that too.

As an aside, does anyone know of a watch that can accurately record speed, ie in a car, when moving?

**flyerboy** · 16th February 2011, 13:13

Tiny compass and thermometer on a Storm watch someone presented me with a few years ago :?

**Neiltheeducator** · 16th February 2011, 13:14

Originally Posted by Beau

Originally Posted by Seabadger

The internal compass bezel on my Alpinist. I know it's very much a design cue of these watches, but it doesn't strike me as something I'll ever use.

not usually a Seko fan but that is a bobby dazzler...

Interestingly, while I've never used the chronometer functions on my watch, I do frequently use the compass function on the bezel to give a rough indication of my direction of travel - point your hour hand at the sun and (in the Northern Hemisphere), south is roughly the mid-point between the hour hand and 12 on the face. You can then orient the bezel and get an approximate bearing. I wouldn't want to use it for micro-nav, but I can't think of a situation where I can a)see the sun and b) need to micro-navigate. Usually with micro-nav you're lucky if you can see the watch on the end of your arm!

**shadowninja** · 16th February 2011, 13:17

Originally Posted by notenoughwrists

I had a G-shock Riseman with Altimeter, Thermometer and Barometer. Bought it because it was COOL 8) Black and Yellow, wore HUGE on the wrist and there was a G-Shock shop opposite my work.

The barometer/altimeter function is great for predicting the weather... it's a damned useful watch.

**shadowninja** · 16th February 2011, 13:20

Originally Posted by Tai Mi Shu

Oh and alarms are pretty pointless too.

I use them daily...

**imb1** · 16th February 2011, 13:24

Pilot watches. I am not a pilot and never will be.

Not just helium valves and big WR but any divers watch. I tried diving once and could not get on with it. :(

Chronographs. Only ever used them once to check the reset speed of other chronographs.

GMT watches. I can work out the time difference in my head. Don't need a watch that displays it in 24 hour format so that you have to think about what time it actually is. If the hand is at 6 it is 12. :shock:

Tachymeter dials. I have never had reason to measure the speed of a car and I would need a fixed start and end point anyway.

Sliderule function. Pretty mysityfing to use and any mnobile phone seems to have a nice simple calculator built in.

Power Reserve. Wonderful though they are to look at once an automatic is set and going then it keeps on winding uo whether there is a PR or not.

Having more than one watch as I only wear one at a time. :lol:

**Dast** · 16th February 2011, 13:28

I have a, never worn, Vostok Europe K3 Submarine with a day and night indicator. Aside from the obvious "look out the window" it is unadjustable and arbitrarily set with day at 8-8 and therefore wrong for most of the year.

**shadowninja** · 16th February 2011, 13:46

Originally Posted by imb1

Pilot watches. I am not a pilot and never will be.

Not just helium valves and big WR but any divers watch. I tried diving once and could not get on with it. :(

Chronographs. Only ever used them once to check the reset speed of other chronographs.

GMT watches. I can work out the time difference in my head. Don't need a watch that displays it in 24 hour format so that you have to think about what time it actually is. If the hand is at 6 it is 12. :shock:

Tachymeter dials. I have never had reason to measure the speed of a car and I would need a fixed start and end point anyway.

Sliderule function. Pretty mysityfing to use and any mnobile phone seems to have a nice simple calculator built in.

Power Reserve. Wonderful though they are to look at once an automatic is set and going then it keeps on winding uo whether there is a PR or not.

Having more than one watch as I only wear one at a time. :lol:

Are you really sure you're on the right forum? :D

**toohuge** · 16th February 2011, 14:09

Either the slide rule bezel on my various citizens or the BPM feature on my G-shock. It acts as a metronome, set in 5 second intervals. Very useful :)

**notenoughwrists** · 16th February 2011, 14:12

Originally Posted by craigvmax

Ha, I saw that too.

As an aside, does anyone know of a watch that can accurately record speed, ie in a car, when moving?

apart from the already mentioned Speedometer :lol: there are lots of watches with Tachymetre scales for monitoring speed. Search out anything with a tachymetre, and check out the gradings on the bezel. Speedmaster Pros are a classic and have them - but are marked from 60 to 500kmh I think, so unless you're driving a Veyron.....

Also, they're more novel than practical, as you need to know a set distance or have something clocking the distance as you travel - and if you've got that, you can be sure there's already a speedo around nearby (again, see car dashboard!)

**Tai Mi Shu** · 16th February 2011, 14:21

Originally Posted by shadowninja

Originally Posted by Tai Mi Shu

Oh and alarms are pretty pointless too.

I use them daily...

You use my watch alarm? :shock:

**imb1** · 16th February 2011, 14:46

Originally Posted by shadowninja

Originally Posted by imb1

Pilot watches. I am not a pilot and never will be.

Not just helium valves and big WR but any divers watch. I tried diving once and could not get on with it. :(

Chronographs. Only ever used them once to check the reset speed of other chronographs.

GMT watches. I can work out the time difference in my head. Don't need a watch that displays it in 24 hour format so that you have to think about what time it actually is. If the hand is at 6 it is 12. :shock:

Tachymeter dials. I have never had reason to measure the speed of a car and I would need a fixed start and end point anyway.

Sliderule function. Pretty mysityfing to use and any mnobile phone seems to have a nice simple calculator built in.

Power Reserve. Wonderful though they are to look at once an automatic is set and going then it keeps on winding uo whether there is a PR or not.

Having more than one watch as I only wear one at a time. :lol:

Are you really sure you're on the right forum? :D

Yep. Even though I don't use the features I still like the watches for some strange reason. :drunken:

**mr noble** · 16th February 2011, 14:47

Originally Posted by doctorj

Originally Posted by mr noble

Originally Posted by IANAN

Originally Posted by tangaroa

I sail, so I've found a moonphase useful when passage planning as it gives you an idea of what the tide will be doing (whether it's springs/neaps etc). You (generally) can't see the moon during the day and even if you could, you wouldn't know if it was waxing or waning.

If you can see the moon, imagine drawing a line through it that will join the apparent poles (for a crescent it would between the tips of the "horns"). Look at the lit portion and see if the line would descend to form a lower case "p" or rise to form a lower case "d". If it is a "p" then the Moon is waxing, if it is a "d" then the Moon is waning (remember the French "premier" for first and "dernier" for last to help decide which is which"). That was the trick one of my old Astro-Navigation instructors taught me at the start of my RAF career and it has served me very well ever since.

I do it a different way.

Remember the movie Karate Kid? Wax on Wax off.

Change it to wax on wane off and there you have it :)

If the dark part is coming in from the top right it's waxing, if the dark part is exiting toward the bottom left, it's waning. It only goes one way (the shadow) from top right to bottom left.

Simples.

Oh and for the moon phase on a watch, it's quite handy to know when you might want to plan a stargazing evening :)

Although it's just as easy to look at your iPhone :drunken:

One of you is Australian, right? Because, and I only think I'm understanding you both correctly, these methods give the exact opposite meaning. Dark part in top right would mean a d.

The most useless feature I had on a watch was a combined hrm and speed thing for the bike. If it was close enough to the wheel to detect the speed, it was too far away to read.

Whoops!! I meant the light part, not the shadow. Wax on wane off still works though :)

**miked10270** · 16th February 2011, 15:00

Reading the foregoing posts on "Moon-Phases" I can see why some would find such a complication useful!

Mike.

**Jack83** · 16th February 2011, 15:13

Now that would be useful, a watch with 'Mood-Phases'... like this maybe: :D to :( to :? to :x to :evil:

Originally Posted by miked10270

Reading the foregoing posts on "Moon-Phases" I can see why some would find such a complication useful!

Mike.

**Griswold** · 16th February 2011, 15:27

Dates.

On my clockwork watches and analogue quartz.

As I wear a different watch each day and don't keep all my watches wound, (I've too many!!), it's a real pain to have to set the date correctly, firstly winding past 12 just to make sure the watch is at the relevant am or pm mode and then setting the date, (even worse on some of my vintage watches with no quick set date - winding backwards and forwards between 10 and 2 up to 30 times .). :twisted:

And when I've done all that I don't need to look at my watch that day to check what date it is as I already know from setting it. :twisted: :twisted:

Same with analogue quartz if I've not worn them for a month - it happens.

Yes, I know I could just put them on and ignore the date. I've tried that. But it irritates the hell out of me knowing it's wrong. :roll: Go figure. :lol:

**Nicholas** · 16th February 2011, 15:30

Never used the emergency beacon on my Breitling..........................although I haven't been in a plane crash yet :!: :bom:

**vRSG60** · 16th February 2011, 17:48

As I recall, the tachymetre bezel can also be used to calculate units per minute/hour for, say, production items. Not just speed.

**benny.c** · 16th February 2011, 18:02

I was just browsing Sinn's website and found this little gem which is pretty useless, unless you are a proper model railway geek:

"Model railway enthusiasts who put together prototypical trains and design and build contemporary scenes with meticulous attention to detail also want to run their trains at speeds appropriate to the originals. Accordingly, the chronograph's tachymeter is calibrated to a model railway scale. Thus the speed of a fast model ICE can be measured just as accurately as that of a historic steam locomotive."

**craigvmax** · 16th February 2011, 18:05

Originally Posted by gentlemenpreferhats

I haven't driven a car in a while but I'm sure there was an instrument built into the dashboard for that purpose :wink: .

Originally Posted by craigvmax

Ha, I saw that too.

As an aside, does anyone know of a watch that can accurately record speed, ie in a car, when moving?

Yes but believe me, thats not accurate.

**hugodc90** · 16th February 2011, 18:50

The day display on my seiko diver, i can usually remember what day of the week it is

**ktmog6uk** · 16th February 2011, 19:33

some watches should come with a depreciometer, well most of the ones i buy anyway :blackeye:

**Dapper** · 16th February 2011, 20:06

Don't know if I'll ever need to use this Gravimeter......

Cheers :)

**pembers** · 16th February 2011, 20:10

The Date! Never bother to set it up, rather have a watch with-out any day!

**Griswold** · 16th February 2011, 21:25

Originally Posted by Dapper

Don't know if I'll ever need to use this Gravimeter......

Cheers :)

Why? Don't you ever time your wife making gravy? :wink: :lol:

**Dapper** · 16th February 2011, 22:55

Originally Posted by Griswold

Originally Posted by Dapper

Don't know if I'll ever need to use this Gravimeter......

Cheers :)

Why? Don't you ever time your wife making gravy? :wink: :lol:

:lol: :thumbleft:

**markrlondon** · 20th February 2011, 19:01

Originally Posted by ktmog6uk

some watches should come with a depreciometer, well most of the ones i buy anyway :blackeye:

ROFL!

**bonzo697** · 20th February 2011, 20:58

A Nato strap

**100thmonkey** · 20th February 2011, 21:00

Originally Posted by bonzo697

A Nato strap

Really? Why?

**DrBox** · 20th February 2011, 21:27

24hr dial on my Navitimer Cosmanaute. Actually makes it more difficult to tell the time. But I love it!

**bonzo697** · 20th February 2011, 21:59

Originally Posted by 100thmonkey

Originally Posted by bonzo697

A Nato strap

Really? Why?

They're uncomfortable, unnecessary, grubby,tat.

**S.L** · 20th February 2011, 22:09

Once had a divers watch with a date cyclops magnifier, that was weird.

**redsox78** · 20th February 2011, 22:22

Originally Posted by bonzo697

Originally Posted by 100thmonkey

Originally Posted by bonzo697

A Nato strap

Really? Why?

They're uncomfortable, unnecessary, grubby,tat.

:D

My vote would go for a friends watch - Hamilton X-wind which I, er, think allows one to calculate the crosswind speed. I think. And then there is the X-copter whihc allows you to calculate helicopter takeoff fuel weight!!

**crostonian** · 20th February 2011, 22:28

Originally Posted by 100thmonkey

Originally Posted by bonzo697

A Nato strap

Really? Why?

Must say that I agree with this, had an Omega Speedmaster a few years ago that came with a NATO style strap as well as the original steel bracelet. I found the NATO strap to get very warm and as it was my everyday watch I found it did get dirty quite quickly.

**gregory** · 20th February 2011, 22:30

The cool spinny 1/100th second stopwatch wheel on the chrono of my newly arrived Seiko 7T52 SUS.

Pretty much useless... if I can't be to the second... I don't really need the 1/100th of a second.

However.. as an immature bloke.. I can marvel at it spinning round and say 'wooooaahhhh cooool!' as it pauses.

< Rays picture.

Love the watch though. :)

**100thmonkey** · 21st February 2011, 09:04

Originally Posted by bonzo697

Originally Posted by 100thmonkey

Originally Posted by bonzo697

A Nato strap

Really? Why?

They're uncomfortable, unnecessary, grubby,tat.

You have to understand they are great on a tool watch when you are 'working' in it, and theres something about putting several thousand pounds worth of watch on a few quids worth of strap.

**lowndes** · 21st February 2011, 10:18

Tourbillon

**Frankie169** · 21st February 2011, 13:26

All of my watches that have a date window as I cant read them without my glasses so they serve no purpose and dont go much for the Rolex cyclops solution. Just getting old I suppose :(

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