quartz
cyclops
anything over 42mm
long straight lugs
integrated bracelets
pointlessly overcrowded everything, like the watch at the beginning of the thread
no micro-adjustment on a bracelet
A date window that's obviously been placed due to the contraints of the movement rather than where it fits in best with the design
Cyclops on the outside of the glass
Anything where you can't read the time at a glance, thus imo defeating the point of a watch.
Cluttered dials and bezels
Roman numerals (controversial I know)
Most of mine already mentioned but:
Roman numerals - California dials even worse
Coin edge detailing
Any gem stones
Overly busy dials
Big crown guards
Date at 4:30
Overly big cases, especially with small movements
Heavily cut numerals
Onion crowns
Poor case / bracelet junctions
Skeletonised watches
Most square cases
Hands that are too short
Last edited by andy tims; 2nd November 2016 at 18:14.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
Like the Omega Speedmaster you mean?Originally Posted by MrGrumpy
M
Indeed. Shameful.
My pet peeves:
Dials with essays written on them
Date windows with more than one date visible
Dials designed to make it virtually impossible to actually tell the time at a glance (the only reason I won't be buying a Richard Mille, honest!)
Massive crowns and/or crowns with pointless extravagant locking mechanisms on them (I have no aspiration to be a WW1 fighter ace or an Italian frogman)
Watches that could double as dinner plates
Watches with bits of historic car/airship/submarine/historic garden shed built into them
Cheers
Ian
Dunno! Never seen one close up!Like the Omega Speedmaster you mean?
M
Cut off numerals
Skeleton hands
Angled dates - I can accept a 4.30 date window but much prefer it if the date numerals are still aligned vertically not following the circle of the disc
Strange orientation of numerals - looks like you have two 6's not a 6 and a 9
Does Brand Ambassadors count? - A personality I don't particularly like advertising a watch - too shallow?
I like the new Piaget Polo S but hate the "Game Changers" advertising
Most watches over 36mm
Asymmetrical cases
Date windows
Integrated bracelets
Roman numerals
Yes agree the idea of a shark, snake, alligator or lizard being killed for my hobby leaves me very uncomfortable. I'm sure in 30 years time it will be viewed the same way as Gorilla hand ashtrays and other revolting merchandise
The point about creatures being killed to provide straps for our hobby is a fair one....but doesn't it apply to all animals, included the humble cow?
That’s it, Lewis – you tell ‘em…just make sure you record it for posterity. And to share with us!
Not the sort of thing you should be admitting to owning on a public forum – you might want to retract that statement.
- No date (how can people think the date window throws a watch 'off balance') ???
- >42mm, dare I say >40mm
- Gems
- Recently I have turned against bezels (especially dive bezels). Divers use dive computers. Desk divers use bezels.
- All yellow gold
- Fluted bezels
- Polished bezels (scratch magnets)
A bit of a generalization. Plenty of divers still use dive watches, even if just as a redundancy measure.
Size! - anything more than 40mm is just too big
And dust under the crystal. Even the smallest spec of dust drives me crazy :)
Anything over 42mm.
Busy dials.
Anything that requires careful study to tell what time it is.
Indeed...
Some of the most advanced divers DON'T use Computers, using timers and tables/slates.
Most divers I know wear a watch with a bezel when they dive as a backup (even those with multiple computers)
M
Im not a diver but I work regularly with professional divers (completing underwater corrosion inspections), must have met hundreds of different bodies over the years. My observation, in all cases has been a dive computer, big square thing and possibly something like a Suunto for backup. I've never seen one of them wearing what we would call a 'dive watch'.
Digital watches, I can't read them anymore.
Massive watches or huge straps.
Limited editions especially Omega (Bond, Apollo etc)
Soppy watch dials with PADI, Royal Marine or Commando stamped on them.
I dived for some years, did not even wear a watch at that time. Aladdin Pro did it all.
Indeed.
I'm not a fan of Shark or Ray as they're not farmed (and far too interesting to see swimming about to want one killed to put on my wrist!), but Crocodiles are regularly farmed.
Whatever you think of farming is a moot point - If you won't wear Croc, you shouldn't wear leather either.
M.
So? Does that mean ALL divers don't wear watches? That's a pretty small percentage of the world's divers (even if they probably have a large percentage of the hours dived - It's like, though, saying "Divers don't use cylinders because the divers I know use umbilical air lines" or "Divers don't wear masks. All the ones I worked with wear full face helmets")
The days of a divers watch being the primary timer are over for most (even those tech divers who use predetermined tables will probably have digital timers), but the principle is perfectly good and works in practice.
It's not an affectation, it's a nod to the past (that still works in a pinch) and anyway the bezel is always handy for timing things even if you're scared of the water!
It was good enough for Jacques Cousteau and his crew
M
Another vote for nothing over 40mm, and for an all dial / small bezel watch, nothing over 38mm. It's not that I like particularly small watches, but 40mm is pretty large on me. Probably nothing under 36mm either.
Also no PCLs, uncomfortable and uncalled for dates on chronos, 6-9-12 layout 7750 chronos (needs to be 3-6-9 or twin register), weird crowns, champagne dials that are yellowy rather than golden (some GS I'm afraid), too thick cases (Omega!), badly designed brand logos, over glossy leather straps, anything whatsoever that could be described as 'steampunk', tourbillons, gold (quite like it but can't wear it, it clashes with me), diamonds, Bond marketing (love the films, but don't pretend to be a spy), anything that reminds me of Louis XIV (Breguet I'm looking at you), bimetal (see gold), multi coloured logos (Tag Heuer, see also badly designed logos), colourful bezels (no offence intended, just not for me), orange anywhere near any part of a watch... I could probably go on!
Good response ! As I entered my 40's I drifted away from larger watches and my divers sort of drifted out of favour. A dive bezel is a very 'dominant' visual feature on a watch with a specific purpose (I appreciate it can be used to time boiled eggs aswell).It was good enough for Jacques Cousteau and his crew
M
I can only recant a discussion a few years back when someone asked me what the function of the dive bezel was on a Seiko diver I was wearing at that time, I have to say I felt like a complete Walter Mitty when I explained its function !
Oversized watches (40-42mm max)
Any type of GMT watch
Roulette date wheels (Rolex take note!)
Thick cases
Distressed leather straps (scruffy in my parlance)
Skeleton watches
Dials/hands that are hard to read at a glance
white gold
black cases (unless it's a plastic cheapo)
pink lume
Tell them you time eggs with it then
I tell them I set the pointer to the time I dive in the water and then if my computer craps out I can use the watch and my depth gauge to determine when I need to come out.
I may not build underwater structures, but I go diving and I always wear a watch when I do!
M.
Currently my no no's are
Cyclops date magnifier (external)
sub dials
yellow/rose gold
Not too much bothers me - hands that are too short, numerals in italic and anything under 40mm just doesn't work for me.
And... if you said that to me, I would suggest to you that one of those back light Suunto/et al quartz digital things would serve you far better in that situation in terms of legibility, reliability and cost ! I honestly think the day of the bezel dive watch as a true dive tool must be long gone. Of course if the wearer likes the aesthetic of a traditional dive watch (i.e. - Sub, SMP) I absolutely get it (I used to like them for 20years and more), but the real functionality is better served elsewhere.
NATO
NATO
Stupidly big watches
Gold
Panerai
Integrated bracelets.
Chronos
Overpriced watches, especially if they come with cheap movements, IWC for example.
Watches made with coffee cup material.
Fashion watches
Unreadable watches
I'm not a vegan so don't have an issue about leather shoes. Basically as a personal view I don't like the use of exotic animal grains to provide a look. Farmed cows are at least being milked , used for beef and in no danger of extinction. Has to be said its not only Vegans who have an issue with Fur coats (a different example) as well. So you can be against one thing and not the whole hog!
Names like Christopher ward or Daniel Wellington in a helevicta font
Cluttered dials
engraved reheaut
"blinged out" time pieces.
"re-issues" that muck it up.
pointless and ugly anniversary, special edition, bond edition.
chronos with wrong size pushers
wrong size hands for the watch design or ugly hands
non date pieces with date function covered up. seriously... if it's a non date piece, use a non date movement!
speaking of movements... use the correct size movement for the case size!
list goes one but that's all for now.
What kills it for me is people moaning about watches when there are so many choices out there!
Watches that have screws to hold the bezel on
Do you only wear a G shock? Only listen to digital download music? Drive a Prius?
My usual dive watch is a Citizen analogue but with Quartz and solar charging. Cost £130 new.
Of course computers do much more, but you don't need all they do as backup (indeed if you're using two computers you really need two the same!).
Anyway, if you don't like divers watches any more that is fine, but people who dive do use them and find them perfectly fit for purpose even today.
M
Ridiculously long lugs like the longings legend diver has, or this Bell and Ross
A watch I'd love to own if it weren't for those long lugs...
Subdials crowded around the centre of the watch (i.e., small movement-big case syndrome).
Vintage watches that look 10 times their age.
Puffy orange lume (see above).
Overly small watches (anything below 38mm) and overly big watches (anything above 45mm).
Overly ubiquitous models (e.g., modern subs, some Omegas, etc).
Watches with enormous, thick leather straps, and buckles the size of a belt buckle (mostly seen on Panerai, I guess).
Anything too blingy.
Low water resistance. Even my 'dressy' watches are 100m rated. I only make an exception for the Speedy.
Crazy really but I like to know that my watch wouldn't suffer if I fell into a river or if my kids dropped it in the bath.
Quartz watches where the large seconds hand doesn't exactly hit the second markers
Larger watches over 42 mm
Eg. Bulova moonwatch at 45 mm
Bracelets generally but especially if no micro-adjustment
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For me it's fussy bracelets - a complete turn off. And I just can't stand 'slide rule' bezels. Stupid subdials that show 24 hour time but are tied to the movement so cant be used as a second time zone. Domed mineral crystal, just waiting to be scratched - and impossible to polish. Any sort of green dial or bezel. Deployant clasps - just uncomfortable. Tiny watches, especially on men. Silver dials with silver hands. Any dial or hands with no lume (especially silver hands on silver dials!) Crystals that stand proud of the bezel for no apparent reason, begging to be chipped (step forward Rolex!) - Helium release valves, pointless. Tiny date windows. Watches with spurious associations to sports/events/vague macho military associations. Sharp edged watch cases that will show the slightest ding. Pvd - it just wears off!
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Thanks for reminding me.....green in any shape or form is a no-no on a watch for me. Hulks, Kermits.....look like shit to my eyes and I find it highly amusing that folks fawn over them.
Paul
I can`t understand why people attach so much importance to water resistance; provided it's doesn`t leak under the conditions it's subjected to I can`t see a problem. I restore old watches and try to get the best water resistance I can, given the condition of the case and the design. In my experience a watch that's got WR to 3 bar will take anything most people throw at it, including swimming. What's important is how well the watch maintains it's WR; a watch that was WR to 200metres 20 years ago could now have zero WR if the seal materials were crap. People get far too hung up on the numbers IMO.
I irritated when dealers sell vintage watches similar to the stuff I work on and make a total disclaimer regarding WR. Usually it means they won`t sput the money into getting it WR to a reasonable standard; it's very rare I can`t get a watch that was designed to be waterproof originally to not pass a 1bar test, and that's enough to keep rainwater and splashes from washing hands etc out....and probably to survive dropping in the bath!
Can`t get too worried about relatively low WR on new watches...unless they're green or orange then I`ll hate the damned things anyway
Paul
any watch with a link to any movie/car/event, usually I will like the same model without the movie/car/event branding.
this includes bond omegas
to be fair there is one exception, and that is the Speedmaster Moon Watch.
Bi-metal coffin dodger watches.
Integrated bracelets.
Blue dials.
Small diameter cases..............
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Thanks Paul, always good to hear what folk who work on watches think about these things.
I find what you say reassuring but my neuroticism would probably still stop me wearing a Speedy in a swimming pool!
Last edited by Rocket Man; 2nd November 2016 at 21:42.
I wore my 16610LV daily for 6 years, and try as I might I just never grew to like the green. I was genuinely shocked when they rolled out a new model with a green dial too. Bleurgh......
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Oh, and black rubber bezel inserts/pushers on a metal cased watch - easily damaged, and when they are they look terrible. And cheap looking lume bezel pips - where the lume doesn't match the dial or hands.
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I used to arrange mortgages and I met a professional diver who worked on oil rigs and he said it was 'unlucky' to wear your dive watch in the water and that they all had dive watches, but they were 'just for the office' or whilst supervising a dive. He had an Omega Planet Ocean and never got it wet.
Agree.
Even bigger no-no to me are look-a-like screwed pushers.
JP
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