Pilot's watch

[kmox29]

Years before we got married I convinced my now wife that it would only be fair for her to get me a nice watch in return for her nice ring.

Attaboy Grinder! That's the same reasoning I used with my wife.

 

[SpauldingSmails]

I used to think pilot watches and E6B's were outdated. Then I realized this guys will still be using them in the 23rd century.

http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/forum/index.php?topic=4444.0

That's quite hilarious! I thought it was cumbersome using one for a Piper Cherokee, I can't imagine how many decimal places I would be off using one on a spaceship.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1101/1348276831_0260f5691e.jpg

Who's the guy in the background!? Caption: "At the churrascaria, an anxious gaucho looks on as Spock calculates his calorie intake before flipping his card, and taking on another order of flank steak."

 

[GogglesPisano]

Who's the guy in the background!? Caption: "At the churrascaria, an anxious gaucho looks on as Spock calculates his calorie intake before flipping his card, and taking on another order of flank steak."

That would be none other than Harcourt Fenton Mudd -- interstellar ne'er-do-well, scammer, wife-seller, and planet-stealer.

 

[Jack-O-Lantern]

I have the Mickey Mouse 321i with the gold plated zircon encrusted tweezers.Got it from Saint Alphonzo's pancake breakfast house.They make them in Montana on a dental floss ranch.
Thinking about moving there!

 

[DX Jake]

I used to have a Breitling Colt GMT. It was perrtyy. I got tons of compliments on it, But it NEVER kept good time. It was an automatic. My dad didn't believe in buying an expensive quartz. It was off by minutes every week. It ticked me off (no pun intended). My dad (a watch collector), sent it to Grenchen Switz. (Breitling Factory) to have it looked at. They sent it back a month later and said they fine tuned it. It it STILL lost time. I just didn't understand 2200 for a watch that loses so much time. I never wear it anymore. I bought a Casio wavecepter on amazon for like 35 bucks. It's atomic. It updates every night at 1am. Freakin awesome. It's NEVER off. It has dual time display (diff. time zone). I love that especially for work (zulu time). Everyone I know who has a Breitling always complains it loses or gains time, but they keep it cause it's shiny and pretty. Again, I just think an expensive watch should be accurate.

And for the guy that said his Breitling increased a couple thousand in value, I call BS. They don't value that much. They stay pretty much the same, or a little more. Rolexes on the other hand do increase in value.

 

[Kalifornia]

Armitron is the Mesa of the watch industry.

 

[Ralph Cramden]

I have the Navtimer I got from my parents when I got my private ticket years ago. It was the AOPA pilot watch and cost $120 at the time. (Yes, I'm showing my age.) Here's the advert for it about halfway down this page: http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=25057 So, kept long enough, Navtimers do increase in value!

They also weigh a ton, keep horrible time and require winding as well as protection for the satellite dish sized crystal. Wish I could afford the Omega, it's a classy watch. I never wear the Swiss Frisbee anymore.

For general wear, the Citizen Skyhawk is pretty nice with the time zone shift capability. I wish it had a backlight like the cheap Casios and I rarely use the E6B functions (can't see 'em anymore).

You will never use the watch for anything but to tell time and as man jewelery, so get the best simple watch you can afford and enjoy it for what it is.

 

[BigLebowski]

Rolex GMT Master II. Awesome watch, and like Breitling they increase in value over time. (At least a little better than the 1% you'll get off of CD's these days)

 

[CessnaFan]

Ha! I can't see them now! Never could work one of those in the cockpit, but the ladies at the bar sure love it.

Omega - SpeedMaster.

Get an I-phone, find an app. As you age, you won't be able to see the numbers.

 

[mushroom]

I used to have a Breitling Colt GMT. It was perrtyy. I got tons of compliments on it, But it NEVER kept good time. It was an automatic. My dad didn't believe in buying an expensive quartz. It was off by minutes every week. It ticked me off (no pun intended). My dad (a watch collector), sent it to Grenchen Switz. (Breitling Factory) to have it looked at. They sent it back a month later and said they fine tuned it. It it STILL lost time. I just didn't understand 2200 for a watch that loses so much time. I never wear it anymore. I bought a Casio wavecepter on amazon for like 35 bucks. It's atomic. It updates every night at 1am. Freakin awesome. It's NEVER off. It has dual time display (diff. time zone). I love that especially for work (zulu time). Everyone I know who has a Breitling always complains it loses or gains time, but they keep it cause it's shiny and pretty. Again, I just think an expensive watch should be accurate.

And for the guy that said his Breitling increased a couple thousand in value, I call BS. They don't value that much. They stay pretty much the same, or a little more. Rolexes on the other hand do increase in value.

Mechanical watches are designed for the intricacy (think "complications") and marvel of their movements and design, not necessarily for accuracy. If you want accuracy, get a quartz watch or an atomic one as you have. I've had my steel GMT-II for several years and it gains about 4 seconds a day. So? It's still a great looking watch, keeps time in three time zones at the same time if I want it to, and is rugged. Hopefully I'll be able to give it to my kid when he's old enough and if he wants it.

On the matter of accuracy, think of it this way: there are 86,400 seconds in a day. Even if the watch loses 15 MINUTES a day (900 seconds), it is still 99% accurate. How accurate should a mechanical watch with hundreds of parts, often hand-made, be?