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Originally posted by Windhover:

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Originally posted by parabellum:
I'll tell you what caught my eye in this thread, is the Marathon watches. The Jumbo Day Date- that's about perfect. I love the deep-set bezel and the simple, classic styling. I had never even heard of Marathon watches before this thread. Something else which impresses me- Ball watches. It seems to me that they're very high quality.

Para, I have a Ball watch, Trainmaster Eternity with white "snowflake" dial. It is my "go to" dress watch.

I got it from Dave Truong who was a Ball authorized dealer then. I don't believe he is anymore. For a specific reason. Mine is the older model with ETA 2824-4 movement ("current" model at the time of purchase). At some point Ball went with their "in house" movement which in Dave's opinion is not as good as the ETA.

I don't think Dave is a Ball dealer anymore.
I asked about them, to him, while shopping for my dad's 60th, and he is no longer carrying them.
Some of the Trainmaster line looks quite nice.

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Originally posted by parabellum:

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Originally posted by Muddflap:
Don't know what Para's going to decide...

With regards to the subject of this thread, there's nothing for me to decide. How big would my balls have to be to show up in this forum, asking which expensive watch to buy, after having had an emergency fundraiser earlier this year?

This thread is merely one of my contributions to the discussions in this forum. I'm not just an owner/admin, I'm a member as well, and as such, I make contributions to the dialogue. I knew this thread would stimulate the imaginations of our watch collectors, and that it might be interesting for the membership in general.

I got to say it Para, and I hope you take it the way I mean it. I think you got the 'biggest set of balls of anyone on this forum." We often have our differences but I truly respect what you do here and I would not be insulted by your looking for a really good watch... hell, I got a lot more important things to worry about. But I do see where you were coming from with that last post.

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Originally posted by parabellum:

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Originally posted by pedropcola:
So Para you didn't use the funds to buy a Breitling Omega Rolex SeaMaster CaveDiver Snatchmagnet watch worn by the first rovers that went to Mars and were personally signed by Bear Grylls? lol

No, but it's nice to see such high quality timepieces. I've always wanted an Omega. I'll tell you what caught my eye in this thread, is the Marathon watches. The Jumbo Day Date- that's about perfect. I love the deep-set face and the simple, classic styling. I had never even heard of Marathon watches before this thread. Something else which impresses me- Ball watches. It seems to me that they're very high quality.

I too would love an Omega, but I just don't want to pay for one. I do have a Marathon TSAR and love it. For the criteria of your OP I'd choose my Citizen Pro Master Diver. Expose it to light and it goes. Water proof down to a 1000 feet.

Omega makes exquisite watches. The Seamaster is to me the ultimate tool watch in that it is quite capable but also elegant and able to pull off a formal event much better than a G-shock or eco drive etc. I had a 41mm wide 1999 (Tomorrow Never Dies, Bond) Omega Seamaster Professional that had quite a bit of character. I believe this was the first automatic Omega Seamaster watch in the franchise. At 11.5mm thick it’s one of the thinner higher end dive watches I’ve owned and in my experience it was one of the best feeling on the wrist. I often forgot I was wearing a watch when it was on my wrist. I had the audacity to put mine on a light weight mesh bracelet that managed to shave off considerable weight compared to the iconic OEM bracelet.



It’s replacement has a 0.5mm larger case but jumps up 5-6mm in thickness due to being a Chronograph, which it hides by extending the case out over the case back to give it a slim appearance similar to the standard (thin) 3 hand Seamaster. The bezel on this particular Seamaster is I believe unique in its thickness and large scalloped cut outs which change and IMO enhance the bezel and overall aesthetic when compared to both the earlier wavy dials and the new wave dial. None of the Seamaster bezels are “easy” to grip and rotate when wet but this one is the easiest one to turn so far.

Id probably keeps using mu Seiko Astron. Solar powered, synchs to satellite GPS for accuracy and time zone,and water resistant to 60 bar

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Originally posted by dan03833:
Id probably keeps using mu Seiko Astron. Solar powered, synchs to satellite GPS for accuracy and time zone,and water resistant to 60 bar

damn it... dan 03833. I had to look it up and now I want one so bad....

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Originally posted by parabellum:
…I'll tell you what caught my eye in this thread, is the Marathon watches. The Jumbo Day Date- that's about perfect…

I had a Breitling Galactic 41. It has a big date window. I really loved that watch. I wish I hadn’t gotten rid of it. It was super easy to read. It’s the only pic I have that’s easily available, and while it doesn’t show off the date window really well, it shows it okay.

Curse this thread!

Marathon had a sales on their JDD with a stainless bracelet; so I pulled the trigger.

(Nothing in my current collection fit the bill of Para’s original question, once the Marathon is in possession I’ll reply to this thread with an appropriate answer and of course pics!)

My Omega hands down, my Rolex ExplorerII a very close second.

The Marathon uses a hardy ETA 28XX movement. It will absolutely go 10 years easily without the need of any servicing sans being dropped off a cliff.

Then again I have a ten year battery Casio that I really like.

I have some experience with Ball - I purchased an Engineer II for my father about 11 years ago through Dave T at a good price. When he passed in 2019 it became mine. Excellent watch - but by then the tritium markers were barely glowing. I sent it off to an authorized repair center in Illinois and waited (and waited). Cost approximately $350 for a new dial and $350 for a service and took about 4 months for the parts to be shipped from overseas. I was told for some models they have to re-lamp the original dial which takes at least 6 months and is done at the factory.

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Originally posted by Ronin1069:
Curse this thread!

Marathon had a sales on their JDD with a stainless bracelet; so I pulled the trigger.

(Nothing in my current collection fit the bill of Para’s original question, once the Marathon is in possession I’ll reply to this thread with an appropriate answer and of course pics!)

I wore a Marathon GSAR from 2010-2020 as my primary watch (I rotated several others, including two that were Karma'd to me from here, but the GSAR was my "going into the crap" watch). I bought a JDD in 2020 and sold the GSAR, primarily because my eyes didn't appreciate the size of the GSAR and I wanted a day function.

To me, it's the perfect watch, except sometimes something smaller is necessary due to clothing.

If I had a ton of extra money laying around, I'd get a polar Explorer II, but I still think the JDD would be my favorite.

While I wouldn’t take it to hell and back this is a pretty awesome watch. I love the way the patina takes over the bronze.

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Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
My Omega hands down, my Rolex ExplorerII a very close second.

The Marathon uses a hardy ETA 28XX movement. It will absolutely go 10 years easily without the need of any servicing sans being dropped off a cliff.

Then again I have a ten year battery Casio that I really like.

Your Omega is such a great watch! I have the titanium version with the blue dial and bezel.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trapper189,

I'm wearing this one now.

Love that IWC ,Beancooker.

If you want super high quality at a reasonable cost, the Hamilton Khaki series hits the sweet spot. They are field and pilot watches.

They are under the SWATCH Group umbrella like Omega and have a robust movement.

I'm not in you guys league, can only afford this Orient I got from a member here.... and the camera I used for this could not focus on both the ocean and the watch. I'm thinking if you could have seen the second hand better then some of you here could figure out pretty close to where I am on the planet.

Hands down it would be my Submariner. As much as I'd hate to beat it up I'd have confidence that it would get the job done.

Another watch that has been one of my daily watches is a 42mm Steinhart Titanium GMT. This one has the Black/Blue ceramic bezel, keeps great time and 50 ATM water resistance.

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Originally posted by GCE61:
Hands down it would be my Submariner. As much as I'd hate to beat it up I'd have confidence that it would get the job done.

Another watch that has been one of my daily watches is a 42mm Steinhart Titanium GMT. This one has the Black/Blue ceramic bezel, keeps great time and 50 ATM water resistance.

How has your titanium Steinie held up? Does it scratch very easily? I have two titanium watches made by micro brands that have really made me a fan of the material.

I have a Helm Khuraburi in type 2 titanium that I love but unfortunately the material is MUCH easier to scratch compared to stainless steel. My other Ti watch is a Phoibos Apollo V3 that has HV1200 Anti-Scratch coating applied to the case, bracelet, bezel, crown and buckle. I’ve managed to put quite a few scratches on my Helm but my Phoibos (which I wear just as much) has yet to get a single scratch.

I’m thinking a Ti watch with the HV1200 anti scratch coating or a DLC finish (similar to what Glock uses) is the ideal material/finish for a watch. The weight savings is considerable and with a proper coating the scratch resistance is on par with if not better than quality stainless steel.

That Steinhart model has been on my radar. I almost bought one but instead went with their stealthy blacked out DLC Ocean 1 GMT that has the Tudor style snowflake hands. It seems that Steinhart has since discontinued the titanium GMT model but still makes the 39mm steel version. I’ve been thinking about tracking down a used titanium GMT by Steinhart but most of the examples that have popped up for sale have been pretty beaten up. I’m guessing from the pics I’ve seen Steinhart uses something similar to Helm that is light but easy to scratch.

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How has your titanium Steinie held up? Does it scratch very easily?

Considering it's a watch that does not get special treatment it holds up well. With that said it does have a few surface scratches on the underside of the bracelet.

That Steinhart has seen multiple hunting trips, tuna fishing trips, working on construction projects around the house and it has held up nicely.