I’d like to change my answer…the Rolex Submariner.

Simple. Clean. Crisp.



But I don’t have $9000 $11-12k laying around sooooooo, ok bye

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

I wear my Fortis more than anything else. Easy to read, automatic, 200M, chronograph, day/date, deployment buckle and takes a beating. Price was affordable when I bought it a few years ago, not sure now. Lume could be better if I had a complaint.

I am still hunting for the "perfect watch" and so far my old Tag Professional stacks up against everything else I have owned. I will say that I will *never* purchase another Ball wristwatch. I inherited a 10 yr old Engineer II I bought for my father. The tritium tubes barely illuminate now - no way they last 20 years. I am now 7 months into waiting to have the dial and hands replaced and it will be expensive (over $300 for the new dial itself). Some models have to have the dials shipped back to the factory to be re-lamped (minimum 10 months). Ball is notoriously slow about shipping parts to the US and according to two of the US repair centers they are never in a hurry to respond or assist their service centers.

This one:

MY ideal watch would not have a metal band .

Hear, hear.

My original PAM9A that was sold to pay for an engagement ring or a Panerai 1950, one of which i had briefly and very much enjoyed.

for me, i've worn various gmt masters for 50+ years.

Latest Omega Silver Snoopy or Rolex Batman.

I doubt I could ever come up with just one as the do it all, be it all, ideal watch.

Why? Because I have and enjoy chronographs, GMTs, and divers. Take a Sinn 142StS or 156 Military or even a Heuer 510, a Glycine Airman 3 zone, and an Aquastar Benthos-1, mix and stir... and that would be quite the watch. I've never seen one that did all that.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bald1,

I already own it austere beauty.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
This one:

That is beautiful.

Every one has a different opinion of an ideal watch.

Me? I don't think it exists, but I'd get a huge kick out of a nice watch with a cuckoo bird that pops out, the wood chopper chops some wood, and the dancers go around.

All of this would, of course, be under the glass bezel thing, to protect it.

You asked. LOL.
.
.

Before I developed an appreciation for mechanical automatic watches my G-Shock rescue was all I needed, it told me the moon phase and tide as well as the time, day and date. For a few years I wore it exclusively and it was ideal in my mind.

I do think the ideal watch exists but I am not 100% sure I have found it yet. I suspect for me personally the Sinn Arktis II or something incredibly similar is my current choice for the ideal watch.

To me an ideal watch is one I could acquire and get by with on its own. To a watch collector the prospect of only one watch is blasphemy but it is something I think about from time to time. If I were to sell every watch I own could I be content with only one watch? If so which one? Difficult questions.

1. Automatic with quartz accuracy.
2. Titanium with display case back.
3. White dial.
4. Pepsi bezel.
5. Tritium lume.

I'd take a Flieger B-Uhr with a poljot dolphin style hand-wind alarm and a day-date function, all running off of either a solid hand-wind or automatic movement. Nato strap that monster and I'd be a happy man.

Ideal watch? There is no such thing. After all, if there were such a thing, we'd only need one watch, and where would the fun be in that.

I prefer a digital watch, and have no use (or desire) for an analog watch.

I like world time features to enable setting locally, and a dual time feature that keeps GMT time displayed, along with the local time zone.

I don't care for expensive watches; those will get you killed in many locations around the world.

I like atomic watch features that keep the watch updated and accurate.

A stop watch or timer function is handy.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
I prefer a digital watch, and have no use (or desire) for an analog watch.

I like world time features to enable setting locally, and a dual time feature that keeps GMT time displayed, along with the local time zone.

I don't care for expensive watches; those will get you killed in many locations around the world.

I like atomic watch features that keep the watch updated and accurate.

A stop watch or timer function is handy.

I'm with you. I also dig digitals for some settings. This watch is on my buy list (when I see it go on sale) and it might just meet your requirements short of the atomic time update feature.

Seiko SNA195 (P)



I bought one of these some 22, maybe 24 years ago. Up until getting into Seiko automatics about two years ago this was my everyday watch. Every. Single. Day.

This watch is great. It's tough, and it's light (titanium). Its sporty look suits casual wear just fine, and it's sleek enough that it looks good when I have to dress up. It's quartz-accurate. The alarm is something I very rarely use, but it's a bit of a bonus. I think I've replaced the battery in it twice in the time I've had it.

This watch has been with me just about everywhere significant I've been. Hot (Mexico), cold (Austria), wet (Hubbard Lake, MI), shoveling snow, pounding fence posts, sitting on the beach. I'd let this watch rip off the Timex slogan: it takes a licking.

I finally beat it one afternoon, getting the bracelet caught on one of the handles on the milling machine -- damaged the end link. SF member BrianO came through for me with an identical replacement and was able to put it back to "good as new." (Thank you again, Brian!)

If I had to give up my automatics, I'd certainly be unhappy about that. But I'd put this SNA back into service and carry on. This watch is probably the reason for my Seiko loyalty.