[mav2000]

Originally Posted by kicha

That's a nice watch!
Yes, Favre Leubas are usually collectibles. FLs have been quite popular in India, right from British era to mid 80s.Titan acquired Favre Leuba AG in 2011.

Hey thanks for the reply. Yeah, I read a bit about their history and they seem to have been one of the first few swiss watch makers. I am also trying to restore a Mont Blanc pen while I am at it on the weekends, but am not able to find a few of the parts.

[deepclutch]

I usually never use watches from many years now; except on occasions. never was a watch enthusiast but always curious on mechanical watches.
I have a Bulova 96c107 and a fossil quartz(forgot the model!) watch both gifted by bro-in-law bought in US.
there is a Tissot Visodate manual winding model from earlier 1960's with my father which was bought from Italy as a gift. it needs a repair.

Why there is a sudden demand for HMT mechanical watches as I can see in some forums? I also ordered a HMT Pilot may be it can add to a future collection

Does anyone remember old mechanical watch brands like Allwyn,Jaico etc. Jaico timepieces were pretty common till end of 80s.

[james]

I found my grandfathers watch in a cupboard yesterday. It hasnt seen the light of day for about 3+ decades.
Its a brand called Atlantic and the model seems to be Plaza. Unfortunately i haven't been able to find out much about this particular model online. Has anyone here heard of it?
I shook it around for about 20 seconds and kept it aside last evening. This morning, 10 hours later it was still working. It seems to have run 2mins faster than it should have though. Im quite impressed at the power reserve and accuracy.


EDIT: I intend on changing the glass(if possible) and putting on a new strap.

[djpeesh]

Wow. An Atlantic is rare. They're a lesser known, Swiss brand that didn't make the big league.

I remember seeing one in Hungary, years ago. It was called the worldmaster.

Speaking of grandfather's watches, I recently found my grandpa's Allwyn automatic.

The back story is brilliant too. My grandfather had an old rolex and one day he went to a watch shop in the 1980s and asked for it to be serviced. The watch shop fellow told him that the rolex was all spoilt and would cost 100 rupees in those days to fix.

My grandfather, by then retired, said he couldn't afford that and so the shop owner offered to swap the rolex to the Allwyn for no charge. Now we have rolex shops and service centers. Then there was nothing.

The takeaway from the story was that my grandpa actually didn't regret it as in his opinion, the Allwyn kept better time and that was all a watch was useful for

[pramodkumar]

My wedding anniversary is tomorrow, both me and my wife had decided a couple’s watch(I don’t know what its called) my budget is around 5k for the pair, since my wife really doesn’t need a watch and she has far too many but wears only 1. I don’t like gold plated watches and would be more inclined towards an old design like HMT, please let me know if I need be looking for something specific.

Pramod

[CaliAtenza]

i wear this one:

[josejoseph]

Originally Posted by james

EDIT: I intend on changing the glass(if possible) and putting on a new strap.

If you're not planning to wear this watch, I'd suggest you not to change the glass and strap. You should treasure it the same way you found it.

[james]

Originally Posted by josejoseph

If you're not planning to wear this watch, I'd suggest you not to change the glass and strap. You should treasure it the same way you found it.

Jose, since the watch is working, im going to use it daily. I decided to leave the glass as it is but i will be swapping the strap. Will keep the OE one safely at home though!

[planet_rocker]

Bought this on Monday: Citizen Eco-Drive

[Jeroen]

A little while ago we discussed the pro and cons of having your watch serviced. If I recall there where very different opinions on the matter. Ranging from a total waste of time and money to something you should have done every 4-5 years. We are talking mainly the more high end mechanical/automatic watches here.

As some of you might recall I was actually in favor. Having said that, it took me ten years before I put my Breitling Navitimer SE in for a full service. The cost was Euro 630 which seems a lot. Your average Breitling Navitimer will retail for anywhere between Euro 4500 - 6500, so roughly a little more than 10% of the going price.

Still, a lot of money. But I have spent happily much more on servicing old cars that have cost a lot less then my Breitling. I own several watches but the Breitling is still my favorite, and I wear it nearly every day.

I actually left the Breitling several months ago with a jeweler I know pretty well in my home country the Netherlands. During the service I was in contact with the jeweler and they also put me in touch with Breitling Nederland.

I wasn't even aware there was a "Breitling Nederland (Netherlands). They invited me to come and see their atelier next time I visited the Netherlands. Which I did last week. Last week Friday my wife and I set off at around 0900am to visit them. Our home is in a small village near the Hague. All my classic and other cars are in storage whilst we live abroad, but we keep a little Ford Fiesta ready, taxed, MOT-ed and insured for when we're in the Netherlands. To put things in perspective, I bought the Ford Fiesta 18 months ago for Euro 1200 and I have put about Euro 500 worth of repair and parts in it to date! Suddenly the Euro 630 for a Breitling full service once every ten years doesn't sound that bad. Lets not even start talking about the cost of storage for a few cars.

Anyway, we arrived around 10.00am at Breitling Nederland. They are based in Lijnden, just outside Amsterdam.

We were met by Nadine with whom I had mailed back and forth. Nadine, a young lady, as it turned out is a watch maker herself. She knew a tremendous amount about watches and she talked at length, very enthusiastically, about my watch and what they had done with it. Which, by the way, is a lot. She was joined by Amber who is in charge of customer relations.

We talked for a while, whilst enjoying some great coffee. In the Netherlands nothing happens without coffee being served. Be it in your private home or in a shop or at work. Breitling Nederland is part of a well known Dutch "family" company, Koster & Zonen. These days 4th/5th generation.

Sorry all in Dutch: http://www.mkosterenzonen.nl

Your typical service means Breitling will take your watch apart, replace all seals, all the hands, take the actual mechanism apart, check everything for wear and tear, clean, polish, put everything back together again and run various time keeping checks. Breitling Nederland employs some 25 people and next to servicing watches they also handle all (warranty) repairs. Warranty repairs get priority, your typical service could take 4-5 weeks, depending on what needs doing.

The Netherlands still has one or two colleges who teach the "art" of watch making/repair. Next to that, Breitling will train their own watch makers further and certify them.

We were very impressed by the building and how it was lay-ed out. Roomy, airy and light with ample room and glass to see the watch makers at work.

Here is the main hall, obviously, when you work at Breitling you need to like watches and planes!



Me and my wife. I am a pilot, and I would love to fly this Connie some day! Well, at least I have the watch to go with it!



Watch maker hard at work! Look at the table, it is fully height adjustable with special support for the arms. The chair looked even more complicated with endless adjustments possible.



Another watch maker, equally concentrated



This contraption spins the watches around for days in all axes. The watch has to maintain time within very tight tolerances.



Each watch with all of its parts, components is tagged and kept in one of these boxes. At the end of the day, all the boxes are stored in the safes in the background.



Here is where the watches and the various parts get cleaned and dried. The room at the back, behind the glass is where the casings get polished.



The MD's office. I said it before, watches and planes!




Nadine and Amber took us on a tour around the whole atelier, explaining the whole process of servicing a watch, the training and certification on how to become a watch maker.

Afterwards, we had some more coffee and we got two bags full of some great "Breitling goodies".

All in all a very interesting and worthwhile experience. I'm really appreciative of the fact that Breitling invited us over to experience their atelier. I've always been a huge fan of Breitling, but this visit showed me in much more depth what Breitling really stands for.

And, yes I'm very likely to put the Breitling, and the other watches, up for regular service going forward.

Jeroen

[dre@ms]

Guys, was browsing through Amazon and stumbled upon this watch from Fossil and I am blown away by its look.

http://www.amazon.in/Fossil-Analog-B...2090393&sr=1-5

Is this a original version? Any reviews on the same? Can I get this from Amazon or go to a watch showroom, try it and then buy.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

And, yes I'm very likely to put the Breitling, and the other watches, up for regular service going forward.

Thanks for sharing informative this post. Reminded me of the good old times I spent in ETA Thailand on a project

[Maverick5490]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

The cost was Euro 630 which seems a lot. Your average Breitling Navitimer will retail for anywhere between Euro 4500 - 6500, so roughly a little more than 10% of the going price.

All in all a very interesting and worthwhile experience. I'm really appreciative of the fact that Breitling invited us over to experience their atelier. I've always been a huge fan of Breitling, but this visit showed me in much more depth what Breitling really stands for.

And, yes I'm very likely to put the Breitling, and the other watches, up for regular service going forward.

Jeroen

WOW Jeroen!

Thank you for sharing this wonderful experience with us! Great to have such an awesome setup to back an Iconic brand!

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by Maverick5490

WOW Jeroen!

Thank you for sharing this wonderful experience with us! Great to have such an awesome setup to back an Iconic brand!

Ditto! Thanks! Mega service for a mega watch.

[vasudeva]

I own the HTC One watch. My previous watch was Nokia Lumia 800.