On 10/9/13 10:33 PM, Califbill wrote:
Earl wrote:
F.O.A.D. wrote:
...the battery in my diver's watch died, so I took it to the watch guy
I trust and he told me I'd have to send it off because of the way it
was sealed, the special gaskets, and some kind of vacuum tool needed to reseal it.

Sheesh.

So I sent it off to the manufacturer's repair shop in Rhode Island,
and the estimate came back for close to $100. To replace a watch
battery. That probably wholesaled for $3.00. The actual price turned
out to be $96 and it took a month.

http://tinyurl.com/ma8t2ju
My Tag Heuer battery was $15 with a pressure test. I would never pay 1/2
the price of an old watch for a battery replacement.

I have an inherited Rolex. No batteries.


I have a Rolex Submariner - stainless case - black face - I used to
wear, a nice old mechanical self-winder. It's been in a drawer somewhere
for about 25 years. My first decent Japanese electronic watch, base
metal case, goldtone finish, blew away the Rolex in accuracy, and that
sort of "did it" for me.

On 10/10/2013 7:49 AM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 10/9/13 10:33 PM, Califbill wrote:
Earl wrote:
F.O.A.D. wrote:
...the battery in my diver's watch died, so I took it to the watch
guy
I trust and he told me I'd have to send it off because of the way it
was sealed, the special gaskets, and some kind of vacuum tool needed
to reseal it.

Sheesh.

So I sent it off to the manufacturer's repair shop in Rhode Island,
and the estimate came back for close to $100. To replace a watch
battery. That probably wholesaled for $3.00. The actual price turned
out to be $96 and it took a month.

http://tinyurl.com/ma8t2ju
My Tag Heuer battery was $15 with a pressure test. I would never pay
1/2
the price of an old watch for a battery replacement.

I have an inherited Rolex. No batteries.


I have a Rolex Submariner - stainless case - black face - I used to
wear, a nice old mechanical self-winder. It's been in a drawer somewhere
for about 25 years. My first decent Japanese electronic watch, base
metal case, goldtone finish, blew away the Rolex in accuracy, and that
sort of "did it" for me.

Truth time Harry. Moving your hands around the keyboard isn't enough
movement to wind the Rolex.

In article om,
says...

On 10/10/2013 7:49 AM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 10/9/13 10:33 PM, Califbill wrote:
Earl wrote:
F.O.A.D. wrote:
...the battery in my diver's watch died, so I took it to the watch
guy
I trust and he told me I'd have to send it off because of the way it
was sealed, the special gaskets, and some kind of vacuum tool needed
to reseal it.

Sheesh.

So I sent it off to the manufacturer's repair shop in Rhode Island,
and the estimate came back for close to $100. To replace a watch
battery. That probably wholesaled for $3.00. The actual price turned
out to be $96 and it took a month.

http://tinyurl.com/ma8t2ju
My Tag Heuer battery was $15 with a pressure test. I would never pay
1/2
the price of an old watch for a battery replacement.

I have an inherited Rolex. No batteries.


I have a Rolex Submariner - stainless case - black face - I used to
wear, a nice old mechanical self-winder. It's been in a drawer somewhere
for about 25 years. My first decent Japanese electronic watch, base
metal case, goldtone finish, blew away the Rolex in accuracy, and that
sort of "did it" for me.

Truth time Harry. Moving your hands around the keyboard isn't enough
movement to wind the Rolex.

That Rolex Harry alleges he owns is worth about a dozen Seiko's.

On Tuesday, October 22, 2013 6:42:42 AM UTC-5, BAR wrote:




That Rolex Harry alleges he owns is worth about a dozen Seiko's.

Speaking of Seiko. My mid-70's automatic works even after sitting for about 8 years in my sock draw3er. BUT I find out that it looses approx 5 min every 24 hrs. Not good so I need to send it off and have it redone. It'd probably cost more to have it reset and a new bezel installed than to buy a new one,but hey, it's mine! The pic isn't, though, but it sure is the same model.

http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/t...Watches083.jpg

On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 19:41:03 -0800 (PST), Tim wrote:

On Tuesday, October 22, 2013 6:42:42 AM UTC-5, BAR wrote:




That Rolex Harry alleges he owns is worth about a dozen Seiko's.

Speaking of Seiko. My mid-70's automatic works even after sitting for about 8 years in my sock draw3er. BUT I find out that it looses approx 5 min every 24 hrs. Not good so I need to send it off and have it redone. It'd probably cost more to have it reset and a new bezel installed than to buy a new one,but hey, it's mine! The pic isn't, though, but it sure is the same model.

http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/t...Watches083.jpg

Seiko story. Many years back I spent around $375 for a Seiko 'chronometer' with all the bells and
whistles. It worked for a long time, but then one day it died. I figured it would be very expensive
to fix, so I just set it aside and bought a hundred dollar Swiss Army watch.

One day I took the Seiko to the shop, thinking it would cost a fortune to fix. The guy opened it up,
looked, said I had water damage (I swam with it), and it needed a new movement.

"Oh ****," I'm thinking. "How much?" I ask. He replies, "$62".

Unreal.

On 2/12/14, 8:26 AM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 19:41:03 -0800 (PST), Tim wrote:

On Tuesday, October 22, 2013 6:42:42 AM UTC-5, BAR wrote:




That Rolex Harry alleges he owns is worth about a dozen Seiko's.

Speaking of Seiko. My mid-70's automatic works even after sitting for about 8 years in my sock draw3er. BUT I find out that it looses approx 5 min every 24 hrs. Not good so I need to send it off and have it redone. It'd probably cost more to have it reset and a new bezel installed than to buy a new one,but hey, it's mine! The pic isn't, though, but it sure is the same model.

http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/t...Watches083.jpg

Seiko story. Many years back I spent around $375 for a Seiko 'chronometer' with all the bells and
whistles. It worked for a long time, but then one day it died. I figured it would be very expensive
to fix, so I just set it aside and bought a hundred dollar Swiss Army watch.

One day I took the Seiko to the shop, thinking it would cost a fortune to fix. The guy opened it up,
looked, said I had water damage (I swam with it), and it needed a new movement.

"Oh ****," I'm thinking. "How much?" I ask. He replies, "$62".

Unreal.


SEIKO makes fine timepieces. Just about any electronic SEIKO is more
accurate than the old Rolex living in my socks drawer. My daily watch is
a stainless steel Luminox. The only downside is that when it is time to
replace the battery, you have to send the watch to an authorized repair
center for a new battery and waterproof seals, and to have the insides
of the watch closed under vacuum...or something like that. Grrrrr.

I've got a goldtone SEIKO that's about 25 years old, and runs well, and
a $20 Timex with a really good "nightlight" that also is accurate.

Anyone remember those awful LED watches?



--
Sarah Palin is watching the Sochi Olympic Games from the front porch of
her house.

On Wed, 12 Feb 2014 08:32:55 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

On 2/12/14, 8:26 AM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 19:41:03 -0800 (PST), Tim wrote:

On Tuesday, October 22, 2013 6:42:42 AM UTC-5, BAR wrote:




That Rolex Harry alleges he owns is worth about a dozen Seiko's.

Speaking of Seiko. My mid-70's automatic works even after sitting for about 8 years in my sock draw3er. BUT I find out that it looses approx 5 min every 24 hrs. Not good so I need to send it off and have it redone. It'd probably cost more to have it reset and a new bezel installed than to buy a new one,but hey, it's mine! The pic isn't, though, but it sure is the same model.

http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/t...Watches083.jpg

Seiko story. Many years back I spent around $375 for a Seiko 'chronometer' with all the bells and
whistles. It worked for a long time, but then one day it died. I figured it would be very expensive
to fix, so I just set it aside and bought a hundred dollar Swiss Army watch.

One day I took the Seiko to the shop, thinking it would cost a fortune to fix. The guy opened it up,
looked, said I had water damage (I swam with it), and it needed a new movement.

"Oh ****," I'm thinking. "How much?" I ask. He replies, "$62".

Unreal.


SEIKO makes fine timepieces. Just about any electronic SEIKO is more
accurate than the old Rolex living in my socks drawer. My daily watch is
a stainless steel Luminox. The only downside is that when it is time to
replace the battery, you have to send the watch to an authorized repair
center for a new battery and waterproof seals, and to have the insides
of the watch closed under vacuum...or something like that. Grrrrr.

I've got a goldtone SEIKO that's about 25 years old, and runs well, and
a $20 Timex with a really good "nightlight" that also is accurate.

Anyone remember those awful LED watches?

Well, that $62 included the labor, so the movement was pretty damn cheap. Consumer Reports did a
review of watches several years back. The lowest scorers were the Rolex's. The highest were the $12
LED types. (That was the rating for timekeeping, not looks.)

On 2/12/2014 8:32 AM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 2/12/14, 8:26 AM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 19:41:03 -0800 (PST), Tim
wrote:

On Tuesday, October 22, 2013 6:42:42 AM UTC-5, BAR wrote:




That Rolex Harry alleges he owns is worth about a dozen Seiko's.

Speaking of Seiko. My mid-70's automatic works even after sitting for
about 8 years in my sock draw3er. BUT I find out that it looses
approx 5 min every 24 hrs. Not good so I need to send it off and have
it redone. It'd probably cost more to have it reset and a new bezel
installed than to buy a new one,but hey, it's mine! The pic isn't,
though, but it sure is the same model.

http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/t...Watches083.jpg

Seiko story. Many years back I spent around $375 for a Seiko
'chronometer' with all the bells and
whistles. It worked for a long time, but then one day it died. I
figured it would be very expensive
to fix, so I just set it aside and bought a hundred dollar Swiss Army
watch.

One day I took the Seiko to the shop, thinking it would cost a fortune
to fix. The guy opened it up,
looked, said I had water damage (I swam with it), and it needed a new
movement.

"Oh ****," I'm thinking. "How much?" I ask. He replies, "$62".

Unreal.


SEIKO makes fine timepieces. Just about any electronic SEIKO is more
accurate than the old Rolex living in my socks drawer. My daily watch is
a stainless steel Luminox. The only downside is that when it is time to
replace the battery, you have to send the watch to an authorized repair
center for a new battery and waterproof seals, and to have the insides
of the watch closed under vacuum...or something like that. Grrrrr.

I've got a goldtone SEIKO that's about 25 years old, and runs well, and
a $20 Timex with a really good "nightlight" that also is accurate.

Anyone remember those awful LED watches?



Yes.

On Wednesday, February 12, 2014 7:32:55 AM UTC-6, F.O.A.D. wrote:




Anyone remember those awful LED watches?



YES! In 1974, when I was putting myself through college, I had a part time job at Kmart, and those red LED watches were selling for $90.00! Battery eatin' suckers and you had to punch a button to see what time it was.

A couple years later the Quartz came out. Constant pulsing and only needed to punch a button to get it to light up to read it in the dark. 7 bucks!

Kmart was blowing the ;blue light' special on the LED for $20 and couldn't hardly give them away. Same with the LED calculators.

On 2/12/2014 5:32 AM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 2/12/14, 8:26 AM, Poco Loco wrote:

Seiko story. Many years back I spent around $375 for a Seiko
'chronometer' with all the bells and
whistles. It worked for a long time, but then one day it died. I
figured it would be very expensive
to fix, so I just set it aside and bought a hundred dollar Swiss Army
watch.

One day I took the Seiko to the shop, thinking it would cost a fortune
to fix. The guy opened it up,
looked, said I had water damage (I swam with it), and it needed a new
movement.

"Oh ****," I'm thinking. "How much?" I ask. He replies, "$62".

Unreal.


SEIKO makes fine timepieces. Just about any electronic SEIKO is more
accurate than the old Rolex living in my socks drawer. My daily watch is
a stainless steel Luminox. The only downside is that when it is time to
replace the battery, you have to send the watch to an authorized repair
center for a new battery and waterproof seals, and to have the insides
of the watch closed under vacuum...or something like that. Grrrrr.

I've got a goldtone SEIKO that's about 25 years old, and runs well, and
a $20 Timex with a really good "nightlight" that also is accurate.

Anyone remember those awful LED watches?

I once worked for a start-up that was acquired by Seiko-Epson and got to
visit their headquarters in Suwa up in the mountains between Nagoya and
Tokyo. They had an impressive manufacturing facility with some simple
models assembled on a completely robotic line that spit out something
like a watch a minute. They were definitely sticklers for quality and
had some good engineers.

My first boss at Motorola had one of these.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-01