Watch experts, help!

[holotekor]

I am relatively new to watches, and I am looking for a new watch. One thing that I am interested in is hand-wound and automatic watches. However, I am worried that I will be annoyed at winding it? does it come down to just winding it everyday? For some reason I remember something about the "right" times to be winding a watch, something about the gears being too close during some hours(I may be totally wrong too).

these are the watches i like/consider:

poljot strela pilot

poljot aviator

poljot shturmanskie

hamilton khaki chrono

i like the strela the most, but this is the style of watch i am looking for. Does anyone have any suggestions? recommendations? thanks...

[rakis]

I have a preference for hand-wound watches rather than automatic. Personally, there is something calming about winding your watch in the morning just as you start your day, hearing the clicking sounds.....anyway, here are two great forums to post your queries:

The big watch forum:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/246576/

Jetan is moderator and he is really a great guy. Most of the people on the forum and superbly helpful and knowledgeable. Of course, they love big watches as well.

There is also another connoiseur website:

The Purists

http://www.thepurists.com/

The brands tend to be higher up the luxury watch chain but these guys are pretty hadcore, the Ring Rings and Minyas of watches. Set-up and run by Dr. Thomas Mao, an extremely respected and venerated watch enthusiast, with a platoon of helpful and friendly sub-forum moderators.

I am not sure whether the brands on that forum are within your planned budget, but there is another sub-forum within there where you can ask around for help and advice:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/169624/

There is also this other forum:

Poor Man's Watch forum:

http://www.pmwf.com/cgi-bin/Forum/webbbs_config.cgi

Hope all this helps. These forums have loads of advice and great galleries to ogle tourbillons and different caliber movements.

Good luck!

[seoulfully]

you should also check timezone. a decent enough place to start research on watches.

http://www.timezone.com

[holotekor]

Wow, thanks a lot guys, you have been more than helpful. I'll let you know what i end up with!

[triniboy27]

Just to give you some feedback, I've had a handwound watch since Xmas and I wind it every morning when I wake up. I don't find it inconvenient at all, and I actually like it because it lets me interact with my watch daily as opposed to just wearing it.

[holotekor]

that was my first thought, i like the idea of winding it and not relying on a battery... i was originally more interested in an automatic watch, but i couldnt find something in the style i like.

[Serge d Nimes]

I used to have a wind-up chrono as my daily watch a couple of years ago and I actually enjoyed winding it. I wear an auto these days and enjoy it quite a bit. I recommend staying away from the Russian watches. I had one once (a Plojot) and it was a piece of crap. There are a lot of great watches that are under $300 with a sapphire crystal and an ETA 2824 movement that will give you many years of service. You can ebay seach in titles and descriptions the "ETA 2824" movement and you will find them in $300 watches and $5000 Panerais. that Hamilton would be a nice choice.

Carpe Denim! (not the jean brand silly!)

Edited by Serge d Nimes on Mar 27, 2006 at 06:59 PM

[seoulfully]

i second that. i have a hamilton. it's owned by the swatch group (same group owns omega, etc). it's a nice, simple watch. military inspired. though if i had my druthers for military inspired watches, i'd get an IWC mark XII JLC. but that is a little more than $300. (=

as for winding, yes you can overwind a watch, but it's not hard to notice the tension while winding. and it's not a thing at all to wind the mechanical watches. i actually prefer mechanical watches to automatics. i will say though, think about what exactly you want in a watch. because if you want near perfect time accuracy, then quartz watches might be better. though i find with regular winding, my hamilton is fairly accurate.