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Mechanical Apple Watch from real e-waste Apple Watch

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Re: Mechanical Apple Watch from real e-waste Apple Watch

#141
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple watch might last you 5-10 years Tiny ass battery + daily full charge discharge = toast well before 10 years If they actually cared about sustainability the screen and battery would be user replaceable

Apple always has had this tussle between making things repairable and sustainable vs selling more of stuff. It does not have to be this way. Don't they make a log of money from non hardware services. I heard apple pay rakes in close to 800m $

According to this [0] Apple made 93 b over the past four quarters. The Apple watch is bigger than the entire Swiss watch industry [1] but still a minor part of Apple.

My point being that they’d have to sell a hell of a lot of services to outpace the iPhone, and those services are mostly popular because they integrate into the iPhone. And people want the new shiny ones.

[0] https://ultimatestockpicker.com/company-detail/AAPL/

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertanaas/2020/02/07/apple-wa...

Re: Mechanical Apple Watch from real e-waste Apple Watch

#142

I absolutely love this. I think a lot of techie types might not realize what an engineering marvel a mechanical watch movement is. I'm sure you all realize there are a lot of teeny tiny gears. But does the HN crowd realize there are 24 precious gems (lab-grown rubies and sapphires!!!!) inside the NH38 movement, serving as bearings and such? While the Apple Watch is in some ways orders of magnitude more advanced than…

Yeah, for folks who want to know more about watchmaking we had a customer make a complete watch, including movement:

https://community.carbide3d.com/t/watchmaking-on-the-nomad/4...

and I found an animated overview:

https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/

Re: Mechanical Apple Watch from real e-waste Apple Watch

#143
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did that watch survive from the 60s without service? If you need to have a vintage watch like that serviced it would cost about the same as buying a new apple watch. Some of these old watches can also become a bit of a ship of theseus. It's a 60's watch with a new crystal,mainspring and rotor.

I've use a 100 years-old watch as a daily driver for a few years (until it was stolen...). It was serviceable, but it was relatively expensive, so I lived with its known 2-5 minutes daily drift. I'd say that up to 10 minutes of daily drift is perfectly tolerable in my book, so it could probably go 200 years without any servicing whatsoever :)

> 10 minutes of daily drift is perfectly tolerable

Heh I feel bad when I'm 10 min late to a call, but if I had your watch I'd be 20 min late!

Re: Mechanical Apple Watch from real e-waste Apple Watch

#144
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Excellent points! I'd like to add that while your Apple watch might last you 5-10 years, a mechanical watch well looked-after can last several lifetimes. I'm currently daily-driving an automatic watch from the mid-60s that still somehow looks pristine and keeps excellent time (for a mechanical, that is). I expect this watch to outlive me.

5-10 years... wishful thinking, that's all I am going to say.

Is it? I have a nearly 5 year old Apple Watch (series 4) on my wrist and I've never had any issues with it.

I'll probably replace it when a new watch comes out with a feature I really want (unlikely) or the battery stops lasting a full day, which might take a few more years as I don't even get close to running out unless I forget to charge it overnight.

Re: Mechanical Apple Watch from real e-waste Apple Watch

#145
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Excellent points! I'd like to add that while your Apple watch might last you 5-10 years, a mechanical watch well looked-after can last several lifetimes. I'm currently daily-driving an automatic watch from the mid-60s that still somehow looks pristine and keeps excellent time (for a mechanical, that is). I expect this watch to outlive me.

> Apple watch might last you 5-10 years Tiny ass battery + daily full charge discharge = toast well before 10 years If they actually cared about sustainability the screen and battery would be user replaceable

Battery replacement service through Apple is $80, which is not an unreasonable amount for a once-every-four-years repair; between the parts required and the expected probability of screwing it up and damaging it, you wouldn't really be saving any money doing it yourself.

Re: Mechanical Apple Watch from real e-waste Apple Watch

#146
post #143
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've use a 100 years-old watch as a daily driver for a few years (until it was stolen...). It was serviceable, but it was relatively expensive, so I lived with its known 2-5 minutes daily drift. I'd say that up to 10 minutes of daily drift is perfectly tolerable in my book, so it could probably go 200 years without any servicing whatsoever :)

> 10 minutes of daily drift is perfectly tolerable Heh I feel bad when I'm 10 min late to a call, but if I had your watch I'd be 20 min late!

I'd wind the watch and adjust it in the morning, and will be 2-5 minutes late in the evening. But at times I would adjust it during the day while watching time close to another, more reliable time source (like a public clock in a train station, for instance, or TV news in a shop window). After all it only takes a second to adjust: pull the crown, turn it a tiny bit, and push it back in :)

Re: Mechanical Apple Watch from real e-waste Apple Watch

#147
Really cool! Fun fact - the apple watch was designed based on inspiration from a mechanical watch brand, ikepod. Jonathan Ive recruited Marc Newsom who created ikepod(with another watch maker) and Newsom took alot of the design elements from ikepod watches to come up with the apple watches unique look. So I guess its going full circle again.

https://www.design-drivel.com/articles1/ikepod-applewatch

Re: Mechanical Apple Watch from real e-waste Apple Watch

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Casio F-91W costs $16.96 here: https://www.amazon.com/Casio-F91W-Digital-Sports-Watch/dp/B0...

I know Americans enjoy the lowest consumers electronics prices in the world but in Europe it's at least 20 Euros which is more than 20 USD and even at 20 euros it's difficult to find, with most shops asking for more than that.

I remember paying $7 for mine at Walmart. It was on clearance.

Re: Mechanical Apple Watch from real e-waste Apple Watch

#149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The battery of a 20$ Casio F-91W alone, will outlive several Apple watches.

The battery of a 20$ Casio F-91W alone, will outlive several Apple watches. While I'm with you in spirit, I'm not sure that's strictly accurate. The F-91W battery is rated for 10 years: https://support.casio.com/storage/en/manual/pdf/EN/009/qw593... The calculator version (which I use) is rated for three years, assuming you only let the alarm go off for 20 seconds per day, and use the calculator function for less tha…

     use the calculator function for less than one hour per day
I really want to meet a person who is hammering away at the calculator function on their watch for more than an hour per day. That would clearly be the coolest person in the world.

Re: Mechanical Apple Watch from real e-waste Apple Watch

#150
post #146
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 10 minutes of daily drift is perfectly tolerable Heh I feel bad when I'm 10 min late to a call, but if I had your watch I'd be 20 min late!

I'd wind the watch and adjust it in the morning, and will be 2-5 minutes late in the evening. But at times I would adjust it during the day while watching time close to another, more reliable time source (like a public clock in a train station, for instance, or TV news in a shop window). After all it only takes a second to adjust: pull the crown, turn it a tiny bit, and push it back in :)

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