Mechanical watches are fascinating, but to be honest, they don't serve any practical purpose. Time is a solved problem. They can be cool and often are also status symbols. It feels a bit giving up on participating in the betterment of society if one concentrates on those.
How Watches Work
131–140 of 140 posts
Re: How Watches Work
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
It seems to me that the the QC issues are largely cosmetic, but are mostly with the Prospex models (some of their priciest models!) and seem to have intensified in the last few years. I've heard from watch geeks with friends in "the business" that Seiko is aware of the issue thanks to the negative online word-of-mouth these issues have generated, but I don't know how reliable that hearsay is. (Really, though, Seiko w…
At this point is probably anything they produce except Grand Seiko. Not sure why would they choose to ruin their reputation that way. Yes, SKX007 or 009 were cheap, but their Prospex line replacements aren't really.
I'm baffled by their choices as well. I'm no manufacturing expert but the misaligned chapter rings seem so comically easy for Seiko to avoid - why not design the case and chapter ring with a notch or something so it can't be misaligned? If that's not feasible, how is this stuff passing even a cursory QC inspection?
It's not like they're a public company being squeezed for profit at the cost of quality by a private equity firm or something. I have some faith they will right their ship but who knows.
Re: How Watches Work
#133Since I bought my first Apple Watch it's really hard for me to find a reason to buy mechanical watches. They are less useful, less accurate, and this gap is only going to continue. Yes, they are beautiful. But even their straps and bracelets are superior and more comfortable than any leather or steel I experienced. Imagine if in 10 years Apple Watch would measure your blood glucose and pressure. And what that could d…
I just think of my mechanical watches as an intricate form of jewelry rather than as something purely functional.
Re: How Watches Work
#134Re: How Watches Work
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
At this point is probably anything they produce except Grand Seiko. Not sure why would they choose to ruin their reputation that way. Yes, SKX007 or 009 were cheap, but their Prospex line replacements aren't really.
I'm baffled by their choices as well. I'm no manufacturing expert but the misaligned chapter rings seem so comically easy for Seiko to avoid - why not design the case and chapter ring with a notch or something so it can't be misaligned? If that's not feasible, how is this stuff passing even a cursory QC inspection? It's not like they're a public company being squeezed for profit at the cost of quality by a private eq…
QC does cost a lot because it's not also about checking but rebuilding your manufacturing to avoid it. So they probably prefer to close their eyes on it.
Re: How Watches Work
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can make a solar clock in your fictional scenario.
not precise enough to soft boil eggs, and not as easily as remembering to wear my automatic for an hour a day, or wind my manuals once per day. I'm failing to understand why this is so contentious outside of "anti-prepper" attitudes.
I’m just saying that if you’re choosing a lower-tech time piece so that you’re ready for an apocalypse you might as well know all your post-apocalyptic options like a sand timer for your boiled eggs.
Re: How Watches Work
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, they do, and that is a very poetic thing to consider. On one hand, you can marvel at how little they drift during a single power reserve. Could be seconds, which is barely noticeable in everyday life. On the other hand, some others (Seiko 5...) can drift minutes in a single reserve... And so what? In a day and age when we measure everything with maniac precision even during a random person's day, it's beautiful…
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/81074 'Initially set to the same time, these identical battery-powered clocks will eventually fall out of sync, or may stop entirely. Conceived shortly after Gonzalez-Torres’s partner was diagnosed with AIDS, this work uses everyday objects to track and measure the inevitable flow of time. When one of the clocks stops or breaks, they can both be reset, thereby resuming perfect sy…
Ah, yes. Gonzalez-Torres. I first saw his work at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. It was a string of dollar-store Christmas lights stapled to the wall. I think there were 24 lights, to represent the age at which is partner died.
I'm usually the guy willing to defend contemporary art, but there's not much I can do here. The work lacks any craft and the insights are shallow, better expressed by the label than the piece.
Clearly the curators of these very famous museums disagree with me. But when people mock "modern art" (which this technically isn't), this is what they're thinking about.
Re: How Watches Work
#138Re: How Watches Work
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you are the only one with a working watch, is your time definitionally correct, off by a bit, or completely incorrect?
As long as we haven't lost the sun too, we can sort it all out again reasonably quickly.
Now you have introduced an additional variable (location) to the equation.
Re: How Watches Work
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/81074 'Initially set to the same time, these identical battery-powered clocks will eventually fall out of sync, or may stop entirely. Conceived shortly after Gonzalez-Torres’s partner was diagnosed with AIDS, this work uses everyday objects to track and measure the inevitable flow of time. When one of the clocks stops or breaks, they can both be reset, thereby resuming perfect sy…
Ah, yes. Gonzalez-Torres. I first saw his work at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. It was a string of dollar-store Christmas lights stapled to the wall. I think there were 24 lights, to represent the age at which is partner died. I'm usually the guy willing to defend contemporary art, but there's not much I can do here. The work lacks any craft and the insights are shallow, better expressed by the label than the piece.…
Sure, you could trace this meaninglessness back to the obvious Duchamp Urinal example, but I could read it as being forever haunted by a specific number to the point where even the banality of dollar-store Christmas lights takes on a new and painful meaning.
If I glimpse another consciousness and walk away a different and more empathic person, then who am I to mock it?