WRUW reflections

1. Rolex

2. Seiko

3. Vostok

For me,

1. Doxa. They have history. They have unique design. They have adventure. They have color. I don’t own one, but I love them and am surprised they aren’t on WRUW more.
2. Seiko. Everyone knows Seiko rocks. I’m still blown away at how many Seiko shots there are compared to other entry level major brands or price competitive micro brands. I haven’t bought one for years, but that may change soon. The 62MAS are just gorgeous, as are the Alpinists and the Cocktail Times.
3. Steinhart. I get it, but I don’t get it.

1. Shinola
2. Hamilton
3.  Bulova

1. Rolex - Rolex make 1M watches a year.  I would have thought that more of us would have more in our collections
2.  Seiko - Seems to be the go-to for enthusiasts
3.  Grand Seiko - GS only make ~80k watches a year, but there are so many on WC!

1. Breitling
2.  Seiko
3.  Casio

lmao Steinhart 

i dont get them either 

1. Breitling and Tag. Hardly any Breitling, next to no Tags except mine. Invicta (I thought there would be more unless you are all too ashamed of them). There are about as many Rolex as I would assume there would be considering the target audience. And, Orient - I thought there would be more, but it’s much less than I was anticipating.
2. Seiko - this is so depressing, it’s like you could all pick colours to express yourselves and you all pick grey. With the rising prices and poor QC what will it take for you to just move on? Citizen maybe? And Tudor, oh my god, Tudor - I mean half the time it’s like looking at a Tudor catalogue; BB this, BB that, I have £4k which Tudor BB shall I buy? It’s like they are the Swiss Seiko.
3. Where to begin, Vostok, Timex (in a good way), Seiko (just the magnitude of blandness is overwhelming), Grand Seiko (like really, are you all buying them on here because I barely see them anywhere else), Omega, the Timefactors Smiths (just offensive on so many levels), Tudor, Oris, the lack of vintage…

tldr; less Orient than I thought, no one wears Breitling or Tag, and I despair at the level of Seiko

1. Any Tudor that isn’t a BB. I‘ll see a Pelagos once in a while, but I’m pretty sure I’m the only person on this forum with a 1926 - which is surprising. Also Citizen. I see a decent amount, but for as many watches as they still sell, I‘d expect to see more of them. Then again, I think a lot of Citizen’s market may be the one-watch type of person like my brother is. He loves his Citizen, but he doesn’t give one hoot about watches otherwise. 

2. Seiko, of course. I mean, I own four of them myself. 
 

3. Casio (not G-Shock). This is a good thing, though. I love how many people talk about a $20 F-91W the same way other folks talk about a watch that costs fifty times that amount. Islander as well. Don’t get me wrong; I own an Islander, and Marc makes solid watches, but I’m still a little surprised that they’re so popular. 

I feel like I should probably own a Shinola. They’re a mere three hours away from me, and I do love supporting Midwest stuff. Plus, it would give ample opportunities to make “sh*t or Shinola” jokes. I can never pass up an opportunity for a good dad joke. 

Are people embarrassed by Shinola?  It's not like MVMT or Daniel Wellington.  They are big, but plenty of folks here wear chunky watches.

Yes on the Vostok... They are more popular than I realized. 

I wasn’t getting the Rolex in 1 posts at first, but good point. They get talked about a lot, but not a lot in WRUW compared to the number that are out there.

Solid list. Shinola is a good callout. Hamilton was close for me in the 2 slot. 

Breitling is a great callout. I love the Navitimer (the OG Calculator Watch).

I don’t recall seeing a single one of their new pistachio dialed chronos on WRUW yet.

Tag loses the cool kid popularity contest, but I think unfairly. I see them a lot on wrists, but not so much here. They have a great back-catalog that they draw from, too. The Autavia is hipster approved. The Monaco is legend chunky statement piece. The retro Carreras are nice looking. I’d expect to see more, and some vintage Heuers every so often. 

1926 and Pelagos are my favorites in Tudor’s catalog.

I’m with you and @chronotriggered on being amazed at just how many BBs are on here. 

1. Deep Blue-I don't really see it ever, which is surprising to me. I know it is just another NH dive watch microbrand, but they do offer good value and solid builds.
2. Orient-Everyone is saying it is the new Seiko.
3. Invicta-Just surprising to me, based on my own personal experiences and admitted bias based on those experiences. 😂

I don’t know the answer to this, but is Shinola known much outside of North America?

I remember looking at Shinola a few years ago, but their designs just didn't click with me. Later, I heard they got in a bit of trouble for labeling their watches made in the USA when they weren't. Granted, the standards to carry that label are really strict, but they did have a problem with that and it made the news in a small way. Maybe that influenced people's attitudes towards the brand?

It is cool to hate on Tag, but if you do, do it for the right reason. Don’t hate on them for the cal.1887, do it because they haven’t released an original watch for 20 years and refuse to do anything with their back catalogue. That’s coming from an Heuer fan.

The number of Black Bays and Seikos is just staggering. I am just basically resigned to the fact I don’t understand watch people, despite being what some would call a watch person. This and the lack of willingness to understand watch history by those with platforms, or the warping of the narrative to try and hawk me a f*****g homage, or nonsense brand comparisons to argue tenuous points; its staggering. Most people just want bland divers, great, but don’t compare features when the closest to the ocean you will get is the ice cream van by the beach. 
Some days it‘s just like screaming into the void. F*** I’m in a mood today.

1. All these online-sales/Teleshopping brands as part of Dartmouth or other holding companies. There most be tons of watches out there that watch collectors never notice. Similar with many lifestyle or fashion brands, even though their designs can be quite interesting.
2.  Yeah, Seiko. The LEGO-Set of the watchworld, with a product strategy that reminds me of a hamster on crack. The entertainment factor is just so high.
3.  Rolex. I mean, I see the problem with availability, and they surely make quality watches. But their design strategy is conservative to a fault, which I can also understand. But what is there really to discuss? The five minute marker of the Air-King getting a leading zero? The end must be near. 

💪🏻👴🏻

Planning this week’s 6k piece limited edition release… 

Shinolas are odd. I mean, I wear a Shinola every day. (my wallet) All their leather goods are great, but somewhat expensive. I like maybe 10% of their watches, but those I find rather expensive, so get them at a discount if I can. The service at their stores was outstanding, years ago they actually took the time to show me how to changes watch straps.

Some of their other products I don't get at all.

I have to say that part of what put me off their watches was the price. $395 is awfully expensive for a quartz watch, even if it is assembled in Detroit, and that is their lowest price. There are several US brands producing quartz watches assembled in the US for half that price; Vaer, Bertucci, and Meridian Sky.

The thing is that I don't really buy specs, otherwise I would probably own nothing but Orient watches. The price for Shinolas can be high, depending on how you get them. Most of their watches I don't like, but some I really do, usually based on their Runwell design with an unusual dial. It has previously not clicked with Vaer and Bertucci. I also probably would have never bought a Shinola, if I hadn't been to one of their stores. I could simply walk over on my lunch break if something was wrong with their watches. (Not that this was ever the case.)

I have not seen a George or Armitron somebody wearing it proud.

My first watch was an Armitron!