Some thoughts on a strap change
This is my Mühle Glashütte Teutonia IV Bluemoon. With its midnight blue dial, polished hands and applied indices, and moonphase, I bought it to be my dressiest dress watch.
I also thought that the black leather strap on a deployant clasp would add some class. However, I’ve found the deployant mechanism is very annoying. When tight enough to hold the watch on the wrist, it digs into the underside and also makes the watch unnecessarily bulky. Turn the hand, and the edge of the clasp occasionally pricks the wrist. It had to go.
So I purchased a Badalassi wax strap from The Strap Tailor. Then came more problems. The screwed lugs add an interesting feature to this watch - making it look almost like a highly dressy tool watch (consistent with Mühle’s heritage). However, I could not for the life of me unscrew those lugs. They must have been stuck shut with loctite. It is ironic that a feature which looks more functional, actually is impossible to use.
So I bit the bullet, and took the watch to a repair man (with my tail between my legs)! He applied his dark arts, and fitted the new strap.
This has really changed my experience of the watch. Firstly, I can now fit the watch to the wrist without the fiddle of a deployant clasp and without it being bulky on the wrist. Secondly, I’ve realised that the shiny black leather of the original strap was a little too much. The slightly more muted colour of the badalassi wax instead gives centre stage to the polished features on the watch.
Thirdly, wearing this watch for the last few days has helped me to realise that it actually works best as a daily. It doesn’t have lume, but the polished hands and indices are pretty legible in low light. It has a date window. It has 100m WR. Also, at 11.8mm it is not the thinnest watch that could be found for dress occasions anyway.
However, I’ve also reflected on the moonphase complication. I used to think that no complication could be more dress-like than a moonphase. Yet I’ve come to think the opposite. If it has any use at all, the joy of a moonphase comes from slowly tracking the movement over a number of days (in this case leading up to the full moon on Monday). Wearing the watch as a dress watch either means setting the moonphase each time for that big occasion, or keeping it on a watch winder and still missing out on the function’s primary purpose. That’s a bit like watching the highlights of a touchdown in the NFL (or a try in rugby), when a lot of the interest comes from the progress of the drive to get there.
So this watch gives rise to 2 opposing ironies for me:
It has functional looking lugs, which are far from functional; and
It has a dressy look to it, but its best use case is as a daily.
Does anyone else think the same about a moonphase? And is there anyone who actually enjoys deployant clasps and screwed lugs?
Inclined towards German brands, the Bauhaus style and the beauty and simplicity of a deck watch.
I like screwed lugs because they’re secure and stronger than spring bars. Good call taking it to a pro because they are often thread locked and it’s easy to mess it up. I like a deployant clasp when combined with these lugs for maximum security. I love that watch but I don’t think it’s a dress watch.
I like screwed lugs because they’re secure and stronger than spring bars. Good call taking it to a pro because they are often thread locked and it’s easy to mess it up. I like a deployant clasp when combined with these lugs for maximum security. I love that watch but I don’t think it’s a dress watch.
I did actually get one tiny scratch on one of the lugs before giving up! 🙄
I have no experience with those lugs and I get what your are saying… but over all it’s just a beautiful piece! I love that big moon phase execution. Personally payout try to set it is I were not wearing it often, but I would be to stressed about if I don’t 🤷🏼♂️
My first moonphase was on a field watch, so I don’t necessarily equate the complication with dressiness, in fact my dressiest watch is a chronograph my Studio Underdog Goofy Panda.
So I think it’s more the watch case the determines how dressy a watch is rather than a complication. I also like deployant clasps but haven’t tried those lugs.
Try an Omega style loopless deployant clasp. It tucks the tail underneath, very comfortable and much neater
I have no experience with those lugs and I get what your are saying… but over all it’s just a beautiful piece! I love that big moon phase execution. Personally payout try to set it is I were not wearing it often, but I would be to stressed about if I don’t 🤷🏼♂️
I agree - I couldn’t wear it knowing that the moon was wrong!
My first moonphase was on a field watch, so I don’t necessarily equate the complication with dressiness, in fact my dressiest watch is a chronograph my Studio Underdog Goofy Panda.
So I think it’s more the watch case the determines how dressy a watch is rather than a complication. I also like deployant clasps but haven’t tried those lugs.
Maybe it was me that just had it all wrong about moonphases then!
I’m not sure the goofy panda would work with a suit, but it’s definitely a funky party watch. 🥳
I have one with a moonphase as well. Always keep it running. I don’t use a winder but wind it up at least every 2nd day. Then I can see how the moonphase progress even if I’m not wearing the watch every day.
Try an Omega style loopless deployant clasp. It tucks the tail underneath, very comfortable and much neater
Thanks, I’ll look into those. 🤝
I have one with a moonphase as well. Always keep it running. I don’t use a winder but wind it up at least every 2nd day. Then I can see how the moonphase progress even if I’m not wearing the watch every day.
That’s an option. Although I might then be worried about wear on the winding mechanism. I don’t know what to believe on that - some say it’s not great to keep winding an automatic.
That’s an option. Although I might then be worried about wear on the winding mechanism. I don’t know what to believe on that - some say it’s not great to keep winding an automatic.
That might be true but I’m sure it will survive me. But you are just a kid (😉) so obviously you have to consider that.
A quartz moon phase settles the accuracy question but that’s not what you want to hear. Success was finding the right balance with your strap choice. Enjoy your beautiful watch.
I love screwed lugs, deployant clasps and moonphases are perhaps one of the few reasons that I am still fascinated by my mechanical toys after more than 40 years. I wear my moonphase watches often but not daily, in fact my Navitimer 1461 4year annual calendar moonphase is my usual travel watch. There seems to be a renewed interest in a complication that so many folks consider to be useless. The moon on my Breitling Datora is highly polished reflects the wearer’s face when the moon is full, a playful charming feature that is just neat!
I love screwed lugs, deployant clasps and moonphases are perhaps one of the few reasons that I am still fascinated by my mechanical toys after more than 40 years. I wear my moonphase watches often but not daily, in fact my Navitimer 1461 4year annual calendar moonphase is my usual travel watch. There seems to be a renewed interest in a complication that so many folks consider to be useless. The moon on my Breitling Datora is highly polished reflects the wearer’s face when the moon is full, a playful charming feature that is just neat!
Oh no - I have attacked 2 of the holy trifecta in your case then! 😂
I certainly agree on the charm of the moon phase. It is pretty much useless, I think, other than as a reminder of our place in the solar system (and also potentially if planning a night op). However, I love the idea of the polished moon reflecting back the wearer's face! 🌝
Oh no - I have attacked 2 of the holy trifecta in your case then! 😂
I certainly agree on the charm of the moon phase. It is pretty much useless, I think, other than as a reminder of our place in the solar system (and also potentially if planning a night op). However, I love the idea of the polished moon reflecting back the wearer's face! 🌝
lol! The service manager at the Breitling office joked that my 1461 Moonphase was useless unless I was a farmer! Deployant clasps are useful to me because leather straps last a very long time fitted to fold over clasps. Unlike so many members on the Crunch I save my extra dollars for more watches, different straps are an affectation that does not appeal to me personally. Love your Moonphase but appears to be no brick and mortar seller of the brand here in Toronto, was thinking as a next addition. I will leave the purchase to serendipity. Have a great day, enjoy your watch.
I don’t know why “dressy” and “daily” necessarily need to be mutually exclusive…