Posts Tagged ‘watches’

How to Identify Seiko Watches

Seiko watches have reached to become generic for quality yet reasonably affordable timepiece. They have been producing so many of the world’s first watches, and their watch innovations are always a big hit in the market. With great reputation in the industry and expanding international market, Seiko watches are never safe from product and brand imitations. Thus, it is very important to be aware on how to identify Seiko watches.

How to Identify Seiko Watches

Watches

Owning Seiko watches is proven to be life-long investment. As they say, you get what you paid for, and even more. The quality speaks for itself. These watches are very reliable and accurate in time keeping. Like the Seiko Spring Drive, the technology of its mainspring mechanism is to deliver accuracy in time regulation. More importantly, Seiko watches are well-known not only for their technology but also for their durability.

There is always the suitable Seiko watch for everyone. The Seiko Sportura and Seiko Dive are very appropriate on sporting events and outdoor activities. The Seiko Quartz are best during casual occasions. While the Seiko Kinetic Series, Seiko Chronograph and Seiko Titanium Watches are advisable for everyday wear. The internet offers great pictures of the different models and quality parts and are guaranteed by Seiko Watch Corporation. Each style is meticulously created to suit the passion of customers.

It is always good to be aware of the features of Seiko watches. Although some models comes in color tone combinations, colors of original Seiko watches never fade. The Seiko watch metallic parts need minimal cleaning and still retains their original appearance after some years of use.

See through back is an indication that Seiko watch is genuine but some old models still have stainless steel back. This is done by the company to combat against fake Seiko watches. Every detail of the watch is carefully examined and assembled to create a masterpiece.

Original Seiko watch comes with a nice packaging box, instruction manual and 1 year international warranty. Although the watch box and instruction manual can easily be imitated, the Seiko watch international warranty is unique. It contains an original serial number for a particular Seiko watch.

Finally, Seiko watches are sold in authorized dealers and retailer stores all over the world. The watch parts are also guaranteed original in these stores. These watch shops sell original Seiko watches and safeguard also the spread of fake ones.

How to Identify Seiko Watches

How to Identify Seiko Watches

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How to Identify Seiko Watches

Mens Designer Watches – Buyer’s Guide

With so many men’s watches on the market, it is difficult to know where to begin when trying to make a choice. Watches are not just essential time pieces but fashion and style statements as well. There are two main categories of watch movements, quartz and mechanical movements. Quartz movements operate by battery and are extremely accurate, losing only a few seconds per month, and the convenience of only having to replace the battery every one and a half to two years adds to its appeal. Mechanical movements area powered by either manual winding or from the movement created by the wearer’s arm. These watches have a long life and are cherished as being traditional watches with the internal workings that have operated down the ages. Many top of the range watches use mechanical movements.

Mens Designer Watches   Buyers Guide

Watches

Case materials vary from funky plastic in garish colours to quality metals such as pure gold, silver, platinum and even diamond encrusted cases. Stainless steel is both attractive and functional while titanium has both these qualities as well as being extremely light. Watch bands are available in either strap or bracelet styles, the latter consisting of links. Crystals, dials and faces also vary, according to taste, and may incorporate dazzling mother of pearl, precious metals and stones. Water resistance is a necessary feature in order that the watch does not have to face repair every time it gets splashed.

It is advisable that if you are opting for a fun and funky watch that is very much for now, it is best to go for the quartz mechanism, with plastic, aluminium or rubber casing and the option of interchangeable watch bands for variety. The quartz watch does need to be kept away from magnets, however, as it will seriously disturb the quartz movement.

A more substantial and sturdy watch will be needed for sports activities. Rubber is an ideal case material here, as it takes the knocks and absorbs the sweat, and titanium is ideal for contact free sports like jogging and golf. Inclusion of a chronograph is useful as it’s sub dials can measure split seconds accurately, and rotating bezels can be used as timers.

For a long lasting and classically stylish every day watch, go for a leather wrist band and avoid any on trend watches as these are bound to date within a year or two. A simple face with Roman numerals and a good metal used on the case and bracelet will look good with both business suit or jeans. For a special occasion, great care should be taken in your selection in order to avoid paying through the nose for a mass produced item that turns up every where. This is the watch that will become a family heirloom and if you want to pass it down the generations it needs to be of good quality to last. Good quality workmanship and the finest materials are essential, as well as the use of precious metals on the case and bracelet, and a few jewels incorporated into the face. Choose a simple black or brown leather strap and avoid colours.

Mens Designer Watches   Buyers Guide

Mens Designer Watches – Buyer’s Guide

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Mens Designer Watches   Buyers Guide

Why Collect Vintage Watches

Before I state the reasons why you should consider collecting vintage watches first one must define a vintage watch. There is no definite cut off date as to what makes a watch vintage or contemporary but many vintage watch collectors would consider watches that pre-date the quartz revolution as being vintage. They are also usually made with a mechanical movement of a mainspring wheel.

Why Collect Vintage Watches

Watches

There are a number of advantages to collecting vintage watches over the modern replicas or contemporary watches today.

Firstly vintage watches make quality investments. They will tend to appreciate in value over time rather then depreciate so long as you look after them and keep them in good condition. This gives them greater collectible value as you can buy a vintage watch for a bargain today and sell it for a profit in a few years time. Like a modern car modern watches will depreciate in value fast. They have also not withstood the test of time like a vintage watch.

There are also aesthetic and nostalgic reasons to collecting vintage watches. These mechanical devices were intricately crafted through beautiful craftsmanship. They reflect an era gone by or a lost art. There are also many styles to choose from which make them diverse and interesting.

While there have been improvements to watches over the years such as their accuracy and their metal content, titanium watches being the most durable, the essence of how a movement is designed, made and adjusted has remained relatively the same. The major differences between vintage and contemporary mechanical watches are with design and style but even the design and style of many watches today are recreations of classic designs.

Buying Vintage Watches

When purchasing a vintage watch you need to be aware that there are fake vintage watches out there and that some sellers scam people by selling something which is not authentic and stating it as original.

If your buying online such as from an auction site like ebay you should only buy if the seller can show photos, preferably detailed photos of the watch so you can inspect them carefully and compare them with the same watches on the official website of the watch brand in question. Also check out the sellers feedback. A seller who sells genuine vintage watches is unlikely to have negative feedback about the authenticity of the watch.

Ask the seller for the serial number of the watch in question as all authentic vintage watches come with serial numbers. If they cannot provide them then move on to a different seller as it is possibly a fake.

Vintage watches are pre-owned or worn. If a seller tells you that the watch is brand new or it looks brand new its unlikely to be a vintage watch and more likely a modern replica.

If you learn a bit about vintage watches and their value it should be easier for you to spot a bargain and you may even make a nice profit should you choose to resell it at a later date.

Why Collect Vintage Watches

Why Collect Vintage Watches

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Why Collect Vintage Watches

The Start of Skagen Watches

Skagen watches began with the story of two immigrants who came to New York from Denmark. This couple was here to begin marketing a brand of watches in order for the Danish company to expand worldwide. This brand was a nice watch to have and began the Skagen line. The couple who introduce this design to the American market found that the brand was likable by the public, but would not become popular because of just the logo and name recognition. Quality and affordability had to go with the name recognition.

The Start of Skagen Watches

Watches

This made the couple order four unique designs from the Danish company and almost eight-hundred pieces. These initial designs became the Skagen brand. The order was sold quickly and another order went just as rapidly. The beginning of Skagen was launched. The four designs made the immigrants in New York desire to initiate additional designs and those grew to over thirty different models for the next year. Their perception of what individuals wanted made their designs different from the rest of the watch designs on the market and this turned into a triumph.

The watches were handcrafted and reliable with a Scandinavian flavor as well as being reasonably priced in order to satisfy the average person. An unexpected meeting with a local catalogue producer would put the Skagen line on the map. The catalogue placed one of the designs on the back of the publication. This ad earned more than 0,000 and all of the stock sold out. The couple was only working from a small apartment located in New York City, but the success of this woman’s watch was be start. The designers were on their way to bigger and better things.

Bloomingdale’s decided to take a chance on Skagen, but only on a trial basis. The designs stocked by the store sold out within hours and the revolutionary Skagen line hit the worldwide market after this. The company soon became the new rising star and other publications named them as the local up and comers in the watch market. Soon after their success in America, the two originators set up an office in their home country of Denmark and quickly grew to eighty stores. The 250 designs marketed by the designer are being sold worldwide in over 5,000 stores. The chance that this couple took with the original marketing of four designs has grown into a million dollar company spanning the world while still being creative in design.

That small New York apartment has developed into a starting point for all the models from Denmark to the rest of the world. There is no longer just two employees, there is now over 170 working in many places, but still assisting in new, creative designs. The original designers’ passion has made the world want more and more.

The Start of Skagen Watches

The Start of Skagen Watches

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The Start of Skagen Watches

Tough Watch Heavyweights – Why Divers Watches Are the Toughest Sport Watches on Earth

One of the coolest things about divers watches, is that they are amongst the toughest watches on the planet. These highly specialized sports watches are designed with functionality first on the watchmaker’s priority list. This is because as a watch is subjected to greater depth, the tougher it has to be to guarantee safe operation in a pressurized environment.

Tough Watch Heavyweights   Why Divers Watches Are the Toughest Sport Watches on Earth

Watches

How Divers Watches Are Tested

There is a strict international standard that a true divers watch must satisfy in order to be a certified diving watch. Watches must pass a series of tests laid out in ISO 6425, to earn the right to print the words “DIVER’S WATCH” on the case. Any watch bearing this marking will have satisfied the ISO 6425 testing procedure that is a special type of guarantee that the watch will hold up under submarine conditions.

The first test in the ISO 6425 procedure is a condensation test. The test involves heating a plate to around forty to forty five degrees centigrade, the watch is then placed on the plate and left for a period of ten to twenty minutes. Over this period the watch will heat up to this specific temperature. Onto the watch’s crystal face, a drop of water at room temperature is placed and left for one minute and then wiped off.

If there is any condensation seen to be forming beneath the crystal face, then the watch fails the testing. No further testing is conducted from that point on.

Another test in the procedure requires that watches be tested at depths that are 25% below their rated depth in still water conditions. Slight weather variations can cause the density of seawater to differ from between two and five percent and it is also well established by science that seawater is denser than fresh water.

Thermal shock testing is also applied to the dive watch as part of the testing procedure. The testing involves rapid temperature changes. For a period of an hour, the watch is first placed in forty degree water, then when the time expires, is rapidly transferred to five degree water. The watch is left for a further hour before being moved back to the fourty degree water again for a final hour.

By far the longest test in the ISO procedure is to test the watch’s resistance to the corrosiveness of seawater and involves the diving watch being submersed in thirty centimeter water for a period of over two days. This is why most diving watches are manufactured from stainless steel, titanium, plastics or ceramics as these materials do not rust.

Using A Diver Watch Under Water

Diving watches are also tested for the practical application of using a sports watch underwater. It is mandatory that all diving watches have some mechanism for keeping track of the total amount of time since the start of the dive.

Most analog diving watches use a unidirectional rotating bezel to track dive length, the bezel can only be rotated one way and as part of the standard is required to have distinctive markings at five minute intervals and a scale of sixty minutes. The watch is required to have its 60/0 minute mark be legible at twenty five meters below the surface and the reading of the time legible itself. Analog diving watches achieve this with luminescent watch hands, whereas most digital diving watches implement this with a back lit watch screen.

Divers watches must also indicate that they are working, both at 25 meters and in complete darkness. Analog watches have a running second hand with luminescent tip. When the battery runs out they must present an “EOL” (end of life) indicator.

Divers watches are among the most rigorously tested sports watches on the planet, meaning a good one will likely last you for many years and be completely safe to use in and around seawater, whether you are scuba diver or not.

Tough Watch Heavyweights   Why Divers Watches Are the Toughest Sport Watches on Earth

Tough Watch Heavyweights – Why Divers Watches Are the Toughest Sport Watches on Earth

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Tough Watch Heavyweights   Why Divers Watches Are the Toughest Sport Watches on Earth

Expensive Watches

Billed as the affordable quality Swiss watch, Lucien Piccard watches are some of the most sought after in the world. They are worn by royalty, dignitaries and celebrities. The company was founded in 1923 and continues to uphold its commitment to quality and excellence. These distinguished watches can be worn with pride and they are made so well that they are often passed down to children and grandchildren. The company originally became well known for its 14 karat and 18 karat gold watches with innovative designs for both men and women. They offer a large selection of collections so it is very easy to find a Lucien Piccard watch to fit your style and your pocketbook.

Expensive Watches

Watches

Every watch in the 14 karat gold Jubilee Collection of Lucien Piccard watches is made of 14K yellow or white gold. The details are very elegant. The Allure for women in this collection is made of 14K yellow gold and boasts sparkling diamonds that mark the hours and line the bracelet. It includes a mother of pearl dial and is delicate and rich looking. All this beauty and it can be purchased for approximately three hundred and fifty dollars. An example of a men’s watch from this collection is a masculine black strapped stainless steel watch with a 14K gold bezel. It includes a black dial and square diamond hour markers. It has a Swiss quartz movement and it is water resistant. Price is approximately six hundred and fifty dollars.

A Lucien Piccard women’s watch that is priced at around one hundred fifty dollars is model number 26023D. This watch is a gold plated two-tone with a Swiss quartz movement and includes eleven diamond markers on the dial. A men’s Lucien Piccard watch for approximately the same price is model number 27022RUB4. This watch is made of stainless steel, it is scratch resistant, it has a dark cranberry leather strap with a white mother of pearl face and it includes four ruby hour markers. It is very masculine and rich looking.

In addition to the 14K Jubilee Collection, Lucien Piccard watches also offer several other collections. The Lexington Collection is a group of chronograph watches with round faces; the Prestige Collection is very flashy and although this collection is primarily made up of stainless steel watches with round faces, they also offer some with leather bands with pave diamonds.

These are just a few examples of the wide array of Lucien Piccard watches that are available. You can dress up any outfit with a piece by this famous manufacturer. The nice thing about these watches is that many of them look just as good when paired with a suit as they do when worn with a pair of denim jeans. With a huge collection from which to choose, you will not have a difficult time finding the watch that is perfect for your needs.

Expensive Watches

Expensive Watches

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Expensive Watches

The Swatch Watches – Highly Collectible

For those people who lived in the United States or United Kingdom in the 1980′s, they would never forget the Swatch watch which was in great vogue at that time.

The Swatch Watches   Highly Collectible

Watches

Swatch watch is under the ownership of Quartz and these watches are produced by the world famous Swatch Group Limited. Unlike other name luxury watch brands, Swatch timepieces are mainly targeted at the average people. Manufactured from cheap materials and by small manufacturing plants, these watches are priced at moderate rates, making them available for the most average Joes. As a result, Swatch watches have attracted a lot of regular customers.

In the 1980s Swatch watches were quite popular among young teenagers, and they were brag with proudness by adolescents walking on the street, going to school, having a party, etc. However, the sales of these watches witnessed a fallen down in the nineties and changes have to make to maintain sales. Innovative changes were made basing on their old ways of watchmaking, and a bit of luxury was added to the simple design.

Some members of the extravagant Swatch watches are Rado, Breguet, Jaquet Droz, etc.

Swatch watches are available in various designs and functions that it is hard to believe that some of them are truly Swatch watches. Whatever watch you are looking for, you can always find a suitable timepiece such as metal watches, scuba watches, thin watches, etc.

In current times swatch makers have been committed to manufacturing watches of excellence. You can always find a bright glittering watch that is known to all. As one of the most well received kinds of watches all over the globe, these watches are all the rage among avid fashion aficionados.

The Swatch Watches   Highly Collectible

The Swatch Watches – Highly Collectible

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The Swatch Watches   Highly Collectible
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