^I'm currently on Orient star retrograde so it's good to learn...

anyone assist...what is the different between U-boat and Welder watches?? Both are from Italy with the same designer. Price is a lot of difference! Thank you.

welder ==> Miyota 2115 (cost ~us$5)
http://www.allwatchparts.com/MIYOTA-2115-W...ement_p_90.html

U-boat ==> Swiss eta 2824 (cost ~us$150)
http://www.esslinger.com/eta-swiss-2824-2-...-movements.aspx

the end of the year has come... what is your watch goals for 2012? its been 1 year and 8 months with my Tag Heuer Carrera CV2010-3, that's the one with the ETA movement, not the Seiko.

the sad fact is the watch is a piece of mass manufactured beauty with no soul (well it is beautiful) and the bulk of the money I paid goes to Leonardo Dicaprio's moustache, I have to say I did not regret the purchase one bit whenever I look at the face of the watch, feel the heft on my wrist and gaze at the pretty decorations.

for the money paid, I did stop and wonder that I could have procured a used Rolex submariner. would it have been the better choice? without a doubt an old Rolex beats a new Tag Heuer in terms of brand recognition and mechanical prowess -- in house vs ebauche and what not. but i look at the Rolex and all that came to mind was uncle, cause almost every self-proclaimed successful uncle I've met in Malaysia wore submariners or datejusts. few lawyers I've met wear datejusts. then again, Rolex is one of the be all end all watch that you can wear to the end of your time. the only Rolex I would love to have is the Daytona, but I'm not willing to splurge that much on a watch.

how about you guys. would you have gotten a used Rolex Sub/Datejust or a new Tag Heuer?

I would have got a Rolex dispute the negative stereotype. It is Asia, ppl love their Rolex to death... successful or not.. Today's uncle was yesterday's young adult too! U'll become a uncle one day, until then rolex prices of pre-own might have gone up by 2X due to inflation and demand, where the price your Tag has gone to a new low.

I love to a GMT 2 or explorer 2 but it is not on top of my list. 2012.. goals is save $$ for 2013 credor and pray there is a moonphase in the market.
I would really like to own a Aplina regulator in 6497/6498. Anyone know where to find a pre-own PM me!

I think 2011 was a big year for me in my interest for watches. I came full round from Swiss to Japanese/German watches and back to Swiss. Also got my first 'high end' watch (at least that's what it is to me). No plans for next year as both my grails have been procured. Guess I will have to consolidate my collection and see what's the next pretty watch to catch my eye.

Happy 2012 to all watch lovers out there!

i certainly see the value in rolex, but it doesn't bring a smile to my face.

lots of $$ to save for the credor! alpina and credor..very distinguishably different watches as well.

deriku: grats on achieving your grail. a great position to be in so can focus $ on other things.

I've recently been poisoned by this


then I realized I liked the old one better


I was considering a birth year Rolex sub for 2012.. but this Zenith struck me hard..the old one that is.

The argument for Rolex is always valid.. no matter where in the world you are, not just Asia, Rolex is Rolex.. its the Ferrari of watches.

Personally I can't seem to justify paying >$5000 for a mass manufactured piece. And I feel mass manufactured ones have less character and soul to it, so I would steer towards vintages.. some guy could have the latest and greatest Rolex Sub, and you'd pop out with a Rolex red sub and win the day. No amount of money is gonna buy you this Rolex if nobody is selling it. I guess I like the feeling of being unique. lol.

It's good to see a fellow Zenith fan,
We have similar taste... I would love the striking 10th but I am more into this at the moment for the more vintage look case.



It's also abit more affordable compared to the striking 10th.

At the moment, I would have to make do with this... hehe

I thought U're thinking of a preown Rolex Sub? Vintage pieces such as Red Sub are not cheap either.
vintage watches are great but they do cost a bit to maintain.. buy a 30-50yr old Rolex and still have to throw ~2K into servicing (oiling movement, changing all the gaskets.. no relume). the cost of Unique is expensive.

I read about a 1 man brand - Bernhard Zwinz.
only 11 pieces will be made, it comes with a price tag of 240,000 Francs or RM$810,150!


wanted something not so limited. try Roger Smith. his annual production is 10 pieces a yr.
Series 2 is priced at gbp$35K or rm$172,100.
http://tp178.com/ct/rogersmith/series2/teaser.htm


Dornblueth & Sohn production also low at 120 pieces a yr.
http://thewatch.watchfinder.co.uk/the-insi...-dornbluth-sohn
http://www.timezone.com/library/tzints/tzi...925903176093750
http://www.dornblueth.com/


This post has been edited by patryn33: Jan 2 2012, 01:06 AM

hey guys, happy new year! just got hold of a panerai! my 1st luxury watch. Its a gift from my dad! Just wanna ask, where can i buy panerai leather straps? i wanna look for a dark leather brown 1, something like in the pic.

http://professionalwatches.com/panerai292_brown1.html

And how do u guys keep ur watches? in the box? or on the table? haha, sry to ask this kinda of noob questions, because i dont use to own such luxury item. Kinda scared to wear it at times :s

anyways, this is the pic of my watch


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

a PAM 292, dad so generous.. over rm$29K.
anyway u can put it where U feel safe!

Pam leather band best obtain online. U can get them custom made too. $29K watch don't be cheap get it a nice Cordovan strap
ie
http://www.europelli.com/
[url=http://www.watches24seven.com/gallery2/main.php?
http://www.thestrapsmith.com/The_StrapSmith/Welcome.html
http://www.gregstevens-design.com/sizing.html
http://www.tcstraps.com/category/CUSTRPS.html

This post has been edited by patryn33: Jan 2 2012, 04:47 AM

is mido a good watch? planning to get this...

yes Mido is good brand. on ETA 2836 Elaboré grade pvd..
what's the price after discount? ~3.1k?

http://forums.watchuseek.com/f2/pretty-mido-599589-2.html


This post has been edited by patryn33: Jan 2 2012, 07:26 AM

PAM292 with pig?
Only produced in 2007 IIRC.
You got it used or new? And how much if you don't mind?

yes, its the 2007 edition, J series to be exact. Er, im not sure how much and when my dad got it. But he told me its around 20-30k

guys finally after much consideration guess i will settle for the zeppeliln hand winding chronograph, anyone of you know where to get it? and what is the price range?
any recommendation on world timer watch?

Saw Red Army Watches at 1U carried Zeppeliln. Not sure they have what you are looking for.

Congrats bro, you got a rare piece

Spoiled b@stard! I mean that in the most loving way. Congrats on that beauty.

You can buy the straps at most of the local AD's. I usually get mine directly at the Panerai boutique when I'm back in the states because the selection is better.
But to be honest, I really like the price and selection of aftermarket brands.

Here are two of my favourites:

Heroic 18 (http://www.heroic18.com/)
Quality is very good for the price. I've compared with a lot of brands out there and I really like this one. I'm not a huge fan of their buckle's though - a bit too big for my small wrists. I bought a slimmer one from Strap Culture (they make decent straps too, but I still prefer Heroic) If you have huge wrists like those white dudes, you might be able to pull it off. Here's a pic of my two favourite Heroic 18 straps:

Italian Sandy Tan (left, on my Panerai Luminor Daylight) and Italian Aged Cocoa (right, on my Panerai Luminor Marina), both with wax ecru hand stitching with full stitch pattern. You can't see it clearly, but one has a strap keeper the other doesn't.
The leather is lightly treated but will still patina over time to a richer luster. Very beautiful. It is also incredibly soft and supple for how thick it is.



Greg Stevens Design (http://www.gregstevens-design.com/)
I love these straps. The guy is based out of Utah, U.S.A. He makes them to order. I had him make one exactly in the style of the original 1950's vintage Panerai.
This is a box stitched pattern with matching hand stitch threading in a vintage military leather. I also requested the vintage GPF-Mod Dep sewn in buckle from the 1950's model. He uses different types of leathers for wrist facing side of the strap. Very high quality, I paid about USD 150 shipped, which is cheaper than any other custom strap maker. (Seen here in my Panerai Luminor Marina 1950 3-Days Automatic)


I keep my watches in a big watch box that can hold all of my various watches. It has a drawer at the bottom where I keep my straps, gloves and tools. I keep everything in a SentrySafe just in case.

Hey chino, where can I get those straps? I currently using pam320. Do I need to find strap that compatible to pam320 or any panerai strap may do?