Where can I buy straps that are not a total ripoff?

RIOS1931 is a great value German brand.. I ordered from here, but other stores carry it at a higher price. Make sure they refund the VAT!

What's this about refunding VAT? I'm in Canada, are you saying make sure they don't charge VAT since it's going to Canada?

Yes

Yeah they are in EU so they charge VAT.. Most online stores have it built in so it doesn't charge it if someone orders outside EU, but when I ordered, this site didn't have that ability. So I contacted them and they refunded the amount separately. It's not a small amount either, it's like 20% or something!

I need a new watch box. Too many friggin watches now.

That is a problem I would love to have!

Not the ballin Rolex level kind but saw these, you can call these dailys, I mean who wears $10,000 everyday?

From here (disclosure, no association with company, just thought it was kinda cool, watches and cars) - https://magnus.watch/collections/performance

This one is called Vette
https://magnus.watch/cdn/shop/produc...g?v=1690634959

This one is called Quattro
https://magnus.watch/cdn/shop/produc...g?v=1690634934

Super cool! I want to order one but the only JDM one that’s interesting is the GTR

Order the vette one for Donk ... c'mon Badhobz, it's RS Christmas time.

Just added my first G shock to the collection...https://i.ytimg.com/vi/en9wU2aBsLg/sddefault.jpg

Nice!! I got the 40th anniversary one of that with the gold buttons and clasp and sort of brushed gold looking behind the screen, it's my new favourite watch!

This middle one:
https://gshock.casio.com/content/cas...745/kv-sp.jpeg

Anyone have Grand Seiko ? I'm looking at this:

https://www.grand-seiko.com/ca-en/collections/slgh013g

Gorgeous watch, but 13-14k. Smooth sweep, much smoother sweep than the other snowflake type watches that go for 60% of the cost.

I've been thinking about getting a Grand Seiko and I am a fan of Seiko watches in general.. and I was just in Japan for a week with many opportunities to purchase one directly over there both used and new... but I feel like after initially being very impressed with a few models that they just look "old people" in some way??? I can't get over it so I ultimately decided not to.

That said, shop around, Grand Seiko's don't really hold their value super well... you can find that model for $9-10k online off Chrono24 etc.

You can pair the Grand Seiko with your Toyota Crown. It will compliment it very well.

Some very good deals on pre-owned Grand Seiko can be had domestically and from legitimate sellers much less than what you will find on Chrono24. And yes, they depreciate like crazy but they are beautiful watches for the right collector. If you aren't selling them or flipping watches often, they are nice to keep. I have been tempted several times but need to be a good boy.

Recently got an opportunity to pick something up that is rare and unexpected. Currently in production. ETA 3 - 4 months. :pokerface:

A Toyota Crown / ES350 is not rare OR unexpected.

I was going through old photos and found a picture from around 2003 of my first G-Shock as well!

https://i.imgur.com/7ign0AG.png

I haven't seen it in forever, but it must be around somewhere

I thought the ability to change the LCD to red was really cool. It could be changed to black, and iirc it could do inverse as well, so black background with red or white.

Get the best of both worlds and buy pre-owned in Japan. With the yen heavily discounted, you'll get a good deal for sure. And pre-owned resellers there are meticulous, so it'll be in great condition (or buy used direct from an owner, though this is more risky)

I wouldn't worry about holding value.. are you planning on selling it later? The value is whatever you want it to be.

Oh yah, I wasn't concerned about it holding value from an ownership perspective... just saying that as a way of encouraging him to buy used instead of new for a better deal / save money

Ah I misread and thought that was your reason for not pulling the trigger. mb!

You are so very wrong.

I haven't worn my Panerai in quite a while... Yeah, as you know, I replaced the movement with a Seagull based on the Unitas 6497-2... It wasn't really that necessary, but the replica was not keeping great time, and I thought it would be cool to get into the hobby of watchmaking

When I did it, I posted here that I had to deal with the seconds pinion, and just filed it off. Bad idea. I think the motion of filing it must have caused some damage, because the watch would stop at random times, even outside the movement with no hands. If it was a real ETA I would be pretty annoyed and would probably have to take it to a watchmaker to figure out, but it was a $30 Seagull, so I just bought another one. And some quality clippers to cut the seconds pinion off, instead of filing it.

Installing the new one, the setting lever of the keyless works kept falling off. I was pretty pissed, because I had gotten the watch like 90% reassembled, and couldn't get the stem to go in. I had to take it apart all over again, and figure it out. Comparing it to the first Seagull, I noticed the setting lever was just gone. So it must have fallen out and it's sitting on my floor somewhere I can't find.

So I took the setting lever out of the busted Seagull, and installed it into the new one. At this point I was quite proud! And happy I didn't have to disassemble the keyless works entirely.

Problem is, when I went to install the stem again, it fell off again. Upon further inspection, the screw that holds the setting lever in place was broken off. Below is a picture of the broken screw, beside a normal screw:

https://i.imgur.com/hDmNGgd.png

So I submitted for a refund.

If I feel like taking watchmaking even further, I could take it apart more to move that screw over to the new movement. But man this is tough! I bought the visor that was recommended here, but now I need a proper desk - my computer desk is too low, or my seat is too high, so working on this stuff is not comfortable. We'll see I guess.

The other option is to take the barrel spring and move it to the first replica movement, since I think that's what's causing it to lose accuracy as it winds down. It's perfect at full wind, but gets more and more inaccurate as the spring unwinds. We'll see I guess.

Kind of annoyed, because I really like this watch, and it's been sitting in my drawer in pieces for weeks now Sadge

That should also be a warning if you decide to buy a Seagull movement off Aliexpress. They really are crap. If that didn't break, a million other things might have. It's a toy (which is mostly fine, because watches are toys anyway, but keep that in mind if you ever spend money on this kind of stuff)

There's a reason why Chinese stuff has the expectations they do, compared to other countries. For $30 or whatever it's fine. This is what I was talking about before with those Seagull chronographs as well. It IS going to break down eventually, so keep that in mind when deciding how much to spend, and what you can do to deal with it when it inevitably happens.

You’re braver than me for tackling this kinda crap. My 1956 seagull crapped out and I’m too lazy / incompetent to even bother replacing it.

You have peasants to do stuff like that for you! Just tell them to do it... wait, why is my phone ringing?