What time is it? Watches and horology

Looks good!

Are the Swatch automatics any quieter than their quartz models?

Yeah - I got mine for £339 which I thought was a decent price.
I like the music playing ability for running and it's definitely an upgrade on the Forerunner 35 (But much bigger!)

The Sistem51 is pretty noisy, but I would say it’s slightly quieter than the 34mm quartz ones my nephew and niece got for Christmas. Still, much louder than a normal auto - I assume it’s due to the plastic case.

Thought it would have scratched the itch but now I’m yearning for a black/black Speedy which I’ll never be able to justify spending the money on.

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Who needs to actually be able to read the time anyway?

The new Speedie is a proper looker but by crikey that's bonkers expensive.

I think it's because i'm not especially into (ie I have no idea about) movements, but I don't get the big deal about the 321, other than it's the first one that went to space. My understanding is that there's no real mechanical advantage over the 1861, so it's just going nuts for the sake of historical accuracy (which sits a bit oddly with Omega's decision to use a sapphire sandwich on the watch to make it look prettier)?

If it's any help, I prefer the Swatch to that particular Speedy :)

I quite like the new goth Seiko 5 sports model.

Just a shame about the logo and 𝒜𝓊𝓉𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒾𝒸

My hot take that no-one asked for: Omega are trying to turn a tool watch movement (a very beautifully designed one, but still a tool watch movement) into a super premium (for them) product line on the basis of heritage/history/marketing and the artificial scarcity created by having them made by individual watchmakers in small quantities (rather than setting up a conventional production line). They are trying to create their own Daytona situation, basically.

It’s very nice and I’d love to own one, but there is no reason for it to have been three times the price of a regular Speedmaster Pro, except that they wanted it to be three times the price, and then figured out how to make that happen.

Simon Freese or STS are the only watchmakers that I use

Have messaged Simon, cheers!

I quite like the new goth Seiko 5 sports model.

Ohh... So do I!

^ hope that doesn't come across as aggressive. I genuinely think you've hit the nail on the head.

Lovely!

I hope it does!!!

Teach the little squirt whos boss!!!

(jokes obviously)

Yep, I agree re the blatent positioning. It'll be interesting how it plays out though as they are in the slightly different position to Rolex of there being loads of cheaper, similar looking versions readily available - would the GMT / Daytona's get such hype and go for such money if there were similar GMTs / chronos in Rolex's line up?

My worry is that they decide to hike prices on the Moonwatch or pull it, which would be a shame as they're such brilliant watches which are (or rather used to be) good value compared to the Rolexs / PPs etc of this world.

@Dammit Was it you with the railmaster? If so, how do you find it? They are on sale at Beaverbrooks for £2.6k for the bracelet version currently and quite tempted...

I have this one:

Link to the watch in the Beaverbrooks sale

I also got this strap for it, and I have worn it on this for much of the last year:

I like the watch, the story is one that I enjoy, the movement is (to a layman such as myself) a clever bit of engineering, and the watch is well made and I think quite handsome.

I wear either the Railmaster or the Speedmaster on a daily basis, and then the Seamaster if I have to dress smartly.

Yes, they have 20% off on top of those prices (code YAYSALE20 for anyone who is interested), so takes it down a fair bit.

I also like the story, my grandfather designed power stations, so anti-magnetic was something he needed in watches,so it follows on there for me.

Can you remember how much roughly you paid for the strap?

Guys I'm trying really, really hard here not to buy anything and you aren't helping

Always thought that Railmaster was very nice.

The Omega Boutique gave me the strap for free. It had a price tag of £185 on it, however.