What time is it? Watches and horology

Going to be. 👍

So the Seiko SPB143 is definitely magnetised.

I used the demagnetised kit and the apps, follow instructions from the Chrono24 YouTube channel (actual caption, no surprise the world of horology is ableist).

Yet it still not possible to demagnetise it unless there IS a piece of magnet that suppose to be in it.

The Tudor BB58 is 100% fine but for some reason the Seiko are heavily magnetised.

I didn’t like the Omega until I saw this photo.

Still too big for a faux vintage watch.

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Is anyone bothering with a safe? Having mislaid (ie put in a safe place) some important documents recently, I'd quite like one as the focal point for that sort of thing. Bonus, I can put watches in it when not wearing them.
What are the pros/cons? I assume if someone really wants to get in they'll just take the whole thing away.

I don't yet but I have plans on buying a vintage safe as a combination safe/furniture. They seem to weigh about 300 kilos so not something someone can walk away with although I'm sure they're not that secure.

Yes but...

You have to think about what problem you’re trying to solve. Break-in? Fire? I use mine for data backups more than anything valuable. So I bought something that is fire resistant and can be bolted in to the structure of the building. If it really is for documents then maybe just a briefcase type one, kept unlocked would be better value. Also, keypad or biometric rather than physical key, else anyone who wants to gain entry will just turn the house over looking for the key, on the assumption that you don’t take your safe keys out with you every time you leave the house.

I just don't understand how there's such a huge market for fake watches... Scary stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSZ3eRWOdgM

We recently had a new flooring laid and I made the decision to get rid of the heavy safe I’d plonked under the stairs. If someone breaks in and sees a safe they’ll go to extraordinary lengths to open/steal it. Even if that means coming back at a later date, maybe with my family present. Yet it has to be accessible or you’ll just get bored with the rigmarole of opening just to swap watches.
The best advice I heard is to get creative with hiding, a theif can’t steal what they don’t know exists.

If you dont understand the fake watch industry, you don't understand how the watch industry thrives from the concept that owning certain watches is a sign that you've made it. It's also a reflection of rampant consumerism...People see displays of wealth as success.

People aspire to look wealthy. It's sad but its part of human nature I think.

from the concept that owning certain watches is a sign that you've made it.

But the fakes are not really these watches, are they? It’s basically lying to yourself - maybe that’s what I don’t understand.

I guess I'm a little less surprised than you.

I once met a guy in Miami who spent 70% of his after tax income on a timeshare of a yacht. He had a fake Rolex on his wrist and lived in a run down apartment out of town. When I asked him why he spent so much money on the right to use a yacht (while moored as he couldn't afford fuel) for a few hours each month, he told me that he just wanted to look successful and if he looks successful he will become successful.

Extreme example but its a mindset that is more widespread than you might think. Miami is probably the global hotspot for it.

big empty safe under the stairs, watches somewhere else?

Insane.

The reason it's hard for me to grasp the whole idea, is also the fact that for example in Poland, you go to Gumtree (or their equivalent) and there is more fakes than genuine watches. There are sellers with which you can order replicas and it's not just Rolex. You can get anything... I've seen watches like JLC Master Compressor Chronograph. That is not exactly the wealth portraying piece in a non-watch world, is it?

I think there are probably equally as large a proportion of people buying replicas because they love watches and the iconic designs that they want on their wrists are economically inaccessible for them, as there are people who are buying them as 'status symbols'.

There is also a market for people who own the genuine articles, keep it in s safe and wear a (good) snide outside.

As much as having a nuclear football briefcase would be cool, the main issue is having one non-movable place to put things. The current safe-place drawer system results in absolute panic when things like passports or exam certificates need to be located!
I’ve also mislaid the seed words for an old BTC wallet, which is probably empty.

I sold a Helson to somebody on here so that he could leave his vintage ploprof at home.

I’ve got a watch box of beaters on the bedside table ;)

Exactly. My watch box is full of seikos, on the dresser in the bedroom. The Speedmaster lives somewhere else...

Think of potentially moving house if you get a big safe too. As a kid we once moved in to a place that had one as the previous owners left it, then when moving ourselves the next people didn't want it and it cost a small fortune to get a company to take it away.

they love watches and the iconic designs that they want on their wrists are economically inaccessible for them.

Yup.

I rather buy a high quality £500+ fake Rolex than wear the real thing (with clone movement even), no problem with insurance, can wear whenever, if it got stolen, not a problem, etc.

Link?

I was perfectly happy with my £20 swatch until discovering this thread, now Im looking to get my hands on an entry level diver Seiko. Does anyone happen to have a turtle kicking about theyd be willing to part with? Rather slim pickings on the bay. Ideally after a SRP775 or SRP777.

Aye.

Even the crown jewels in Tower must be fake.

If so. Why not flex a fake?

We are but magpies after all.

I got a £100 one from Singapore and cracked the Crystal in a swimming pool on holiday a year later. Would have been devastated if it had been a proper Rolex.

Cost £8 for a new crystal online and replaced it myself. Would never have done that with a real one, busting the warranty etc