Something about me first: I love mechanical watches.  They are just beautiful.  Anyways, I was watching videos of mechanisms on youtube, and this came up.  I fell in love at first sight.  My only problem: it's about $90,000.   
Oh well, I can still love it from afar.


IWC Portuguese Skeleton Minute Repeater

$90,000 for a watch?? Damn thats expensive!

I wouldn't pay $90,000 for it even if I had that much lying around, but I do think it's a gorgeous watch.

$90,000 and doesn't have numerals


Yes it is a cute boy thing, not my cup of tea though, I need diamonds on it


Cindy

So they charge that much for a watch with no face? The gears better be carved from the bones of a Jesusaurus Rex and have kinetic energy storage (rather than batteries).

That is a pretty awesome watch man. I'm not a watch person but I love the Xbox 360 and PSP that is built to be able to see through it. There are actually a lot of watches like that, that are way cheaper but not as cool. Amazon has one for $40. I just used google shopping and looked up see through watches.

If you hunt around online and are patient, you can probably find a nice working vintage pocket watch with exposed movement for a few hundred. Of course, the movement will look quite different to this one.

Very steampunk... but who on earth would pay that amount for a watch?

Someone who doesn't need SRS!!!

Someone who reeeaalllly needs to know what time it is, and has a tiny gear fetish.

Quote from: Crimbuki on November 19, 2010, 03:57:19 PMSomeone who reeeaalllly needs to know what time it is, and has a tiny gear fetish.

A tiny fetish for gears, or a fetish for tiny gears?

Quote from: Arch on November 19, 2010, 08:18:39 PM
A tiny fetish for gears, or a fetish for tiny gears?

Both?

It's looks like a well made watch, true... but $90K is just WTF?!

Personally, I'd be heading on over to dealextreme and buying something not quite so well made for under $20. It's easy to find watches with exposed workings (though admittedly, nowhere near as detailed or classy as that one).

Lol.  Boys and their watches...  I swear.

Quote from: Jen on November 20, 2010, 08:57:43 PM
Lol.  Boys and their watches...  I swear.

Wait... it's common?! Seriously?

I was under the impression that having a large collection of watches was not a manly thing - so I've been keeping mine a secret!

I've totally had a watch thing since I was a kid. I collect them like women collect shoes. The more functions, or the more unusual the better.

Wow. I feel better about the 8 I'm about to order from the above mentioned site. I loves me some crazy geek watches. And Casio databanks. I collect those :p.

Quote from: Teknoir on November 22, 2010, 01:15:56 AM
Wait... it's common?! Seriously?

I was under the impression that having a large collection of watches was not a manly thing - so I've been keeping mine a secret!

I've totally had a watch thing since I was a kid. I collect them like women collect shoes. The more functions, or the more unusual the better.

Wow. I feel better about the 8 I'm about to order from the above mentioned site. I loves me some crazy geek watches. And Casio databanks. I collect those :p.

Totally a guy thing. I have a few watches but they are more jewelry than watches. Only a guy wants one of those things with lots of buttons with more dials than you can look at - chronometers? And Chronos was a male god I think. And only a guy wants to know the time to the second (except when he turns up late for me )

Fun

Cindy

When I was a boy I would wear 2 or three watches at once.

I was also in high school.

I figured they would go the way of the dodo with the proliferation of cells phones.

I LOVE this watch

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/a890/

it looks like a galaxy

Quote from: Elijah on November 22, 2010, 02:24:56 AM
I LOVE this watch

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/a890/

it looks like a galaxy

Ooo... nice! Classy! I do like that indeed. That is awesome.

I am totally digging the SpyNet Mission Video watch on Thinkgeek. DROOL. WANT. That's like the stuff my childhood dreams were made of! .

I don't think watches will ever go the way of the dodo entirely. They look cool, and they're too useful (and convenient).

In my work, I need to tell the time at a glance to the exact second (I always wear digital when I'm at work - and always in 24hr time, 'cause that's just how we roll :p).

I can't get my phone out. It needs to be in my bag for safety reasons, and it takes too long to get it out to look at. And often, the clock on my comms systems can be up to 45 seconds to a minute out of sync with the network time (no auto syncing on those clocks - it's old tech). A good digital watch is a necessity.

My daily work wearer is a 2006 built (so not a collectors piece) Casio Databank DBC62. It's light, accurate, and has heaps of features - and a very good size for the FTM wrist . Oh, and it gets plenty of looks and good comments, too.

On my days off however... that's when the silly watches come out .

Here's on of the silly ones I have on order...

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.41628

Not functional, but so silly it's awesome!

UPDATE : 2 hours later, and I've bought another 9 crazy silly cheap watches Damn this thread!

It's good to know I'm not the only one.  I will proudly admit to my tiny gear fetish, but it's nice to know I'm in good company too.   
That thinkgeek watch is pretty cool, but I think I'm going to ask for this one for Christmas.  Tiny gears, gems, and steel.  I'm in love (just not as much in love as for the IWC one). http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=6562454&findingMethod=rr

Nice looking, and decently priced.

A side note on automatic watches - 

Some movements are pretty craptacular (hence why a bottom end fake Rolex is often only correct twice per day ). If you see no markings other than a star on the eccentric weight - avoid it like the plague (assuming it also has a skeleton back and you can see it).

I don't know how much you know about watches, but just some silly trivia - the gems aren't for looks, they're part of the movement .

There's some good sites around that go through the anatomy of an automatic watch with diagrams and all. It's a pretty cool thing to look in to. I'm by no means an expert (hell, barely know the basics) - but I looked into it a bit when trying to fix up my fake Rolex Yacht-master (bought from a street market in Thailand, purely for the kitsch of having a fake Rolex ).

I only have one automatic watch myself. Seiko 5 sports - http://www.amazon.com/Seiko-Sports-Winding-Automatic-SNZF11K1/dp/B001LQYYYK/ref=pd_sbs_watch_5

It's just an entry level, basic automatic watch made to look like their diving watches. Lovingly hand crafted in Japan by robots :p (mine is Japan built version). Made to go a very long time between services, can be left on the desk for 2 - 3 days before it stops (which is good, but still means I have to shake it and set the time every time every weekend). Bought it to commemorate my T-day .