The thread about cool watches

Nic came home last night and demanded I start wearing the watch immediately. This is possibly related to the fact that her new ring arrives back from being resized today, BUT WHO COULD REALLY SAY.

I really, really want this watch. Basically e-ink and really thin battery on a bangle/bracelet for a watch that's thinner than a credit card. No actual controls on the watch, but it attaches to a base for charging and setting the time. Not a single feature beyond displaying the time. Hopefully I can scare up $130 by the end of February.

Saw it and tried it on at CES - it's paperthin and lighter than a bracelet (not that I ever wear bracelets).

I know it was a prototype, but did the build quality inspire any confidence?

Seemed solid enough. Just a flat bended piece of metal.

The Pebble is finally shipping to backers, and I see one going on eBay for nearly $500 (even though the guy opened and wore it for a few days). If I get mine soon I may dump it as well based on this wonderful update:

So basically, since the android version funnels it all through the app, some email clients don't work yet. All the rest is iPhone. (HA HA!)

Remember, this is really kind of a pre-release product in software terms.

It shouldn't be that bad considering how long they've had to develop it. You'd think the basic functionality would be there, and that they would have been aware of all the iOS issues.

I kinda wanted one of those things and was kicking myself for not getting in on the Kickstarter, but now I'm happy to wait for version 3 or whatever.

http://www.beautifullife.info/fashion-design/roger-dubuis-excalibur-table-ronde/

I love the look, though I can't imagine wearing it!

Looks more like Knights of the Roulette Wheel.

So my wife wants to buy me something nice, and I've been looking at either a new fountain pen or a new watch. This watch, in particular, has really caught my eye:


It's a Citizen Men's Eco-Drive AO9003-16A in rose gold with day/date display. I haven't used an Eco-Drive before, but they generally garner good reviews. I'm still shopping around for the best price on it (best so far is ~$150), but I am experiencing quite a bit of watch lust over it.

FWIW, I can recommend Eco-Drives in general, and that one's purty.

With this watch, it is always knight time.

Hey guys, how about this watch?

I've never seen anything like it before. Especially on this forum thread page.

Meh. This one is at least ten times better:

MY PEBBLE IS SHIPPING.

I promise a Whitta-style pic grinning with the box.

I thought about making a new thread but here is probably appropriate. There's been more and more talk recently of an Apple watch making an appearance someday. My question for you is, would you buy an Apple watch? Why? Why not?

That belongs in the Thread about hypothetical watches-thread (which should totally be called that to bug the "thread" haters).

But sure, I'd by an Apple watch if it did something cool at an reasonable price - do what and at what price? I have no idea... like the Pebble, but cooler and without the bugs.
The thing is right when the iPhone came out I was absolutely certain I'd never own a phone by Apple... and I'm on my fourth now. But although I think the iPhone and iPad are the best products available in their respective categories, it's not like Apple can't fail, so I really need some concrete details on this hypothetical watch to say one way or the other.

tl;dr
Maybe.

What's an Apple watch?

The Thread About Hypothetical Watches That Are Interesting Thread

Apple watch will run iOS and arrive later this year, say sources

Hopefully it doesn't look like this abomination. To answer my own question, no I would not wear an Apple watch. First reason: I don't like Apple. When I had an iPhone I felt like one of the sheep and that was for something that was essentially a productivity tool. A watch is a timekeeper first but as a fashion accessory it comes in a very close second and the last thing I want to be when it comes to fashion is to be a sheep.
Secondly, for more practical reasons, I doubt this will be an e-ink watch so I suspect it will be difficult to read in the sunlight and also I doubt that Apple will be able to fit a long lasting enough battery in there to power all that they want the watch to be able to do. Pebble's battery life is a week I believe and according to reports the Apple watch is coming in at 2 or 3 days. A week for me is pushing it. I wouldn't want to charge my watch any more than once a month.
And of course, unlike most watches which keep their value relatively well, I doubt the original iWatch will be worth anything after a couple years once Apple starts doing yearly releases.

As you describe it it doesn't sound too good. What's the point of it? Seems like it only does stuff that's fairly pointless and comes with serious drawbacks, battery life being the main one. What does it matter if the battery lasts one day or three days or seven days? Who wants to charge their watch? It better do something great to justify the introduction of this problem, and I'm at a loss for what that might be.

That said, comes with an Apple logo = huge hit.

Well no doubt it will be able to let you know who is calling you and let you check your emails. Perhaps it will also play some music to bluetooth devices. It'll be too small for games though so that takes away 3/4 of the audience. I suppose there will be some neat apps likes step counters and what not. I'm happy with my watch telling me the time and the date.

This is the one solid thing I was able to find when looking for information about what this watch might do, and this is a pretty dumb feature. It literally saves you one second over taking your phone out of your pocket and looking at it to see who is calling you, and odds are you had to take your phone out anyway to answer it.

Same problem as above, plus who the hell wants to read their emails on a 1.5" screen?

Ok, so there's one somewhat useful feature: assuming it works right on your wrist, it replaces a device that costs five bucks.

Well, at least the 80,000 people who ordered a Pebble and we're responsible for funding a $10 million Kickstarter. Some people at least find it an intriguing idea. I don't.

So I have to post about a watch brand that I had no idea even existed until yesterday. They're called Halios and apparently they're a Canadian microbrand™ based out of Vancouver. Very small company run by some guy called "Jason" who is very good at communicating with his customers. His watches have a very minimalist style which I love. Here are a couple of designs (current and upcoming) which make me want to get them all.

The first watch I came across was something called the Halios "Puck" in a comparison to the Seiko Tuna.


Nice lume!
Halios Puck review and video

Second:
Halios Laguna

Halios Laguna WUS review with lots of beautiful pics

It costs $769 USD but it comes with a bracelet AND an Isofrane strap ($100 value) and it comes in this kickass box:


These are a couple models which unfortunately aren't up for pre-order yet because I want them to:


Halios Tropik SS

and the even sexier Delfin:

Lastly there is the Halios Tropik B which is a bronze cased watch. Preorders are open for that and there's a limited run of only 100 of each of the three colours available. I'm intrigued but it seems like there are only renders available right now.


The puck and the Laguna both use an ETA 2824-2 movement and the upcoming models will use the Miyota 9015 movement due to the fact that Swatch have a stranglehold on Swiss movements. Some people would say that is a step back because of "Swiss heritage" and all that but I say FUCK those people. The Miyota movement is owned by citizen and runs at 28,800bph and is just as accurate as ETA movement. Plus it was designed with modern precision and technology. Sorry if that seems angry but I've just finished viewing watch forums where the ignorance is so bad it practically borders on racist.

As promised:

I was about to curse you until I saw what you promised. How about some wrist shots!

Cameras seem to have some trouble focusing on the watch. I'll try again later but everything I took was blurry and horrible.

One warning to anyone wanting the Pebble: I like it just fine except I can't answer a call from the watch. On Android. WHAT

...works fine on iOS dammit.

I came back from vacation to find my Pebble box waiting for me. It works, and it's comfortable, and the eBay prices have simmered down, so I'm keeping it.

The only watch brand that will be assembling watches inside the US in almost half a century has launched in Detroit and sold out of their first run of watches. Watch nerds will definitely want to keep any eye out to see what they do next.

I think the time is right to get a new battery and strap for my old Casio Databank. Calculator watches are cool again now, right?

Especially ones with a nifty analog face.

Shinola? Really?

Cool watch, but that's an...interesting...trademark to resurrect. (Although I see that they also make leather goods, which makes more sense.)

Yeah, I have a feeling they went trolling for old brands they could buy and that fit the best. They'll be making shoe polish again too, for what it's worth.

They already have their first commercial out:

I watched a video about it on their website. Pretty cool to see "ordinary" Detroiters working on making watches! I guess there's no feedback as the watches aren't due out until July. I hope they do well.

Oh wait, I just realized it's a quartz. That's not quite so impressive in my opinion. Still, better than nothing I suppose.

I spent a week wearing my new dive watch because I was, you know, diving, and I ended up enjoying having an enormous digital watch again so much that I'm sticking with it after almost a decade with the Rolex my father in law gave me. It's an Oceanic OCS, and since you have to change the batteries anyway whether you use it or not, I'm just being efficient. I look forward to casually bringing up my adventurer's lifestyle at inappropriate moments.



Incidentally, it's a heck of a nice dive watch. I rank electronic compass relatively low on my priorities due to the sort of guide ratios my dives usually have, but I really like the clean, intuitive interface that anyone who has had a G Shock can manage.