If you were to stop wearing an Apple Watch, for a traditional mechanical watch, what watch would it be, and why?

[PaladinGuy]

I sometimes really miss my previous mechanical watches. I’ve had several Omegas, a Rolex, a Tudor, a Tag, and some micros. Years back, I finally sold my last Seamaster because it just sat in its box.

IF I were to go back to a mechanical (no quartz for me), it would be either a Tudor 54 or maybe a Rolex Submariner.

 

[timber]

Some years ago long before smart watches I stopped using a watch.
I find it a bit annoying with shirts and mobile phones do tell the time. Also not a fan of having pressure on the wrist and the weight.
I only keep three, a Moonwatch (I like it and was a special gift), a Seiko 5 (field watch style) and a metal Swatch. The Swatch doesn't even have a working battery, the others of course don't need it.

 

[stanza.richi]

I wear 2 watches!. On my right hand, my Series 6, on my left I use anything from my collection, from Tudor Ranger, Omega Aquaterra blue dial, Seamastrr black and gold, some Montblancs, Oris or Longness. Depending on my mood basically.
My Apple Watch is more a gadget than a watch for me.

I agree: an AW is something different than a watch and that’s why I started wearing both myself.

 

[JonMPLS]

Kind of hard to answer this as I can't imagine going back to traditional! I had a small collection of mechanicals in the past. But I got so hooked on my Apple Watch that I have been selling them one by one. I think I will keep my diving watch. Also a sentimental favorite dress watch below.

Keeping this for rare occasions (meaning once or twice a year)

 

[ebika]

I don’t know about stopping wearing my Apple Watch, but I have 4 watches that I’ve held onto because I like looking at them (and they’re weird/unpopular/uncommon). The uncommon-because-unpopular Tag is clean and I find it pretty and has sapphire crystal. The Gruen automatic because it is so delicate and small (not the smallest automatic, but still something like a 22mm case). The titanium/sapphire Casio Pro Trek that is solar and radio frequency updating and uncommon-because-unpopular. The Citizen titanium/sapphire dive computer watch.

This thread is inspiring me to wear my Tag today.

 

[Monkswhiskers]

None, I didn't wear a watch for 30yrs before the AW, If I stopped wearing a smartwatch I would wear nothing, I have a phone.
The watch is a tool to me not jewellery.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Already did it. Mountain biking or Surfing, an original surf watch, the Freestyle Shark watch. When you smash or lose it, you just get another one and don't think twice. They're like candy. They just give you what you need, no extra BS, no updates, and the tiny battery lasts for I dunno a few years? I never even think about the battery level, it's just always on. Got my first one when I was about 10 in the late 80s, and I've lost a few, found a few over the decades. Pretty rugged, pretty waterproof, bright, easy to read, one of the few things I just love. Shark Watch + Nikonos V camera + SexWax = happy times. The rest of the time, I don't wear a watch at all anymore, bc I find things stuck to my body mildly but persistently irritating. I don't even like wearing clothes, but my boss & the cops seem to insist so whatever.

 

[G5isAlive]

You've raised a good question. An excellent topic!
Firstly I can't "stop wearing an Apple watch", simply due to the fact that I've never had one!
But as a long-time watch collector and big fan of Apple products since the purchase of my first Ti PowerBook G4 back in 2001, I anticipated the release of the Gen1 AppleWatch some 8 or so years ago with great enthusiasm. And I was fairly sure I would purchase one to add to my collection of watches and other Apple collectables.
However on reading the first official reviews on MacWorld and elsewhere I was in for a disappoinment - although no doubt tens of thousands of buyers were highly delighted - and still are.
Although I found the design and build quality pleasing, it was news of the battery 'life' - or rather lack of it - which was an immediate turn-off. Some slight improvements to battery autonomy appeared with subsequent models but there was no way I could live with a watch which required recharging several times a week or perhaps every day depending on use, given that my other electro-mechanical watches (60's Bulova Accutron, '74 Omega Speedsonic f300 etc) would function for 12months+ and even up to 2 years respectively - with a watch almost 50 years old!. Plus when required I can change the button cell battery in 4 minutes. I've never tried that on an Apple watch and don't plan to.
So related to your original query, instead of purchasing and wearing an early Apple watch, around 2015 after a fair amount of research I bought a Seiko SKX007 auto mechanical 200m diver watch, and very pleased I did as it's still in impeccable condition with original box and papers - plus it's value has soared X3 from what I paid originally. Had I bought an early AW I'd probably be lucky to recoup even the original price (unlike an original iPhone1,1) which I recently sold.
You mention the Cartier Santos, a model I know quite well, especially the auto versions, and although a very pleasant dress watch, not quite my style. Actually I bought one for my wife over 25 years ago, and she"s worn it only twice since.... 😢 Info in the second part of my blog HERE.

Do you wear your watches to bed? Or take them off and put them on the nightstand? I take my Apple Watch off and hang it on its stand next to my phone where they both charge. You do have a smart phone yes? Glad you love your mechanical watches but battery life is a manageable trade off for all the advantages.

 

[G5isAlive]

None, I didn't wear a watch for 30yrs before the AW, If I stopped wearing a smartwatch I would wear nothing, I have a phone.
The watch is a tool to me not jewellery.

Ditto. Couldn’t have said it better, thank you.

 

[jz0309]

not really a scenario for me, worn watches for 50+ years, always used them as a tool and have never spend more than like $200 or so. most of the displayed watches in this thread I consider jewelry, that's just no me.
AW for me is also a tool, basically and wrist worn computer that has a form factor of a watch and happens to display time in similar fashion to a traditional watch, but there is so much more to it - and that "so much more" has been discussed in length in many threads pin this forum.
We are all different and luckily we have choices, wear whatever suits you!

 

[scrapesleon]

I have eight other watches gonna my franck muller now lol

 

[M5RahuL]

Not really a watch person, but this is a gorgeous timepiece!!

Already do it today.. I sometimes swap out my apple watch or garmin watch for my Omega Speedmaster Racing. A fully mechanical watch that keeps excellent time is still in my eyes a true timepiece.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Do you wear your watches to bed?

Yes.

Actually, the only time I don't wear my wrist watch is when I am in the shower.

Or take them off and put them on the nightstand?

No.

That is for my glasses, or, for the very rare occasions for when I have sported a gold chain that my father and mother had each worn, in turn, and which is now mine.

 

[Herdfan]

The one that I have since February 2022 on my left wrist. AW on the right wrist

View attachment 2333297

@The Cockney Rebel the Cartier Santos is a wonderful timepiece, good choice

I have the Date version of this. It's almost 30 years old and I could sell it for 4-5x what I bought it for.

Now that I am older and not as hard on them, I want a Daytona. But they are scarcer than hen's teeth.

My mom & dad's Presidents are sitting in my safe as well.

 

[ipaqrat]

For me, it would be the Santos De Cartier... it was the first wrist watch ever made...

The Santos de Cartier wasn't anywhere near the first made, nor did Cartier invent the concept. Among the very first documented wristwatches were one-offs by Breguet (in the early 1800's for some nobility in Italy, IIRC), And I think Patek Philippe did something for a Hungarian influencer of that era. Wristwatches were manufactured essentially a jewelry for women, while picked up wristwatches as military equipment in late, late 19th century. Sorry my memory isn't precise, but I know 100% for sure Cartier was not the first.

It could be argued that Louis Cartier was first to make a watch specifically with a pilot in mind, Albert Santos Dumont, in the early 19-naughts. The "Santos" model was later prepared for manufacture/sale in collaboration with Edmond Jaeger (later of Jaeger LeCoultre) in 19... 10-15?? Sorry, memory again, f***, I'm old.

I routinely spell off my Apple Watch Ultra with a Rolex Yachtmaster I, an Omega Speedmaster, Zenith Pilot Type 20 Extra Special, Nameless Russian Coldwar-era Dive Watch, and a half-dozen other mechanical chronographs. I also have a dozen more quartz chronographs, though nothing strictly digital (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy made digital watches a perpetual laughing stock for me). I love me some complications.

Which is why I tried the Apple Watch, on a lark. But I find it's my least favorite, least cool, wristwatch. I wear it when I know I'll be wearing heavy coats or protective gear, and won't be able to reach my phone. And also on horseback, during which, fumbling with a phone, one-handed, is a good way to die. Otherwise, it could vanish entirely, and I'd be borderline glad.

 

[eyoungren]

I don't have an Apple Watch, so I'd be wearing my Seiko Kinetic Sport 150 I got in 1997. Unfortunately, I was much thinner then and the band no longer fits. Just have not gotten to a jeweler to add in the extra links that came with the watch band.

Picture below is representative, I can't easily find mine at the moment.



I do tend to carry this watch right now however…



Passed on to my dad from his uncle who I am told was a train engineer (or conductor). My dad passed it on to me a couple years before he died.

Near as I can tell, it's 1860s vintage. And yes, it works.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I don't have an Apple Watch, so I'd be wearing my Seiko Kinetic Sport 150 I got in 1997. Unfortunately, I was much thinner then and the band no longer fits. Just have not gotten to a jeweler to add in the extra links that came with the watch band.

Picture below is representative, I can't easily find mine at the moment.

View attachment 2333528

I do tend to carry this watch right now however…

View attachment 2333529

Passed on to my dad from his uncle who I am told was a train engineer (or conductor). My dad passed it on to me a couple years before he died.

Near as I can tell, it's 1860s vintage. And yes, it works.

That is an absolutely gorgeous pocket watch, and I love that it also comes complete with provenance rich in family history, traditions and memories.

Wonderful. Well wear.

 

[eyoungren]

That is an absolutely gorgeous pocket watch, and I love that it also comes complete with provenance rich in family history, traditions and memories.

Wonderful. Well wear.

Thanks. I've had my eye on it since I was about 13 or 14. I was always told it had been broken and would not work. I guess no one thought to try winding it up because once I started winding it, it started working. Big surprise to my dad.

My dad's uncle…



My plan is to find a higher end jeweler to engrave my grandfather's name, my dads's name and then mine. Eventually my son's name would also be engraved. Not something to take to the local mall jeweler for engraving I think.

Inside…

 

[Chuckeee]

Because it is way too cool…

 

[Chuckeee]

And yes it is a mechanical watch but you have to wind it with a key.

 

[Iwavvns]

And yes it is a mechanical watch but you have to wind it with a key.
View attachment 2333613

That is the most unique watch I’ve ever seen!

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Why on earth would I wear a mechanical watch? I gave those up years ago when I started carrying a phone that I could use to tell the time if I needed to know.

Timekeeping is waaaaaay down on the list of why I wear an Apple Watch.

 

[stanza.richi]

Timekeeping is waaaaaay down on the list of why I wear an Apple Watch.

That’s why I use AW and mechanical 😊

I have the Date version of this. It's almost 30 years old and I could sell it for 4-5x what I bought it for.

Now that I am older and not as hard on them, I want a Daytona. But they are scarcer than hen's teeth.

My mom & dad's Presidents are sitting in my safe as well.

Obtains a steel Daytona from AD is a really difficult option. Only top clients with many k€ (or k$) spent can hope, for what I know. By the way Submariner Date and Day Date are fabulous watches!! Enjoy them!!

 

[eyoungren]

That is the most unique watch I’ve ever seen!

Steampunk.

 

[ipaqrat]

Why on earth would I wear a mechanical watch? I gave those up years ago when I started carrying a phone that I could use to tell the time if I needed to know.

Timekeeping is waaaaaay down on the list of why I wear an Apple Watch.

I feel the same way about film photography; I'm all digital now, don't miss the mess and expense of film AT ALL. I prefer Porsche's PDK to any standard transmission I ever drove before. I like digital audio, and bluetooth.

But as a mystery of psychology, I still prefer clocks and watches with a...

• train-of-wheels (the gears for drive, hours, minutes, seconds, plus complications)
• regulation organ (planar balance wheels, tourbillon, quartz... plus more exotic forms such as Ulysse Nardin's Freak Next, Zenith's Defy and Renaud's blade)
• escapement (Cylinder, Verge, Co-axial, Detent, English lever, Pin lever, and current world standard Swiss lever)
• power supply (including fusee, mainsprings, batteries, capacitors and solar cells)

The range of skills and artistry required to make an analog watch at all, let alone make it reliable, let alone reliably manufacture them, let alone make them attractive, is peak human endeavor. I don't snob out quartz regulated analog watches - they are an exemplary part of the horological continuum (though there's no denying that the preponderance of mass-market quartz watches over the decades are, in fact, disposable, forgettable garbage). Let's say that Quality Analog watches physically express the substance of history, astronomy, math, metallurgy, manufacture, artistry and style.

For me, direct digital chip time displays do not express worthiness. At least an Apple Watch (smart watches et., al.) add value through other forms of actionable information and media availability. That's the only reason I haven't totally kicked the Apple Watch to the curb.

Interestingly, timekeeping is waaaaaay down on the list for most analog watch owners, too. However, it certainly CAN be about timekeeping. I like timing stuff. Trips to the mailbox. Filling a 200 gallon stock tank. Horses arrival at the barn after ringing their dinner bell. Commute time to the office plus retrieving my red swingline stapler. Bottom/decomp time for scuba dives. Race track laps. Sailboat race starts. If I could ever get a Daytona, It'd be a daily tool like the rest of my collection.