Do you set the time?

[victor]

A GQ article I ran across.  The title, Why True Watch Heads Never Set the Time on Their Watches, says it all. 

www.gq.com/story/do-you-need-to-set-the-time-on-your-watch

The reasons given for not setting the watches range from "I appreciate my watch for its aesthetics, not functionality" to "saving wear and tear by not actually setting it" to pure laziness. 

I can sort of understand not setting the day/date sometimes, especially for watches that lack quick-set capability, but not setting the time?  Weird.

[Daini36k]

What a load of rubbish.

One of the reasons I don’t like the Seiko Day-Date complication is that unless you wear it nearly constantly, you have to set it every time you pick it up and I’m too anally retentive to accept it being wrong. Date and day (and of course time) are non-negotiable.

My Lange 1 moon phase drives me bonkers as it’s a manual wind - so no possibility of sticking it on a winder - and every time I wear it the moon is off and I CAN’T STAND IT! Probably why it gets so little wrist time.

[dapellegrini]

Weird.  I have enough watches that 99% of them are not set at any given time, but if I am going to wear it, it's getting set to the correct time and wound up.  

That said, I don't usually use my watch to tell the time.  Usually a phone or computer or the like is more convenient, even if just slightly.

And a Lange 1 Moonphase is high on my list . I also probably wouldn't wear it a lot, but would love it when I did.  Especially if you have the dual disc type that slowly fades from day to night time also.

[Myles]

A big part of the fun for me is winding the watch and setting the time, day, and date.

[HiBeat]

Jan 6, 2024 17:22:57 GMT -8 Myles said:

A big part of the fun for me is winding the watch and setting the time, day, and date.

Happy 2024 Myles !  It's been a while.   Beat the snow !

[Myles]

Jan 6, 2024 18:57:15 GMT -8 HiBeat said:

Jan 6, 2024 17:22:57 GMT -8 Myles said:

A big part of the fun for me is winding the watch and setting the time, day, and date.

Happy 2024 Myles !  It's been a while.   Beat the snow !

Happy New Year from Massive Two Shits! Hope you're doing well!

[trilo]

Youtube's full of these "true" watch heads.

Communities like this with their user base, are above definition. We are actually in it for the watches.

And anyway, walking around with a watch that doesn't show the time, tells to me that the head is full of something else rather than watches (there are exceptions, but generally speaking).

[twhp101]

Not setting a watch that's on your wrist is odd. How a watch looks is less important to me than the fact that it works. It may as well be a fancy bangle if it can't tell the time.

That article also seems to be referring to a collection in general when not being worn, and the use of winders etc. I have far too many watches to even think about keeping them all running. Many don't run anyway, but keeping them all going would be a full time job.

I do sometimes put a watch on in the morning though without setting it. If I'm up early and tight for time I'll stick a watch on and set it once I'm at work.

[raz]

What a bunch of BS! I’d rather cut my leg with a butter knife than wear a watch that is not set correctly… to the point where I may go nuts and panic if I realize during the day that the day or date was wrongly set … 😝

[serdal22]

I can never go out without a watch on my wrist, and I can never go out (or even when being at home) if the day, date and time are not set to the last second correctly. What is the point I am carrying something (some very expensive) on my wrist which is invented to tell me the day, date and time "accurately". And I can not stand inaccurate timepieces, even my most beloved timepieces, they have to be extremely accurate.

Serdal.

[small]

And why when GQ went from Quarterly to Monthly and articles started dropping like this that I stopped reading it. I had to search for the date to make sure this wasn't some poorly written April Fools Article just to get clicks...I Imagine few if any of is collectors actually wind watches we aren't wearing, some though that are a PITA because of complications (And are autos) will go on winders...

"Even on those simple Seikos with day and date, I forget which way is day and which is date, so I don’t bother!” It takes less than 10 seconds to scroll back to the correct date if you forgot. 

The earth is doomed...

  

[earthphase]

“We are all know dumber for having heard what you just said”.

[inboost]

I'm with all of you on this as well. I've spent just as much on tools and timing gear as I have on watches just to be sure to get my watches (LCD, quartz, and mechanical) to be as accurate and precise as I can feasibly make them. There is no way I'm going to put one on my wirst that isn't set correctly or keeping it's best time possible (once service).

I will run a stupid cheap movement through 30 days of midnights just to get the date right for the one day I am wearing it. Even if my winding fingers are raw for it I'm not happy any other way. That said I may have passed over said watch when I saw it's stopped date and knew it wasn't going to a quick set to get it on my wrist running and showing the correct date promptly

Meanwhile I'm running an FFT plot analysis of my Leopard Superbeat 10 to check for repeating irregularities I might be able to go after

Seems like I need to figure out what happens at 7min intervals in this watch

 

[cd_god]

I don't unscrew screw down crowns anymore.

[saldog]

To some people, watches are jewelry or status symbols. To us, a watch is something special, appreciated for its design and ingenuity, usefulness as a tool, as well as its style. I can’t imagine putting a watch on without setting it first. Usually synced to the second but sometimes ok if within a minute.

Kids these days.

[appumaster]

I sold a Tenor Dorly jump hour just because it wasn't quickset and I found it really tedious to do the whole date set thing.

So yeah, wabi sabi does not extend to function.

[leffemonster]

I once worked with a guy who wore a Bulova that his girlfriend bought for him. I noticed it wasn’t ticking and he replied ‘yeah, it stopped about 3 years ago.’

When I offered to replace the battery for him (for free) he declined, saying he just liked wearing the watch and wasn’t bothered about using it as a timepiece 

[trilo]

Jan 9, 2024 1:11:07 GMT -8 leffemonster said:

I once worked with a guy who wore a Bulova that his girlfriend bought for him. I noticed it wasn’t ticking and he replied ‘yeah, it stopped about 3 years ago.’

When I offered to replace the battery for him (for free) he declined, saying he just liked wearing the watch and wasn’t bothered about using it as a timepiece 

Battery corrosion incoming...

We can't save them all!

[HiBeat]

Jan 9, 2024 1:11:07 GMT -8 leffemonster said:

I once worked with a guy who wore a Bulova that his girlfriend bought for him. I noticed it wasn’t ticking and he replied ‘yeah, it stopped about 3 years ago.’

When I offered to replace the battery for him (for free) he declined, saying he just liked wearing the watch and wasn’t bothered about using it as a timepiece 

Along those same lines, one of the post office workers where I always bring my watches. When I ship them, he had a watch on. He asked me what was inside, I told him to watch, he show me his and said this hasn't worked in over 2 years.  So I said, take it off your wrist. I'll go home and change the battery and come back. So he did. I went home, cleaned the case thoroughly, ultrasonic his old man stretchy band that was really full of DNA, and then about a year later he looked to me and said hey my battery died. Would you mind going home and changing it?

We became good friends, although he then passed away suddenly.  The point is he was wearing it every day to work for 2 years and it didn't even show the time, I never asked him what the heck he was doing but obviously it was for some appearance type of purpose. He said his wife gave it to him, maybe that's why.

[69ChevelleSS]

Jan 9, 2024 1:11:07 GMT -8 leffemonster said:

I once worked with a guy who wore a Bulova that his girlfriend bought for him. I noticed it wasn’t ticking and he replied ‘yeah, it stopped about 3 years ago.’

When I offered to replace the battery for him (for free) he declined, saying he just liked wearing the watch and wasn’t bothered about using it as a timepiece 

LOL.  I gave my older daughter one of my Dad's 7T32 watches so she could have something of his.  One day I noticed she was wearing it and I noticed that the time was wrong.  I forget if it was just off or it the battery was dead.  I asked her if she knew that the watch was set wrong and if she knew how to re set it.  She said no to both and continued to tell me that she just wears it for show and that she really isn't that good at telling time with a watch with hands!