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You know, I'm a great fan of Yesterday's Engineering, and of designs that have stood the test of time. While I don't particularly have the kind of spending power necessary to indulge in the collection of these kinds of objects for its own sake, I can spend hours searching the internet for opinions and information about them.

Modern automatic watches just strike me as wrong somehow. Quartz movements are superior in almost every conceivable way. Size, complexity, durability, accuracy, price. Using automatics in new watches is like building spacecraft in accordance with Ptolemean orbital mechanics.

It'd be somewhat justifiable if the construction of mechanical movements was a skill bordering on the edge of extinction, but that's certainly not the case.

Your perceptions may differ of course, and I urge you not to take this as criticism, but I fail to see what's so much better about a Seamaster with an automatic movement compared to a Seamaster with a Quartz one.
 
Your perceptions may differ of course, and I urge you not to take this as criticism, but I fail to see what's so much better about a Seamaster with an automatic movement compared to a Seamaster with a Quartz one.

The second hand looks prettier.

That may sound a ridiculous reason to spend hundreds more. But considering how OFTEN you look at a watch face over its lifetime, it becomes very significant to me.

I have a quartz seamaster too, and still like it and wear it regularly with more casual outfits (I use the more elegant Longines for suits). So it's not as if I don't value and appreciate the quartz version. But I wouldn't buy it again because of the aesthetic differences.

For me, it's all about aesthetics.

For others, I believe the preference for automatics is more about respecting the artisanal nature and intricacy of the mechanism. I leave it to them to articulate their reasons better since I don't really "feel" this aspect of automatics.
 
Your perceptions may differ of course, and I urge you not to take this as criticism, but I fail to see what's so much better about a Seamaster with an automatic movement compared to a Seamaster with a Quartz one.

The second hand looks prettier.

That may sound a ridiculous reason to spend hundreds more. But considering how OFTEN you look at a watch face over its lifetime, it becomes very significant to me.

I have a quartz seamaster too, and still like it and wear it regularly with more casual outfits (I use the more elegant Longines for suits). So it's not as if I don't value and appreciate the quartz version. But I wouldn't buy it again because of the aesthetic differences.

For me, it's all about aesthetics.

For others, I believe the preference for automatics is more about respecting the artisanal nature and intricacy of the mechanism. I leave it to them to articulate their reasons better since I don't really "feel" this aspect of automatics.

No, no, no! Let the watch snob answer this one!

Since the 1980s, Omega has not manufactured in-house movements. Rather, they've been purchased by the Swatch group and have taken ebauche ETA movements and "finished" them. The quartz movements are even worse; you can purchase them from a horological supplier for $30. Most of what you pay is for the case and the name on the dial.

As for vintage automatics, I admit there is a certain luddite charm to the "artisanal nature" of watchmaking, but for me it's more about longevity. These mechanical movements are of a different ear, designed and built with an indefinite lifetime. Properly serviced, there's no reason why a mechanical movement could not be keeping excellent time 100 years from now. Indeed, I own 80+ year old watches that still keep superb time. Quartz movements, on the other hand, are manufactured at a much lower price-point and are not designed to be serviceable or long-lasting. I would be surprised if you get more than 10-20 years out of a modern quartz movement (what with plastic parts, unjeweled bearings, etc.) before it fails irreparably.

If I'm going to spend the money, it will be for something of high quality that lasts.
 
I got a new TV today. It's a 46" Full HD Sony Bravia V3000. :D

I also got Superbad and Talladega Nights on Blu-ray.
 
Nothing recently, but I want to buy a thingy that lets me play my iPod on any car's speakers and I NEED to buy new jeans... all of mine have holes on the inside of the thighs.
 
Something that could be interpreted as a textbook. I'm going to learn JavaScript. I got 30% off of it at Barnes and Noble too.
 
I didn't buy it today, but rather close to two weeks ago (preorder, and then it spent a long time in the mail), but I received today the CD that is in my avatar at the moment. Garnet Crow's "Locks". 'Tis very good. Not their best, and not better than their last album (it's the weak singles that really bring it down), but two of the tracks on it are perfect, and the rest are good to great, so I'm happy.

I also bought more MST3K DVDs recently, but I do that constantly so it is less noteworthy.
 
Battlestar Galactica season 3 DVD

I'm picking that up later today. :)
We only got about a third of the way through season 3 in it's first run (we stopped watching when sci fi moved it to 11:00pm) so after Razor tonight we'll probably watch an episode or two right where we left off in '06 :bolian:

I don't even get cable so a friend records the episodes then three of us get together and watch. I've been trying to get my roommate into it but my friend was using more than one vhs tape so when we got to Season 3 I had a hard time figuring out which of his tapes had the next epsisode on it. The dvds will make it much easier. :)
 
Groceries and (as usual) some things for the gerbils, Michael and Erik.

A new Critter Cage tank (24 wide by 12 deep x 16 high - inches) because they were able to climb out of the one that is 12 inches high. Those boys are spoiled rotten, but a new tank was a necessity as I don't relish the idea of escapes.
 
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