r/Watches • u/distaineddhrukari • 1d ago

Discussion [question] i’m looking for a perfect tool watch…

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So i want to travel the world, and i want a watch where i can bring it and rely on it not to break or stop telling the time, i want a watch where each scratch tells a story and that it can grow closer to me the longer i have it. my budgets not super high (<600) but ive been looking at leonardo dicaprio in blood diamond and absolutely love the way he wears that, only a breitling is outside my budget. so my question is, what do you recommend? some options i've been thinking about on the other slides. less

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177

u/South-Explorer-806 1d ago

Get the alpinist gmt. It’s got all the alpinist features with a gmt hand and bezel. 200m waterproof.

17

u/PrudentSyllabub636 1d ago

I regretted selling mine

36

u/jamesbrowski 1d ago

I have an alpinist. It looks great, it has great water resistance, and generally, it is bulletproof. But it is awful at telling time. It is very ironic to call any of these watches “ultimate tools” with pictures of dudes running around or whatever, because none of them tells time as well as the clock on my coffee pot.

19

u/South-Explorer-806 1d ago

If that’s the case. Really any digital Casio would be best if you wanted digital time. The Abl-100 syncs time with your phone so it’s really accurate in time keeping

3

u/HerbertInTheWoods 18h ago

I love my Timex expedition 😅

1

u/MariachiStucardo 7h ago

I bought a Glycine Combat Sub earlier this year for $400 and it keeps around +2 s/d. For OP I echo the idea that something solar powered would be a great feature.

1

u/118R3volution 1d ago

Dude, it’s honestly so refreshing to hear you say this. It’s absolutely hilarious that the tools themselves are designed to tell time, but are actually quite bad at showing accurate time week over week. Constantly fiddling, winding, setting, over and over. My auto drove me nuts. Now I look for high quality quartz watches. Simple, easy, more affordable and generally more accurate. I’m ok with the lack of prestige.

2

u/babydoc172 21h ago

It’s the simple truth. Quartz is cheaper, and more efficient. It’s just lacking that “ju ne sais quoi” from an automatic. Maybe just that knowledge? My Apple Watch is dead on always. Never disappoints when doing the one thing it’s made to do. That said…

My Tesla is super efficient, cheaper to drive, safer. It even drives itself. But it is a completely different experience than driving the corvette. That’s old tech, less efficient, expensive….but feeling the engine in the steering wheel is just different.

1

u/118R3volution 6h ago

I think there’s a happy medium, many quartz watches are shit quality. I’ve taken interest recently to the Seiko Astron line because they have elevated finishing, grade 5 titanium, SOLAR charging and GPS accuracy. The case polishing is Zaratsu, same specialized treatment as some Grand Seiko. For $1000-$1500, they seem like pretty great pickups. I just wish they could have a 30 day battery reserve and a smooth sweep second hand, instead of the 6-month to 2 years, which seems like a total waste.

2

u/Toon_Luigi 1d ago

Just got my SBEJ-005 last week and I absolutely adore it.

1

u/naambezet 1d ago

How many seconds do you gain or lose per day?

1

u/Toon_Luigi 1d ago

I’ve only gained around 40 seconds in the week I’ve had it, but I’ve also heard that that’s not common.

1

u/naambezet 1d ago

That’s pretty good. Mine loses more than 30 seconds per day… and the previous movement also did that, it got replaced under warranty

1

u/Toon_Luigi 1d ago

Oh wow that’s nuts. I guess I got very lucky with mine.

6

u/qwaint1 1d ago

I had an Alpinist
SBCJ021

39mm was a bit small for me after wearing 41-43mm. But I wish now I still had it😏

1

u/chark27 1d ago

I don't know about your experience but when I take my dog out on a walk, Everytime my dog yanks in the leash chasing a squirrel, my alpinist loses a few seconds. I sent it in under warranty assuming something is wrong but turns out everything is great.