by "Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
Published 12/14/2017 at 20:20
by "Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
Published 12/14/2017 at 20:20
Tags: watchlopnik
STARS: 1
And to be honest, that’s the last time I’m going to get This PRS200 fixed. Taking it anywhere for repair means it must be shipped off to a Tissot center. $30 to ship/insure it both ways isn’t too horrible, but the actual cost of making it work again was aparently only a thorough cleaning + new knobs + seals for the battery backing. Oh a battery too. That totaled $245. All in, $275+
Brand new these sold at $550. It was purchased as an Xmas present at I believe $250. If I wanted to have the whole thing polished and cleaned up as well so it would look close to the picture above, that would have been another $230 charge! For a bath and buffer polish! Nice watches are one thing but care and maintenance and upkeep costs greater than the buy in price are frankly bullshit. They then tell me that a swiss quartz watch usually goes 5-7 years before it needs maintenance. That’s the bullshit part.
I’ve learned from a co-worker, who has three Rolexes, they can’t go much more than 5 years without a $600 maintenance. Of course nothing about that GMT divers watch should cost $9,000 so just to have that name on your wrist, well, heres where I’d go off on a tangent of what superficial feelings mean. They don’t keep any better time than a Casio or a timex.
So this Tissot will be worn at work, becuase accessory. Otherwise I’m happy to go with something practical and more Timex related. Should this break, again in the estimated 5-7 years, it will be put in the dresser drawer and it’s replacement would have things I acutally need. A GMT hand and solar charging, possibly atomic time keeping if it’s not a lot more. But that’s what I actually need and taking care of any money watch would be equal to buying a Citizen pilot watch as a disposable purchase every few years.
Reminds me of the crooked DeBeers diamond cartel
"awmaster10" (awmaster10)
12/14/2017 at 20:27, STARS: 1
After a bunch of ordeals with a citizen and a couple mechanical seikos I’ve resorted to buying watches that are basically disposable. This one gets plenty of compliments and at $18 if it stops working I’ll just buy two more!
"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay)
12/14/2017 at 20:29, STARS: 1
*Hipster glasses on*
Battery :(
*hipster glasses off*
Personally, I bought a few cheap Russian automatics and learned how to service them. Servicing a nicer watch is not too much more complicated for basic movements
"Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
12/14/2017 at 20:31, STARS: 1
I’m kind of digging the Vostoks and probably will get one before long out of curiosity. I’m sure they’re much easier to service as the country was more self supporting.
"Kiltedpadre" (kiltedpadre)
12/14/2017 at 20:32, STARS: 0
I ran into a similar situation with a really nice Citizen watch I bought close to 20 years ago. The first battery lasted for almost 10 years and was $40 to replace at a local jeweler. That battery only lasted for 4 years. Well, the local jeweler had gone out of business and no one else would replace it in-house. It would’ve been shipped to a Citizen service center with the same shipping and insurance deal and $100 to replace it.
I bought a solar charged Seiko for a great deal and won’t go back to a nice watch that requires batteries. I have a Timex I wear to work, but I can change the battery in it myself so no big deal.
"Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
12/14/2017 at 20:33, STARS: 1
My grandparents wintered near the border of mexico and would go over to buy common commodities like cleaning supplies, etc. as they cost pennies on the dollar. He would buy about 6 digital watches at a time and just throw them away every few months when they quit. Virtually free.
"C62030" (c62030)
12/14/2017 at 20:35, STARS: 0
I always consider getting a nice analog watch, even like a cheap Seiko or Citizen or something, but then I feel like I’d only wear it on on special occasions. That, and my $99 Pebble controls the music in my car.
"Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
12/14/2017 at 20:35, STARS: 0
Exactly. At least you got 10 years before battery. Mine quit probably in 2007-8 and sat around for 10 years before i decided to spend the money.
"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay)
12/14/2017 at 20:36, STARS: 1
I love mine, have a Komandirskie and an Amphibian in rotation. Funny thing is both get more attention from people that know watches than the Swiss stuff in the collection!
OG Seiko Orange Monster is still the biggest hit though!
"awmaster10" (awmaster10)
12/14/2017 at 20:37, STARS: 0
Whenever I visit Sri Lanka to see relatives we can pick up these notorious Casio watches for like $5.
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
12/14/2017 at 20:39, STARS: 0
I’ve always liked watches, as there are some very nice designs out there.....that being said, as weird as I sound for saying it, I never can quite understand how anybody would pay huge prices for some of them (I admit they are cool though, but the rational part of my brain kicks in)...is it simply for the status symbol and style?
Not that I mean go out and buy a cheap, crappy watch at WalMart that will fall apart in 5 minuces...but my two ancient Timex Ironman Triathalon digital watches keep on doing their thing and everything still works on them (though I’ve disassembled them two or three times over the years to clean them since I got them in 1996 and 1999 or so, respectively). They’ve both gone through all of 2 batteries each. So, the total cost for 20 years of faithful service, including batteries, several watch straps (probably like...5?) and the watch itself has probably been like...$100 CAD per watch...? Not bad for 20 years of service and they are still going strong and worn daily! :)
(The second pic is older and the official Ironman straps are long gone...the blue one is rocking an Ebay silicon strap at the moment, and the black one is rocking an older Velcro Ironman strap from a different broken watch I was given.)
"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
12/14/2017 at 20:45, STARS: 0
I missed part of the story here, but what stopped you from attempting the fix yourself?
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
12/14/2017 at 20:47, STARS: 0
This is why I wear mostly Fossil or a few Skagens. Long warranty and cheap to fix.
"Kiltedpadre" (kiltedpadre)
12/14/2017 at 21:01, STARS: 0
I was thrilled that the original battery lasted 10 years, but that just made it that much more annoying that the second only made it 4.
I think if I buy another “nice” watch it will be an older self-winder.
"Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
12/15/2017 at 00:47, STARS: 1
As far as I knew at the time, it was the whole movement that crapped out. I forever thought the movement was $150 + labor of putting it in at a shop. I never really had $150 to plunk down on something that was a talking point if anything. Self-repair of what apparently was just a good “cleaning” was and possibly still is something I know not how to attempt. Now, I’m definitely ready to attempt such a thing but will start with cheaper watches.
"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
12/15/2017 at 03:01, STARS: 0
Makes sense. Not worth braking a fairly expensive completely if it can still be repaired. Watches can be intimating to work on, but it isn’t that bad if you have a good set of jewelers tools that are available pretty cheap online. Lower end Seiko/Citizen watches are a good place to start IMO. They have several decent models that you can find on sale for well under $100 that most people will take for a much more expensive watch. Usually the cheap point on them is the band. So you can dip a pinky finger into working with small mechanical things by swapping out the crap band for something better. I’m partial to the rubber tire tread straps that go for under $20 myself.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
12/17/2017 at 16:44, STARS: 0
I got this Citizen 5 years ago for about $350 or so at Kohl’s and the price has come down a bit since then. Solar powered, perpetual calendar, and syncs with the atomic clock. The only adjustment I’ve ever made on it in 5 years is to turn the little time zone dial if I fly somewhere. I like the features but I do wish Citizen had models that included them and were less fussy looking.
