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I bought a Seiko automatic that I wore for a while, until it stopped -- I think I got some sand in it. The watch shop asked for more than the cost of the watch

I bought a Seiko automatic that I wore for a while, until it stopped -- I think I got some sand in it. The watch shop asked for more than the cost of the watch to service it, so I watched a few videos and tried to do it myself. Make no mistake, those gears are TINY. Insanely so. I had imagined that I'd put them into place carefully, lining up the teeth... But they're so small it's closer to "well I dropped you into place and bumped you a few times and it seems good now". I got the watch to run, but somehow messed up the date window. Fiddlesticks.

implements 4y ago
It’s extremely hard to get a decent mechanical watch without the ‘date complication’ - which I thought was odd as it’s a pain to adjust it nearly every month, so much so that you can’t be sure the current display is even correct.
- alexgrover 4y ago
  I’m not sure where you’re looking but every brand offers no-date watches in pretty much every style you might want
  - implements 4y ago
    There’s a few very expensive purely mechanical no-date watches, but I haven’t been able to find an affordable one.
    - stevekemp 4y ago
      You might consider browsing the dedicated sites, such as chrono24, which sell used watches. When people desire cheap watches I tend to recommend some of the old USSR pieces, they were made in the millions and so they're very available, and they're cheap and reliable too. These days there are new options available, so you might consider searching for things made by Vostok, or similar. (Half my watch collection is Swiss-made, the other half is mostly Soviet vintage pieces.)
    - acifani 4y ago
      I guess it depends on what affordable means to you. You can find quite a few Orient watches without date at really reasonable prices, a couple of Timex too. If you're willing to spend a bit more you can also get various no-date Hamilton.
    - timr 4y ago
      Depends on your definition of expensive, but you can find used Hamilton khaki field watches without date complications in the $100-$1000 range. Even some new ones are listed under $1k: https://www.hamiltonwatch.com/en-us/collection/khaki-field.html https://www.hamiltonwatch.com/en-us/collection/khaki-field.h... FWIW, a $100-$500 Hamilton automatic field watch is a good deal, and not "expensive" by any objective measure.
- ubermonkey 4y ago
  It's definitely true that it's harder to find no-dates, but they absolutely exist. I think one reason they persist is that not every collector is well-heeled enough to keep all their watches on winders. I know if I go to the safe to put on, say, my Omega, I might just put it right back in there if the delta between the actual date and the date when the watch stopped is too large. LOL. I've got some no-dates (mostly dressier, hand-wound), or I can roll the dice on one of the other date-window autos. I'm especially glad in those moments that I don't have any day-dates. When I was a kid in the 70s, the Success Token most of the upper-middle-class men I knew opted for (if they opted for one) was a Rolex. It was usually either: - A Submariner in all steel (think 60s Bond); or - A steel Datejust on a two-tone Jubilee bracelet with a champagne face (a color scheme aped by a million Citizens and Seikos); or - An all-gold Day-Date on a gold President bracelet (think Tony Soprano). My dad took the middle path.
  - alexgrover 4y ago
    Many tool watches are no-date because you don’t typically need it while scuba diving etc. Personally, I find setting the time much more annoying than the date, especially if the watch has a quick-set date.
  - JohnBooty 4y ago
    My solution is that I literally just don't care about the day and/or date complication whatsoever, lol. My brain just filters it right out. I find it a valuable adaptation for folks who like to rotate between various mechanical watches and don't care to keep them all on winders. (Which, let's face it, also adds wear and tear on the watches. Each of my mech watches gets worn maaaaybe two days per month and I expect this to really extend their lives. We'll see.) But, watches are very personal. There's no right or wrong way to do the hobby as long as you're having fun!
    - ubermonkey 4y ago
      I could totally get away with this, but my nerd OCD won't allow it. This is doubly hilarious because I can no longer read the date window on most of my watches for one reason or another. The "cyclops" on my Rolex is scuffed, which obscures its date window, for example. Sadder is the fact that my resistance to progressives means the Seamaster's non-magnified date window may as well be theoretical to my 52 year old eyes. LOL. (What's REALLY funny is the sheer TININESS of the date window on my wife's lady-sized Doxa dive watch. I have NO idea how anyone could ever actually USE it, and yet they ship it with a date movement.)

implements 4y ago

It’s extremely hard to get a decent mechanical watch without the ‘date complication’ - which I thought was odd as it’s a pain to adjust it nearly every month, so much so that you can’t be sure the current display is even correct.

alexgrover 4y ago
I’m not sure where you’re looking but every brand offers no-date watches in pretty much every style you might want
- implements 4y ago
  There’s a few very expensive purely mechanical no-date watches, but I haven’t been able to find an affordable one.
  - stevekemp 4y ago
    You might consider browsing the dedicated sites, such as chrono24, which sell used watches. When people desire cheap watches I tend to recommend some of the old USSR pieces, they were made in the millions and so they're very available, and they're cheap and reliable too. These days there are new options available, so you might consider searching for things made by Vostok, or similar. (Half my watch collection is Swiss-made, the other half is mostly Soviet vintage pieces.)
  - acifani 4y ago
    I guess it depends on what affordable means to you. You can find quite a few Orient watches without date at really reasonable prices, a couple of Timex too. If you're willing to spend a bit more you can also get various no-date Hamilton.
  - timr 4y ago
    Depends on your definition of expensive, but you can find used Hamilton khaki field watches without date complications in the $100-$1000 range. Even some new ones are listed under $1k: https://www.hamiltonwatch.com/en-us/collection/khaki-field.html https://www.hamiltonwatch.com/en-us/collection/khaki-field.h... FWIW, a $100-$500 Hamilton automatic field watch is a good deal, and not "expensive" by any objective measure.
ubermonkey 4y ago
It's definitely true that it's harder to find no-dates, but they absolutely exist. I think one reason they persist is that not every collector is well-heeled enough to keep all their watches on winders. I know if I go to the safe to put on, say, my Omega, I might just put it right back in there if the delta between the actual date and the date when the watch stopped is too large. LOL. I've got some no-dates (mostly dressier, hand-wound), or I can roll the dice on one of the other date-window autos. I'm especially glad in those moments that I don't have any day-dates. When I was a kid in the 70s, the Success Token most of the upper-middle-class men I knew opted for (if they opted for one) was a Rolex. It was usually either: - A Submariner in all steel (think 60s Bond); or - A steel Datejust on a two-tone Jubilee bracelet with a champagne face (a color scheme aped by a million Citizens and Seikos); or - An all-gold Day-Date on a gold President bracelet (think Tony Soprano). My dad took the middle path.
- alexgrover 4y ago
  Many tool watches are no-date because you don’t typically need it while scuba diving etc. Personally, I find setting the time much more annoying than the date, especially if the watch has a quick-set date.
- JohnBooty 4y ago
  My solution is that I literally just don't care about the day and/or date complication whatsoever, lol. My brain just filters it right out. I find it a valuable adaptation for folks who like to rotate between various mechanical watches and don't care to keep them all on winders. (Which, let's face it, also adds wear and tear on the watches. Each of my mech watches gets worn maaaaybe two days per month and I expect this to really extend their lives. We'll see.) But, watches are very personal. There's no right or wrong way to do the hobby as long as you're having fun!
  - ubermonkey 4y ago
    I could totally get away with this, but my nerd OCD won't allow it. This is doubly hilarious because I can no longer read the date window on most of my watches for one reason or another. The "cyclops" on my Rolex is scuffed, which obscures its date window, for example. Sadder is the fact that my resistance to progressives means the Seamaster's non-magnified date window may as well be theoretical to my 52 year old eyes. LOL. (What's REALLY funny is the sheer TININESS of the date window on my wife's lady-sized Doxa dive watch. I have NO idea how anyone could ever actually USE it, and yet they ship it with a date movement.)