Best watch for around $5,000? [Archived]

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Petrocelli
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Post by Petrocelli »

mithrandir wrote:Fancy material possessions are rather meaningless in term of social status.
I agree with that 100%. Moreover, I have no idea what type of watch anyone wears other than those people in my immediate family.

I would not buy a watch for status. I would not buy it to make money. However, an expensive watch is an asset. For that reason, I do not mind spending money on it.
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Post by LH »

http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Watche ... oduct.html

what kinda asset would this watch be? Do they have expected return? Are they expected to hold value relative to inflation? If you buy em new, does there value drop like a cars does?
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Post by chaz »

Petrocelli wrote:
mithrandir wrote:Fancy material possessions are rather meaningless in term of social status.
I agree with that 100%. Moreover, I have no idea what type of watch anyone wears other than those people in my immediate family.

I would not buy a watch for status. I would not buy it to make money. However, an expensive watch is an asset. For that reason, I do not mind spending money on it.
I also agree with this.
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Post by Tall Grass »

Wow...the thread that will not die!

I wear a "classic" watch because it makes me feel good to wear a well-made piece of history...that's enough reason for me.
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Post by sambuca08 »

Sorry, I had an expensive watch that my Dad gave me for my 18th birthday, but I jog frequently. So, it was in the drawer every evening, then every time other than formal occasions, then I realized that it's too much work to be something that I'm not. I could buy a $5000 watch or whatever, but if I can't sweat on it, why bother.
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Post by diasurfer »

pjstack wrote:
All of these remarks about their holding value make me wonder. Has anyone actually tried to sell a Rolex? Are you sure that in real life you can get these prices for real Rolexes that have seen real use, as opposed to these being prices for Rolexes in impossibly perfect mint condition?
Well, yes, I have. As I mentioned way back on page one of this thread, I was stationed on a remote island in the Pacific in 1974 & 1975. I bought a Rolex dive watch (Oyster, date adjust) for the princely sum of $365 or thereabouts. It was not a pampered status symbol, it spent many an hour scuba diving with me enduring a few coral scrapes along the way.

I retired in 1979 and somewhere around 1992 (when my diving days were over) I took it to a jewelry store that handled second hand watches. The man offered me $700 for it but I told him I would have to check back with him because someone else had offered me $1,000. (This was almost true, perhaps based upon something I had read.)

He told me to wait a minute and he got on the phone with someone and asked if they were still interested in a Rolex. The answer must have been "Yes", because he promptly paid me a grand then and there.

I was rather astonished to find out that someone was obviously prepared to spend more than a grand for a second hand watch!

So, yes, there is a market for second hand Rolexes.
I had a similar experience with the Rolex Sea Dweller I posted about earlier (my Dad bought it for diving in 1980 for about $600). The first time I had it serviced, about 7 years ago, the jeweler offered me $3000 for it on the spot. I had no idea of its worth at the time. I told him it's not for sale at any price.

Of course that's not literally true, as my Dad would be rolling over in his grave if I passed up enough to set me (or my new baby daughter!) up for life, but you get my point.
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Post by grumel »

Image
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Post by nisiprius »

Well, Grumel, I confess I had to cross my eyes and view them as a stereo pair to spot the difference. But I'm a nerdy engineering type who isn't terribly clueful about dress subtleties.

By the way, is it possible to tell in a picture of that resolution whether he's wearing a good watch? I'm not asking whether you can tell the difference between a real Rolex and a counterfeit one at that distance.

I'm just asking, can connoisseurs recognize it well enough to receive whatever status message the guy is signaling?

(Me, all I see is "a suit," or more specifically the guy is probably not a software engineer. My first thought was "Danny Kaye." Demonstrating both my social tone-deafness and my age.)
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Post by DA »

grumel wrote:Image
Shame on this man for such an ostentatious display of wealth.

Grumel, for the second picture, did you sell the guy's watch and redistribute the wealth so that the world can be a better place?
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Post by yobria »

mithrandir wrote:Fancy material possessions are rather meaningless in term of social status.
They are actually quite meaningful in terms of social status:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_symbol

Note the list of status symbols at the bottom...

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Post by Petrocelli »

yobria wrote:
mithrandir wrote:Fancy material possessions are rather meaningless in term of social status.
They are actually quite meaningful in terms of social status:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_symbol

Note the list of status symbols at the bottom...
I looked at the list of status symbols.

I have 6 of the top 8 items on the list of status symbols.

I don't have an expensive watch, and don't have a job on Wall Street.

Looks like I will have to buy the watch and move to New York.
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Post by Rodc »

Petrocelli wrote:
yobria wrote:
mithrandir wrote:Fancy material possessions are rather meaningless in term of social status.
They are actually quite meaningful in terms of social status:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_symbol

Note the list of status symbols at the bottom...
I looked at the list of status symbols.

I have 6 of the top 8 items on the list of status symbols.

I don't have an expensive watch, and don't have a job on Wall Street.

Looks like I will have to buy the watch and move to New York.
Only if a C class counts...

:)

FWIW: I drive an old Subaru and that definitely does not count.
We live a world with knowledge of the future markets has less than one significant figure. And people will still and always demand answers to three significant digits.
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Post by Petrocelli »

Rodc wrote:
Petrocelli wrote:
yobria wrote:
mithrandir wrote:e list of status symbols.

I have 6 of the top 8 items on the list of status symbols.

I don't have an expensive watch, and don't have a job on Wall Street.

Looks like I will have to buy the watch and move to New York.
Only if a C class counts...

:)
You are right. It looks like I will have to get at least an e-class. I will start shopping.
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Post by johnjtaylorus »

So Ivy diplomas have to be burned along with the Mensa membership card in order to attain reverse chic?
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Post by Rodc »

Petrocelli wrote:
Rodc wrote:
Petrocelli wrote:
yobria wrote:
mithrandir wrote:e list of status symbols.

I have 6 of the top 8 items on the list of status symbols.

I don't have an expensive watch, and don't have a job on Wall Street.

Looks like I will have to buy the watch and move to New York.
Only if a C class counts...

:)
You are right. It looks like I will have to get at least an e-class. I will start shopping.
You may find prices are pretty good.

I hope so as I'll start looking in a couple of weeks. A new Subaru or Honda will be no e-class (or c for that matter), but has to earn me more points than my 12 year old car. :)
We live a world with knowledge of the future markets has less than one significant figure. And people will still and always demand answers to three significant digits.
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Post by grumel »

I'm just asking, can connoisseurs recognize it well enough to receive whatever status message the guy is signaling?

(Me, all I see is "a suit," or more specifically the guy is probably not a software engineer. My first thought was "Danny Kaye." Demonstrating both my social tone-deafness and my age.)
Whatever the rolex is signaling, he or his PR advisors felt it would be nothing good and decided to remove the rolex during the digital image procession. Unluckily the original version was already made public.
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Post by pjstack »

Bummer!
I sold my only status symbol for a grand!
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Post by chaz »

pjstack wrote:Bummer!
I sold my only status symbol for a grand!
I happily retained my status symbol.
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Post by leonard »

Many people are likely pawning expensive jewelry now.

Why not investigate ebay, pawn shops or other used sources for watches? You can either spend less that $5k for the watch you want or get more for your $5k.

Or, buy a knock off and pocket the difference. :)
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Post by jegallup »

To bring this thread back to actual timepieces....

About two years ago, I bought a Rolex Air-King with a black dial, no day or date indicators (can't read those without my glasses), stainless case and band. My wrists are skinny so I wanted the smallest one they make, which I believe this one is (32 mm wide). Paid about $4,400 with sales tax in a mall jewelry store. It was an impulse purchase and I had been told that Rolex controls prices so it doesn't matter where you buy them.

I must say the Rolex Web site is impenetrable, next to useless for shopping; perhaps that's their intent. My watch repair guy had told me you could get a better deal at duty-free stores, but it didn't look like it in the ones I visited. After I got the watch I showed it to the same guy, who said he'd have sold me one just like it for about half what I paid. So it probably does pay to shop around.

So my watch is the cheapest model they make, doesn't keep time as well as the 1957 Hamilton square-face I used until the case wore through, and so far has not generated any irresistible offers from attractive ladies. But I enjoy it a bit every day: the simple design, just knowing there are real gears inside the case instead of a microchip and battery. I don't think I get a status buzz off of it, but, being as shallow as the next person, maybe I do. I don't regret the purchase, though.
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Post by nisiprius »

This thread has piqued my curiosity about things horological. The Weekend Financial Times magazine has a great big color ad for a "Graham London Chronofighter Oversize GMT Big Date Automatic Chronograph." (Remind anyone of Flanders and Swann's "Big Six-Wheeler Scarlet-Painted London Transport Diesel Engine Ninety-Seven Horsepower Omnibus?") Picture below.

Question: Is that little flippy-handle thing supposed to remind people of a hand grenade?

Question: Does "Big Date" suggest that the target market for these watches is actually gentlemen (or tough ladies) whose eyesight isn't really quite up to military aviation standards?

Question: What does a Graham London Oversize GMT Big Date Automatic Chronograph go for? Just curious. You'd have thought the first six Google hits would all have prices, but no. And of course Graham London's site doesn't. It's interesting that I personally can't even guess by looking at it how many digits there are in the price. That watchband looks like cheap plastic crap but it probably isn't.

It looks like this:
Image
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Post by Ron »

nisiprius wrote: Question: What does a Graham London Oversize GMT Big Date Automatic Chronograph go for?
Around 5,500 GBP (around $8k USD)

How many are you going to order? :lol:

http://www.jurawatches.co.uk/watch.asp?productid=5710

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Post by DRiP Guy »

nisiprius wrote:Question: Does "Big Date" suggest that the target market for these watches is actually gentlemen (or tough ladies) whose eyesight isn't really quite up to military aviation standards?
I believe it is to indicate that for the gent who is *almost* to where he would like to be with a fair maiden, that being accoutered in *this* time piece ought to be a deal-closer! :lol:
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Post by nisiprius »

Ron wrote:Around 5,500 GBP (around $8k USD) How many are you going to order? :lol:
Wow, they give you free shipping! I was all set to pick up a couple of them (you need a spare when the other is in the shop, right?). I was hoping a watch like that might help me pick up hot senior chicks.* "Ooooh, Mister Nisiprius, your watch... why, even without my glasses... I can see that it has such a big date." "That's because I want you to be my big date." Ladies, I ask you: is that a surefire line or what?

Then I noticed that in the picture, the 0 and the 8 in the date are misaligned, which is completely unacceptable to a gentleman who is particular about precision in timepieces, such as myself. So forget it.

By the way... if you actually live in London, why would you need a separate bezel for GMT?

*If my wife is reading this... that was a joke.
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Post by Ron »

nisiprius wrote: Then I noticed that in the picture, the 0 and the 8 in the date are misaligned, which is completely unacceptable to a gentleman who is particular about precision in timepieces, such as myself. So forget it.
You don't understand. The "0" represents the day you put on the watch.

The "8" is actually representing "infinity" (symbol on its side).

In other words, once you put it on, you will never remove it from your wrist :lol: ...

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Post by Sam I Am »

Here is an option:

Donate $20 to the USOC (United States Olympic Committee) and receive a quartz watch!

Supplies are limited, only thru April 30, 2009.

Includes a faux leather band!

Shipping and handling included.
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Post by kathy2525 »

I didn't follow the whole thread. But what if the man wants to buy himself a nice watch?! Come on... These days, I feel like everything is on sale. Why not get a nice watch to enjoy at a bargain price - instead of watching your money turn into pennies in the stock market?

And yes, donate also! Times are tough and charities need your help NOW.

I am no expert in watches but I own a rolex. Bought it at close to 50% discount (compared to US prices) in the outskirts of Italy. I didn't buy it because I want to "show off"... I bought it because it's of its practicality, great service warranty, and residual value.
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Post by johnjtaylorus »

For about 5k, the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner.

Bond's choice in "Dr. No," so Ursula Andress would like any wearer.
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Post by nisiprius »

OK. This is the limit. Give me a torch and a pitchfork.

I can respect people who buy a fine $5,000 watch because they just enjoy the pleasure of ownership of a truly fine timepiece, but this, this is too much.

Image

Saw it in a SkyMall catalog on a flight this weekend. This is a $1499.95 Armada 20 Winder Pro Cherry Automatic Watch Winder.

And anyone who owns one should be ashamed of himself. If you don't have enough room on your body to accommodate all of the self-winding watches you own, I submit that you have too many self-winding watches.
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Post by wbond »

I have that one, but only because it matches my trouser press.
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Post by Valuethinker »

nisiprius wrote:
Ron wrote:Around 5,500 GBP (around $8k USD) How many are you going to order? :lol:
Wow, they give you free shipping! I was all set to pick up a couple of them (you need a spare when the other is in the shop, right?). I was hoping a watch like that might help me pick up hot senior chicks.* "Ooooh, Mister Nisiprius, your watch... why, even without my glasses... I can see that it has such a big date." "That's because I want you to be my big date." Ladies, I ask you: is that a surefire line or what?

Then I noticed that in the picture, the 0 and the 8 in the date are misaligned, which is completely unacceptable to a gentleman who is particular about precision in timepieces, such as myself. So forget it.

By the way... if you actually live in London, why would you need a separate bezel for GMT?

*If my wife is reading this... that was a joke.
Note London is on GMT only 7 months of the year. We use British Summer Time the rest.

I believe the French keep trying to get Europe to redefine the baseline time as Parisian time.

Anyways we Londoners jet around so much that we need to know what the time is to catch the World Service at the right moment.

Life without the News at 10 would not be worth living.

And the Shipping Forecast.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/coast/shipping/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6940597.stm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qfvv

Noone is an Englishman until they listen to the Shipping Forecast.
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Post by ETFnerd »

http://forums.timezone.com/index.php?t= ... 4176&rid=0

looks like a new poster with no references though. be careful.
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Post by chaz »

In one of his posts, Petro stated that his watch cost (IIRC) $87.00.
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Post by Chuck T »

Just finished mowing my lawn in my $35 Timex Ironman. Keeps better time than my Omega.

Can't remember the last time I wore the Omega. Must have been a wedding or a funeral.

Going to get a shower now and will put my Timex back on when I finish. The Omega is the best looking watch in my dresser.

To each his own.
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Post by dokeeffe »

Valuethinker wrote:And the Shipping Forecast.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/coast/shipping/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6940597.stm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qfvv

Noone is an Englishman until they listen to the Shipping Forecast.
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Post by Petrocelli »

chaz wrote:In one of his posts, Petro stated that his watch cost (IIRC) $87.00.
For the record, I wear an $89 Orvis watch.

I am still considering upgrading and am still shopping.

The problem is, the watches I like are in the $10,000 to $30,000 range.

I am still researching. (I don't spend $5,000 lightly.)
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Post by Gekko »

Petrocelli wrote:
chaz wrote:In one of his posts, Petro stated that his watch cost (IIRC) $87.00.
For the record, I wear an $89 Orvis watch.

I am still considering upgrading and am still shopping.

The problem is, the watches I like are in the $10,000 to $30,000 range.

I am still researching. (I don't spend $5,000 lightly.)
"I don't wear jewelry, except for this watch. It's the best in the world - costs sixty five grand." - Lenny Dykstra

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Post by FrugalInvestor »

I took off my watch the day that I retired and have not put one on since...and don't miss it. Six years so far and lovin' every minute of it!
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Post by Gekko »

nisiprius wrote:OK. This is the limit. Give me a torch and a pitchfork.

I can respect people who buy a fine $5,000 watch because they just enjoy the pleasure of ownership of a truly fine timepiece, but this, this is too much.

Image

Saw it in a SkyMall catalog on a flight this weekend. This is a $1499.95 Armada 20 Winder Pro Cherry Automatic Watch Winder.

And anyone who owns one should be ashamed of himself. If you don't have enough room on your body to accommodate all of the self-winding watches you own, I submit that you have too many self-winding watches.
never buy anything out of a skymall catalog. junk.
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best watch for $5000

Post by Larry Johnson »

Motive seems to be the question. Is it for show or for self-admiration? Christmas Eve a broke oil man was holding a pistol and contemplating suicide, telling me he didn't have the money for a chapter 11 bankruptcy. I took his gold Rolex as a fee. I wore it for a while, but had the feeling I was a phony and put it in the safe to give to my son when he finished med school and made partner in his clinic. He loved it at first but suffered the same looks and feelings, and it is now in his safe. I bought a Breitling because I fly in my profession, but the watch I wear the most is a Casio which is an atomic watch, keeping perfect time, tells me the elevation, time all over the world, predicts weather, gives me magnetic directions, changes times to match world travel and costs $167. I wear it every day. Remember, however, not to pay retail. God made Gentiles because someone has to pay retail.
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Post by bmb »

In answer to the original question, the best $5000 watch is 250 Timexs: A new one very few months for the rest of your life.
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Post by SpringMan »

Petro,
If your avatar is you holding a golf club, how about redoing it with a 5000 dollar watch on the wrist :lol:
Best Wishes, SpringMan
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Post by nisiprius »

bmb wrote:In answer to the original question, the best $5000 watch is 250 Timexs: A new one very few months for the rest of your life.
Mr. Literal-minded here. Timexes last a lot longer than a few months. This one is out of the "spare watch" drawer on my small parts cabinet. I believe it did cost about $20, including the watchband, and in my humble opinion it's actually a darn handsome watch. Even if it looks more like anodized aluminum than gold, and even if it's almost as thick as a White Castle hamburger patty.

Image

It is at least five years old. At the time the picture was taken, the actual time according to my radio-synchronized "atomic clock" was 12:26:40.

There's just no way a Timex is going to last less than a year.

So, just as people buy Rolexes as heirlooms, anyone who buys 250 Timexes can expect to leave at least 127 of them to their estate--enough for four children, sixteen grandchildren, and sixty-four great-grandchildren to inherit a timelessly elegant, precise, Indiglo-dial water-resistant Acqua Timex of their very own.

Unless the batteries poop out, of course.
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Post by bmb »

I know Timexes will last forever, but I like my watches unused.
(I think that is at least as rational as buying a Rolex.)
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Post by jegallup »

Valuethinker wrote:Anyways we Londoners jet around so much that we need to know what the time is to catch the World Service at the right moment.

Life without the News at 10 would not be worth living.



Noone is an Englishman until they listen to the Shipping Forecast.
I used to like to listen to BBC Foreign Service or whatever they call it late at night because they'd say, "The time is...three." Not 3:00 AM or GMT or anything else. Because the time in Greenwich is the time, and everything else is measured from that.

And on the subject of keeping time, Dava Sobel's book Longitude is a fascinating read about the man (a Brit, natch) who first devised a clock accurate enough to measure longitude because it would stay synchronized with the official time in--where else?--Greenwich.
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Post by DSInvestor »

jegallup wrote:I used to like to listen to BBC Foreign Service or whatever they call it late at night because they'd say, "The time is...three." Not 3:00 AM or GMT or anything else. Because the time in Greenwich is the time, and everything else is measured from that.

And on the subject of keeping time, Dava Sobel's book Longitude is a fascinating read about the man (a Brit, natch) who first devised a clock accurate enough to measure longitude because it would stay synchronized with the official time in--where else?--Greenwich.
Longitude was a fantastic book! Highly recommended.
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Location: Gemini 1972

Post by isleep »

johnjtaylorus wrote:So Ivy diplomas have to be burned along with the Mensa membership card in order to attain reverse chic?
Yes, please burn them. Not for the sake of status, but because they're meaningless. Raw intelligence by itself has very little use. It's like having a certificate to show you have big muscles. So what? The real thing that matters is what you do with what you're given.

BTW, I don't wear a watch.
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Nowizard
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nisiprius

Post by Nowizard »

MY wife gave me an Acutron when we married in 1975. Still got it, and I suspect it works. Are they valuable, or do you just have an interest in them?

tim
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nisiprius
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Post by nisiprius »

DSInvestor wrote:
jegallup wrote:I used to like to listen to BBC Foreign Service or whatever they call it late at night because they'd say, "The time is...three." Not 3:00 AM or GMT or anything else. Because the time in Greenwich is the time, and everything else is measured from that.

And on the subject of keeping time, Dava Sobel's book Longitude is a fascinating read about the man (a Brit, natch) who first devised a clock accurate enough to measure longitude because it would stay synchronized with the official time in--where else?--Greenwich.
Longitude was a fantastic book! Highly recommended.
Let me second that.
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Gordon
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My watch story

Post by Gordon »

When my two sons were 5 and 7 we went the the drug store for an ice cream cone. After I asked the boys if they wanted to buy their mother a Xmas gift. They agreed it was a good idea-so we picked out a Timex.

On Xmas day there was the usual rush to open all of their gifts when the little guy searched for and found their gift for their mom and stated" Here mother is a gift for you we bought it, its a surprise, its a watch."

My boys always looked after their parents. Later when I was working in Greece while we we at the beach Marathon they spotted a girl sunbathing right in front of us. I was reading and they called it to my attention. Look Dad that girl has big mussles.
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