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The Value of a Quartz Perpetual Watch
It's always on the right time (more or less) and it's always on the right day and date. Even on a day like today with lovely weather, lovely Mustang across the parking lot acting as eye candy to catch more viewers ...
it's fun to have a watch on my wrist that took no energy to strap on, required no worries that it's not keeping me pretty much on time ...
The fact that it's a titanium Seiko GMT perpetual is frosting on the cake.
it's fun to have a watch on my wrist that took no energy to strap on, required no worries that it's not keeping me pretty much on time ...
The fact that it's a titanium Seiko GMT perpetual is frosting on the cake.
Cheers,
Cazalea
One question...
How do you set the perpetual calendar?
Looking like a very fun day out, too 
The calendar is programmed into the Seiko 8F56 movement
It's done at the factory and the watch has a 10-year battery, so for most folks, it's done once and for all.
My only visual complaint is the second hand is very plain and could have been done in a more attractive way. I suppose I could change it ...
It's very reflective, as shown in the photo below.
But if you need to do it later, first you put in the battery, then using tweezers (or a tiny "jumper cable") on the back of the movement, you do the following:
It's a fiddly job and a nuisance, but for the remaining 9.99 years, you don't have to worry about setting this handsome watch.
My only visual complaint is the second hand is very plain and could have been done in a more attractive way. I suppose I could change it ...
It's very reflective, as shown in the photo below.
Of all my watches, this and the Breitling Aerospace are least fuss and trouble - thus the most likely to be taken when I travel.
Cheers,
Cazalea
But surely ( I know you hate it when I call you Shirley) Caz...
You must have a mechanical perpetual in your stable. Perhaps not one that can be advanced forward AND backward, as in the UN Ludwig. That would set you back a bit. But wait. To whom as I speaking??? Of course you have such a watch. Then why not let us see it! (I always enjoy your colorful posts, Mike. And that bougainvillea background is the bee's knees.) Have a good one! FH
I do have a perpetual at the moment
You can start reading here:
and then you can read about the Perpetual: Click Here for 10 YEARS WITH ONE WATCH
and then you can check this thread in HOME
Cheers,
Mike
Many thanks. Expected as much.
It has been interesting to me to learn that the PC is not so new a complication as, for example, the auto-chrono. And a perpetual stands, in my brief collecting career, as "the one that got away."
When the Montblanc came on the market a couple years ago it caused quite a stir at ~$12K. (In steel, of course.) A lot of collectors were upset. And there was a lot of bad press about the "crowded dial." Now, understand, I was just a year into my fascination with time pieces, so at the same time I was mighty fascinated with the idea of the perpetual, and crestfallen to think that I'd never own one due to the ~$20K club entry fee. But now the Montblanc was out there.
I also knew that one might find a previously owned piece for essentially half msrp. Perhaps I could wait this out. I hadn't a lot of money, yet perhaps I could stretch to upwards of $6K. Then in one of my daily forum perusals I found a post advertising this $12K watch for just over $4K—brand new! One-third its value, not one-half, and never worn. Too good to be true? Such things usually are. Still, I was mighty interested, and corresponded with the fellow selling the watch. It turned out he'd bought out an AD who was going out of business and wasn't particularly interested in making a killing on the watches he had for sale. Nice fellow; seemed completely transparent. I was convinced of the watch's authenticity, and the fact that in some ways it represented "the buy of the century." But all that bad press! And I had no way of trying one on short of driving to Chicago to an AD to scope out the timepiece.
So I let it go. Months passed and the thing hadn't sold. (I guessed the bad press was something I was right to have paid attention to.) And then it came time for a trip to Napa, CA to see my uncle. As I passed through O'Hare I decided to stop in at the Montblanc boutique. Here's the result.
Montblanc Heritage Spirit Perpetual Calendar; ID# 110715; Calibre: MB 29.15; 39mm in steel; MSRP $12,800
Montblanc Heritage Spirit Perpetual Calendar; ID# 110715; Calibre: MB 29.15; 39mm in steel; MSRP $12,800
At 39mm it fit my wrist perfectly. And it was amazingly legible; I really could read all of the information without having to get out a magnifying glass, or staring at the watch intently. (At age 70 I'll let it go that I did need to have my glasses on.) Whoa! Crowded dial or no, that I might be able to own such a fascinating complication caused me to find the nearest unpopulated boarding area, get out my laptop, and search for the post.
Oh no! Sold! just a week or so before!
In the ~two years since that time I've looked at a lot of perpetual calendars. I love them. But I don't presently own one. I realize the Montblanc didn't show the year, and that, for me, is a pretty big omission. It's slightly limiting in its lean toward the dressy side. (As I'm retired I just don't have occasion to wear dressy pieces so often.) Yet, with the right strap it seemed—if not a daily wearer—at least plausible even with jeans. Perhaps one day I'll find the right one (and be able to afford it when I do). At the moment the UN Perpetual Ludwig fascinates me due to its older reference to style, and its movement, which allows setting both backward and forward. And I seem to remember seeing a perpetual that showed the year on the back. (Anyone care to chime in on that reference?) I loved that. Perhaps where I'm going with this is a "show me your perpetual and tell me why you love it" post. In any event, thank you, C. for sending the three posts of yours that highlight the perpetual that you have loved so well. Great reading/viewing. Have a good weekend! FH
Thanks for sharing this fascinating story of yours!
It does sometimes happen that you’re looking or saving up for a watch and then it’s gone weeks or days before you are ready. Had this two or three times and always kicked myself over it. Still, it’s a long game and while some pieces will not return at the same price level, others might. Keeping my fingers crossed that you find your PC
How kind of you! Many thanks for your encouragement.
As moderator, though… What do you think of the piece? And what have other member's experiences been? It still seems to me a respectable entry into the market. Yet... I know of—and do tire a bit of—one watch company's echoing of another's designs.
A bit before my mod time...
But I’d say definitely great horological value at the level it goes, just like so many Jerome Lambert Montblancs. Not one that is likely to appreciate with time and the sub counters are a tad close but it provides a very interesting complication at a spectacular price. I guess it’s definitely not a piece one gets for signalling, much more one you get for yourself. But if you are not looking for peer approval first and foremost it is certainly a very sound proposition.
As for derivative designs, we are all partially to blame - victims and perpetrators at the same time if you wish. There’s often debate that watch manufacturers delve on the past and dabble in limited editions too much but then we mostly go out and buy those pieces as opposed to the more innovative, risky ones. Shamelessly generalising here but if we want the behaviour of the watch manufacturers to change it’s a voting with the wallet that will do it
As for derivative designs, we are all partially to blame - victims and perpetrators at the same time if you wish. There’s often debate that watch manufacturers delve on the past and dabble in limited editions too much but then we mostly go out and buy those pieces as opposed to the more innovative, risky ones. Shamelessly generalising here but if we want the behaviour of the watch manufacturers to change it’s a voting with the wallet that will do it
Well said. And thanks for responding.
Yes, I own one such derivative—the Heritage Chronometrie Ultra Slim. What the heck, it's a nicely designed watch with a tried & true movement. Mine keeps excellent time, is always mistaken for a quartz due to its slender nature (which makes it fun to take off and turn over—to "oohs and aahs"), and to my mind, the railroad track outside of the numerals keeps it just this side of dress only. It can look quite good with very casual clothing. Less total commitment to formality, more acknowledgement of a general trend toward informality. It is not as beautiful as the JLC! But it fulfills a niche that many of us who were not real estate moguls appreciate—nice things at prices that allow us to participate in what we might dare call horology.
It would be fascinating to be present at a meeting (at any of the major brands) at which demographics are discussed. 1. Of those people interested in owning a mechanical timepiece, how much on average will a person whose income is between, say, $50K-$70K spend on a watch? 2. And how many people fall into that category? 3. And who presently sells a watch that might be considered by that group? 4. And which of our present pieces might we update to compete more effectively with those? Something on this oder has to go on. Now, those at Rolex might simply yawn and say—not interested, not necessary, most of our dealers have a seven-page waiting list for Daytonas so… let's have lunch. I don't know. MB seems to have split into two streams—there seem to be pieces for fellows like myself, and then there are the Villeret pieces, whose prices are always "available upon request." That's one way to go.
I can tell you this, though. If that MB Perpetual were found in my Christmas stocking I'd be loath to take it off for some time. (And I don't usually wear my watches to bed.) However, I now know enough about this world to know that with dedication and patience (you alluded to this, I believe) one might come across something much nicer that has been lovingly cared for, and at about the same price point.
Now to change the subject… of the Villeret pieces, which is your favorite? I think those movements are really dandy! FH
Let me think about this and launch a separate thread on the MB forum, OK? :) [nt]
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Many thanks When you have time. I realize you have many responsibilities. FH [nt]
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"Only" accurate 20 seconds in a year
For readers who haven't been around a long long time, Ron is a bit of a high-accuracy quartz buff, and this level of in-accuracy is appalling to his group of perfectionists.
Cheers!
Mike
I've also been on the fringe of "desperately needing" that level of accuracy, and have plenty of high-end quartz timepieces, but I have given up demanding it of all my watches. I'm happy to get the calendar in exchange.
Cheers!
Mike
Mike,if you think I and my group are bad,subscribe to the Time-Nuts listserv! (nt)
NT
Yes, it takes one to know one, and I am one of the accuracy nuts too
I just hide it more successfully than some others...