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High-end Watches Locally?

1,894,897 Views | 15539 Replies | Last: 20 hrs ago by Diggity
schmendeler
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AG
Oris advertising behind home plate at the Astros game
Silian Rail
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I gotta know more
BBRex
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"Forgive me, Father for I have sinned. What is my penance?"

"Three Hail Marys, the Lord's Prayer, and, uh, what's that watch you're wearing?"
terradactylexpress
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Roman Catholic church is anything but poor
Serotonin
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AG
Pope Francis is pretty famous for wearing a $10 Casio, although Pope John Paul II wore a two tone datejust.

The Dalai Lama has a pretty nice collection:
https://www.wristenthusiast.com/latest/2022/3/22/dalai-lama-watch-collection
Silian Rail
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Patriarch Kiril was blinging so hard they removed the watch from his wrist, but forgot to photoshop the table reflection. Apparently it was a $30k gold Breguet.
Charismatic Megafauna
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Neat article

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a-former-cia-case-officer-reveals-the-surprising-connection-between-watches-and-espionage

In 1943, Ilia Tolstoy and Brooke Dolan, both members of the CIA's predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), presented the Dalai Lama with a Patek Philippe reference 658 on behalf of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Reportedly, the purpose of the gift was to win the Dalai Lama's support for a potential road through Tibet into China to assist the Chinese in fighting the Japanese.

Cuban President Fidel Castro gave two Rolexes to Argentine socialist revolutionary Che Guevara, including a Rolex GMT-Master 1675 that was "liberated" by CIA paramilitary officer Felix Rodriguez after Guevara's October 1967 death in La Higuera, Bolivia.
AgLA06
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That's a great read. Thanks for posting it!

I had heard of Panerai, but I guess never really knew their story. Quite interesting. Cost wize they appear to be pretty on par with Tudor and of similar connection to Rolex.

I had never heard of Sangin Instruments, but I really like them. I guess I'll need to learn more about them. Especially at their price point.

Also, I found this part interesting.

"In the halls of "Langley" the colloquial term for CIA Headquarters the ties of watches to the Intelligence Community are evident. The CIA is composed of tribes, and timepieces are subtle indications of an officer's tribe or identity. Burly paramilitary officers with beards are seen wearing Panerai, Sangin Instruments, and Bremont. European officers are drawn to dressier Jaeger-LeCoultre and IWC pieces to match fine tailored suits, while officers who serve in the Middle East and Africa may wear Breitling or Rolex, with the most fortunate ones showing the crest of a Middle Eastern nation."
Charismatic Megafauna
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I really want a PAM00106 but I'm not sure i could pull it off since I'm not a rapper
Serotonin
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AgLA06 said:

That's a great read. Thanks for posting it!

I had heard of Panerai, but I guess never really knew their story. Quite interesting. Cost wize they appear to be pretty on par with Tudor and of similar connection to Rolex.

I had never heard of Sangin Instruments, but I really like them. I guess I'll need to learn more about them. Especially at their price point.

Also, I found this part interesting.

"In the halls of "Langley" the colloquial term for CIA Headquarters the ties of watches to the Intelligence Community are evident. The CIA is composed of tribes, and timepieces are subtle indications of an officer's tribe or identity. Burly paramilitary officers with beards are seen wearing Panerai, Sangin Instruments, and Bremont. European officers are drawn to dressier Jaeger-LeCoultre and IWC pieces to match fine tailored suits, while officers who serve in the Middle East and Africa may wear Breitling or Rolex, with the most fortunate ones showing the crest of a Middle Eastern nation."
IMO Panerai dive watches (along with big IWC Pilot watches) are synonymous with the 2000s big watch craze.

Before I started seriously getting into watches I thought it was a better brand than Rolex just based on the airtime they received in various watch forums.
Silian Rail
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Stallone and Schwarzenegger were big Panerai guys and made them into a tough guy action hero brand.
FTAC2011
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Lol totally photoshopped. That dude sometimes doesn't even wear shoes to make sure he humbled himself
Silian Rail
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FTAC2011 said:

Lol totally photoshopped. That dude sometimes doesn't even wear shoes to make sure he humbled himself
yeah but I can see some greasy guido friend of the Church giving it to some hapless Msgr, and some Msgr giving it to Pope Francis saying "this gift came for you" and him not knowing what it was and just wearing it.

Case in point, my pastor is a pretty down to earth guy but has a $4,000 watch that he wears as it was a gift from when he was the pastor at an ultra-rich catholic church in the woodlands.
Marauder Blue 6
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Charismatic Megafauna said:

Neat article

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a-former-cia-case-officer-reveals-the-surprising-connection-between-watches-and-espionage

In 1943, Ilia Tolstoy and Brooke Dolan, both members of the CIA's predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), presented the Dalai Lama with a Patek Philippe reference 658 on behalf of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Reportedly, the purpose of the gift was to win the Dalai Lama's support for a potential road through Tibet into China to assist the Chinese in fighting the Japanese.

Cuban President Fidel Castro gave two Rolexes to Argentine socialist revolutionary Che Guevara, including a Rolex GMT-Master 1675 that was "liberated" by CIA paramilitary officer Felix Rodriguez after Guevara's October 1967 death in La Higuera, Bolivia.
I love the author's IG page, @watchesofespionage. He's posted a British SAS Explorer II that'd be badass to own if I had an extra $100K laying around.
Diggity
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read an article a while back about Panerai marketing cheap ETA movements as "in-house" on $30K watches.

Ended up learning about the interesting history of the brand. Marketing is a powerful thing!

https://perezcope.com/2021/08/08/panerai-in-house-movements-a-pam-of-worms/
https://perezcope.com/2021/08/22/revisting-panerais-pam-of-worms/
Silian Rail
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Diggity said:

read an article a while back about Panerai marketing cheap ETA movements as "in-house" on $30K watches.

Ended up learning about the interesting history of the brand. Marketing is a powerful thing!

https://perezcope.com/2021/08/08/panerai-in-house-movements-a-pam-of-worms/
https://perezcope.com/2021/08/22/revisting-panerais-pam-of-worms/
yeesh going down the rabbit hole, imagine paying $8k for a watch with this thing in it.

Charismatic Megafauna
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I'm honestly shocked that you don't have a few
Guitarsoup
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Silian Rail said:

I gotta know more



It was photoshopped. Here is the original on a stock website.
FHKChE07
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Also, I am pretty sure that isn't the pope. I don't think he would wear green ever.
schmendeler
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He's signalling his secret Muslim loyalty
Irish 2.0
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FHKChE07 said:

Also, I am pretty sure that isn't the pope. I don't think he would wear green ever.
Popes wear green vestments. Just depends on what is being 'celebrated'. Green is traditionally "Ordinary Time" in Catholicism.
Silian Rail
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schmendeler said:

He's signalling his secret Muslim loyalty
my friend, I wouldn't mind if this Pope had a little more Shari'ah in him.
schmendeler
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Ha!
TheOC16
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Silian Rail said:

FTAC2011 said:

Lol totally photoshopped. That dude sometimes doesn't even wear shoes to make sure he humbled himself
yeah but I can see some greasy guido friend of the Church giving it to some hapless Msgr, and some Msgr giving it to Pope Francis saying "this gift came for you" and him not knowing what it was and just wearing it.

Case in point, my pastor is a pretty down to earth guy but has a $4,000 watch that he wears as it was a gift from when he was the pastor at an ultra-rich catholic church in the woodlands.
My girlfriend's uncle is a pastor. (I think it's a smallish church, but not sure.) Met him for the first time a few months ago and he was wearing a very nice watch. He said over a year ago one of his church member's walked down the isle and whispered "God told me to give you my watch" and put it in his hand.



He said he wore it as a reminder that God was always going to take care of him. He knew it was a nice watch, but didn't know how nice until I told him.
Diggity
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we call those indulgences
FHKChE07
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I see that you are correct. I had just never seen a pope in anything other than white and red. I know that green is for ordinary time but didn't think that it applied to the Pope.
Irish 2.0
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FHKChE07 said:

I see that you are correct. I had just never seen a pope in anything other than white and red. I know that green is for ordinary time but didn't think that it applied to the Pope.
Having a father that is a Catholic Deacon and Catholic School education K-12 finally paying off!! lol
Sea Speed
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God told me to give you my Rolex is one of the more absurd things I have ever heard
TXAGFAN
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Nm, but I agree.
Zobel
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Super uncharitable and cynical me says pastor wanted to buy himself a Rolex but didn't like the optics so came up with a story.
Trek Strategy
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I promise this is about watches, please read on…

Hi everyone, my name is Travis and I'm class of '00 with a BS in Ag Economics. About 4 years ago, I left corporate America and started Trek Strategy, which is an ecommerce strategy consulting firm. Almost a year ago, I met a man named Paul Brown (yes, he is the grandson of THAT Paul Brown). We hit it off immediately. Paul did 3 tours with the Marines in Afghanistan, went to work for Defense Intelligence, then counterfeiting with Chase, then into full time ministry. He has a great mind and deep passions. I spent 18 years in corporate America working for Nestle and Netgear and finally left as an executive. I've been consulting for the last 4 years. We had very different experiences and very different talents.

Paul had been working on building a watch in Switzerland for 3 years and was finally finished with his 5th prototype, but he didn't know how to bring a product to market and needed help getting capital. After about 10 meetings, we decided to join forces in December.

As we've been patiently waiting on the production and shipping, we've been working hard to tell our story in a digital world. We believe that we have an edge with a DTC model that doesn't include all the bloated costs that go to the traditional methods to market, so it's very competitively priced. We believe in quality and that high quality should be affordable, so we went with the Swiss Made Ronda R150 movement, sapphire crystal, and stainless-steel bands. Paul wanted this watch to work in the harshest conditions, like what he experienced while on tour. We also really wanted to wow consumers, so we included a Zulu strap, some tools, and a nice leather carrying case that's made right here in Texas. We also believe that we should be open and honest about our ambitions and goals, so we are very forthcoming about our faith and the different missions that we support. So that's the gist of our story, and you can see a lot more on our site. We're putting the finishing touches on it right now.

The result of all this work is the Wasson Automatic Field Watch that arrives next week and is on pre-order right now.

WHY AM I TELLING YOU ALL OF THIS?

I've been on TA for nearly 10 years and started following this thread a few months back. I've been reading what you guys are discussing and I thought it would be the perfect place to come discuss my watch.

  • I would love to know what you guys (honestly) think about it. You are aficionados. I respect your opinions, good or bad. They will help us craft our message.
  • If any of you are interested in buying it, I would give you a discount, so let me know.
  • We plan to sell on our own website, social media, use affiliates, etc. But if any of you guys are connected and could make any introductions for wholesale to a store, I would really appreciate that.
  • I've got several lines into the military exchanges but have yet to get a meeting. I think the watch would sell very well in the military environment.
  • If you have any ideas of how we could get noticed that we haven't thought of yet, then I'd love to hear them.

Thanks for letting me come into your thread and I value your feedback and assistance. I promise I won't interfere with what you guys are doing in here.

Travis Rudolph

www.wassonwatch.com


AgEng06
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I like the look. It reminds me of the Hamilton Khaki Aviation.



Silian Rail
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Hey Travis,

Very cool and good for you, first off the bat the website looks great; and I like the logo.

The water resistance is impressive and it's hard to mess up a class and neat dial design so kudos there.

The only thing I can think of is that in my opinion, the dial would look cleaner without the smaller military time ring.

Also, I think these watches look a lot better on the nato than on the stainless steel bracelet, so it would be cooler if when you click on the nato strap, the picture of the watch changes to the watch on the actual strap; instead of just showing the nato strap laid out.

With that being said, with all the watches I buy, how could I not buy one from a fellow ag; put me on the list.
Diggity
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TBF...there isn't a ton of variation amongst the various B-Uhr watches.
Trek Strategy
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Sponsor
AG
I appreciate the feedback thus far. I've spent a fair bit of time looking at Hamilton and I like the watches and their approach.

Silian, appreciate the kind words. Pretty soon we'll be adding some images to show "what's in the box" and I'm excited about getting that out there. The watch care videos will be added tomorrow.

Good suggestion about the strap. The decision to let people choose their own strap has been a tough one to pull off for a lot of reasons. We spent so many hours working on the coding needed to get that on shopify that I kind of ignored the images after a while. I'll put that on the list of improvements for September. Thanks again.

This should apply the discount automatically. If it doesn't, let me know and I'll just share the code.


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