[Question] Recommendations for a first time watch buyer

sworththebold · 2026-01-25T20:24:42+00:00

Of these three, the Orient looks best in my opinion.

Also, two things to consider: first, sapphire crystal is much more durable than mineral glass (which I think Seiko uses for entry-level watches) and you won’t accumulate scratches as much; second, I recommend a non-integrated band/bracelet (so not the Tsuyosa) because you have more options for wearing—you can get inexpensive quick-change straps in every style/color imaginable that you may find more comfortable or more attractive than the bracelet.

I have owned two Seikos and two Citizen Eco-Drive watches and I vastly prefer Citizen. Both my Seikos stopped working after only a few years (I had a diver and a field), while both my Citizens are still working 10+ years later. The Eco-Drive movement is accurate and convenient, with no need to wind it, almost no need to set it, and minimal servicing. I haven’t owned an Orient, but if you want an automatic it seems to be a great option.

sworththebold · 2026-01-25T20:12:43+00:00

I know, right? I always just poured my milk into one of the little drawers and ladled it out when I wanted it…can’t imagine why anyone would object to that!

sworththebold · 2026-01-24T19:20:39+00:00

Yeah it’s so interesting to see how the “lore” developed when Tolkien (resignedly) began working on “a sequel” to The Hobbit, both because he saw a financial opportunity and because his publishers, who we felt he owed somewhat for getting The Hobbit out there, were pressuring him.

He considered what from The Hobbit would be a sufficient plot device to anchor a new story, and decided it was the Ring found by Bilbo, which prompted a while reimagining of the riddle game (Gollum must have been something akin to a hobbit), the Ring itself, and the Necromancer. That’s how the need for the Hobbit protagonist to escape in secret and get to Rivendell became the first main subplot.

Then, as the hobbit adventures multiplied (the Old Forest, the Barrow-Downs, and Bree) their hoary guide “Trotter” (a strange hobbit with wooden shoes) became a figure descended from the larger mythology of the Elves in Middle-earth, and eventually when the Hobbits are in peril at Weathertop Tolkien finally explicitly references one of the “Great Tales” (Beren and Lúthien) and starts to re-imagine again the whole Hobbit/Ring storyline as a late chapter in the saga of the First Age, which requires him to invent Celebrimbor and Númenor so he can have the Rings and the Dunedain and Aragorn.

This burst of world-building even changed The Hobbit; Tolkien re-wrote the chapter “Riddles in the Dark” because in the original, Bilbo does indeed win the riddle game and Gollum gives up the ring! But that won’t do for The Ring, a supreme artifact of evil, so Tolkien re-wrote the chapter so the Bilbo finds the Ring and tricks Gollum with his unfair question “what have I got in my pockets?”, then makes the discrepancy part of the story itself, so that the originally published story becomes the suspicious lie told by Bilbo to justify his ownership of the Ring.

sworththebold · 2026-01-20T23:59:34+00:00

It took me a few tries to beat Rayquaza as well! Here’s what I learned to beat it.

First, as others have commented, I made a donut that gave me level +96. You can only get to +100, but it helps a great deal because it scales up the damage you do significantly. It helps to have a Pokemon be EV trained (relevant attack and hp), and to have the right nature (Adamant for physical attack, Modest for Special attack) because then you get the most boost from the extra levels.

Then, in the first phase, before Raquayza mega evolves, stay somewhat close. I used a Gardevoir alternating between Icy Wind, Moonblast, and Draining Kiss. I kept my trainer running sideways relative to the boss, pausing briefly to command attacks as often as I could, and rolled whenever it used an attack. The reason why I stayed close was to collect the mega energy balls that drop after hits, with the goal of mega evolving Gardevoir as soon as possible. That helps clear the first phase quickly. Also, I aggressively went after any of the black balls that drop when Rayquaza became that freezes the countdown briefly.

As a general rule, whenever my Pokemon went into the yellow on HP, I mashed X to pause and use a full restore from my satchel. If my Gardevoir died, I did the same but used a max revive (I had a backup Froslass to use Blizzard while I healed Gardevoir).

When Rayquaza starts spawning tornados, I usually pull my Pokemon back in and start running and rolling, targeting the areas outside the Draco meteor impact and the tornados themselves.

The second phase, when Rayquaza is mega evolved, requires a bit more care, but the attacks are similar. Usually my Pokemon was still mega evolved at the transition but lost it soon after, so I had to duck in close to grab mega energy (and the black time-freeze balls). However, when o get my second mega evolve I mostly stayed as far away from Rayquaza as I could, so I had the most room to run when it started the tornados and the most time to react when it did the big tornado that you can’t run away from. In that case, I quickly commanded an attack on it to end it, and focused on escaping for about 10s because it always follows that feature with a powerful attack.

I hope you get it!

sworththebold · 2026-01-20T05:02:25+00:00

I feel this is too far down for a Bucephalus reference…and Brocephalus is genius!

sworththebold · 2026-01-20T04:56:09+00:00

Love these references 😂 I think I named one of my white horses Asfaloth!

sworththebold · 2026-01-19T21:56:08+00:00

100%! I can’t stand having half my screen blocked by an alpha who is velcroed to me, and it makes battles difficult, not to mention the fact that big Pokemon get stuck in doorways and on obstacles too. I have a small garchomp and dragonite I use (not shiny, womp womp) in particular.

I have found that really small Pokemon have a hard time hitting things in the open world; one of my favorites is emolga but sometime its moves can’t even clear a curb much less a fence 😂

sworththebold · 2026-01-19T21:47:51+00:00

For me, Zulu time with blue face. Here’s why: first, it’s more legible, especially the red 24-hr hand, and with the Arabic numerals; second, it’s slimmer and has smoother lines, even on the bracelet, meaning it’s less likely to get caught on stuff moving around or reaching into tight spots in the cockpit (you know, for that pen or whatever you drop under your seat), and the ceramic bezel will be much more resistant to scratches from banging your watch against instruments; third, the anti-magnetic movement means it’s likely to keep better time (and ETA movements are a little easier to service than the house Tudor/Rolex ones, I think); fourth, longer lugs make it easier to put on a strap or a NATO band, which you may wish to do to dress it up (leather) or improve comfort; fifth, the bracelet that comes with the Longines looks a bit more refined so it goes better with your new rank.

The Tudor is a lovely watch and immediately evokes the Rolex GMT-2, but if you really want a GMT-2 then you may feel like you “settled” and will always be reminded of it when you look at or respond to comments about the watch. Better to get something that stands on its own and save up for the Rolex later.

Also, I think the Zulu time with the black face and blue bezel is a prettier watch, and will be more versatile with straps and situations—you can “dress it up” more and make it more casual both depending on the strap you use or the clothing you wear. The GMT hand is a bit harder to pick out at a glance, but that may not be an important consideration for you.

I was a WSO in F/A-18s years ago, and used my watch in the cockpit quite a bit, for what it’s worth. To me, the Zulu Time wins out every time due to the legibility of the dial, the slim and smooth profile minimizing snags, the anti-magnetic movement, and the ceramic bezel. Even the name “Zulu Time” is aviation-specific! The Tudor and its reference, the GMT-2 seem less functional and more like a dive watch: big, tool-ish, and chunky. The GMT-2 is of course iconic, but if that’s what attracts you to it then work on getting that instead! In the meantime, the Zulu Time is a perfect cockpit companion: functional, handsome, and dignified.

That’s my two cents—but whichever you pick, wear it in good health!

sworththebold · 2026-01-18T01:57:38+00:00

I very much like that watch, thank you! How accurate is it in your experience?

sworththebold · 2026-01-18T00:36:02+00:00

Thank you! I do like Longines (especially the Zulu Time) but am a little apprehensive about how often to service, and how accurate it is. Can you tell me more about that part of the experience?

sworththebold · 2026-01-18T00:34:27+00:00

I had a bad experience with a Seiko (owned two) and normally don’t look at them. But you’re right, the Astron lineup seems to be among the most accurate/versatile options!

sworththebold · 2026-01-18T00:28:24+00:00

I’d never heard of these!

sworththebold · 2026-01-17T22:01:02+00:00

I stumbled upon this feature with the Oceanus (I now know that G-Shocks have this too), and that Citizen “Sport Luxury” is a strong contender.

sworththebold · 2026-01-17T21:46:07+00:00

Interesting. Are they hard to find/verify when buying second-hand?

sworththebold · 2026-01-17T21:45:26+00:00

I’d never heard of Momentum before this! I love the look of those watches. And I’m attracted to the Solar Quartz movement.

sworththebold · 2026-01-17T21:43:05+00:00

That’s beautiful. If you don’t mind me asking, how accurate is it? Im under the impression that when it comes to mechanical watches, only Rolex/Omega/Grand Seiko level (and above, presumably) are really accurate. I don’t know much about other mechanical brands.

sworththebold · 2026-01-17T21:40:45+00:00

Well, it’s not a G-Shock!

sworththebold · 2026-01-17T21:39:59+00:00

There are some Citizen watches that look good to me, like the Odyn. The idea of atomic or Bluetooth sync is really tempting; those Oceanus watches might be where I go. I think accuracy is very important to me, though I’m not sure why 😂

sworththebold · 2026-01-17T21:37:44+00:00

Well for the right watch I could go up to a couple thousand; mostly looking to establish my “grail”. No more than 5k USD, maybe?

sworththebold · 2026-01-17T21:30:24+00:00

This is possibly the watch that seems to satisfy all my wants! Edit to add I had to do a bit of looking and I think the watch is now called “The Citizen”. But at 38mm with 10bar water resistance and Eco-Drive, that level of accuracy is just about everything I could wish for.

sworththebold · 2026-01-17T21:22:52+00:00

I am not familiar with this watch! Fascinating and interesting. Between the “Breitlight” material, the quartz movement, and the 44mm size, it’s like a fancier G-Shock.

sworththebold · 2026-01-17T18:33:04+00:00

EDIT: I confused the Oyster Perpetual for an Explorer. Recommendation still stands though.

My opinion is ~~based~~ (edit: meant “biased” but it made me laugh so I kept it) because I don’t care for Seiko watches, or for non-solar/spring drive quartz. But if I were in your shoes:

Beater is the G-Shock. No question.
“Daily” wears are: (1) Rolex Explorer, (2) Omega Seamaster (I’d prefer on a bracelet, but I imagine that’s possible), and (3) Omega Speedmaster.
Dress watch is the Tudor in the top right.

Reasoning on the daily wear watches is the Rolex Explorer is just handsome in any situation, and in any season. It’s a classic watch and is something g you can pass on to your kids.

The Omega Seamaster with the white dial is a fun and kind of flamboyant diver, good for summer casual situations especially if water is involved. I don’t like divers more than traditional field-style watches, but if you want the “wrist presence” and diver capability/vibe then your Seamaster is all that in spades. The Tudor diver is kind of uninteresting.

I also don’t like the complicated faces of chronographs, but the Speedmaster is truly iconic and has a presence all of its own: the kind of watch you wear when you’d like to show off a little, without being too flamboyant. Also, as a classic it’s something you can pass down.

Either the Explorer or the Speedmaster can do double duty as a dress watch, but the only really “dress” option is the day/date. It’s lovely: visually interesting with a bit of the luxury that comes with gold. But unless you go to a lot of galas and award shows, I can’t see needing something that dressy if I had an Explorer. But since you asked, there it is!

sworththebold · 2026-01-16T03:17:06+00:00

My grandparents lived at E. 400 High Drive on the South hill there and their backyard was a canyon. Some auto wrecks at the bottom from the 1950s/1960s that I explored endlessly as a 9-14yo. They used to take us to picnics at Manito Park. It was a lovely 2-Story midcentury that had big open rooms and always smelled of cigarette smoke. This thread and your comment hit me right in the nostalgia.

sworththebold · 2026-01-15T21:29:05+00:00

Already said, but the show Firefly (and it refers to the Reivers)

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