What time do you wear?

And the fact that Rocco Siffredi sports a Panerai should be enough to make all of us go into hybernation.

IWC Aquatimer in SS

Cool watch, Khaki8. Reminds me a bit of this one, which you might also like:
http://watchbuys.com/images/JSKulisse10.JPG

Oh yeah, well my big brother will beat up both your watches with his hands tied behind his back!

Howard which "arm" does Rocco wear his watch on?

Right arm to the camera, a la Monty Cliff. Of course, when it needs winding, he switches it to another limb. You've heard of the G-Shock, right?

Who cares.....!!!!

Nearly 6 years and 200+ posts later, it seems a few people do. There is a lot of hobbyist crossover between audio and wristwatches, bicycles, motorcycles, wine, scotch, etc., all of which are discussed at length in their respective threads on this site.

...from the looks perspective, i think they make some elegant watches.

Ditto. Very nice looking watches.

A little customer service story, if you don't mind:
I sent my Aquatimer into the watch dealer Tourneau (NYC), who then sent it to IWC (Switzerland) for service. It had a few dings in the case, and one nasty scratch. They said they would completely disassemble the watch, clean and oil it, and then polish the case. They said they could not promise that all of the blemishes could be removed.

Six weeks later--that's two weeks AHEAD of schedule--it arrived back at Tourneau. Tourneau then overnighted it to me. The watch had been re-packaged in a new suede bag, protected in plastic, with not a scratch or ding on it. I often complain about the lack of good customer service in today's "your call is very important to us" world. This experience assured that the next watch I buy will be another IWC. Maybe a Portugesier in rose gold.

Dean,
A few years ago, we had the opportunity to meet the head of IWC at a jewelers in Seattle. Because of his visit, they had brought along with them virtually every model in the line-up. We were able to closely examine the Grande Complications watch, in which nearly every part is made of gold, as well as made by hand. It was an extraordinary piece, the second most impressive wristwatch I've seen to date. First honors goes to the Girard-Perregaux Three Bridges, which we saw in a watch museum in Switzerland. I sat over the display case like a surgeon over a patient, examining that thing for over half an hour.

A friend who is a big watch collector--he has the IWC Destriero Scafusia--once loaned me a Lange 1, a $20K watch made by Lange & Sohne. Some loaner, huh? You could get the chills simply by feeling the movement of the watch. Smoothest winding I've ever felt. I had several nice watches at the time, and they all felt gritty in comparison.

One day, I intend to get to CES. And also to the Basel Watch Fair.

Can you all lead to me a site where I can learn about watches? Which brands are respected vs which brands are more "desginer" (which I want to stay away from)???

Check out Time Zone . Take a look under the brand forums. Some of the top brands that are highly respected: Rolex, Panerai, Audemars Piguet, IWC, Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe, Girard-Perregaux, Roger Dubuis...

http://www.watchnet.com is also a good site.

Enjoy!

Jb8312,
The one other thing I would suggest is definitely see the watches in person, and try them on your wrist. It's remarkable how your list of favorites can change once you actually try them on. I had this experience with a Girard-Perregaux Laureato Evo3, which I thought was just OK in photos, but flipped for it in person...and I bought it.

Like audio, fine watches can be a very gratifying hobby. And the folks on the Time Zone threads are really supportive and helpful. If you need suggestions for dealers of specific brands, email me privately, and I'll do whatever I can to help.

Can someone explain what function this serves, with a specific use case outlining a scenario where someone would use the rotating bezel to serve some purpose?

The Seamaster is a diving watch, with a rotating bezel that can be locked in place. The purpose of rotating the bezel is to set the large marker that is normally at the 12 o'clock position while on land to the time at which you enter the water. That way, you can track how many minutes remain until the air in your tank expires, without having to remember what time you descended. Most are uni-directional, so if they are accidentally moved, they rotate clockwise, thereby indicating less time remaining than actual...for safety purposes. Does that make sense?

I'm probably not going to be doing too much diving, but I suppose that could be helpful with not burning the brownies. I'll probably burn them anyway, though

That's hilarious, Goatwuss! I'm not a diver, but I've owned a number of diving watches, including a Seamaster that I recently inherited. Very comfortable watch, and excellent for attracting the Bond girls!

sorry for the grammer, I am in a hurry

Obviously, you're too busy buying watches to keep track of time. :-)