What time do you wear?

John, we have similar taste, I also have an IWC Portuguese Automatic, and a Rolex - but its a Date in SS.
cheers

I picked up a fun watch as an impulse the other day, a Tissot Trekker with an orange face. Its pretty cool and gets most guys who are into gadgets oooohhhing when they play with it. It has 6 functions including barometric pressure, thermometer, altitude, chronograph and a really cool compass.

I got a Rolex SS Date a while ago for a birthday and I wore it religously everyday because its so versatile, sports, work, formal... I recently treated myself to a IWC Portugeuse Chrono. Love that watch, wonderful understated design and classic looks. Rolexes are fine as an everyday watch but they don't hold a candle to IWC in terms of cool. Those who know this iconic watch give you a knowing wink when they see it.

How to respond without sounding like an elitist snob? Lets just say that Rolex sells about 600,000 watches a year. Yes they are good watches but they are about as common as say Denon or Bose receivers. Not saying that Rolexes are as over hyped as Bose, but they do spend quite a bit on marketing and have cultivated very strong brand equity over the years. The smaller boutique watch houses such as IWC, Jaeger, Patek etc, put out far less volume and use old world craftsmanship and engineering that watchfiles will appreciate. Yes "cool" is in the eye of the beholder, I think watches are cool, others may not and don't see the purpose when a $20 Timex probably keeps better time. I don't wear a watch because I want people to think I'm wealthy (and I'm not), I just love the way it looks and how it feels on my wrist. To put it into your terms, some Agon members may drool over a $85,000 Kondo amp, but the general public will think you're quite insane.

Newbee: a friend of mine has a Sinn Chronometer, beautiful watch!

this is a good article describing Rolex's standing in the watch market

http://www.chronocentric.com/watches/brands.shtml

Brian: actually Rolex has not always used their own movements, until a few years ago they were using Zenith movements in their hugely popular Daytona model.

souterncross: if it annoys you, don't read it!!!!

yes, the Zenith Chronomaster is nice and low key, not as "over the top" as their other models, eg Defy Extreme. I think you need to look like Arnold Schwarznegger to wear that one!

I have the 3714 01 also. Steel case, white dial, gold numbers and hands. Its my favourite watch.

You really shouldn't be wearing your Rolex (or any other mechanical watch for that matter) while chopping wood. I know the Rolex movement is extremely robust but the incredible shock and impact of wood chopping is sure to but severe stress on the movement. Also, you really don't need to tune it up every 3 yrs, I waited 18 yrs to tune up my Oyster Perpetual Date and it keeps fantastic time.