Best finished

[Strela167]

No fisticuffs please.
Please be honest, or at least as much as poss. , what would anyone be propered as saying their watch is the best finished, not the best or the best looking.
No such thing as perfect anyway, too thick, wrong finishing somewhere somehow, a logo, or a detail. Mark on the dial, mark on the movement.
Had a look at some of mine today and got to admit most do have faults, indeed nothing hasn't imo
Strange to say but the highest finished, although not domed glass and too thick, that has nothing to do about finishing though, is the V H, can't find anything wrong, not even a mark on the hands as some do.




dare .... please be honest

[skywatch]

I'll play.

I assume that some of our members here have many flawless watches, considering the level of some collections. I think the Tudor BB elevated my collection a bit, not just with near flawless execution, but with a slightly higher degree of complexity than other very well made watches in my little hoard. Even under close inspection with a loupe it seems perfect. The Nomos also appears basically flawless, and the exposed movement makes it a bit more visible, inside out.

[tribe125]

Interesting subject, not least because 'finish' isn't the same thing as decoration or style. The hands on my Datejust, for example have profiling that is lacking on my Hawkinge, but a loupe doesn't reveal an obvious difference in finish. Equally, a guilloché dial doesn't have a better finish than a plain dial - just a different finish.

I've just subjected four watches (two Rolexes, MkII Hawkinge and Stowa Flieger) to a loupe examination and I can't find a flaw on any of them. Subjectively, I'd say the Datejust was the best finished, but I think it's mostly because it has some styling elements that draw attention to finishing, rather than the finishing being of a higher order.

However, there is something about the 904L steel used by Rolex. It's harder, it contains more chromium, and the higher level of polish is not entirely a myth or an illusion. My guess is that if two otherwise identical watches were made in 316L and 904L, the latter would look a little better finished - as you might hope, with 904L being three times as expensive.

In general, I don't think there's much difference in the material finishing of most 'decent' modern watches, although different styling might make it appear so.

[Dan R]

Hard to match the finish of pocketwatches from the 30s and 40s. Gold train. Gold jewel settings. Ceramic dials. Real blued hands and screws.

YMMV,

Dan

[wschofield3]

Without question, the best "finished" watch in my collection is...