Watches you were pretty sure you DIDN'T want...until you tried one on.

[geoffbot]

Erm.... No ! Can't say I've ever felt inclined to try on a watch that I didn't/don't like/want

Never been to a watch show? That's where I tried this on, and fell in love, despite it never piquing my interest before

[Nokie]

All of them.....

[Samanator]

The Patek Philippe Nautilus Moonphase for me. Generally I have no interest in anything but a sport watches, but the sort of sporting nature of this I actually would consider if I decide to ever just go to one watch. Tried it out in St. Thomas a few years ago. Most likely will never happen.

I've also had the opposite occur more than once, meaning I had something I wanted until I tried it on. Most surprising was the JLC Navy Seal product line. Not my cup of tea.

[FuzzyB]

I have two that come to mind. The first is the Ball First Mile. I took my wife to the Ball AD to get her a 60 Seconds and saw the First Mile in the case. I had seen photos of it and was not impressed. It looked much better in person and after trying it on, I knew I was in trouble. We both walked out of the store with new watches that day. I am normally not a fan of logos or random labeling on watches, but my great-great-grandfather worked for an offshoot of the B&O railroad and I still remember meeting him when I was a very small boy. My dad gave me his railroad themed cufflinks when I was still young.





The second is the Datejust II. I have never been attracted to it in photos or sitting in a display case. The fluted bezel seemed overly fussy and particularly large on the DJ II model. However, once I put it on, I was instantly hooked. The bezel reflects the light in amazing ways and actually frames the dial more than detracts from the dial. More importantly, it's very comfortable on the wrist. I was incredibly surprised by how quickly I did a 180 after trying it on.

[Dienekes]

The second is the Datejust II. I have never been attracted to it in photos or sitting in a display case. The fluted bezel seemed overly fussy and particularly large on the DJ II model. However, once I put it on, I was instantly hooked. The bezel reflects the light in amazing ways and actually frames the dial more than detracts from the dial. More importantly, it's very comfortable on the wrist. I was incredibly surprised by how quickly I did a 180 after trying it on.

I'm with you here. I'm not a Rolex fan at all but I felt the same way about the DJII (especially the fluted bezel model) and Explorer II after giving them a try at the dealer.

[Imitation of Life]

Domo is better at describing the less-than-perfect nature of GS and how sloppy they can be, so if he wants to chime in, he can.

- the indices and power reserve hand on my watch's dial have small indentions, likely from careless use of tweezers during application. I would prefer not to use the word careless, but there's nothing more fitting. In the right lighting, these are visible to the naked eye.
- noticeable gap between the bracelet and the case
- relatively rattly bracelet
- winding does not disengage when screwing down the crown. I have a $600 Tissot that exhibits the same behavior, which I can accept. But on a more pricey watch, I'm less forgiving. As an example, my Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon Classic II, which was significantly cheaper, disengages, as does my Tudor Black Bay, which retails for about half the price of my GS. In a comparable price range, my Omega Planet Ocean disengages.

I preferred to keep this to PM because I don't want anyone to think I'm on a GS-bashing crusade. I voiced my opinion over at WUS shortly after I acquired my watch, so I'm well past the time when I should be making a big deal about these issues. For the most part, I've accepted the quirky nature of the watch and wear it with little thought to these "problems." I admire and enjoy it--it's one of my favorites.

But I also feel that GS is misrepresented on forums as being a flawless product. In reality, that couldn't be further from the truth and, in many ways, the watches aren't up to the standard set by other manufacturers.

I own more expensive watches and less expensive watches. Generally, even with a loupe, they don't have issues--off the top of my head, the few instances I can recall--a ding visible to the naked eye in one of my Panerai's hands and a piece of dust on my PRC 200's dial (which will be removed come service time)--ended up much like my GS. I learned to ignore them and moved on.

On the plus side, though, the dial on my GS is beautiful, the polishing is excellent, the time keeping is exceptional, and the smooth glide of the second hand is mesemerizing. Some of the best things in life aren't perfect and very quickly you learn to accept them as they are--which is exactly what I've done with my GS.

[geoffbot]

Tl;dr? http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi

[Imitation of Life]

Tl;dr? http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi

Well played.

[CFR]

Tl;dr? http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi

One must be careful not to exaggerate, though. Otherwise, we'll be smashing our watches in the quest for perfection...

[crownpuller]

Never been to a watch show? That's where I tried this on, and fell in love, despite it never piquing my interest before

A couple; but I still didn't try on anything I didn't like the look of. Seems like an exercise in futility, to me...... Unless you've money burning a hole in your pocket, I guess
FWIW: I like a fair few of the Nomos range; so I'd quite happily try one/some on