Caveman's Watch Forum
Avatar Ever bought a watch out of sheer boredom? I am confused! I just did, kind of. Crazy! Loco! Post contains photos

Ricky Lee
May 03, 2009 11:01AM		 Registered: April 2005
Posts: 2,627 (2009-04)

I've been off work 'most all week nursing the busted ribs. I did go in Wednesday, but just couldn't hang. So my sleep patterns are all messed up, and I'm gettin' cabin fever. Add that to the Wild Blue satellite Internet I had installed on Friday (it's been in the works for 3+ weeks) and mix in the spiffy new Athlon 7750 Dual-Core PC I built 'bout a month back and.. well, how could I not test it out by doin' a little eFlay Watch Shopping? Laughing!

Didn't find much that really interested me, honestly, save a vintage Elgin and an over-priced Accutron Buzz Aldrin chrono. But hey, I wanted.. no needed to suss out the response times and latency levels of Wild Blue via some real-world sniping. I am smiling... The Solution? A 99-cent Hong Kong wonder! Laughing!


These are the seller's photos, obviously. And, yeah, I know that at $12.98 shipped, it's likely to be a steamin' pile o' crap. Laughing!


But, hey, I've always sorta wanted a skeleton watch, and it served my testing purposes admirably. And I've got to admit that I'm curious about the thing. This is by far the least inexpensive mechanical watch I've ever purchased. The fact that it can be manufactured and shipped halfway 'round the world at a price this low is plumb amazin' to me. So I'm curious. How good (or bad! Wink, wink ...) could it be? Here are the seller's specs;

100% Brand new
Individual Hollowly Skeleton Design.
Handwinding Mechanicle Watch.
Precise Mechanicle Movement.
Solid golden Stainless Steel Watchcase.
Silvery Dial with Roma Marker.
High Quality Anti-scratch Glass.
*Please attention the spring of the watch should be winded manully every 1 or 2 day.
- Watchcase Color: Silver
- Watchcase measurement: 4.0cm(1.57inch) in Diameter
- Watchcase thickness: 1.18cm(0.46inch)
- Dial Color: Silver
- Watchhands Color: Blue
- Strap Color: Black
- Strap width: 1.8cm(0.7inch)
- Strap Length:20cm(7.8inch)-23cm(9.0inch)(adjustable)
- Come with a black boradcard gift box

That's some fine Chinglish there! Laughing!


So.. we'll see. For twelve bucks, how can I go wrong? Laughing!

-Ricky



Messages In This Thread

Ever bought a watch out of sheer boredom? I am confused! I just did, kind of. Crazy! Loco! Post contains photos (Views: 100)
Ricky Lee -- May 03, 2009 11:01AM
Hey, quality manure will cost more than that did. Rolling on the floor laughing my a$$ off! Post contains photos (Views: 11)
Chris L -- May 03, 2009 07:14PM
I actually wound up winning this Vostok for about $20 shipped when I first tested out the Ebay sniping software I use now. Bid-O-Matic (download link)

I kind of like this program because it does not require you to subscribe to a web-site for a snipe service, and you can tweak your bid timing to be faster than the snipe-sites if your ping-time is fast enough to Ebay. It does run on your own PC and requires that it be on and the program running in the background at auction end time to do it's job (not always possible if you lug a laptop around on your job or something).

Here's the Vostok, which I still have around and enjoy.

Photo by Chris Larson

Rolling on the floor laughing my a$$ off! It would, at that! Rolling on the floor laughing my a$$ off! Post contains linked URL (Views: 5)
Ricky Lee -- May 03, 2009 07:42PM
Quote
Chris L
..the Ebay sniping software I use now. Bid-O-Matic (download link)
Thanks Chis, I'll check it out. I like the idea of it being self-contained on me own PC! Thumbs Up!
Quote
Chris L
..you can tweak your bid timing to be faster than the snipe-sites if your ping-time is fast enough to Ebay.
And that, of course, is the problem with satellite Internet. I am sad... Yeah, it's pretty fast once it gets goin'.. comparable to mid-high tier DSL. But due to the latency, ping times are slooooow. I am crying!
Quote
Chris L
Here's the Vostok, which I still have around and enjoy.
Sweet! I'll drink to that.

Thanks again mate!

-Ricky

The Jen-yoo-ine Chinese "black boradcard gift box" is prolly worth $12.98 all by itself! Rolling on the floor laughing my a$$ off! (n/t) (Views: 6)
TakesALickin -- May 03, 2009 01:30PM
You know it! Thumbs UP! Laughing out loud! And bein' a fine Hollowly Skeleton Design with Precise Mechanicle Movement, they sure ain't gonna skimp on the gift box! Rolling on the floor laughing my a$$ off! (n/t) (Views: 4)
Ricky Lee -- May 03, 2009 02:39PM
Sure have! Almost always on a boring Saturday morning or afternoon... (Views: 5)
Brian Uziel -- May 03, 2009 12:19PM
Get well soon! If it's any consolation, I remember a doctor told me it would have been better if I broke my ribs rather than bruised them - it seemed to take forever to recover from bruised ribs.

Thank You! Brian! Thumbs UP! But.. ahhh, no.. (Views: 4)
Ricky Lee -- May 03, 2009 02:35PM
Quote
Brian Uziel
If it's any consolation, I remember a doctor told me it would have been better if I broke my ribs rather than bruised them - it seemed to take forever to recover from bruised ribs.
That's not much consolation. I am confused... I am sad... I am crying! Scary! Wink, wink ...

I am improving but, you're right, it's slow going. It still hurts like the dickens when I cough. Scary! So, quite naturally, I try to avoid coughing. With the consequence that I was building up fluid and phlegm in my lungs. The Doc warned me of that right off, told me point blank that I was in danger of developing pneumonia, gave me a shot, 3 kinds of pills, and a stern lecture, all designed to avoid the same.

{sigh} But what can you do? Grin and bear it, that's all. I am smiling...

-Ricky

After all that work and pain ya sure deserved something Laughing out loud! (Views: 6)
Bock -- May 03, 2009 12:06PM
Congrats on a chic piece of horology! Thumbs Up! Such a great deal would be inresistable too for me Drooling over that watch! Lauging out loud!

Imagine yourself now fully recovered and painfree on your porcelain throne again,with this classy piece on....... R O T F L M A O !!!! Thumbs Up! Lauging out loud!

Thank You! Bock! (Views: 4)
Ricky Lee --May 03, 2009 02:24PM
Quote
Bock
Such a great deal would be inresistable too for me Drooling over that watch! Lauging out loud!
Right you are. I. Just. Couldn't. Help. Myself. Laughing!
Quote
Bock
Imagine yourself now fully recovered and painfree on your porcelain throne again,with this classy piece on....... R O T F L M A O !!!! Thumbs Up! Lauging out loud!
Surely that's too terrible a thing to contemplate on a Phamily Phorum such as this! Scary! Scary! Scary!

Laughing!

-Ricky

Re: Ever bought a watch out of sheer boredom? I am confused! I just did, kind of. Crazy! Loco! (Views: 6)
fWord -- May 03, 2009 11:11AM
Looks like a Goer-branded watch you got there. There's a number of others on the Bay that are quite interesting...Orkina et. al. I've read that they're a bunch of crap, or at least very chancy. Get a 'good specimen' and you have a bargain, but get one of the many 'bad eggs' out there and it's trouble. Still, like you say, couldn't go wrong for the price, and retail therapy at this level, if therapeutic, is entirely worth it. Hope you get better soon.

Re: ..retail therapy at this level, if therapeutic, is entirely worth it.. (Views: 5)
Ricky Lee -- May 03, 2009 11:33AM
My thoughts exactly! Thumbs Up!
Quote
fWord
Looks like a Goer-branded watch you got there.
Yup.. I'd never heard of them, actually.
Quote
fWord
Hope you get better soon.
Thanks mate! I'm gettin' there...

-Ricky

Avatar A jackleg Watch Review of the Goer Skeleton handwinder. Post contains photos Post contains linked URL
Ricky Lee
May 16, 2009 02:34AM		 Registered: April 2005
Posts: 2,894 (2009-04)

Y'all have seen this one before, of course, as I made an "incoming post" as well as an "Is Happy Day! post". I bought the watch from a Hong Kong eFlay seller, beautifulwatch25. An impressive seller, I might add - the communication was good, it arrived in a near-record 7 days, and was packaged very well.

My reasons for buying this one are manifold. First, I've kinda sorta wanted a skeleton watch since the first time I saw one, lo, nigh upon a half-decade ago. Then too, I was testing out a new satellite Internet connection, and needed an inexpensive test for real-world eFlay bidding. At 99 cents, this one certainly qualified! Even with the $11.99 shipping fee, this is by far the most inexpensive brand-new mechanical wristwatch I've ever purchased. Which is another reason, in itself - I was curious as to what a watch with a price this low would be like! Wink, wink ... In a word..


Click HERE for larger photo or HERE for supersized photo

..pretty darned impressive! Thumbs Up! The solid stainless case (40mm DIA X 48mm across X 11.8mm thick, quite nicely finished!) and extra-thick low-dome mineral crystal were the first surprises. At this price point I expected base metal and a plain flat crystal. The "blued hands" appear to painted - no surprise! - but they are very crisply skeleton-ized, which was a bit of a surprise. Another surprise was the engraving on the front of the movement...


Click HERE for larger photo or HERE for supersized photo

..which is also more finely executed than I expected. As an aside, I've been trying to figure out how the engraving was produced. It's not hand-worked, obviously, and at first I thought it might be stamped with a coining die. (Sorry.. I know I'm probably losing everyone here, with the exception of Dave Murphy. Wink, wink ...) And it might be.. but such a die would be very, very expensive, so I wonder. My best guess it that it's CNC milled with a ballnose endmill, then electropolished. The Roman hour indices are laser-etched, without a doubt.

The crown differed from the eFlay pictures in that it's knurled..


Click HERE for larger photo or HERE for supersized photo

..vs. the conventional fluted crown pictured. Which was also a nice surprise! It's not the crispest, sharpest example of knurling I've ever seen, mind you. Wink, wink ... But it's certainly functional, even if only "adequate" cosmetically. You'll also note that the wrench notches on the caseback are not the most finely formed ever. I am smiling... Mind you, they do look OK to the naked eye...

Moving on to the back side, you're greeted by a flat mineral crystal, and an unobstructed view of the movement.


Click HERE for larger photo or HERE for supersized photo

I suspect that the "bluing" here may merely be paint, as with the hands. And, while the "decorated" finish looks fine under most conditions - quite handsome, even - in certain lighting conditions it appears to be simply a scratched-up mess;


Click HERE for larger photo or HERE for supersized photo

Nope, you'd never mistake this for a VRMW. Laughing!

But, again, to the naked eye it looks fine. If you scrutinize the supersized photo, you'll see what is my biggest beef with the watch - it's a "dirty build". I am sad... As John Lind recommended in his great Rousseau and S.U.G. reviews, it is best not to inspect low-priced Chinese watches with a loupe. Wink, wink ... And John, if you considered the Rousseau and S.U.G. to be dirty builds, we'd have to call this one a "filthy build"! Laughing out loud! Some of the specks you see are on the outside, mind - I should have done a better job of cleaning the watch before I took these photos. But most of them are inside. Though, again, this is not apparent on a casual inspection...

But 'tis still an egregious faux pas. Put it this way, unless my loupe is deceiving me, there's a human hair encapsulated in the backside of this watch. See it? Looks like an eyelash. Which makes sense, given the ergonomics of assembling a watch. Only other possibility is it's a pubic hair. And I absolutely refuse to speculate on what kind of watchmaker might end up with a pube hair in the watch Scary! though it would doubtless be an interesting place to work! Laughing!

However dirty the build, it doesn't seem to affect the functioning of the watch. I've been wearing this one every day for four days - albeit sometimes not all day - and it's been running a consistent +16 seconds/day. Not spectacularly accurate, but quite decent. The power reserve checked in at 40 hours 12 minutes. Again not top-rank, but more than adequate.

Aside from the dirty build, the other glaring problem with his watch was the strap. Wonder of wonders, it was a Long, and fit me to a degree. IOW I could strap it on using the last hole, and it wasn't quite tight enough to cut off the circulation. But it was perhaps THE most hideous simulated-leather nightmare I've ever seen! Scary! Glossy to the point it could only be called "the wet look", the croc pattern also looked wrong somehow. The WBHQ smooth calf X-Long from Otto Frei..


Click HERE for larger photo or HERE for supersized photo

..took care of that, though! Wink, wink ... Thumbs Up!

In conclusion.. you can't go wrong with this wristwatch for the money. It's runs just fine, is reasonably accurate, and is finished well enough that you won't be embarrassed to wear it. Indeed, I have gotten a number of positive comments from co-workers who, almost to a man, were impressed with the fit & finish. When pressed, they usually guess that it's around a $50 watch (these guys all know of my penchant for Poor Man's Watches Laughing!). And, you know, they're in the ballpark IMHO! If the build were clean, and the strap were of a better quality, I would not feel robbed if I'd paid fifty bucks for it. As it is, it's a fair dinkum deal at anything under ~ $30, I reckon. And an absolute steal at $12.98. Laughing!

Thanks for your time, Constant Reader. I am smiling...

-Ricky



Messages In This Thread

A jackleg Watch Review of the Goer Skeleton handwinder.  Post contains photos Post contains linked URL (Views: 52)
Ricky Lee -- May 16, 2009 02:34AM
Thumbs Up! Interesting watch and review ... Post contains photos (Views: 10)
Brian Uziel -- May 16, 2009 11:10AM
I really do like the back side's machine age / industrial look, and how the hour "markers" conect the outer edge to the movement. The front side puts me in mind of the H.G. Wells Time Machine, which isn't a bad concept for a watch I guess I am smiling ...

Time Machine

Re: ..puts me in mind of the H.G. Wells Time Machine.. (Views: 7)
Ricky Lee -- May 16, 2009 11:58AM
I can see that! I am smiling...
Quote
Brian Uziel
I really do like the back side's machine age / industrial look, and how the hour "markers" conect the outer edge to the movement.
It does strike me as an elegant solution - most skeleton watches seem to use a conventional chapter ring, or even a cutaway dial.
Quote
Brian Uziel
Thumbs Up! Interesting watch and review ...
Thank you! Brian!

-Ricky

Re: A jackleg Watch Review of the Goer Skeleton handwinder. (Views: 8)
fWord -- May 16, 2009 06:51AM
Nice one Ricky, I was just wondering if you did get the watch and whether it worked for you. Turns out it's quite a surprise considering the horror stories we might have read about such watches, either not working at all or even missing a few important parts. Can't complain, for that kind of money!

Re: ..quite a surprise considering the horror stories we might have read about such watches.. (Views: 6)
Ricky Lee -- May 16, 2009 12:09PM
I admit that I was holding my breath awaiting its arrival. Laughing!
Quote
fWord
Can't complain, for that kind of money!
Indeed no.

It remains to be seen if it will hold up over time, of course. But it'll probably be OK...
Quote
fWord
Nice one Ricky.
Thank you! mate!

-Ricky

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