IWC Portofino Portofino Chrono

Will the Spring Drive become a budget movement - Some thoughts
This question (rather, fear) has been raised multiple times on various boards. I'd like to post some thoughts of my own here.The argument usually goes like this. The Spring Drive has electronic components, including a quartz crystal. Like all things electronic, prices eventually drop until they reach commodity level. Examples often made include computers, quartz watches, and Seiko's own kinetics.However, technology alone shouldn't be confused with a watch's value. If that were true, a Casio ABC pathfinder (that can predict the future, give directions and light up your life) will be worth $50k and a Patek or Rolex based on obsolete 250 y/o technology giving mediocre performance $50.Just because the Swiss have budget 2824s does not in any way diminish the value of a Rolex or JLC. The same is true of any mechanical, quartz, kinetic, tuning fork movements. There are watches peppering every price band from $50 to $5000 for every movement family. A watch's value is more accurately appraised

Most Bang for the Buck??
Though I have been a watch fan all my life, I'm a recent watch collector.I'd like some opinions on watch makers that offer the most bang for the buck in the Things that matter to me, in order of importance:1: 43mm+ I have a larger wrist, smaller than 43 in most watch styles looks silly on me2: Sapphire Crystal (or possibly one of the new hybrid scratch resistant) I hate scratches3: Automatic I don't mind quartz, but love the craft of automaticsAny opinions or even pics of ones you might recommend are appreciated.Thx,Craig

Bought on a lark...
Just for grins, I put in the minimum bid for a new one of these on ebay:I'd debated between the Hamilton Jazzmaster Tonneau and Jazzmaster Open Heart, and ended up with the Tonneau. So, I figured if I could win the above for the minimum bid, it would fill the slot of the Open Heart.The best part? The minimum bid, which ended up being the winning bid, was $125.00. Maybe not the deal of the century, but I certainly think it is at least a GOOD deal!I think when I was looking at the Open Heart, someone suggested this Bulova - to whoever that was, a belated thank you!Forgot to mention - even though it's an automatic, I won't feel the need to get another winder for it. It has no date, so if it stops running, I won't have to reset the date or make sure it's set in the a.m. or p.m.! I can treat it like I do my vintage watches with no date that are NOT automatic.

Thanksgiving day Wrist Check...!!!!!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving all..Today I am wearing this one..And my daughter is wearing this..

Please recommend horological books
Hi all, I have just finished reading about John Harrison and the longitude problem. It really got me thinking and I would appreciate some members thoughts on good reads. I¡¯m fascinated by how they made clocks and more recently the inner workings of watches. Thanks Andy