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Magnus (Moderator)
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Monday 04 August 2008 8:11:26 am
Welcome to the world of fine mechanical watches!
Please let me give you some basic advice:
1.) Blancpain Aqualung or a 'beater' watch?
The AL is a quite rugged watch, but I would not call it a sports watch like a Rolex or an IWC (with an ETA automatic movement). Blancpains are fine and flat watches with equally specified movements. Flat movements, by definition, cannot offer the same robustness as a thick workhorse. The exceptions are the new 50 Fathoms with the Cal. 1315, which are expressly designed for robustness.
Should this be of any practical concern for you? Depends on how you use the watch. If you plan to wear it for sports activities which would subject the watch to heavy shocks (e.g. downhill mountainbiking, Polo, Rugby, etc.), I suggest to look somewhere else. For all other everyday uses, there should be no difference.
2.) Inspection:
A 5x loupe should suffice. A 10x loupe will most likely only reveal 'its personality', which with I refer to the imperfections associated with manual production by human beings, not machines.
Do you buy a new or a 2nd hand watch? Make sure that you get a proper warranty and/or a return policy if you buy a used watch. Anyway, it could be that your watch in question may have rested unused for quite some time. This means that lubricants may have dislocated or even dried out. In the former case, the watch would need to 'run in', just like a new car's engine, and might reveal its real accuracy only after a few weeks of use (when it may need re-timing), whereas in the latter, it might suddenly stop because lubricant debris block the movement. In this case, the movement needs to be disassembled, cleaned and new oils applied. Both are minor issues and may happen to any watch of any brand, whether 'new' or used, and is the reason why I mentioned the warranty issue.
I hope this helps. Happy decision making and please let us know about the outcome!
Best,
Magnus
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