Francis Urquhart

Register with something like Justsnipe. It will automatically submit your bid a couple of seconds before the auction closes. Then bid as much as you would be willing to pay. Nobody has chance to bid more in reaction so you avoid a bidding war. Generally I also put in an early bid too if there are no bidders, to avoid the sale being pulled.

The strap should align with, if not match, the colour of your shoes and belt.

Les's finest moment in my view:

Are you sure you really want to sell the watch that your grandfather bequeathed to you? If you hated him or need the cash for food then crack on, but I would otherwise wear it and remember him, if only once or twice a year. It will be irreplaceable once it has gone.

Swapped the bracelet for a Watchgecko sailcloth strap, which I have to say is very nice to wear.

Under £250 and good for the beach.

If you are coming from a G-shock and thinking of spending £3500 on something different but are not sure what you want, I'd say buy something like this Seiko ssc147 for £145 (in the sale at Creation Watches) and see if you get on with it. If you do like it then you'll have a pretty indestructible spare for when you don't want to risk your nice watch; and if you don't you'll be able to sell it on or give it away without taking too much of a bath. You might also go wild and maybe buy a similarly cheap diver (say a Seiko SKX007) and dress watch (Orient perhaps) for contrast, wear them

Gosh yes they are alike aren't they. Here's mine.

The lady on reception in my local Land Rover dealer not only noticed my Omega Geneve Dynamic but also noticed that I didn't wear it when I went in for the next service. That rather surprised me.

I don't much like the turquoise. So for me, switch to the blue. There's probably a reason why they are discounting one more than the other...

It looks dreadfully tacky to me. If any brand can claim a legitimate association, it would be Rolex with the Explorer that he did actually wear in the novels. For Omega to claim an association is just wrong. However, according to commanderbond.net: In correspondence dated June 5, 1958, Ian Fleming responded to a fan by the name of B. W. Goodden, stating that the practice of James Bond, “in fact, is to use fairly cheap, expendable wrist watches on expanding metal bracelets…”

That would be my view. I can see sense in paying a premium for a watch issued only to astronauts, deep sea divers, special forces etc. that might give fantasists a bit of a thrill. But I can't help thinking the Dominos Pizza logo rather takes the shine off a lot of Rolexes. I don't think we have been told the branding that will be applied but I suspect in 20 years time it will as likely be abandoned and unloved as thought of in revered terms.

At least they have a nice format for the 'Christopher Ward' and have put it in the right place. That's better. The Sandhurst one with the brown leather strap looks best to me.

To get the hands to stop at ten past ten and look pretty?

No, god no. It hasn't rotted away in the last 100 years, so is unlikely to change much before your time in this mortal coil is up. Just don't keep it somewhere airtight where any emission will be trapped.