Cisse

I don't blame you for not wanting to walk into the Brunny.

I don't blame you for not wanting to walk into the Brunny.

After spending the majority of 6 years inside the house I'd like to think I know how you feel. 
It's hard, really hard and most people reading this won't understand what goes off in your head, something so normal as going to the corner shop to pick up a paper scared me to death. 
I won't ever claim to know the secret of overcoming it, for me it was almost forced through a relationship breakdown which at the time absolutely messed me up but looking back was also the best thing to have happened. I was too comfortable, no pressure to go outside so it was easy to put it off for another day. Tomorrow I'll try, tomorrow never comes.
The person that helped me the most was my ex girlfriends mum, the motivation of trying to win her daughter back helped me go down to the doctors, after going through all the surgeries on the NHS website not one would actually come out to me which is just nuts.
Other than finding out I had seriously low levels of vitamin D and my knee was knackered they were pretty much useless, tried to put me on anti depressants, the ones that were so strong they turn you into a zombie. After refusing them I was told to go away and find myself a councillor instead. 
For me taking pills to zombify myself would only mask the issue, it was a course that I wouldn't be able to just stop either, I would have to lower the dose over several months if not years. Vitamin D supplements helped boost my energy, the main source of vitamin D is the sun, I had zero. It's also been linked to SAD and why people struggle so much in the winter. How true that is I don't know. Helped me.
I won't knock the NHS as they do a lot of good but the support and treatment for mental health issues up here at least is shocking.
Now this probably isn't the best advice but what worked for me was I called a mate, opened up, told him everything, he thought I was just loved up and bombed my mates off. He was pretty surprised by everything as I kept it well hidden. Anyway, we started going to the pub, at first sat outside, he would go in, bring the drinks out. I would have half, panic, go home. 
Couple days later try again, having a mate that knew what was happening, was aware that I may suddenly start legging it home made it so much easier and he would come round unannounced some nights just to get me out. 
22nd October 2013 I had my first pint inside the pub. 
1st December 2013 me and my mate ended up in a gay bar down town, didn't realise until the cross dressing DJ got on the decks playing Take That.
[Insert a year of realising how great it is to be outside, going to the pub, seeing mates, online dating]
3rd January 2015 I went to my first Derby game again for years, Southport in the cup.
Never happened overnight, there was fairy with a wand or magic pills. Small small steps, one day at a time and if you fail one day it's ok, don't hammer yourself for it just try again the next day. I'm still not fully cured so to speak, I still have a few moments where I need to walk away and compose myself. 
Knowing what I missed out on helps drive me through each day, I'm not religious, I don't believe in after life or I will have a second chance. 6 years I've lost of my life and there won't be a day goes by that I'm not kicking myself for it. Easier said than done but don't waste another day, you will never get them back.

I don't blame you for not wanting to walk into the Brunny.

It's amazing, come 12pm I'd miraculously been cured! I celebrated this with a point of Thornbridge Rattlesnake, Theakston's Old Peculiar and half a Dark Star Revelation

I've met the seller last year and bought two watches from him. He had several display boxes of watches. The condition of them is absolutly stunning.The pictures he takes are extremely high resolution and shows the movements in fantastic detail. He only deals in top brands, Longines, Omega, Zenith, Rolex, etc., and only from the Golden Age of Swiss watchmanship, and in as near new condition as possible. He has 'scouts' nosing round all the big auctions looking for watches in the best condition. 
This is how his stock is treated.
Overall this watch is in beautiful mint condition and looks as if it has rarely been worn, it would certainly make a perfect gift.
The watch has just been fully serviced by the respected vintage watch specialist Alan Williams FBHI and is guaranteed to be a genuine Jaeger-LeCoultre in all respects. This watch has been fully and professionally overhauled, the process is highly detailed and meticulous.
The watch is stripped down to its component parts and each part is examined under a microscope for signs of wear, any worn parts are replaced with genuine manufacturers original parts. every part is then thoroughly cleaned in a 3 stage ultrasonic cleaning process.
The movement is then fully assembled using manufacturer approved oils and lubricants and is carried out in a clean room environment. The watch movement is then checked and adjusted for accurate time keeping. The cases are polished and the watch sealed.
Obviously this is not a cheap or quick process which is why our watches are sometimes a little more expensive than others but you can be assured our watches will give reliable and dependable service and will not require any further attention for many years.
  No BS from this chap. Mind you, it's not cheap.
"It has a solid 18ct gold case and stunning design integral bracelet with a diamond attached to every link, very elegant.  There are 16 diamonds in all which are very bright as your would expect from Jaeger-LeCoultre  and the total carat weight is approx 1ct.
The most unusual aspect of this watch is that it is has a backwind instead of a crown, this is an extremely rare attribute and was specifically designed to enhance the overall look of the watch and also to stop the crown from catching in delicate items of clothing.
This watch has been fully restored, a new glass fitted and it has been professionally cleaned and polished so it is in pristine condition. It looks as though it has been used only for special occasions.
As you would expect from Jaeger-LeCoultre the watch is fully marked on the dial and the bracelet and case is fully marked with both British and Swiss hallmarks for 18ct.
It comes complete with a new presentation box to keep your watch in perfect condition.
Jaeger-LeCoultre are one of the most exclusive makers in the world and this watch certainly has that understated elegance which resonates class.
It fits a maximum wrist size of 6.75" but this can easily be reduced by any competent jeweller. The case measures 14mm in diameter."

How would you rate Jaeger leCoultre ladies watches, say, 1960's? It's difficult to find meaningful information with ladies watches.
With men's, they tell you the model, the calibre, the number of jewels, the complications, the texture of the dial etc, but with ladies, it's always, 'a pretty strap, a heart haped case, a lovely bracelet, x carats of diamonds', nothing about the watch.
I 've seen 1 or 2 nice ones, and I'm thinking of digging deep as we've got a significant anniversary coming up.

I'm disgusted by the actions of the boxing world. In hope of knock outs and knock downs refs let the beating go too far. Refs job is see that safety of the boxer is properly considered through the whole match.

Just bought a very nice looking preowned one off Ebay mate, thanks again for your help.
 

Keep your eye out for pre owned Rado watches then. You can get one in mint condition pretty easy. They are quality.

Check Rado. Especially pre owned quarz are not expensive. If you choose ceramic Rado it will last you a lifetime and they are really schratch resistant.
Not ceramic but still...
http://www.chrono24.com/en/rado/mens-diastar-watch--id3349991.htm

My father left about 30 ish nice watches mainly 60's-70's, he kept them in display cases I'll post some pics tomorrow, I added about 20 high end watches to his collection but sold all of them to pay wages. I had the first quartz movement 1310 cal which was also used in the bulova.

I'm with you on that one, for the money omegas are well worth the money, I have sold most of my omegas when funds dried up but I do rate them highly.

You like dress watches so how about something like this ? Not especially schratch resistant but you would get your money back probably when
http://www.chrono24.com/en/longines/conquest--id4155354.htm

Lovely

As you're interested in this stuff Cisse, here are some incredibly detailed pictures of my watch when I had it serviced last May. I just hope the link works. Ignore the first 4 pictures, they are of one I had my fingers burnt buying blind on eBay. Long story documented much earlier on this thread.
http://watchguy.co.uk/cgi-bin/library?action=show_photos&wat_id=1343
If you click on the individual pictures, they enlarge in a new window. Click again and they enlarge further
The serial number dates it to about 1968, just about the tail end of the 'golden age' of Swiss watch making.

I've got an Eco Drive which I bought 2004. It has been great.

I've heard similar stories of Invicta watches. They literally fall apart. Hey AR, check out what Shinola has to offer. They started a few years ago in Detroit and I've heard they are up to a good start. They have both quarz and automatic.

Obviously it's only my opinion, but regardless of income 4k on a watch isn't a sensible purchase. 
A Windows user would tell me that my MacBook at 1k isn't a sensible purchase, they would tell me you could get a far better spec for far less.....they would be right because.
For what I do online it would have been possible to get a machine at a quarter of the cost. 
Whatever it is in life, cars, phones, headphones, watches, clothes, we all have that one interest where we will blow money on thinking we're getting better built, far superior items. Truth is we're all just spunking money away.

There are some brands that have a lot of buyers in that category, status symbol wearers. For example Rolex Submariner. Even people that don't know much about watches do recognise it. So if you want to get compliments it is a safe bet. It is a great and legendary watch but there are a lot of people that want to wear it just to show off.
What I like about some of so called luxury brands is that most of the people won't recognise the brands at all. At least here in Finland. If I ever get enough money to buy a pre owned Breguet or Vacheron Constatin only people that might recognise it are the people in the industry and a handful of hardcore watch collectors. But they will know what kind of craftmanship has been put into them. And most importantly, I know.
I have been a watch fan since I was five or six years old so I tend to look at watches perhaps from a little bit different angle. But one thing I did consider when I started collect these watches was that if I ever need to get money that I don't want to show up in to my bank account for some reason I can sell some watches for cash anytime I need. So they are also a kind of investment for me too.

What people use for their cars is of course up to the fact how much they can afford to spend. Here we have much bigger taxes in cars than you have. Our cars can be 30-40 % more expensive than some other countries in Europe. I'm very thrifty so I would get panic attacks if I was to spend 30 000 on a car and ten years later it would be worth 10 000.
With cars you have to wait for a half a century to get their value going back up, with some of the watches you can make profit in less than a decade.

With £50 you can get yourself a nice looking quarz watch which has a weak quality caliber inside it. It needs batteries which are not eco friendly if you care about such matters. If you are lucky it works well for twenty years if not it breaks in a year. That might also happen with £150 watch too.
More importantly a high quality watch is high quality. It is hand made. It combines arts and craftmanship. It will hold its value very well and it can be passed on for centuries in your family.
People on the street or in the pub won't have a clue though of its value. Trust.me.

London Porter.

Westmalle Dubbel. A classic.

A friend of mine is considering buying his first luxury watch. It seems he is going for this beauty.
http://www.chrono24.com/en/zenith/el-primero-big-date-special--id3926168.htm
I'm naturally envious.