Expensive Watches.

[NickE]

Hello Nick, if it was me? Personally? I would be establishing confidence in the continuity & stability with the sensor to phone first including a suitable app that works alongside librelink on your phone. Am I right in remembering you had issues with Libres on your iPhone? (In another topic.)

Thanks Helli. Yes, I’ve been having issues with the sensors after the IOS update, but for some unaccountable reason they now work OK on the phone OK but I need to touch scan more often then I would prefer. But I’d like to have a smartwatch which mirrors the Librelink readings and alarms etc. I like the look of the Applewatch SE. Maybe with the Glucowatch app. Still researching. There are a few videos on YouTube explaining how to configure the links for various ways of setting up a smartwatch.

By the way I rang Abbott because the link on their website to the Compatibility Guide did not work (!). They sent me the following info:

To access the compatibility guide, please follow these steps:

1. Visit https://www.diabetescare.abbott/support/manuals/uk.html
2. Navigate to the Freestyle Librelink section.
3. Locate the “Mobile Device & OS Compatibility” row
4. Click on the PDF icon to open the compatibility guide.

As before they are not giving a date for when the latest IOS has been tested and accepted for the iPhone. Their most recent FSL update was 18.0.1 but the most recent Apple update is IOS 18.3.1.

 

[zuludog]

Years ago when I was young and single I bought a Rolex Explorer 1 - yes it was expensive, but I just felt like it and Hey! it's only money!

I had it serviced a couple of times but after some 45 years or more it needed a thorough renovation, and that was expensive enough and took several weeks
After it was returned and I'd had it for a month or so I thought - you know what? I'm bored with this, I'd rather have the money, so I sold it
Fortunately it was now considered vintage and I got a good price for it
Now I have a Lorus quartz watch, which is Seiko's budget brand, in a very similar style for £50, and I'm happy enough with it - it keeps better time than the Rolex and would be no big deal if it fails or is lost or stolen
I'm not saying I regret buying the Rolex, but if I had my time again, I wouldn't

Just one thing - the market for this sort of thing is fickle (posh word eh?) and you need to have your wits about you
After trawling it round several dealers & jewellers I ended up selling it Online, and again you need to be careful - fortunately my daughter helped me.
If you do buy an expensive watch you should keep the packaging & receipts, known as 'box & papers' as this will increase the value if you ever come to sell it.

 

[Merluza]

Thanks Helli. Yes, I’ve been having issues with the sensors after the IOS update, but for some unaccountable reason they now work OK on the phone OK but I need to touch scan more often then I would prefer. But I’d like to have a smartwatch which mirrors the Librelink readings and alarms etc. I like the look of the Applewatch SE. Maybe with the Glucowatch app. Still researching. There are a few videos on YouTube explaining how to configure the links for various ways of setting up a smartwatch.

By the way I rang Abbott because the link on their website to the Compatibility Guide did not work (!). They sent me the following info:

To access the compatibility guide, please follow these steps:

1. Visit https://www.diabetescare.abbott/support/manuals/uk.html
2. Navigate to the Freestyle Librelink section.
3. Locate the “Mobile Device & OS Compatibility” row
4. Click on the PDF icon to open the compatibility guide.

As before they are not giving a date for when the latest IOS has been tested and accepted for the iPhone. Their most recent FSL update was 18.0.1 but the most recent Apple update is IOS 18.3.1.

Sorry for going off topic in the off the subject section but you would think it can’t be that difficult for Abbott to stick one on somebody’s arm and see if it works and then let everybody know.

 

[helli]

Sorry for going off topic in the off the subject section but you would think it can’t be that difficult for Abbott to stick one on somebody’s arm and see if it works and then let everybody know.

I wish it was that simple but there is much more to testing than "stick it and see" - what other apps are on the phone which can impact connectivity, CPU usage, memory, alarms, etc? is a single test good enough? how do they prioritise this testing against other phones, new features, different standards in different countries, ..? That is just a few things off the top of my head
And that is without considering any additional loops they have to jump through as it is a medical appliance.

I am not trying to make excuses for them not prioritising the second most phone brand in the UK but, as a product manager, myself, I can see it is not a simple 30 minute (or 15 day) test.

 

[Merluza]

Fair enough, but an IT engineer should be able to knock through and check any effects of updates in an afternoon and take any action, most of the time the changes won't interfere with Abbott's programmes. Instead they leave it to us and claim it's nothing to do with them if they haven't done their job. They are so far behind now that there will be another big update before they even get close to the current one.

 

[silver minion]

Aren't watches like bikes for cyclists?
My partner tells me the ideal number of bikes is always "one more than you currently have".

My hubby says the same thing about motorbikes

 

[Satan’s little helper]

My hubby says the same thing about motorbikes

I got a BiL customises his own. About 5 of them in a purpose built workshop/garage. Nice bikes. The cars parked outside. Rejoined his old bike chapter after the kids grew up & left home. You don’t just waltz back into the “club?” It’s like “Devil wears prada.” They say jump. I’d sooner work for Miranda Priestly.

 

[Chris Hobson]

I've had motorbikes on and off in the past but only one at a time. I had a Triumph Triple at one time but my favourite bike, and the one that I did the most milage on, was oddly an MZ 250 that I bought from my brother in law for a tenner. It cost me a few hundred quid to fix it up and get it on the road but I used it to commute for quite a few years.

 

[CliffH]

Aren't watches like bikes for cyclists?
My partner tells me the ideal number of bikes is always "one more than you currently have".

That's always been my mantra too, as a keen cyclist 🙂. Unfortunately, when I was doing time trials in the 1980s I could only afford one bike, that had to cope with training and commuting, as well as racing.

 

[Woolfold]

Nope, I don't do "expensive" watches, or even wear jewellery for that matter.
However, I do have a fair few relatively cheap watches, (about a dozen at the last count) as I do like unusual watches.
I have a 24hr watch, so it has the numbers 1 to 24 on its face rather than 12.
I have a backwards watch, so the hands go anti clockwise and its 12 to 1 rather than 1 to 12.
I have a watch with two faces for those that travel the World and need two time zones, (I don't!)
I have a Binary watch, which has no numbers just LED lights telling you how many minutes and hours have passed.
Plus a few others....
🙂
View attachment 33926 View attachment 33927 View attachment 33928

I have an 'ish' watch I got from M&S years ago. No minute hand, so it is 3:30 ish, if the hour hand looks halfway between 3 and 4. Best watch I ever had.

 

[DouglasXKR]

On the subject of watches, I was mugged into buying one which as well as everything else could measure blood sugar, for £25. One of the London hospitals “developed” it, apparently. It was Chinese and was a fraud but, it could tell the time although it probably got that off my iPhone.

It really would be useful if I had a watch with even an accuracy of 1mmol. I’m finding a cold winter like this one difficult. Does anyone have such a device?

 

[Satan’s little helper]

On the subject of watches, I was mugged into buying one which as well as everything else could measure blood sugar, for £25. One of the London hospitals “developed” it, apparently. It was Chinese and was a fraud but, it could tell the time although it probably got that off my iPhone.

It really would be useful if I had a watch with even an accuracy of 1mmol. I’m finding a cold winter like this one difficult. Does anyone have such a device?

The most accurate of smart watches to date that relay BG readings are those that can pick up from an interstitial fluid sensor. Like a Freestyle Libre. I’ve been hearing news that the Galaxy Watch 7 ultra & the high end latest Apple Watch is working on capability of the “non intrusive kind.” However. I’m only hearing this as an off hand “pipe dream” from independent reviewers regarding the known capabilities on these devices? That’s my take on it.

 

[Chris Hobson]

Well, I've learned a lot, both from this thread and from studying all the pop up ads that I've been getting on my phone. Having looked hard at all of the different designs and prices, I now have a very clear idea about which one I like. This is the Victorinox one that I linked to in an earlier comment. In the end I decided to stop agonising over it and just buy the bloody thing.

In the meantime I've learned that the expensive ones generally have a high quality mechanical movement usually wound by the movement of the wearer's wrist. This can be a problem if you don't wear the watch every day, you can actually buy a device that will rock it back and forth to keep it wound. There was one that I saw that had a dual winding arrangement so that you could hand wind it if required.

I did come across Russian Military issue style watches that are made in Lithuania. These had mechanical movements and were relatively inexpensive. I liked the unusual style of these but I was looking for a day and date display and these only had the date.

I used to like the chronograph style with sub dials but now need something with a bold, clear design that I can read without my glasses on. Many of the designs have a large chunky rotating bezel and I don't really like these at all. This style was very common when cheap quartz analogue watches first started to appear, I vaguely remember having one or two of these back in the 1980s. I'm also not keen on the straps that are made from metal links, preferring either leather or webbing style straps. I also really don't like the square ones.

The Citizen watches, and one or two others are solar powered so that you just need to keep them on your bedroom windowsill to keep them charged. Getting a regular battery operated quartz movement means that you must change the battery promptly when it goes flat as the tiny batteries will leak and damage the movement.

Talking of targeted ads, looking at lots of expensive watches has alerted Rimmers Music to the fact that I can obviously afford a new grand piano.

 

[Alan44]

Well, I've learned a lot, both from this thread and from studying all the pop up ads that I've been getting on my phone. Having looked hard at all of the different designs and prices, I now have a very clear idea about which one I like. This is the Victorinox one that I linked to in an earlier comment. In the end I decided to stop agonising over it and just buy the bloody thing.

In the meantime I've learned that the expensive ones generally have a high quality mechanical movement usually wound by the movement of the wearer's wrist. This can be a problem if you don't wear the watch every day, you can actually buy a device that will rock it back and forth to keep it wound. There was one that I saw that had a dual winding arrangement so that you could hand wind it if required.

I did come across Russian Military issue style watches that are made in Lithuania. These had mechanical movements and were relatively inexpensive. I liked the unusual style of these but I was looking for a day and date display and these only had the date.

I used to like the chronograph style with sub dials but now need something with a bold, clear design that I can read without my glasses on. Many of the designs have a large chunky rotating bezel and I don't really like these at all. This style was very common when cheap quartz analogue watches first started to appear, I vaguely remember having one or two of these back in the 1980s.

The Citizen watches, and one or two others are solar powered so that you just need to keep them on your bedroom windowsill to keep them charged. Getting a regular battery operated quartz movement means that you must change the battery promptly when it goes flat as the tiny batteries will leak and damage the movement.

Talking of targeted ads, looking at lots of expensive watches has alerted Rimmers Music to the fact that I can obviously afford a new grand piano.

Nothing better than an impulsive buy based on what you like and not on what others like.

Enjoy your new watch