WatchBlogs: Musings of Luxury Automatic Wristwatches

A few posts ago I lamented over the costly breakdown of my beloved Seiko Black Monster and how that has filled a void in my heart, but those days are a distant memory and now there is a new love in my life!

It’s weird how the few watches I own now all caught me by complete surprise, and this one is no exception.  This watch just kind of popped out a display case and when I put it on it was complete magic, and now that I’ve had it for a little over a month now, I can tell you exactly what I think of it.

T17168642 - Tissot

Well to start I didn’t get any ordinary Tissot PRC 200, I got the 2007 limited edition commemorating the 2007 Pan-American games (whatever they are).  The difference is that instead of having white hands, all of the chronograph hands are in a very vivid yellow that contrasts the blue dial nicely, and it has an engraving on the back which I’ve never really been bothered to look at.

To be honest with you though, I’ve never really liked chronographs and watches that are shiny general, but as I age into my late-20’s I’ve noticed that my tastes have been changing and that I really don’t mind.

Something that I don’t really mind either is the tachy-meter and what I love about this quartz chronograph is that it operates kind of like an automatic chronograph so you don’t ever really notice.  The seconds are the 6 o’clock subdial and the push button clasp is solid.  What I love more about this watch is that it’s not some over-sized over-shiny silly thing that are aimed toward men with confidence issues, it’s only 40mm so it sits on your wrist like any ordinary wristwatch:

T17168642 - Tissot

After a month I can say I’m absolutely in love with this watch.  It is the the most dramatic departure from my “normal” tastes in wristwatches, but I believe I have come into an age where I can wear a watch like this and wear it well.

Popularity: 2% [?]

I just (of questionable legality) watched the very first of episode of season (or series as they call it in the UK) 13 of my favorite show Top Gear and it looks as though presenter Richard Hammond has got himself a 16610 Rolex Submariner, the same type that James Bond used to wear of of which has seen the light of day on television and movies for decades.  My God, what an episode!

Good choice Richard!

Popularity: 2% [?]

You know what?!?  I have to confess that while I get the general ways women differ from men, I really don’t understand their kinds of general mindset.  It was like that with my wife and every woman I’ve ever known with me life.  They make perilous sacrifices in the name of beauty and what they buy baffles me.

No finer case has exemplified this for me than in my wife’s taste in watches.  She doesn’t care about water resistance, nor anti-magnetism, nor any of the stuff that a normal human being cares about with their watch.  All she cares about is how a watch looks.  A year ago I got her a Movado Esperanza and she never wore it.  Soon after that i got her an Omega ladies diver and it sits in a cabinet collecting dust.  What seems to float her boat with watches is how good it looks with what kind of outfit.  She has more watches than me even…

Who cares about how small the hands are or the fact that you can’t see it at night.  As long as it looks good right?

To be honest with you though, I think that her latest pick is quite nice:

Citizen’s Eco Drive - EW9215-01E Ladies Watch

Unlike her spangly shiny watches that look as though they were made from pieces of a shattered disco ball, this one is clean and functional.  I like how there are vertical lines on the dial look and the fact that it’s an eco-drive means that I will never have to change a battery for this ever.

What can I say, I’m completely sold!

Popularity: 7% [?]

You know it’s funny, but watches that seem to click with me are just found completely at random within the wild.  It doesn’t matter how much I may think I like a watch when looking at in a catalog or on the internet, the only thing that seems to jive with me is when I actually slap it on my wrist the very first time.  There is an instant gut feeling that tells me that this is going to be the start of a beautiful relationship.

Case in point, the watch my wife bought me last year for my birthday was something that completely smacked me from way out in left field.  I had never looked at Hamilton watches before, but when I slapped the Khaki King Automatic on my wrist for the very first time it was as though a surge of electricity had come over me.

God that was a good birthday:

Hamilton H64455533 Men’s Khaki King Automatic Black Dial Strap, Free Shipping

Last year I fell completely in love with the Tag Heuer Monaco, and it just came out of left field.  Thinking square watches unbalanced somehow I was really taken aback and how much that watch had affected me.  Seeing as how my Seiko Diver had just recently broke, my zen-like state with watches has been shattered.  Where I was at peace with my small but passionate watch collection, I am now at an a crucial moment in which there is no true sports watch at all within my small collection.  That is, until now…

Well ladies and gentlemen, I fell in love again, and this one is a shocker!!!

Recently I had been looking at various watch shops looking for a watch that will fill the void in my heart without much success.  Thinking feelings of ‘been there and done that’ with Omega and Rolex, my search had led me to other brands, but nothing really sparked my interest.  Thinking Breitling too large, Chopard to ornate, IWC too angular, and every other “luxury” sport watch just, “eh…” I oftentimes returned with feelings of big disappointment.

That is until one day I just happened to need some electrical tape and went down to a local mall.  This mall, not really known for being a hot spot of watch activity, I just happened upon a small jewelry store with a small watch selection that was just limited to Rado and Tissot.  Killing time during the work day I saw a very interesting watch and tried it on, and it… was… magic!!!

It was the Tissot PRC200 Chronograph:

Tissot T17158642 Men’s T-Sport PRC200 Chronograph Blue Dial, Free Shipping, Free Sizing

I’m still debating if I should get the black dial or the blue dial version, but this watch has many of the features that I appreciate about watches.  It is simple, clean, and functional.  I love the yellow hands for the chronograph features and I love how clean and simple the bracelet and the bezel are.  Yes it is a quartz, but it’s chronograph function is so not quartz-like that I just love it.  The fact that the seconds are on the 6 o’clock subdial means that the tick…tick…tick of the quartz can easily be overlooked.  Yes it also has a tacky-meter, but that can be overlooked as well.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Similar to the satisfaction a thirsty man gets after drinking a refreshing glass of orange juice, and similar to the satisfaction a cigarette smoker can get after taking that first morning puff, it seems to be the way of things that once you have had your fill, your refreshing OJ and your pack of Camel Lights are the last thing on your mind.  That is… until the next craving arrives!

Something that has happend, that was weird, was that for the last several months after I had bought a new rubber strap for my beloved Seiko Black Monster, my cravings, my need to get more watches just kind of stopped.  I was in a zen-like place where I felt at peace with my watch collection and didn’t feel the need to get more.  I didn’t drool over watches I saw in TV or in magazines, I didn’t have watch wallpapers on my computer screen anymore, and I just didn’t really care about watches anymore.  I took the position that most sane people took.  I believed that watches were simply used to tell the time.

To speak such blasphemy from an individual such as myself really surprised me, but that is genuinely what happened.

That is only until very recently…

During a basketball game with my brother and some cronies, my brother got fed up with the chunky watch bezel of my beloved Seiko Black Monster tearing off pieces of his flesh and insisted I take it off.  Overestimating its durability I tossed it aside to the grass surrounding the court and heard a very audible thump as it hit the bare ground.  Thinking it to be fine I had continued to wear it until I realized that 8 p.m. looked awfully sunny for that part of the year.  Yup the watch was running VERY fast.  The fact that the repair estimates cost more than the watch itself meant that I had to give it up and say goodbye to my beloved Black Monster.

Seiko Men’s “Black Monster” Automatic Dive Watch #SKX779K3
R.I.P Seiko Black Monster (2007-2009)

I also got a rife good lesson in the potential costs of automatic wristwatch repair, and to utter another blasphemous phrase, I believe it would make life much easier just to a quartz.

That would be all fine and well, but just the utter thought of it makes me want to throw up my lunch.  You see quartz watches have no passion to them, no soul, their hearts are like the hearts of robots whereas mechanical watches have the hearts of people within them. (not literally of course).

My zen-like state with watches being over, the absence of an automatic diver within my collection has left me feeling incomplete and inadequate as a human being.

The search begins…

Popularity: 5% [?]

This watch may look like an ordinary watch:

EDGE DiskGo! USB Watch Drive - USB memory watch - 1 GB ( EDGDM-201340-PE )

…with one exception, can you guess what it is?

Besides the fact that the picture is a little blurry, I’m sure you will notice that there is indeed a wire sticking out of it.  Why is that?  It’s because this watch is not only a watch, but also a USB Flash Drive!!!

I don’t even know where to begin with this idea, but this has got to be one of the stupidest watches I’ve ever seen, and here’s why:

I get the appeal, it’s a watch that also doubles as a watch for those of whom supposedly need data wherever you go, but here’s a problem, while the watch can store up to 1GB of data, you still need a USB cable to extract it, and that cable tends to be larger than, I don’t know, a normal USB flash drive?!?  So what’s the point?

I don’t know why I bother to ask, becaseu I already know the point…

You see products like these are for idiots.  It’s for people that go about town in Segway scooters and like items that are two or three things in one.  They are for flat, uninteresting, talentless, and socially idiotic men who have no interesting characteristics or qualities and go about buying quirky gadgets in the hope that some curious girl will one day inquire about these silly items and become swept of her feet and the interesting gadgetry.

Well unless you are a James Bond sort of spy you need these kind of junk to sneak across the border or something, I suspect that whatever girl who inquires about your watch is going to get her answer and then go about her day while your own social inadeqacies are going to keep you a virgin for the rest of your life.

I hate these stupid gadget watches.  They are stupid!

Popularity: 14% [?]

Imagine this!  It is the afternoon of July 1st, 1941 and you are sitting at home watching the baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies on TV.  When suddenly a watch appears on screen, over a map of the United States with a spokesman stating that “America Runs on Bulova Time!”

If you were watching NBC’s New York City’s affiliate at that time you may have raised an eyebrow at this oddity, but then again you may not have noticed that what you have witnessed was the first television commercial in the world.

Want the details? Well there are no details except to say that the ad cost about $9 back in the day, which I think is about $135 now.  Hmm… that seems to be it…

Now Bulova as a company is known for being innovative to a degree.  Their watches and there unusual movements may not appeal to many, but when it comes to innovation I had no idea it extended to outside of watches as well, and my I am indeed eager to see this history making TV spot.  I am sad to say, however, that my 4 minutes of so trying to find this commercial on the web has resulted in failure so if you know where I can view this, I would be somewhat grateful.

Popularity: 13% [?]

The former President of Russia wore a watch that cost as much as a luxury car.

The President of Italy wears watches that cost as much as a house.

And even the the modest President Clinton rolls around in a Panerai.

Now when I first mused about this a few weeks ago, the possibility that the President of the greatest nation in the world would roll around the greatest residence in the world with a gift shop trinket on his wrist was only a possibility, but now it is a definite reality, and I am pleased with the outcome.

Now I am not one to generalize especially with my sparse knowledge of anything remotely political, but it seems to be the trend of Presidents of late to try to relate to the common people more by wearing a cheap watch.  George W. Bush did it with his cheap Timex, and I heard that when President Clinton was in the White House he skimped on expensive watches for more basic ones.  Forget the hordes of Secret Service goons, private airplane, helicopters, and instant access to the hottest nightclubs, a President seems to think that if wears the same kind of watch as us ordinary people, then he can somehow relate to us.  Gimme a break!

Speaking of Secret Service goons, if you ever seen watch now President Barack Obama wears on his wrist and ever wondered, “what kind of watch is that?”  Well wonder no longer.

As a recent birthday present for President Obama, his Secret Service goons thought of the laziest present known to man.  They went to the Secret Service shop, bought a watch, gave it to him, and now it’s his daily wearer.

It was produced by the no name company of Jorg Gray, who basically sells cheap Chinese watches of which you can put a logo on and there you have it!

The End!

Popularity: 19% [?]

What I like about Rolex is that they never seem to shamelessly cater to the idiots out there.  They know that no matter what they do and what disasters may encounter this world, they will turn out alright.  If the rich people of a capitalist nation gets overthrow, the new dictators will gladly pick up the slack.  Rolex watches have been the staple in luxury watches and a household name.

You have heard me rant about the endless stream of limited edition watches and logoed watches that other companies make in the hopes of making money.  Omega, for example, makes a new limited edition watch every couple days, and while I was just typing that sentence, a dozen new limited editions came out while I was doing that.  But believe me when I say that when Rolex comes out with a special edition whatever, it really is to mark an occasion.

And what occasion is more special to Rolex than the 50th Anniversary of their iconic Rolex Submariner:

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner Date Steel Mens Watch 50th Anniversary Edition 16610LV

To be honest, in my lifetime I can’t really remember a Rolex limited edition, and 50 years of an icon is certainly something to celebrate.  This watch is just like the standard Submariner date except with the obvious change from the black bezel to the green bezel, but some other subtle changes are on it as well, such as the addition of larger markers on the dial.

The only probably with this Submariner is that there doesn’t seem to be any limit to its production.  Where I concede that Omega and the lot come out with a lot of limited edition wathes, they actually go about LIMITING their production, but with this Submariner I can find this Submariner everywhere I go.

Popularity: 16% [?]

If you have ever been to a museum you will know that it is largely a big tourist trap for a bunch of people to go to and pretend as though they’re interested in stuff.  From all the world over parents they take their obnoxious kids to marvel at the pretty colors of fish, the size of the bones from long deceased creatures, take some pictures, and then leave.  But before they make their exit, they are inevitably going to notice the shop that sells goods related to their museum visit.

And in this conveniently placed “gift shop” they can buy tacky postcards to send to their relatives, so they know you are cool, in addition you can also purchase books which will never be read, and if you are lucky, you can even buy some freeze-dried ice cream which has the ability to instantly melt three dollars right out of your pocket.

At the upper echelons of these gifts though, you may notice there may be a small selection of watches.  Usually tucked away under the pristine protection of clear plastic, the logoed watches may look appealing as they sell for more than the usual junk they have there.

Now what can be cooler than having a watch with the logo of the National Air and Space Museum on your wrist? Well quite a lot of things quite honestly.

Back on topic though, I have literally been asked one question by a colleague of mine asking me what watch Barack Obama wears, and while I have known some time now, the answer has never really seemed to spark any kind of interest in me to discuss it, but here goes…

As a present for Mr. Obama on a recent birthday, his Secret Service goons went down to the Secret Service gift shop and thought of the laziest birthday present known to man.  They went down to the gift shop and got him a Secret Service logoed watch.  What’s most surprising though is that Barack Obama seems to wear it everyday!

Here it is with Joe Biden’s Omega Seamaster Professional in the distance:

And a close up:

Now the funny thing is that he traded a fairly respectable Tag Heuer for this.  Why?  Well I suppose it’s the same reason that he traded his massive gas guzzling Chrysler 300C for an economical Ford Escape Hybrid, he wants to practice what he preaches and so traded his Swiss timepiece for a American one, or so he thought.

Well I have done a little bit of digging on this one, but the watch is actually made in China like quite a lot of things in this country, and it actually starts off life as a Jorg Gray JGC6500 Chronograph like this one:

You may not have heard of Jorg Gray as a company, and there’s a good reason.  You see all they do is makes generic watches without logos on them so you can put your organization’s logos on them and thus disappoint your friends, family, etc. with your mail order junk.

So to conclude, like George Bush’s Timex, Barack Obama’s watch can be classified in a similar vein a being a piece of mail order junk.
The End!

Popularity: 28% [?]