I'm not certain of the model number of the watch I'm wearing today. If this page has an accurate photo, then I suppose it is a 70728. I probably have the paperwork somewhere but the number's not listed on the watch and it's not important enough to go searching for it. In fact, I've talked about it too much already. I'm pretty sure I bought this in 1999, but I'm certain I bought it from Value America. For those of you who didn't have the pleasure of purchasing from Value America, and maybe don't even know who they were, let me set the scene: It was 1999, "e-commerce" was a buzzword and the "Dot-com Boom" was, well, booming. E-tailers were falling over each other to offer better deals to make sales, profits be damned! Value America was at the forefront of this with their "Value Dollars" program, which awarded Visa cardholders a 50% discount on items up to $200. This was supposed to be limited to one offer per customer, but just about everybody knew it was actually one offer per email address, and we know how difficult those are to come across. Anyway, thanks to Value America this watch cost me something under $100 (maybe 1/4 of MSRP since their regular prices also included a discount) and I have a similar one that cost a couple dollars less. It was really the only watch I wore from 1999 until probably 2004 and it looks it. It's not in terrible shape, but the band links have worn and loosened up a little and it has some scuffs and scratches on the case, band and crystal. The batteries seem to last about 3 years and I've replaced it twice. It's a decent size, about 39mm across without the crown (42mm with) and 13mm thick. The tachymeter track outside the dial is fairly thin so the dial itself is quite large and legible. It has a solid ETA Swiss quartz movement that consistently keeps good time and the chronograph hands also move quickly back to zero on reset. My only complaints about this watch are minor. First, like a number of my watches it has developed a slight haze on the inside of the crystal and should really be disassembled and cleaned (and the last time I had it open it wasn't immediately obvious how to remove the stem and crown.) Second, while the hands are aligned well to the dial, the tachymeter ring is off ever so slightly. I'm sure I could take care of both fairly easily after removing the movement, or I'll take it to my watchmaker and have him do it next time I have him doing something more substantial. Neither problem bothers me enough to make a special trip.
Today I'm wearing one of my newest watches (other than the one I picked up at the post office today, and the others that I should get in the next week or two. Yes, I might have a problem...) my Hamilton Khaki King automatic. I've mentioned I'm a fan of House, M.D. before and this is the watch House wore from the beginning of the show until he got his Casio Sea Pathfinder last season. As the show debuted in 2004, it coincided with my renewed fascination with watches, and specifically modern Hamiltons, so it's no surprise that I've wanted it ever since I saw it on Hugh Laurie's wrist the first time (I've also been a Hugh Laurie fan since I saw him in Blackadder.) I also noticed he wore it off the show, on talk shows and for this TV Guide photo (from Watches In Movies.) I don't know if it was a promotional deal or if he just liked the watch, but either way I'm happy I finally got one. I was actually after the same model with the stainless steel band, but unless I could obtain the Hamilton strap for it, I don't think I would consider it "The House Watch". Also the cost would have been almost $100 greater, which didn't seem to make a lot of sense. Looking at the watch, you certainly can recognize it as a Hamilton with the purposeful stainless case, highly legible dial and military-inspired design. The big day is a nice complication which prompted one of my friends to comment "IT'S FRIDAY!" You certainly have no excuse to not know what day it is when wearing this. The 40mm case is a good size, and the overall look is different enough from my 42mm Khaki Field automatic that I don't feel like I have two of the same watch. The leather band also helps in this respect. The Khaki King came with a regular buckle on the sturdy leather strap, but I replaced it with a Hamilton deployant which I purchased originally for my Khaki Mechanical Limited Edition. The finish on the deployant never suited the bead-blasted finish on the Mechanical, so I never used it. Fortunately it fits and matches the Khaki King perfectly. As strange as it sounds, I think I'm done with buying Hamiltons for a while. I have all the models and variations that I really want, and while Hamilton continues to come out with some very original and interesting designs (and I would be happy to receive a US 66 with power reserve as a gift) I don't feel like I need any additional models at the moment. The poor exchange rate of the US dollar to the Euro makes the decision even easier, as the Hamilton watches that once could be found with great discounts on eBay now cost hundreds more. I think I can manage to curb my appetite for Hamiltons and other Swiss watches until the exchange rate tips back in our favor a little bit. I have plenty of watches to hold me over.
Today I'm wearing, well, this, whatever this is. It's branded "Splendor" and says "Top Timer" on the dial, but the crowns and caseback are not signed and I haven't opened it to see what kind of movement it is. I bought this relatively cheaply through eBay and the seller didn't have any additional information. I was looking for a vintage chronograph (before I came across my Wittnauer) and didn't want to spend the $500+ for a nice vintage Hamilton chrono. This one appeared to be from the '60s or '70s, said "Swiss Made" on the dial and "Swiss" on the back, was a decent looking design and the single pusher and oversized crowns kind of intrigued me. Also, it was well under $100 and claimed to be in good working order. At some point I'll probably have my watchmaker take a look at it to identify the movement and see if it's worth cleaning/adjusting/repairing. It does run pretty well, but it ticks very loudly, to the point that I thought my car was making odd noises on the drive home today, but it was just the watch. Also, I haven't a clue what the dial at 9 o'clock does. It counts up to 14 (no, really, go look at it!) and seems to move on its own and not as part of the chronograph function. In fact, since there is no real dial nor hand at 3 o'clock, just a circle and some writing, the chronograph hand just kind of spins and spins, so timing anything over 60 seconds is impossible. So anyway, it's a curiosity, but it's a decent size, maybe 38mm without the crowns, and it's not in bad shape considering it has a chrome-plated brass case, and it runs. Maybe I'll find out something else about it from my watchmaker or maybe somebody will recognize it here, either way, I don't mind keeping it in my collection for the time being.
Today I'm wearing my Timex Ironman Chronograph. This was the last watch I bought before seriously getting into watches. I was wearing this one when my wife bought me my Hamilton Field Chrono, and I distinctly recall the friendly clerk at Joe's Jewelry looking at my wrist and asking "What are you wearing now?" and me being a little embarrassed to say "Oh, just a Timex." But honestly, it's not a bad watch. It's analog with an alarm, and I only have one other watch with that feature and it cost dozens of times what this one did. The chronograph seems to work well, it has an Indiglo backlight so it's pretty easy to read at night and it seems pretty durable with a 100m water resistance rating. Probably the worst thing that could be said about it is "It's a Timex." I think "Fossil" or "Oakley" would be just as at home on the dial as the case, band and dials all have a really nice look to them. Sure, the band and case don't have the weight nor finish of a $100+ watch, but this one cost me under $30, so I can't complain. (I did some searching around to see if this watch is for sale online right now and it looks like you can get it in the UK, although the $120 price seems a bit ridiculous. I was also reminded that Timex calls this a "Dress" chronograph, and I guess it is dressier than a digital Ironman chronograph, but it's certainly no dress watch.)
Today I'm wearing the newest of my Seiko "Knights", my SKXA49 "Black Knight". See my posts about the Orange Knight and White Knight for details. This one is the same but with a black dial, patterned like the dial on the White Knight. I can't think of anything to say about these that I haven't already. They're great and everybody should have one. Or three.
I'm not certain of the model number of the watch I'm wearing today. If this page has an accurate photo, then I suppose it is a 70728. I probably have the paperwork somewhere but the number's not listed on the watch and it's not important enough to go searching for it. In fact, I've talked about it too much already. I'm pretty sure I bought this in 1999, but I'm certain I bought it from Value America. For those of you who didn't have the pleasure of purchasing from Value America, and maybe don't even know who they were, let me set the scene: It was 1999, "e-commerce" was a buzzword and the "Dot-com Boom" was, well, booming. E-tailers were falling over each other to offer better deals to make sales, profits be damned! Value America was at the forefront of this with their "Value Dollars" program, which awarded Visa cardholders a 50% discount on items up to $200. This was supposed to be limited to one offer per customer, but just about everybody knew it was actually one offer per email address, and we know how difficult those are to come across. Anyway, thanks to Value America this watch cost me something under $100 (maybe 1/4 of MSRP since their regular prices also included a discount) and I have a similar one that cost a couple dollars less. It was really the only watch I wore from 1999 until probably 2004 and it looks it. It's not in terrible shape, but the band links have worn and loosened up a little and it has some scuffs and scratches on the case, band and crystal. The batteries seem to last about 3 years and I've replaced it twice. It's a decent size, about 39mm across without the crown (42mm with) and 13mm thick. The tachymeter track outside the dial is fairly thin so the dial itself is quite large and legible. It has a solid ETA Swiss quartz movement that consistently keeps good time and the chronograph hands also move quickly back to zero on reset. My only complaints about this watch are minor. First, like a number of my watches it has developed a slight haze on the inside of the crystal and should really be disassembled and cleaned (and the last time I had it open it wasn't immediately obvious how to remove the stem and crown.) Second, while the hands are aligned well to the dial, the tachymeter ring is off ever so slightly. I'm sure I could take care of both fairly easily after removing the movement, or I'll take it to my watchmaker and have him do it next time I have him doing something more substantial. Neither problem bothers me enough to make a special trip.
Today I'm wearing one of my newest watches (other than the one I picked up at the post office today, and the others that I should get in the next week or two. Yes, I might have a problem...) my Hamilton Khaki King automatic. I've mentioned I'm a fan of House, M.D. before and this is the watch House wore from the beginning of the show until he got his Casio Sea Pathfinder last season. As the show debuted in 2004, it coincided with my renewed fascination with watches, and specifically modern Hamiltons, so it's no surprise that I've wanted it ever since I saw it on Hugh Laurie's wrist the first time (I've also been a Hugh Laurie fan since I saw him in Blackadder.) I also noticed he wore it off the show, on talk shows and for this TV Guide photo (from Watches In Movies.) I don't know if it was a promotional deal or if he just liked the watch, but either way I'm happy I finally got one. I was actually after the same model with the stainless steel band, but unless I could obtain the Hamilton strap for it, I don't think I would consider it "The House Watch". Also the cost would have been almost $100 greater, which didn't seem to make a lot of sense. Looking at the watch, you certainly can recognize it as a Hamilton with the purposeful stainless case, highly legible dial and military-inspired design. The big day is a nice complication which prompted one of my friends to comment "IT'S FRIDAY!" You certainly have no excuse to not know what day it is when wearing this. The 40mm case is a good size, and the overall look is different enough from my 42mm Khaki Field automatic that I don't feel like I have two of the same watch. The leather band also helps in this respect. The Khaki King came with a regular buckle on the sturdy leather strap, but I replaced it with a Hamilton deployant which I purchased originally for my Khaki Mechanical Limited Edition. The finish on the deployant never suited the bead-blasted finish on the Mechanical, so I never used it. Fortunately it fits and matches the Khaki King perfectly. As strange as it sounds, I think I'm done with buying Hamiltons for a while. I have all the models and variations that I really want, and while Hamilton continues to come out with some very original and interesting designs (and I would be happy to receive a US 66 with power reserve as a gift) I don't feel like I need any additional models at the moment. The poor exchange rate of the US dollar to the Euro makes the decision even easier, as the Hamilton watches that once could be found with great discounts on eBay now cost hundreds more. I think I can manage to curb my appetite for Hamiltons and other Swiss watches until the exchange rate tips back in our favor a little bit. I have plenty of watches to hold me over.
I didn't really want to wear another G-Shock today, but I remembered I hadn't worn this one yet and I really couldn't resist. It's a Casio G-Shock DW-6100CF-8 from the G-Python series. It not only has a very attractive grey camouflage case and strap, it also has a thermometer with a graph showing change in temperature over time and a very cool "Sunrise, Sunset Time Display" which is in the little "eye". It's actually a 24-hour dial as it has a blinking digital "hand" that shows the current time, but it also has two non-blinking lines that show the sunrise and sunset times based on the latitude and longitude you enter. This watch also happens to be my only G-Shock with an old-style incandescent night light, pretty much the same thing you would find on the original G-Shocks. I would love to find the green camo version of this watch, especially in the same condition as my current one.
I might have chosen the wrong watch for today since I've seen about 10 minutes of sunlight thus far and the solar-powered Raysman I'm wearing could use a good charge. It was so dreary this morning that the watch didn't even snap out of "sleep mode" during my drive to work. I think it's a combination of the watch being in the dark for a long time and the capacitor that it runs on getting old. I didn't have to set it and it's at about half-charge now, so it doesn't seem like it was totally discharged. This model is similar to my other Raysman but actually has a number of significant differences. First, they have different modules, this being a "Yacht Timer" model with a 1584 module while the standard Raysman has the 1583. The circular charge indicator is a clear indicator it's a 1584. Also, I believe all the 1584/yacht timer models also have the combination nylon and resin strap as you see here. The case is the same on both kinds of Raysmen, very large and thick with the oversized, rubber-covered buttons. This is a limited edition model tied to the Middle Sea Race, a yearly yacht race around Sicily organized by the Royal Malta Yacht Club. The stainless steel caseback has a map of the 606 nautical mile race course while the EL backlight features a stylized sailboat logo. I like the Raysman model very much for its sheer size and style and am always on the lookout for them on eBay and elsewhere. I think it would be interesting if Casio released an updated Raysman, as they've done with the Mudman and now Riseman, but I would be very surprised if the size approached that of the original Raysman.
Today I'm wearing, well, this, whatever this is. It's branded "Splendor" and says "Top Timer" on the dial, but the crowns and caseback are not signed and I haven't opened it to see what kind of movement it is. I bought this relatively cheaply through eBay and the seller didn't have any additional information. I was looking for a vintage chronograph (before I came across my Wittnauer) and didn't want to spend the $500+ for a nice vintage Hamilton chrono. This one appeared to be from the '60s or '70s, said "Swiss Made" on the dial and "Swiss" on the back, was a decent looking design and the single pusher and oversized crowns kind of intrigued me. Also, it was well under $100 and claimed to be in good working order. At some point I'll probably have my watchmaker take a look at it to identify the movement and see if it's worth cleaning/adjusting/repairing. It does run pretty well, but it ticks very loudly, to the point that I thought my car was making odd noises on the drive home today, but it was just the watch. Also, I haven't a clue what the dial at 9 o'clock does. It counts up to 14 (no, really, go look at it!) and seems to move on its own and not as part of the chronograph function. In fact, since there is no real dial nor hand at 3 o'clock, just a circle and some writing, the chronograph hand just kind of spins and spins, so timing anything over 60 seconds is impossible. So anyway, it's a curiosity, but it's a decent size, maybe 38mm without the crowns, and it's not in bad shape considering it has a chrome-plated brass case, and it runs. Maybe I'll find out something else about it from my watchmaker or maybe somebody will recognize it here, either way, I don't mind keeping it in my collection for the time being.
Today I'm wearing my Timex Ironman Chronograph. This was the last watch I bought before seriously getting into watches. I was wearing this one when my wife bought me my Hamilton Field Chrono, and I distinctly recall the friendly clerk at Joe's Jewelry looking at my wrist and asking "What are you wearing now?" and me being a little embarrassed to say "Oh, just a Timex." But honestly, it's not a bad watch. It's analog with an alarm, and I only have one other watch with that feature and it cost dozens of times what this one did. The chronograph seems to work well, it has an Indiglo backlight so it's pretty easy to read at night and it seems pretty durable with a 100m water resistance rating. Probably the worst thing that could be said about it is "It's a Timex." I think "Fossil" or "Oakley" would be just as at home on the dial as the case, band and dials all have a really nice look to them. Sure, the band and case don't have the weight nor finish of a $100+ watch, but this one cost me under $30, so I can't complain. (I did some searching around to see if this watch is for sale online right now and it looks like you can get it in the UK, although the $120 price seems a bit ridiculous. I was also reminded that Timex calls this a "Dress" chronograph, and I guess it is dressier than a digital Ironman chronograph, but it's certainly no dress watch.)
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