Anthony J. Martinez

Watch Update - 2024-10-31

The Islander

Services were completed on the Islander Journey BDL77. No details were provided so I do not actually know what was done. Given that this watch was a charity purchase I'm not that upset by the scratched case, chipped bezel, and less than impressive condition in which the watch returned from service. Had this been a more valuable watch the story would be much different. At least I know which shop I won't use for service in the future.

The Hamilton

Swatch Group's repair center on the other hand returned my watch in proper working order with no new damage. The movement appears to have been serviced, and the hands were comically replaced for having been "scratched" (a condition that must have been the case when it was initially assembled). Anyway, it's on my wrist now as I greatly prefer its 38mm case diameter to that of the 40mm Islander.

Omega Speedmaster

On a recent trip to Portland, Oregon, I stopped into an Omega shop and actually tried on several Speedmasters. Of course, the one I liked most was $7000 and thus won't be an option for a long while. Despite a larger than 40mm diameter it did not wear as large as the Islander. This probably owes to more downturned and shorter lugs. Chances are I still go for a Sinn 356 or the Hanhart 417ES to scratch the chronograph itch at some point in the future. Especially considering I can buy both for the price of one Speedmaster.

Watch Update - 2024-09-29

The Islander

Some unfortunate series of events led to the Islander Journey BDL77 to get jammed between 30-40s on the dial. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary like drop it or ride a hardtail motorcycle down any road in Lousiana. It's on its way back for service or a possible movement replacement which is disappointing as it had started to operate at around +1s/d and that's quite remarkable.

The Hamilton

Swatch Group's repair center has finished the diagnosis and it appears for now that the repairs will be carried out under warranty. Much of the internet says if anything is actually broken in a current Swatch Group product no repair is done on the movement and instead a new movement is thrown in to keep turnaround times acceptable. The estimated date of completion is in the end of October, or roughly six weeks after it got to the shop. That alone is enough to make me want to learn how to service mechanical movements myself.

Tool Watch Musings

In another post I made some remarks about what I considered true tool watches. Two weeks later I may have some slightly different opinions. Mostly, these center around the day, or day-date, complications. My general preference is that they not be present at all, but I will agree that for something one truly wears on a daily basis there might be some real utility to the features.

This change of heart is likely driven at an attempt to have one time piece that can serve as a true Every Day wear and meet all my needs. Perhaps one does not really require a flyback chronograph to time IFR holds - a countdown bezel might just do the trick and for quite a bit of savings in both money and mechanical complexity. The Sinn 104 on an H-link bracelet would do for any occasion I can think of having any desire to attend so maybe I narrow the field and just get one to rule them all.

If I later decide I simply must have a chronograph Sinn makes quite a few of those as well. The 356 even exists in diameters that are not completely insane.

Watch Shuffling

Not terribly long after speaking about tool watches I stumbled into a video on YouTube that jerked on my new-father heartstrings and resulted in a new watch joining my collection. At the same time, I sent the Seiko and the Hamilton in for services with some unexpected results. While I still do not know if the Hamilton will be serviced, or how much that might cost me should the necessary services be outside of the warranty scope, I do know that the Seiko is no longer part of my collection. At least I was given a full refund.

That leaves me with:

The Islander

When I woke up the day this was purchased, I had no idea I needed or even wanted another watch, but the video linked above produced both eye rain and immediately lightened my wallet. When it arrived, I was generally impressed by how sharp and easy to read the hands are against the dial. Bracelets almost never fit me well no matter what combination of links and microadjustment are present, and so I tend to end up swapping in a strap when possible. Ultimately that is what I did here. It's only a few days old, and at present is running about +12s/d which is better than being slow in my personal opinion. If I had one gripe it's that the lume is excellent, but only while it lasts for an extremely short period of time.

At any rate, I own it and the proceeds go to a good cause so I can deal with some quirks.

The G-SHOCK

Previously unmentioned, I have actually owned this watch for at least a decade. There's not much to say other than I had basically forgotten I even had it for so long it was completely dead. I left it out on my fence in the full Texas sun for a day and now it's fully charged. It's a G-SHOCK with solar and multi-band 6, so unless or untill Ft. Collins is destroyed and we fall into total darkness it will maintain accurate time.

The Swatch Group Pair

Both of the Swatch Group watches share a base movement with at least some grumblings on the vast series of tubes about their quality. At the core these seem to focus around issues around the manual winding geartrain, and for the Tissot at least, the synthetic parts used in the balance wheel assembly. While some of those complaints likely come from non-engineers afraid of anything that isn't "metal", some are probably based in at least a splash of reality. I believe I have already ruined the winding geartrain on the Hamilton, and that is what I sent it in to have serviced. Accordingly, I am now extremely careful when (or if) I hand wind the Tissot. More concerning to me is the possibility that the watch can't be servied by anyone but Swatch Group at some point in the future. What I do about this remains to be seen, but it's in my mind anyway.

Another Tool Contender

The Damasko DK20 really strikes my fancy as of last night and might move into something of a Does It All role for me at some point in the future. It's in a tight battle in my mind with the Sinn 556I. Either would do quite nicely.

Tool Watches

Anyone who has known me for very long knows that I tend to end up collecting tools. My garage is rather full of them, and their uses are many. Some are generally handy, and some are highly specialized. I am not entirely sure where this habit came from, but I suspect it may be encoded in my genes. There should be no surprise then that my primary interest in time pieces is in what are referred to as tool watches.

There are a near infinite number of complications possible on a watch, and almost all of them are of no interest to me. My concerns are in measuring time on a scale that includes my waking hours. The offerings across the watch market make it pretty clear that I am in the distinct minority. Watches with no day, date, or day-date complications are few. Even fewer if one does seek a chronograph. Fewer still if you wish to be able to approach a puddle of water without major concern in a watch without a half-dozen complications.

Fortunately, it seems that German watch makers have not forgotten the tool watch with Sinn, and Hanhart still making a number of uncluttered offerings:

These all sport Swiss movements, but maintain a more "classic" pilot aesthetic that I rather enjoy. One or more of them will likely make it to my wrist at some point.

Horology

One of the symptoms one often develops with prolonged exposure to aviation is some obsession with horology. This is going to fall under my craft topic, much as aviation does, because while there is science at the root of both they are still art forms.

For most of my double-digit life I have had some kind of watch. As it did for many, the wrist watch fell by the wayside when I got a smartphone that itself could tell me the time at a glance. Then I started flying airplanes, and suddenly I did not want to have to wake my phone up to see how much time had elapsed. A rabbit hole appeared.

First in the line of automatic winding mechanical watches I found myself needing was the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer. Having always preferred clean and simple lines in a watch this one fit the bill perfectly. The pilot's bezel serves to time duration between checkpoints. For a VFR checkride, where one is to be within minutes and not seconds, it fit the bill perfectly.

More than a year went by before I started seriously looking at getting my instrument rating, and with it a need to be within seconds. Clearly, I would need a chronograph next! Instead of focusing on chronographs, I ended up falling all the way into the rabbit hole. There, I "learned" I would actually need an "Every Day Carry" watch, and a proper "Dress" watch as well. The chronograph would surely also be required, but in an incarnation fit for purpose as a pilot tool.

I still do not have the pilot chronograph, but I do know which one I will save my pennies to get eventually. That said, there are now three automatics in my collection:

A trio of automatics

Backcountry & Mountain Flying

For years before I even considered flight training, or had earned my private pilot certificate, I have been interested in backcountry and mountain flying. Last week, I took advantage of the opportunity to get some training in those very things while visiting the beautiful state of Montana. The excellent staff at Red Eagle Aviation gave me a block of ground instruction before taking me out to fly into the mountains and land in the backcountry in one of their upgraded Cessna 172s. It was a truly unforgettable experience, and has helped cement where I will focus my aviation energy and aspirations.

2023 Aviation Highlights

In my previous post, I revealed that after decades of wanting to learn to fly airplanes I was legally able to do so when time, the weather, and my wallet allowed. That was 35 weeks ago, and between now and then quite a few things have happened in my life including, but not limited to, changing jobs and becoming a father. As one might imagine, these milestones have often been at odds with flight.

Thanks to a supportive wife, and my son genuinely appearing to love airplanes, I have managed to log another 20 flights as Pilot in Command. The highlights of my year in aviation are probably the following:

Over the course of the next four and a half years or so, I will continue to fly in pursuit of a commercial certificate with the intention of being able to legally teach others to take to the sky.

Private Pilot

About five weeks shy of one year after my first flight I have earned my private pilot certificate. The path to this point was quite the adventure, and had many ups and downs beyond the 200-plus take-off and landings executed. Flying is something I have wanted to do for my entire life, and it feels great to have the option to do so whenever time, the weather, and my wallet allow.

Earning my private pilot certificate

Ever-shifting Irons

It has been quite a while since my last post about any of the crafts I enjoy. An entire season and a half, really.

From the previous list, a few things were scrapped but most made it to the finish line. Instead of building a desk from the reclaimed wood, I bought an Uplift, and have used the wood to build a few other small projects. My shed is finished, and full of garden tools. That freed up enough space in my garage to actually use my shop tools even with the trailer taking up space. The wool is all spun, and now begs for a project to be started.

I also started training for my private pilot's license, and will likely complete that before the end of the year. Fun stuff.

Spring Mountains - 2022

In early spring, or maybe late winter, my wife and I took a 6000mi road trip across the US to visit friends we had not seen in far too long. This took us across many mountains with some pretty stunning views. Here are two of them:

Many irons in the fire

Something like 15 weeks ago things were a touch simpler, and I had an idea that I would be able to finish a desk quickly. There are now a multitude of projects all vying for my time.

  1. The desk will be resumed once I can actually get around in my shop.
  2. There is now a fairly large utility trailer occupying most of my shop.
    1. On this trailer I will eventually construct a squaredrop trailer for camping.
    2. For now, it's being used to haul things and store project wood in the shop.
  3. A small shed to store my lawn tools is nearly done, and this will help with the shop space.
  4. My brother has an electric guitar body in need of some surgery.
  5. Too many hours of watching Forged in Fire has me pondering a coal forge, and also wanting to acquire welding equipment like I once had.
  6. There is still about 100g of some Icelandic wool I need to spin and ply before I can start on a cardigan or vest with nothing but yarn I spun myself.
  7. There is a lot of bare wall space in my office, and I plan to fix that by hanging my plethora of guitars and violins.

Reclaimed Wood - Desk

Somewhere around four years ago, shorly after buying my house, I set out on a mission to collect as many nice pallets as possible. These were to be fairly new pallets with the nicest planks I could find. My coffee table? Built from pallets. The entertainment center on which my TV and surround reciever sit? More pallets. I even went as far as to build a small kitchen table from pallets.

Eventually, my parents moved and needed to be rid of the kitchen table that occupied what most of my siblings consider their childhood home. The small table I made of pallets lost its purpose, and sat unused in the garage for quite a while. The wood from that table was likely the best pallet wood I had ever found, so it seemed like a waste for it to sit dismantled and unused. Instead, I decided I would break down the table top and start re-reclaiming the wood for use in a new office desk to be built with other bits of scrap and reclaimed wood left over from various other projects.

A few days in the shop after work, and I have managed to:

A few photos of the process are here:

For my next tasks I will:

A few photos from Scotland

Here are a few photos I took on my honeymoon in Scotland back in early October. All of the chosen photos were taken with an old Canon 35/2.8 screwmount lens mounted to an aging Sony NEX-6.

The "Click" Moment

Today, while practicing my violin, I had the "click" moment where it felt like I actually knew what I was doing. What went well went well on purpose. What did not go well was for reasons I could both identify and resolve. That moment happened for me on the guitar at least a quarter century ago, and I am pretty excited that it has arrived for violin as well.

By no means am I a virtuoso player, but it finally feels like I can put in the work and learn new music and techniques. When I started, I just wanted to play fiddle tunes. Thanks to an excellent teacher, I can do that and much more. Plus, I can actually read music again.

Feels good!

Casting On Again

After something like a year off the needles, for one reason or another, I have finally cast on another knitting project. Some yarn I bought around two years ago, and started using with a different project that ultimately did not please me, is going to become a new shawl for myself.

This time it's no overly fancy pattern, just a triangular shawl knit in garter stitch with some simple eyelets (k2tog, yo) and some stripes.

Good mindless knitting and a nice way to make several hours disappear.

Going Sailing

16m2 Dutch Sailboat

This past weekend I spent quite a few hours out on the water with one of my friends learning to sail his very old, and very cool, sailboat. Having wanted to learn to sail for something like 20 years, this checked a big box for me and I am quite the fan. Add another very hands-on skill I want to pick up more seriously.

Picking it back up

A prolonged absence from playing any violin at all certainly did not do any favors for my technique. Fortunately, I can still hear the horrors and remember what I am supposed to do to prevent them so it is just a matter of time and practice before they are banished again. This time around, I am trying to be more disciplined in my practice and establish a real routine. It is easy to overlook the importance of consistency, but also easy to see how much of a positive impact comes with focused time towards any task.

Back to the strings

For the majority of my life there has always been a stringed instrument close at hand. Most of the time it has been a guitar, but about two years ago I decided to add the violin to the mix. The pandemic put a lot of working musicians in financial hardship as live venues became a distant memory, and so I did what I could to throw in some support: took lessons online!

The journey has been interesting to say the least. Where I thought there might be plenty of similarities, I found almost none. With the exception of my ear, and general musicality, there is almost nothing at all that translates from playing guitar to playing violin. At some point, I found myself frustrated that improving my violin foundation seemed to cost me some of my guitar skills.

Work got exceedingly busy, and my stress levels increased to the point where taking lessons was no longer enjoyable at all. I stopped and took a long break. Here we are several months, and a few injuries later, and I would like to start again. Yesterday, I tuned both a guitar and a violin. Playing both for a few minutes was a nice change of pace, so I'm going to get back into a practice routine and start my lessons again.

A little summer spinning

The craft section of this site was looking a little bare, and so were most of the bobbins on my Pollywog spinning wheel.

Spinning a BFL single on my Pollywog

Even though it is annoyingly hot here in Delft, it feels nice to sit behind the spinning wheel and make an hour or two disappear without any screen time. Maybe this weekend I will also spin on the antique wheel I picked up at a second-hand store here in The Netherlands for less than $30.