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:
- EDC: Islander Journey BDL77, which I am presently wearing on a silicone strap
- Dress: Tissot Carson Premium Powermatic 80
- VFR Pilot: G-SHOCK AWG-M100 (or whatever I happen to be wearing)
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.