I bought it Thursday. It’s a Rolex 5513 Submariner that’s about 40 years old. It’s not quite like the one James Bond wore in Goldfinger (it has crown protectors and Bond’s didn’t) but it’s close enough. I’ve ordered a black-and-grey NATO strap for it like the one Bond wore in the film.
Too bad I don’t have a classic Aston-Martin, I don’t have a tuxedo, Walther PPKs can no longer be bought in California, and I’m not nearly as dashing as Sean Connery was. Just as well, I suppose. I don’t hang out in casinos or nightclubs, I never get the girl, and I don’t have an urge to kill people.
In other news, I’m expecting FedEx to deliver my dad’s Vulcain Cricket (“The Presidents’ Watch”) from being repaired today. It will go into the collection with his 48-year-old gold Zodiac, his 27-year old Seiko Bell-Matic, my 30-year-old Timex (my first watch), my '80s Seiko Chronograph, a Fossil with an airplane on it, a nylon-cased military-issue Stocker & Yale, an old Lorus Quartz digital and my daily-wear Rolex GMT II.
Hmmm… That’s a nice-looking Omega Speedmaster “Moon Watch” I see online…
Hey, now that you have a really cool new watch, you won’t need your old one, right? (This coming from a guy whose watch collection is in the double digits)
I no longer wear any of dad’s watches or my older ones. I think I’ll alternate between the GMT II and the Sub so they both stay wound. Your collection is in the double-digits? Do you have a watch winder?
I continually go to a kiosk in the mall and buy two or three new watches, at $10 a pop. I wear them until I get an allergic reaction to them (about three months) and then I give them to my neice.
I had a Rolex years ago. It was stolen. I won’t buy another expensive watch.
“Do I have a watch winder?” he asks.
Do I have a watch winder?
Naw. I’ve got Timex and Lorus watches. My most expensive watch is like 20 bucks.
There was a thread not too long ago (I forget which forum) that got me all hopped up about mechanical watches. I did a search and found a super-cool watch. I think it was an Invictus. It was titanium. Not too spendy, really, but I have cheap tastes. (You want how much? For just one watch? For that I could get a new Timex and enough batteries to last me my whole life! Sheesh! )
I know a really nice watch isn’t just about the money, it’s about having a really nice watch.
Maybe one day I’ll have a really good watch, but not today.
Ooo, this may be a weird fetish of mine, but I love to see a nice hefty watch on the wrist of a man with nice arms.
virtee has what I believe to be the coolest watch of all time. It’s so tech and shiny and silver… it looks hella good on him, but on me it could fit around my bicep.
I wish watches looked that cool on me! When I was a kid, I used to wear three or four watches at a time.
Rue: Tag-Heuer make good automatic watches that aren’t all that expensive (more than the Invictus though). They’re also very trendy among twenty-somethings. I was bitten by “the bug” when I saw a Breitling Chronomat (?) in an Avirex catalog years ago. I coveted that watch, but when I finally had the green I decided it was too small. So I got the chunky GMT II.
Rasa: I like big watches on women. Nothing like a girl in jeans and a T-shirt with a Sub on her wrist! Unfortunately, all of the women I’ve met who like big watches and jeans are gay. Too bad (for me), because big watches on women are dead sexy.
virtee: Nice looking watch! The coolest watch I’ve seen was worn by mumblemumble (I can’t remember his name) at a Dopefest in Bellingham, WA last year. It took three batteries to run it and it looked like something Q would have designed for James Bond. Really nice! I don’t remember what kind it was. I agree that there is something attractive about a non-battery-powered watch. The sweep of the second hand (four to eight “ticks” per second)? The appreciation of a precision machine? Not having to get a battery for it (which will go into a land fill or someplace, eventually to leak toxins) every couple of years?
I also have a Vostok Submarine Amfibian, but it’s broken (one of the little thingies inside that holds a gear on). Anybody know where i can get it fixed?
My “James Bond” wristband came today. This is not my watch, but it’s what it looks like. Same model and the new band. I likes it, me!
Gunslinger: I wore my Seiko Chronograph Sports 100 (looks like the Omega Speedmaster, sort of) until a couple of years ago. I got a lot of good use out of it. It’s a good watch. (What can you say? Seikos are great!) The only problem is that I kept looking at it to see if it was time to change the battery. The bezel has a scratch in it and Seiko didn’t have a replacement. I think I’ll take it down to a watchmaker sometime and see if he can rustle one up.
As for your Vostok, I think any watchmaker should be able to fix it for you. You might want to call around.
Speaking of repairs…
The saga of dad’s Vulcain Cricket: Dad wore the Vulcain probably from before I was born until about 1974. It was in a drawer and I got it when he died. Last October I searched the web for someone who repairs Vulcain watches. I found a guy in Canada who did and sent it off. He charged US$150. It took a while to get it back, but it finally arrived. He had repaired or replaced the crystal where someone had let a cigarette burn it, and cleaned it up. The movement was no longer flopping around on the inside. The only trouble was that it didn’t work! When I pulled on the stem it came off. He said I should send it back to him. I did, and didn’ hear anything for a couple of months. When I called him he said that he was waiting for a new part to come from Switzerland. A monthe later he was still waiting. Another couple of months passed and I called again. He said he had sent it off three weeks before! After a few weeks I called to see if he could track it down. Din’t hear from him for a while, and every time I called I got his answering machine. Then the message on the machine changed. He was on holiday. After finally reaching him by phone at the end of June, he traced the package and found out it was sitting in a Customs wearhouse. Then I went on holiday for a week. The watch finally arrived yesterday. I wound it up and guess what? It wasn’t working. I pulled the stem and it came off in my hand. Aiyiyi. Today I took it to a watchmaker near where I work, the one where I bought the “new” 40-year-old Submariner. He said he could fix it. Fingers crossed. At least I know where he is and can drive there any time I want! A lot of trouble to go through for an old watch that might be worth $300? Maybe. But it was dad’s watch. If you have read some of my earlier threads where I mention my father (Coldie’s May 5th thread comes to mind), you’ll know that my dad was a very special person. To have the watch he wore while under his Navy blues and gold stripes, I would pay a lot. It’s worth it.
