[lgcubana]

"CasiOak"

The Dark Knight & Gunmetal Grey

 

[AeroSatan]

<3

 

[Strayngs]

I use this Luminox with a Intregrated flash light from Sure Fire for work.

 

[Watagump]

Here is a little lumen action going on with the Panny.

 

[KcMsterpce]

<3

Nice bracelet! I have been considering doing the same myself, but I still haven't done it.
May I ask, where did you buy it?

Here's mine:

 

[Blaithin]

Nice bracelet! I have been considering doing the same myself, but I still haven't done it.
May I ask, where did you buy it?

Here's mine:

Nice, a grand seiko similar to this...I think SBGR311 really kicked off my watch collecting. Ironically though, I still haven't picked up a grand seiko at all. Really should get to that, but my list is incredibly long.

 

[KcMsterpce]

Nice, a grand seiko similar to this...I think SBGR311 really kicked off my watch collecting. Ironically though, I still haven't picked up a grand seiko at all. Really should get to that, but my list is incredibly long.

I understand the "long list" issue. I have a lot of watches, but not many above $400. With that said, I am totally in love with my GS SBGM235 (pictured), and one day I will have a spring drive. I think it's the pinnacle of awesomeness in terms of movements. It's unique, beautiful, and - with last year's innovation - phenomenal to have a FIVE DAY power reserve on a kinetic watch (!).
With that said, I don't make enough disposable income for me to logically spend the money required to get a spring drive at this point in time. It might be several years before I bite the bullet (if ever). At the same time, I think it's healthy to "want" and be willing to wait for giving in to desires of personal interest that have no need for practical application. Thus, it may be 3-10 years before I get a spring drive.
Will my watch collection be complete? Of course not! Just like the desire to enjoy audio gear... the pursuit is some of the fun. The reality of achieving a goal only makes you seek the NEXT goal.
I have learned to stop chasing the dragon, and spend more time enjoying what I have NOW and appreciating the fact I have THAT instead of worrying about what I don't have.

 

[Blaithin]

I understand the "long list" issue. I have a lot of watches, but not many above $400. With that said, I am totally in love with my GS SBGM235 (pictured), and one day I will have a spring drive. I think it's the pinnacle of awesomeness in terms of movements. It's unique, beautiful, and - with last year's innovation - phenomenal to have a FIVE DAY power reserve on a kinetic watch (!).
With that said, I don't make enough disposable income for me to logically spend the money required to get a spring drive at this point in time. It might be several years before I bite the bullet (if ever). At the same time, I think it's healthy to "want" and be willing to wait for giving in to desires of personal interest that have no need for practical application. Thus, it may be 3-10 years before I get a spring drive.
Will my watch collection be complete? Of course not! Just like the desire to enjoy audio gear... the pursuit is some of the fun. The reality of achieving a goal only makes you seek the NEXT goal.
I have learned to stop chasing the dragon, and spend more time enjoying what I have NOW and appreciating the fact I have THAT instead of worrying about what I don't have.

That's a really good way of looking at the watch hobby. You can really dive off the deep end there if you don't know how to hold yourself back. I used to be very voracious with the watch collecting before I realized I'd been running after the flavour of the month rather than buying watches I genuinely wanted, and, as a consequence, I've slowed down over the years. Reading too many watch blogs, and looking at instagram too much gives you a strange kind of void that never gets filled so I really do agree that you should enjoy what you have now rather than constantly looking forward towards the next acquisition...super unhealthy even if the high from buying a new one is always so addicting.

Anyways, just to return the favour for a trip down memory lane from your SBGM235...here's the actual uncropped photo that I use for my profile picture. Just a few watches from my collection. The cable on the Hifiman was all matchy-matchy with the strap I commissioned for the A. Lange & Sohne so I was like...seems like a good time to try my hand at amateur smartphone photography. Did not turn out as well as I wanted. Kind of oversaturated, and it's all melty looking (moreso when zoomed) from the software OIS cause my hands are stupidly shaky.

Photo Description aka How insane I am:
(Center) A. Lange & Sohne 1815 Tourbillon 730.025 - The most understated watch of the bunch. The only tourbillon I have that has hacking seconds. The papery white dial is actually a powdered silver dial, but it's notoriously difficult to get the powdery rainbow sheen in camera shots. It only ever appears under higher intensity lighting conditions. The dauphine heat-blued sword hands are some of the nicest I've seen too. As always, the tourbillon portion is always a joy to observe in action. Case finishing is a mixture of difficult rounded-angular chamfers on the lugs, and alternating between mirror and brushed finishes. Elegant and understated as is the A. Lange & Sohne Style. Stock black alligator strap OEM is most likely Camille Fournet (supplies a good chunk of ultra high end brands as their OEM strapmaker). They do custom leather straps for 200-300 eur on average.

The custom red alligator strap is from a Vietnamese Etsy seller (SC Leathercraft) I've been admiring for their workmanship. The raw materials may not be the finest, but the stitching, and edge painting are immaculate especially for the price...even compared to some hallmark bespoke/high-end leather leather goods makers like Ortus Japan (2 year waitlist), Fugee (6 year waitlist), Camille Fournet, Jean Rosseau, Jean Paul Menicucci, Acate Borsa, etc. etc. (I'm big on leather goods, and men's fashion too). His calf leather offerings are quite impressive though. Manages to source some impressive Barenia/Novonappa calf from Haas tannery (They supply Hermes). Also offers Shinki Hikaku Shell Cordovan and Horween Shell Cordovan, and some italian calf offerings that are less well-known but highly regarded in men's style and leather enthusiast forums.

(Right) Patek Philippe 5711-1A-010 "Nautilus" in Blue (2020. 4th Silent Revision. Discontinued and replaced with 014 Olive Green dial variant) - One of the nicest watches in my collection, imo. Most people would call it overrated and deeply overpriced from online photos, but it's a different beast on hand. That blue dial catches light like no other watch in my collection...it'll take on any colour that has blue mixed depending on the light. Can go from being sunset orange to deep purple depending on whether the street lamp is yellowish or orange in hue. Can turn into a bright tungsten blue or even a minty seafoam green in cooler fluorescent light and more. It's notoriously difficult to capture its dynamism in any photo. It's also got a sunburst effect that's slightly noticeable in the picture. The micro sunburst etching is so fine that you'd never see the markings unless you really work it on a professional camera set up. The minute finishing and chamfering of edges in nearly everything makes it a worthy counterpart to the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. Angular, but rounded is the name of the game here. It's simplicity and 8.3mm thickness give it an edge, imo, over the more complicated variants that Patek sells. Some become too thick or have too many complications that break up the coherent beauty of the dial that I never really took to them as much I did with the base Nautilus.

(Left) Rolex 116610 Submariner "Hulk" (2020. Discontinued) - Probably the most recognizable of the bunch. It's classic Rolex. Does all the fundamentals well, but gives off a heavily machine-finished vibe so people are rightfully justified in their assessment that you're partly paying for Rolex marketing making it recognizably prestigious. The watch itself is still a joy though. Platinum dusted bezel markers, and the shiny ceramic bezel make a very good contrast to the green dial. It doesn't change colour anywhere near as much as the Patek, but the sunburst is incredibly nice irl. It's not like a rough sunburst where you can see the etch lines, but more of coherent gradient when light hits it which I assume to be a consequence of having a platinum-gold dust mix sprinkled on the dial before the painting process. The choice and contrast of bezel-dial green is something that's always been something I admired.

Arachne Audio Cable - It's a relatively affordable cable I commissioned from Arachne Audio over on Etsy cause a friend told me they were new on the block; did great work; and expedited shipping is included in the 100+ eur price. Very sturdy ribbon braided high-purity OFC cable with a heavy anodized aluminium Viablue Y-splitter and dual Rean (subsidiary of Neutrik) 3.5mm TRSS connectors. On the heavy side though so don't leave it free-hanging or else it'll make the headphone a lot heavier compared to the stock HE1000 V2 cable which is ultralight. I use a hifiman XLR cable for balanced

Hifiman HE1000 V2 - The silent revision that was reported in a Chinese forum sometime around late 2020 with the mesh window shade changed to a cloth window shade. Driver magnets are less visible. The pads have had the velour front changed to polyester, and are no longer just glued to the pads so it holds itself together better. I have a sneaking suspicion that the recent revision may have had a bit of trickle down from the HE1000SE cause it's stupidly easy to drive for some reason. A volume-maxed mid-priced Huawei P9 smartphone (still has headphone jack with Audio IC) can drive this to acceptable loudness so I have a hard time believing they didn't do something to the drivers compared to the old HE1000 V2s I heard. The [properly amped] sound signature and drivability has more in common with the reviews of the HE1000SE than it does the reviews of the HE1000 V2 (before all those revisions), and I've read every review I could find on both.

As for my audio hobby, I've also really wound that down too. So much so that I plugged my HE1000 V2 into a 5-year old Huawei P9 smartphone on a whim one night; maxed out the volume; and managed to really enjoy the music for once (I'm not kidding. Every song was toe tapping levels good to me). Suffice it to say the HE1000 V2 sounded like an HD600, but I'll be damned if I wasn't actually having fun. Chasing sound quality and looking for differences had been stressing me out to the point where I probably didn't pick up my headphones and explicitly avoided using my main speaker rig 95% of the time. The stress of forcing myself to listen was so strong that I was pretty much having anxiety attacks from trying too hard. Not really easy to enjoy the sound quality when you get all short of breath while your nose gets clogged from hyperventilating. Ironic really, I probably thought I'd been chasing the virtue of sound quality when in fact I'd probably been chasing my own tail for a whole decade. Live and learn as you get older, I suppose.

Edit 1: Wanted to really geek out over my other hobbies (watches, and leather).
Edit 2: Added hyperlinks on the leather stuff should anybody be interested.

 

[ScornDefeat]

The now-permanently-sold-out Farer Maze really pairs well with an orange single-pass NATO

 

[Podster]

Nice bracelet! I have been considering doing the same myself, but I still haven't done it.
May I ask, where did you buy it?

Here's mine:

Gorgeous Grand

Not stopped by for a while, been going between my Aragonian Green and my TW Steel Pilot VR46 Chrono

For my "G" Shock enthusiast (what @moedawg140 likes G's)! still wearing my originals

And for really festive days how can you not go with Irie Springs, this and the soap make you irresistible to the ladies LOL

 

[Podster]

Still hoping to get "The Man of "G"" trio, these to me are the Shock pinnacle. How could you be referred to anything other than Mr. wearing that three tone beauty I'd literally label that case "The Three Amigos"

I still have a soft spot for my Orient's which to me are still a bargain for your investment$$$

 

[Blaithin]

Still hoping to get "The Man of "G"" trio, these to me are the Shock pinnacle. How could you be referred to anything other than Mr. wearing that three tone beauty I'd literally label that case "The Three Amigos"

Honestly, any photo involving a trio reminds me of this gif

While Casio watches aren't really my thing. The Mr. Gs seem to take a few interesting cues from other watches. I can't help but attribute the dial and bezel design a little to both the Vacheron Constantin Overseas 2nd Gen/Phase 2 models (Mr. G has a more "gruff/manly" design direction) and the Hublot Big Bangs for the unique screw heads. The pushers seem like classic G-Shock with a little more flair, and the overall case and bracelet design gives the oft-done nod to the ever iconic Submariner. Gives it a rugged sophistication that isn't normally what I'd think of for G-Shocks while still maintaining, to Casio's credit, an unmistakable "G-Shock" look even from afar.

 

[Podster]

Honestly, any photo involving a trio reminds me of this gif



While Casio watches aren't really my thing. The Mr. Gs seem to take a few interesting cues from other watches. I can't help but attribute the dial and bezel design a little to both the Vacheron Constantin Overseas 2nd Gen/Phase 2 models (Mr. G has a more "gruff/manly" design direction) and the Hublot Big Bangs for the unique screw heads. The pushers seem like classic G-Shock with a little more flair, and the overall case and bracelet design gives the oft-done nod to the ever iconic Submariner. Gives it a rugged sophistication that isn't normally what I'd think of for G-Shocks while still maintaining, to Casio's credit, an unmistakable "G-Shock" look even from afar.

Ah yes Hefe, would you say I have a Plethora of watches As they say imitation is one of the best forms of flattery known

I have but only two watches I consider my dress watches, one of which (you've already viewed) is my Ti Orient and this is the other, really want to try a couple more of these at some point but with both my sons in college at the moment I've put myself in temporary purchasing exile LOL

Maybe I fibbed a little, this was a gift from my wife but the hokey diamonds are just a little to blingy for my taste but I never said that

 

[Blaithin]

Ah yes Hefe, would you say I have a Plethora of watches As they say imitation is one of the best forms of flattery known

I have but only two watches I consider my dress watches, one of which (you've already viewed) is my Ti Orient and this is the other, really want to try a couple more of these at some point but with both my sons in college at the moment I've put myself in temporary purchasing exile LOL



Maybe I fibbed a little, this was a gift from my wife but the hokey diamonds are just a little to blingy for my taste but I never said that

I had a Tissot Le Locle like yours...except its the 28mm ladies version on account of my, previously extra small, now, adrogenously-sized wrists (most ladies watches still fit). Used to be my daily driver watch, and it showed. Scratched to hell and back. Most of my ladies-sized are with my sister now though. I'll probably take some shots when I visit.

I occasionally like a bit of blinginess in my watches though, and I picked up an Orient President Day-Date back in the old days. It's hanging in my watch repair hobbyist "watch winder" for some mods [that I haven't made yet] I want to try on them. Here's an old photo I managed to dig up. Kinda blurry though. Orient doesn't like advertising that they do homages, but Orient kind of has them if you know where to find them. It wears a bit stiff and digs on the wrist a bit, but the dial is really nice though the pad printing could use some touching up. I really like how they used the old school rolex diamond inlay markers instead of the new beheaded-pyramid style that Rolex uses. Showcases the CZ more, and CZ is actually very pretty if you divorce it from its low cost (it has a lot more "fire" aka coloured sparkles than regular diamonds which tend to flash white sparkles more often).

I do, however, have something that clearly inspired a certain line of Casio watches currently on hand. I think there was a Dark Knight Casioak that was just posted somewhere above this page. This is the closest thing I have to that one though the Casioak Bezel and cases proportions are undeniably Royal Oak inspired and not Royal Oak Offshore inspired.

This is the Audemars Piguet 15706Au ROO Forged Carbon Diver. Never underestimate how shiny ceramic bezels can be though. This little brushed bezel readily changes colour depending on the lighting.

The forged carbon case is really dynamic so its hard to capture indoors without making the watch look super dirty, but it's more of a "black marble" look under direct light (You can google "Lambo Aventador Forged Carbon Interior" to get good photos on this).

Hopefully illustrated in the photos...the dial of ROOs and the RO are actually not matte in spite of the product pictures. They all have sunburst effects on account of the extra layer of circular engine turned grooves (think vinyl) done on the dials.

The sapphire glass also has a tendency to "disappear", and a lot of people have instinctively tapped the watch thinking they'd touch the dial or something. (refer to photo below)

Edit: Added better photos. Incidentally Got really dramatic photos now. Tissue in the bg kinda ruins it, but...whatever...I haven't taken photos this good in ages.

 

[wuwhere]

A vintage.