Herculodge

The Watch Deconversion Started Gaining Steam About 5 Months Ago

Looking at the dates of my posts, my watch tastes were still raging XXXL over the summer, as I was buying $200-300 cheap fasion pieces. Lume problems made me discontented with them a bit and then I can see it was around September my de-conversion from Invicta began to take place, pushing me along the ranks of Seiko for the most part. 

So it's only been five months, yet I feel like I've been a Seiko fanboy for several years. 

Related articles

The Flashy Watch That Is No Longer at the Center Stage of Your Life

Why Seiko Watches Grow on You and Blinged-Out Ones Don't

Why a Watch Collection Will Divide Into Subcollections

Watch Addicts Have Collections Within Their Collections

A Reader Describes His Transition from Invicta to Seiko: A Seiko SKZ267 Is a Good Start

When Your Watch Second Hand Moves in Two-Second Intervals . . .

Gary's Follow up on Citizen Eco-Drive BV1085-06E

 

I received the replacement Citizen Eco-Drive BV1085-06E watch from Amazon today. I'm happy to say that the flat black face is perfect on this one (no faint, semicircular scratch is present).

Also, the hands and date window are in virtually perfect alignment on this sample, as they were on the original sample (some Amazon reviews complain of the second hand being misaligned). It was worth getting a replacement. 

I noticed that the replacement watch came with a plastic protector over the crystal, while the original watch didn't have this. I suspect the original watch may have been returned to Amazon before, possibly for the same reason that I'm returning it.

I really like the black-on-black design and the easy-to-read dial. Hopefully this watch lasts a long time (at least it doesn't need batteries).

Related articles

$200 Can Get You a Watch You Can Wear with Pride

When Manly Watch Tastes Change, So Does Size Calibration

Comparing the First Generation Seiko Black Monster with the Second Generation

Climbing Up the Seiko Luxury Watch Ladder

The Promise of Freedom Results in Imprisonment

Thirteen years ago my girlfriend (now my wife) and I were at Kinko’s in southern California doing some copy work. We’re both teachers and we found ourselves at Kinko’s more often than we liked. While waiting for the job to get done, I spoke for a very long time to the manager, a young looking man named Robbie, originally from Pakistan.

He told me his life story. He currently worked 70 hours a week, combined with his Kinko’s manager job and his duties at an Indian restaurant.

Robbie explained that he could have stayed in Pakistan where he would have been rich. His father offered him his business. Life would be easy. He’d marry a local girl. He’d never have money worries.

But he didn’t want any of that. He wanted freedom. Specifically, he wanted American freedom. Dating a girl in Pakistan was like dating her whole family. One wrong step and you might offend a father, a brother, a cousin, and you’d be dead.

So he left Pakistan and landed in New York.  He was amazed at how forward the beautiful women were.

I asked him why he worked so much. Because, he said, since moving to America he had been married and divorced six times. He had a lot of child support. His whole life was working. He no longer had time to get into trouble.

There was something appealing about Robbie, his optimism, his spirit for life. I don’t think he would have been happy conforming to prescriptive cultural code in his hometown. At the same time, I felt for a man who had to work all the time to feed the many children of his ex wives.

In life we often exchange one form of imprisonment for another.

Related articles

Lesson One: The New Solitude from Alone Together by Sherry Turkle