Moving from Cap 'N Crunch with Crunch Berries to Pesto-Grilled Salmon

Angelo recently commented on my watch taste evolution and what watches would be classic and which ones would be fads. In the beginning my taste for conspicious, oversized watches was like a first grader craving Cap 'N Crunch with Crunch Berries. As I learned more about watches, I was drawn to more sophisticated tool divers like the Seiko Tuna shown above. I think my analogy holds. If not, someone correct me.

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Comments

[jonnybardo]

I think the analogy works well, but here's where it gets complicated. There is no agreed upon developmental sequence for "maturation." You've grown up, but now what? Does it stop there? Are you done? Or are there further developments possible, and if so, is there a monolothic one-size-fits all trajectory, or are there many possible unfoldings?

In our (post-)postmodern world, we get to decide what "adulthood" means. I'm of the generation in which the "Dream of the 90s" (to quote Portlandia) is still alive, at least in the artistic sub-culture that I have some affiliation with. My generation is asking the question, "Do we have to grow up if growing up means reading the Wall Street Journal rather than the Onion? Reading Serious Literature rather than wild fantastical imaginings?"

Or maybe that's just me. Anyhow, the point being: once we "grow up" we get to decide what that means - we get to guide our further development (or lack thereof, in some cases). For some it means getting into finer and finer things in a material sense - you don't stop with $500-$1000 watches, you keep on going until eventually you sell everything at get a Patek Philippe.

That's not what it means to me, hopefully. I'm not a business guy; I like fun, diver-ish watches. A watch is not a status symbol, but it is a form of self-expression, and symbol of mood and mentality. And it can also be a way of playing.

Whatever it is, its a (conscious or unconscious) statement of who you are and what you value. I don't think there's a way of getting around that.

[herculodge]

The Tuna is my perfect expression.

[jonnybardo]

I have a hard time not thinking, "for now." For the sake of your wallet, though, I hope you're right.

[herculodge]

A year from now I could see myself getting another Tuna and keeping it on the rubber strap.

[Angelo]

I'm not sure about the analogy. In fact, I'm willing to wager that pesto grilled salmon, a currently popular mature taste---will be displaced by something else in due time, maybe soon. A few years ago, Ceasar Salads became all the rage, but they've quitely moved down a few pegs, replaced by arrugala salads for many, or mixed field greens. The pesto grilled salmon might be replaced by dry curry rub grilled swordfish steaks for all I know. But Capn' Crunch (with or without Crunchberries) has been around for decades...keeps on keepin' on.

[Angelo]

Speaking of which...I wonder how it would taste if I were to pulverize some Capn' Crunch into crumbs. Take some fresh salmon and dip in either beaten eggs or maybe milk----then coat with the crumbs and bake? You'd have a sweet, crunchy coating on the salmon. This might work.

[jonnybardo]

Angelo, if anything you support my view that maturation involves different paths. For some the pinnacle might be pesto salmon, for others ginger chicken, for some pesto salmon for awhile, then ginger chicken. Tastes change, but rarely does one go "backwards" from pesto to Capn Crunch. One may still enjoy it on occasion as a novelty from one's youth - like me listening to a Tears for Fears song - but one's world has become larger. One knows more.

[StarHalo]

You switched from crystals to a diamond.

And that stock strap reminds me of the one that was on those Honeycomb watches that came in the cereal boxes in the late 80's; I'd go with an alternate metal band.

[Bill]

I don't think the analogy holds up too well. Cap'n Crunch is not just different from (ugh) salmon as a matter of taste, it's nutritionally and therefore functionally inferior.

In watches this is not necessarily the case. If you assume that a watch has a practical purpose, twenty dollar junk watches are in most cases functionally equivalent to multi-thousand-dollar handmade beauties. And if you're talking accuracy, the cheap watch is actually better, assuming you're talking quartz vs. mechanical.

[jonnybardo]

Bill, you make a good point about nutritional value at least so far as functionality goes, but not quality of build and parts, which I think also equate with "nutrition."

But there is also the matter of aesthetics, which is so difficult to quantify. I think a better analogy might be wine, as I've discussed before. The more expensive the wine, the more it becomes a refined and subtle flavor palate. The more expensive the watch, the more subtle the differences are - but there's a noticeable (for the most part) gradual increase in quality of craftsmanship, at least for those with the "palate."

And that's the key. It all depends upon how developed one's palate is. This applies to anything - stereos being another good example.

Cap'n Crunch is all sugar and sharp edges (if I remember correctly). Pesto grilled salmon involves a complexity of flavors and textures (maybe another sweet food is a better comparison).

[Ed]

Wish that putting on a better watch would make one a better person.
It doesn't, alas.