"You Are a Watch Otaku"

One of my students asked me to recommend a watch for her father, a surgeon in Japan. She wanted to spend no more than 600 dollars, so I recommended the Seiko Sumo. She kindly called me a "watch otaku," an obsessive. I am also a radio otaku.

Here's the interesting thing: Otaku is a Japanese term for an obsessive, geekish person. My favorite watches, upscale Seikos and Orients, are made in Japan. My favorite radios, Panasonics and Sony's from the 1960s and 1970s, are made in Japan.

I should add, as Angelo reminds me, I drive a Nissan Maxima and my next car would have to be an Infiniti, Lexus, Nissan, or Honda.

Herculodge has a strong Japanese connection.

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Comments

[Angelo]

Don't you drive a Nissan too? Japanese connection indeed. For the record, my favorite cars are Saab and BMW. My favorite radios are probably Sony and Panasonic. My current favorite watches are ASSEMBLED in Germany (Tauchmeister/Aeromatic). But as an American, here's what I have to say: I still like what Ford is doing with their new cars (Love the styling of the new Lincolns and wish Lincoln was selling better). I also like what Chrysler is doing, though they're now Italian owned. I own Swiss/Assembled in USA Bel Air watches and love those. And one of my favorite radios is one of the last field radios ever made in the U.S.A.---a Zenith Trans-Oceanic. For good measure, I love my Made In Holland Norelco radio too! I have an international connection Jeff!

[Angelo]

Interesting thing about Invicta's website----maybe they contracted with the same folks who set up the Affordable Care Act website----but for the life of me, I can't find a way to view just men's watches or just women's. I went on Invicta's site yesterday to look for a gift for a woman----and from what I could see, they break down watches by model, but not by gender. And considering that Invicta has about two million different watches, I didn't want to spend the time looking. I tried a word search on their site "women's watch interchangeable bands" (then straps) as that was the style I wanted to get for her. Nothing. So I went to E-Bay and in minutes, found a great deal on a discontinued model that's more her style than the newer versions I found on Amazon (which also only took a minute). I know they have the "Angel" line for women----but that is not all of their women's watches. It was really frustrating to not be able to isolate right on their own website, the current models they offer with interchangeable bands. So instead, the sale went to someone on E-Bay who had a close-out. Hopefully that battery won't quit in a week---I'll look like a schmuck.

[Gary]

Here's an interesting article from ABlogToWatch.

Top Ten Technically Important Electronic Watches

http://www.ablogtowatch.com/top-ten-technically-important-watches-from-1950/

[jonnybardo]

Jeff, not being a radio otaku myself I skip over those posts, but I am curious: do you buy as many radios as you do watches? Can one be a radio otaku without frequent purchases?

When I think about radio obsession, it seems alien to me - I can't get my mind around the idea of taking pleasure from listening to different radios at different times. But then I remind myself that this is how most people, including my wife, view watch obsession.

Yet to me watch obsession makes sense: I get pleasure from the visual and tactile experience of different watches. Each morning I either put the watch on from the previous day that is resting on a book shelf by my bed, or I go up to my 3rd floor office and look in my watch boxes and think, "Today feels like a Helson day," or "I miss that Tempest Viking on my wrist."

I wonder if this is how a medieval sultan felt about his harem. "I'm in the mood for a svelt Abyssinnian" or "Bring me a voluptuous Celt."

[Angelo]

Jonny: With radios, it's everything the watch hobby is (visual and tactile as you say) plus the fact that there is the audio element----how well the unit receives signals, quality of the overall package, etc. And then there are the wide variety of collectible radios from decades past----tube radios, early solid states, the brand comparisons of the 60s and 70s, etc. Plus, shortwave, AM, FM, public service band, weather band... I have at least as many radios as I do watches----all over my house and also at work.

[herculodge]

I stopped buying radios 2 years ago. My children ruin them, especially the antennas, which is why I use mostly worksite radios around the house.

If I stop buying watches, will I still be an otaku? Just like an alcoholic who stops drinking is still an alcoholic.

[jonnybardo]

Maybe it would transfer to something else. That's why it might be healthy to have a relatively harmless obsession - IF it can be moderated.

Actually, I think that moderation--which is related to the Buddhist "Middle Way"--is true freedom from obsession or addiction, not complete abstinence, which is still a kind of entrapment. An alcoholic is always an alcoholic until they can have a drink every once in awhile without binging. Easier said than done, of course.

[Bill Bush]

The more time I spend on animal rescue (dogs and cats) the less I buy of other stuff. I'd rather get Tess and Dina adopted. Tess has been listening to my GE Superadio III for several days now on the set of batteries that had been in it for at least a year. Curious to see how long they'll last. Figured I might as well use them up. At least 5 days now. No lessening of volume out in the man-cave. She fell asleep on me in the recliner out there last night after I put her drops in her eyes, and I woke up at 1:30 AM. She was still there and meowed mightily when I put her back in her cage bfore going back in the house to bed. I have not bought a watch in at least 6 months, and bought few before that. Mostly yard sale Seikos. No radios for almost a year now. Crates and carriers, yes.