Herculodge

Wrist Shots of the Seiko Captain Willard SBDC109

Would the Seiko Captain Willard SBDC109 at 42.5mm across and 46.5mm lug to lug play big enough on a 6 foot man who's 220 pounds with 8-inch wrists. I'm relieved and happy to say yes it is. This is my most satisfying watch purchase in 15 years of collecting:

Commanding Wrist Presence of the Citizen CC3067-88E GPS Satellite Eco-Drive

I'm loving the color, orange accents, and overall wrist presence of the Citizen CC3067-88E, part of the Promaster Land series. I'm still missing the stainless steel version, which comes on rubber, and I suspect I'll rebuy that model.

The contrast of the large Arabic numerals and the charcoal black dial is stunning.

To set, you need to be in the outdoors or by a window. It may take a few minutes or so for the watch to read the GPS. 

The Reese's Peanut Butter Cup crown digs a tad, but not a deal-breaker. I have no links removed for my 8-inch wrist, but may remove one and adjust micro for a slightly tighter fit, which may reduce the crown friction on my hand.

I love the military watch theme. It reminds me of a watch one of the security team would be wearing from the Netflix Norwegian TV thriller Occupied. 

The open dial style makes the 44.3mm bezel play bigger than it is. I'd say this watch plays more like a 47mm.

Are You Re-Buying the Citizen Promaster CC3060-10E for 2020?

I have to confess with chagrin that I'm missing selling my CC3060-10E. I've sold it twice. What was I thinking? I have a Strapcode Hexad 22mm in my watch box that I could fit on it. The photos below show it with the Strapcode Endmill:

Is My Romance with Mechanical Watches Coming to an End?

I currently own 4 very stunning mechanical watches: Seiko SBDC067 Coral Monster, SBDC065 Cyan Blue Diver and shown below, the Seiko SBDC051 Black Dial Diver and SBDC053 Blue Dial Diver. I'm considering unloading my automatics and replacing the solar models, most likely Eco-Drives. I'm leaning toward "Precision Instruments." I am tiring of the setting of automatic watches and all the fussing. Could the romance be ending?

 

Seiko Going for Striking Blue Dials for 2018/2019

Take the Watch Addiction Questionnaire to See If You Need to Go to Rehab

 

Watch guys, how is the hobby going? Has it taken a turn for the worse? Or is your watch hobby making you happy? Take the Watch-Addiction Questionnaire to see if you need watch rehab. If you answer yes to 10 or more of the following, you may need an intervention.

 

1. Do you find yourself thinking about watches first thing in the morning and last thing while in bed at night, and it’s reached the point that you resent the amount of time, energy, and money your watch addiction is taking from your life?
2. Do you keep a list of your watches and assign days for which watches you will wear during the week with the hope that adhering to this rotation will make your life feel more manageable but to the contrary your life constantly feels chaotic and out of control?
3. Do you agonize over which watch you wear during the day and regardless of your choice you feel the agony of having picked the wrong watch?
4. Do you find you’ve amassed more watches than you have the time or occasion to wear and fret that you’re constantly neglecting prized watches in your collection?
5. Do you find yourself falling in love with a watch, buying the said watch, falling out of love with it, selling it, falling in love with it again, rebuying it, falling out of love with it again, and repeating this cycle over and over so that you feel like you’re living out the movie Groundhog Day?
6. Do you find yourself possessed with the urge to shrink your collection to a small manageable collection, find yourself reaching your goal, but then you go on a buying spree so that your collection mushrooms to an unmanageable number again? And you go through this cycle of shrinking and expanding your collection over and over so that you feel like you’re living out the movie Groundhog Day?
7. Do you tell yourself just one more watch and then the madness will be over because I’ve finally found the Holy Grail that will cure me of my disease? Only to go back on the watch hunt soon after so that you’re constantly stuck in a cesspool of desire and discontent?
8. Do you go on the Internet and observe Youtubers engage in ceremonious unboxings of their Holy Grail timepieces and watching them enjoy their new watch overcomes you with envy and anxiety so that you feel you need to get on the watch-buying bandwagon?
9. Do you deep down have the conviction that if you sold all your watches and just kept just one watch, a cheap $80 Casio or Timex, you’d be happier and less tormented, but you refuse to act on your convictions because you choose to be a slave to your watch addiction?
10. Do you fear that if you were liberated from your watch addiction you’d have to face a new crisis: the abyss of an empty life and the loneliness that such an empty life entails?
11. Do you fear that your watch addiction is a distraction from personal problems that you find too overwhelming to address and that you’d rather slog through your watch addiction, with all its aforementioned repetitive cycles than confront deeper emotional problems?
12. Do you get defensive when people say you have a watch problem? And you find yourself rationalizing your addiction by saying that your watch hobby is harmless and fun and that you could be engaging in far more self-destructive pastimes? But deep down you know they have a good point?
13. Do you find that your watch hobby was supposed to make you happy but your obsession has taken you to a dark place that has nothing to do with happiness but has everything to do with torment and despair?
14. Do you find yourself asking advice from other watch addicts about which watches to buy and you experience the shame of having no deep personal convictions so that you’re dependent on others for your life choices and validation?
15. Do you find yourself trying to hide your watch obsession from your significant other, worried that she will become suspicious of all the FedEx packages that are arriving at your doorstep and perhaps engage in a forensics accounting investigation of your watch buying habits, which will reveal you to be recklessly wasteful with your finances and committing the sin of adulterous consumerism?

First Look: Seiko SBDC067 Coral Blue Monster

 

 

Watch Collecting Goals for 2019: Appreciate What I Have

Reading Barry Schwartz's The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, I learned a lot about the pathology of watch addiction:

One. Too many watches leads to brain overload and less happiness.

Two. We must learn to appreciate what we have in order to stave off addiction.

Three. We must avoid comparing what we have with what others have, a true challenge in social media age when people curate their existence in a hyped way. 

Four. We can be happier when we choose what's "good enough" over "the best." 

Five. We should focus more on what we want more than worry what other people think we should want. 

In this context, I have some specific watch goals:

One. Keep my collection in the single digits. 

Two. Sell some watches that are too similar to other watches in my collection.

Three. Rebuy two watches I failed to appreciate when I had them: The Citizen Promaster Sky in gunmetal ( reference number BY0084-56E) and the Citizen Promaster Land (reference number CC3060-10E ). 

Four. Quit collecting? That would be nice but I don't know that will happen.

 

Because I Prefer a Smaller Collection As I Grow in My Watch Hobby, Should I Sell Black Seiko SBDC051 and Keep the Blue SBDC053?

During the last 13 years of my watch hobby (obsession), I've noticed two major changes in my tastes and habits:

Smaller Collections Preferred

One, I cannot tolerate large collections, as they are a source of anxiety, they tend to make my life too busy, they tend to compete too much with one another, they tend to "cancel each other out," or some similar effect, and I find myself worrying too much about giving any watch ample wrist time. I find having a small collection, about 5 or 6 watches, to be in my comfort zone. 

Smaller Sized Watches Preferred

In the beginning, I wanted only a Muscle Watch, oversized timepieces, so that I was operating on the principle The Bigger the Better. Without shame, I could rock a 52mm watch. I even wore a 60mm Invicta Sea Hunter at one point, but that one tugged at my sense of decorum and screamed "clown watch!" 

In the last 9 months, I've lost close to 50 pounds. My trim self looks better in watches in the 42-44mm range, a size that I would have considered puny several years ago. 

Currently, I have 6 watches in my collection. In the above photo pose, I'm wearing a Seiko SBDC051, which I like quite a bit, but I'm thinking of selling it. Why? Because I have the blue version SBDC053 (below) and I find the two watches compete with one another and by selling the 051, but the above photo, taken with me and my family at a nice restaurant, Ortega 120, has a certain sentimental value. Will I sell it? I'm on the fence. 

Glycine Airman Purist 42mm Refund Request Submitted Due to Misaligned Hour Hand

I was feeling the love for my Glycine Airman Purist 42mm, received yesterday from Jomashop at a great price, but I had to submit a refund form after discovering that the hour hand is significantly misaligned. It's too bad since I was liking the wrist presence of this Glycine. But I need to be able to tell time.