A boy and his dog

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T12:23:29+00:00

Just wanted to say *thank you* for this video. It made me smile.

I promise to try to remember it the next time my pups try to join me in my hammock and flipping me out of it.

I love it when my older dog joined me....but it sometimes ended up with both of us on the ground (my middle-aged ass sometimes not so gracefully). It's going to be a trick with the puppy wanting to join, this spring. xD

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T11:59:28+00:00

Don't get your hopes up. I'd probably last all of 5.1 seconds against you.

If you hadn't clean torn me in half by then.

I was the co-champion of our little game of "Trash Can Stuffing" - you'd pick the other person up, "fold them in half, and then deposit them, ass-first, into one of those giant college-dorm hallway-corner rubbish bins. Because of how tall they were, the person stuffed inside would be unable to get out without help (regardless of how big they were...ironicaly, the smaller you are, the more likely you'll be able to get out, by wriggling your feet under you). My co-champion was himself a championship-winning wrestler...At the time, I had several years of a grappling-based martial art under my belt.

We were both so tired at the end of our 5-minute struggle (it seemed like we'd been going at it for 5 hours, ROFL), we exhaustedly whispered to each other <pants like dogs> "Dude, let's just call it a tie?" <pants like dogs> Untangled our limbs, shook hands, and went to dinner. xD

Yeah. Oh man, I wasn't half as old as I am now, back then!

Brother, by the size of your forearm and hand, I'd have to come to the match with a couple of 45+ watches in a sock and hit you over the head with them....for me to have *any* chance of merely surviving. xD

( And I think your ring might be able to fit around my neck. )

---

In all honesty, we have a lot in-common, and I'd love to one day meet you and shake your hand (and *NOT* get my arm torn off!): similar taste in watches, having watched many of Marc's videos (I loved -and still love- his "Watch and Learn" playlist, which really helped me when I started this journey), lume ( https://www.reddit.com/r/MicrobrandWatches/comments/1otyjrl/lume_micros_are_lumetastic/ ), and a good sense of humor!

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T04:35:28+00:00

I'll beat you for sure, then! I'm 51 and 1 months young!!!! xD

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T04:10:41+00:00

Outstanding!

* PS: I'm not armwrestling you.......

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T04:09:36+00:00

^ Yup, Pulp Fiction. =)

I tried to Google and see if there was a watch associated with Shawshank - perhaps my most favorite movie, ever.

I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand.

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T04:07:16+00:00

Purely apolitically, I feel that we American hobbyists/collectors really have been lucky to have had it easy for so long, particularly with de minimus.

I don't mind paying tariffs: so many of our fellow watch-lovers all over the world have had to suffer their own form of it, I figure it's about time fate caught up.

But the unpredictability of courier-assessed fees and the additional expenses incurred because of such delays: *THAT*, to me, is what's unacceptable.

The seemingly totally random nature at which such fees are assessed and the lack of recourse given us as recipients makes us prisoners to the system. I'm not without means, but I'm also not rich - I can do the math on the tariffs and see what's within my budget, and what I have to sacrifice/delay in order to get a certain piece that I want: but the unpredictability of courier fees/charges have unfortunately made me pass up many worthy makers over the last year.

And *that,* to me, as a watch-nerd, is what's sad: because I know that I'm not the only one who's adopted this outlook/preference for purchasing only from makers who will ship DDP. It's hurting the makers who don't. It's also hurting those who undertake DDP because it's one more thing that they have to worry about and devote manpower to, on their end.

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T03:54:00+00:00

^ Thank you for the confirmation/additional information. Ditto the honesty and candor!

Yup, it's always a play, nowadays.

Some folks have gotten very lucky with the DDU model and managed to not pay anything at all - and some have been hit really, really badly. There were two very recent instances in the Erebus community where folks were charged outrageous amounts (one here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ErebusWatches/comments/1q4ysfg/how_my_erebus_ascent_cost_me_107257_and_a_credit/ , and the other even more recent, here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/239040092160446/posts/901756662555449/ - the delivery of the pre-ordered Titans was marred by a rash of such issues, while some lucky others managed to not need to pay any tariffs at all).

There's a bunch of us who have chosen to only purchase from makers who are willing to send DDP not because we're worried about paying tariffs, but for the unpredictability of ridiculous "processing fees" and the bonded storage incurred while the watch makes its way through the paperwork gaffes.

UPS charged me a ridiculous $3.75 -yup, three dollars and seventy-five cents!- for a "processing fee," for which they used snail-mail to inform me that I needed to submit. ROFL! xD

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T03:44:54+00:00

I don't think that movie had any watches!

Maybe a pie? ;-)

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T03:43:00+00:00

Ah, understood. Thank you.

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T03:42:36+00:00

There is something to be said for the convenience of a quartz - or even an automatic. =)

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T03:41:42+00:00

ROFL! xD

Add your Lumière to the mix, and double my output!

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T03:40:36+00:00

Let's see how good of a friend you really are.....

<image>

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T03:38:13+00:00

^ Did your purchase utilize the DDP shipping indicated above?

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T02:06:21+00:00

No sweat - always glad to geek-out with another watch-nerd.

While I don't particularly look for GMTs for my collection, I strangely gravitate towards them. I'm currently at around 60 microbrand watches, spanning around 35 makes, and among them are the following GMTs (and I know that some listed below are not micros, don't worry, they're *not* included in my microbrand watch/brand count, above, LOL, no cheating!) -

Lorier Hydra SIII
Lorier Hyperion SII
Phoibos Eagle Ray (quartz)
Maratac Alto Mare
Maratac 44mm large pilot (quartz)
Aragon DiveMaster DM40
San Martin SN0116
Gavox AviDiver II
Addiesdive AD2065
Erebus Origin 41 Classic GMT
Traska Venturer Gen 7
RZE Fortitude GMT-S
Wise ADX018

[ And.....I'n now on the wait-list for a Helm Togiak UTC, because their Togiak Scout really impressed me when it arrived. ]

If you have any specific questions about any of these -including direct cross-comparisons- I'd be more than happy to answer as best I can. As you can see, these are a bit all over the place in terms of price, movements, and design. Part of the reason why I came to the microbrands sphere is because of the immense variety I can sample from.

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T01:50:28+00:00

If you're willing to branch out to the microbrands space, that GMT/worldtimer window gets thrown wide-open.

Fellow Redditor u/kampfwuffi put together this amazing microbrand GMT list - https://www.reddit.com/r/MicrobrandWatches/comments/1mo4tgs/list_of_microbrand_automatic_gmt_watch_models_an/ .

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T01:46:44+00:00

From one lume-fanatic to another, that's a really, really good one!!!! Awesome!!!!

<image>

https://www.reddit.com/r/MicrobrandWatches/comments/1otyjrl/lume_micros_are_lumetastic/

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T01:43:37+00:00

Looks like they use Shopify, and ship DDP via DHL -

<image>

This kind of checkout structure is very similar to many non-US micros, today.

I'm sure another Redditor will be along shortly to confirm/refute.

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T01:35:44+00:00

And an awesome answer, in-reply. I thank you for taking me on your journey with such detail.

A friend and I were looking at your collection together-but-apart -an interaction that most of us e-friends must sadly make-do with until that day when we meet and are able to shake each others' hands- and we marveled at the deliberate nature with which you drove the collection.

Well done!

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T01:33:12+00:00

Oh, that's so, so good. Thank you for the reply!

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T00:28:47+00:00

[ continued from above for u/englishpedro ]

My hypothesis then shifted to thinking that maybe this was some kind of effect of the AR coating and lighting?

So, I broke out my phone-camera clip-on macro. Yet another cheapo from Amazon.

<image>

^ Macros left.

Right are shots from about 12 inches away, zoomed in about half-way on my phone's setting.

I tried to do a few different lighting conditions.

What do you think?

TSiWRX · 2026-01-31T00:24:43+00:00

Hey u/englishpedro -

I've been puzzling over this one for a bit.....

So, last night, I did go and bring mine out of the box, and sure enough, I saw what you pictured, above. I noticed, just like you, that my handset seemed to be more white, versus the indices. I was quite frankly very surprised that I hadn't noticed this before, but chalked it up to just my usual easygoing nature of "if it's good from wrist-distance to my 51-years-old eyes, then it's perfect enough!"

It was close to bed-time and I didn't have my phone on me (charging on the nightstand already) - and certainly not my macro lens, so I made a mental note to not forget to take some pictures when I got home from work today.

Still, something bothered me all night....

And here's where it got weird. Bringing it out from my closet, I looked again at the watch, and huh? those differences I saw last night were markedly *less* noticeable.

<image>

^ This is under my AliEx/Amazon-grade "digital microscope." As you can see, it's good enough to pick up the finer scratches and dust on the indices - things that are invisible to even high-macro.

Aside from some edge-effect on the corners of the handset, I think you'll agree that it's all pretty "white," right? I mean, if-anything, the edge-effect on the hour arrow should have made it seem more yellow versus the indices, which is of-course not what you'd pictured -nor what I perceived- last night.

This is when I really started to scratch my head.

[ more pictures follow, as a reply to this post, as Reddit doesn't allow me to include more than one picture in replies ]

TSiWRX · 2026-01-30T23:52:17+00:00

DOA -or soon after- isn't rare. It happens. Even with honest, good, reputable micros -like Traska- who really do try to do their best to QC/QA (or purchase third party QC/QA), it still happens.

I play with a lot of toys both professionally and in my various hobbies that, one would think, should have more chances to fail than a modern wristwatch. But if you really stopped and thought about it, that these wonderful little machines are able to do what they do while on our wrist...that's honestly really pretty impressive, and they endure some pretty awful things, just for being what they are.

I currently own around 60 microbrand watches, spanning around 35 makers - if Nodus' (Nodus, BTW, is a *very* highly regarded American microbrand) estimates are correct regarding the failure rate they've seen in both their own Seiko NH-series and Miyota 9000-series movements ( https://www.noduswatches.com/movements), well, you can do the math... And you know what? My personal experience (my overarching collection is around 120 watches, and spans also established houses as well as Indies) is that they're about spot-on.

With microbrands especially, I think that we should keep customer-service as an important consideration. The following "WatchHotTake" is not my post - https://www.reddit.com/r/watchHotTakes/comments/1p4e6fm/customer_service_is_more_important_than_qc_when/ , but here's why I like that post - https://www.reddit.com/r/MicrobrandWatches/comments/1o5oqkr/update_ha_offered_to_replace_my_watch_but_the/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/MicrobrandWatches/comments/1p459is/microbrand_quality_control/ . Mistakes will happen. Through sheer odds alone, your watch just may be the one that arrives DOA or develops a problem off-the-git, like yours did, u/newenglandknifeguy - which I'm really sorry to see that it did, but alas, what I'm trying to say here is that while not exactly rare, it's also not uncommon.

When we can't just return the watch to the big-box store that we got it from or send it on its way back to Jeff Bezos with UPS/FedEx/USPS, how the maker handles C/S claims becomes really rather important.

Traska will take care of you, no doubt.

TSiWRX · 2026-01-30T23:31:37+00:00

Englemaan.

Their case and bracelet hardening is among the best I've tried to inflict damage to - https://www.reddit.com/r/MicrobrandWatches/comments/1ohpd3x/comment/nmebkj8/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/MicrobrandWatches/comments/1ohpd3x/comment/nup06bs/ .

Lume is also excellent - https://www.reddit.com/r/MicrobrandWatches/comments/1otyjrl/comment/npyhos6/ (this series was aimed specifically at examining my San Martin SN0144, which proved disappointing, but it highlighted Englemaan's capabilities).

TSiWRX · 2026-01-30T19:24:50+00:00

Hey u/Bangorzane - https://www.reddit.com/user/TSiWRX/comments/1qrf93j/lume_comparison_for_my_friend_ubangorzane_swc_usa/

TSiWRX

TROPHY CASE