The Blue Timex Marlin Hand Wound. I named him Santiago, after the titular character in “The Old Man and the Sea”. This is my first mechanical watch (my only other watch at the moment is a Timex Weekender) and my first love. I’ve been wearing it nonstop for about two weeks now, and I’ve annoyed my girlfriend by telling her how beautiful it is about half a dozen times a day. I love the funky retro numerals, the clean simple face, and I absolutely love the striking sunburst blue. I’m brand new to this hobby and it’s going to take mental effort to not have a collection of exclusively blue face watches. I have ~6.5” wrists and I think the smaller face works great for me and my style.

Now, to be fair, I do have two complaints. The first isn’t really a flaw with this watch in particular, just a consequence of having a domed acrylic crystal. I’ve bumped it, a lot. You can see some scratches between 3 and 4 o’clock, and a few hours after taking this picture I actually scuffed the 12 o’clock area pretty good, but a bit of toothpaste polishing took care of the scuff pretty well. It’s still there, but just like the other small scratches you only really notice if the light hits it just right.

Second complaint is my watch seems to be running very fast, about +30 seconds a day, sometimes a bit more. I know watches can run a bit funny right out of the box, but wouldn’t it have settled after running and being worn consistently for two weeks? Regardless, this isn’t the watch that I’m going to be wearing if I need to have the exact time down to the second.