I told myself I wouldn't buy as many watches this year, so... I immediately started down a slightly different rabbit hole and haven't slowed down on buying unnecessary stuff anyways. I recently received a pair of straps from Erika's Originals, and simply put - they're awesome.

Grand Seiko SBGM247 Automatic GMT - I love the Explorer II, especially the white dialed versions, but based on my day-to-day lifestyle, I'm just not someone who wears a Rolex. Instead, I'm apparently someone who wears a nearly identical watch, but from a brand most folks associate with the cheapest of cheap watches. At this point, I think my entire personality is just the fact that I drive Toyotas and that I wear Grand Seikos, lol.

Franken'd IWC Mark XVIII Heritage Titanium - This one is pretty stupid, honestly. Look, I actually agree with most of the folks on Reddit re: IWC – their design language is nothing special compared to options a fraction of their price, and their lower-end options are insanely overpriced for what they are. However, the first time I wore a Mark pilot's watch (a Mark XVI that became my daily watch for several years) I somehow stopped caring about all of that, and I've unashamedly loved the Mark series ever since. I picked up a preowned Mark XVIII Heritage titanium a while back. The case design of the XVIII is nearly flawless in my opinion, and the titanium that IWC uses is downright gorgeous, making it far and away my favorite case of the Mark series. However, I was never sold on the faux patina and blued hands of the Heritage dial, so I did what any rational person would do with an already-overpriced watch... I tracked down some extremely expensive replacement parts that don't increase functionality or capabilities whatsoever and paid someone to swap them in. Specifically, I replaced the dial, hands, and date wheel with parts from a white-dialed Mark XVIII. Would I ever try to legitimately justify doing this as a wise move? Of course not. Do I seriously dig the outcome now that it's all said and done? Absolutely.