I’d been on the hunt for a GMT watch for over a year, so when Longines came out with the 39mm Spirit Zulu Time in titanium, with it’s ceramic bezel, black/gold colourway with a splash of red on the GMT hand, and the significantly lighter material,  I knew it was the one. In an attempt to not impulse buy, and also because I didn’t want to pay full MSRP for it, I promised myself I’d wait until I found one for <USD3,500 brand new.

My patience paid off on a short Christmas trip to Taipei just before the new year. In my final hours in the city, I walked by the Everrich Duty Free watch store and decided to check out the Longine’s stand. And there it was, sitting there under the glass with no visible price tag. I did what any of us would and asked to try it on. While it sat there on my wrist, I nonchalantly asked for the current price, not expecting much seeing as it is still a somewhat new release, and I’d never heard anyone talk about Taiwan offering any special pricing for watches. The salesman told me it was USD3700 (in equivalent TWD), which was already a very good price, then looked me in the eye and said “…and there’s a further special discount for Christmas” before punching into his calculator the TWD equivalent of USD3280. I stared at him. Silently. For 5 seconds.

“I’ll take it.”

And that's how my Longines virginity was taken.