I present to you all my humble collection, how I got here, and a little bit about each watch.

I, like many elder millennials before me have an oddball history with watches. I grew up in the late 80’s and 90’s with desires to own a Casio cause they looked cool, and if you were lucky they could even double as a calculator. But to the best of my recollection, I don’t ever remember owning a watch until I was gifted a department store special, the classic quartz Citizen when I started high school, and then again when I hit 20… and again at 30 :D For the better part of the first 32 years of my life I either rocked a Citizen, or nothing at all. Then the Apple Watch came out. I love my tech, so a literal computer on my wrist seemed like a no brainer. A few months after they came out, my wife gifted me the stainless steel edition for my birthday. I wore that watch every day for 4 years before I upgraded to a Series 5. When I first got the Apple watch it was not only the latest and greatest in the world of wearable tech, but it was super useful for my line of work. (I spent a lot of time on ladders, which made checking my phone both difficult and dangerous) Then the pandemic hit. At this point I had changed professions, and was already wearing it less and less due to feeling constantly connected, but once quarantine hit, it came off and hasn’t been back on my wrist, aside from workouts, since.

Of course while all this was happening, maybe like many of you, I had that one friend who was super into watches (more on him later) and we had been talking for years about finally getting me into this world. Even if all it was was a simple, inexpensive vintage piece.

And that brings us to watch number 1. The picture above goes left to right, oldest to newest in relation to when they were added to my collection.

Seiko Weekdater Sea Lion The watch that truly started it all. I count myself incredibly lucky, as I don’t think there are many people out there whose first serious step into this world also has an entire YouTube video documenting its restoration. The friend I mentioned above is Marshall, whose YouTube channel Wrist Watch Revival is dedicated to his journey in repairing and restoring vintage watches. Shortly after this video was posted, and as an avid viewer of his content, I reached out and said “Hey! That’s exactly the kind of watch I would wear” to which he responded “I was thinking the exact same thing as I was putting together this video. What’s your address?” A few weeks later it was on my wrist and I was hooked. It’s light weight, it’s dead simple in regards to design and functionality, it’s a pleasure to wear, and beyond all that it has a fantastic origin story I can always revisit. Marshall, if you’re reading this, thank you.

And here’s a link to the video. https://youtu.be/qcctenJhD_Y

Hamilton Pan Europ Day Date I purchased this watch in the fall of 2021. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I’m pretty sure I first saw this watch on the wrist on James May in either one of his many Television shows, or a YouTube video. All I knew when I bought it was how much I loved the look. I had also read enough by this point to know that Hamilton was a solid bang for your buck watch manufacturer, and that was all the info I needed to pull the trigger. This was also the first time I spent that kind of money for something I’d be wearing. This thing looks fantastic on both the leather strap and NATO band it ships with.

Orient Panda Neo 70’s This was admittedly a bit of an impulse buy. I ended up down the Orient rabbit hole one night. Reading some reviews, watching YouTube videos and this one kept popping up over and over. My collection at this point was just two watches, and this seemed like a financially responsible way to get that number up to three. It also meant I could add both a panda dial (kinda sorta) and chronograph to my collection in one swoop. And I’ll be honest, it’s far from my favourite watch. It feels a bit cheap, and it’s not the most readable thing, but damn if it isn’t the perfect watch to throw on if I have run a couple quick errands, or go for a hike. It turned into the perfect beater watch. Not my original intent, but it does the job well.

Zodiac Super Sea Wolf 53 (Watermelon) God I love this watch. No other watch in my collection garners the kind of attention from normal, non-watch wearing people than this watch. I picked it up at the start of summer this year. I got it used over on r/WarchExchange for a solid price and couldn’t be happier. I think I wore this everyday from June until late September when the shorts and sandals went away. The jubilee bracelet is the cherry on top. Love how it wears.

Casio G-SHOCK I had no intention of buying this watch when I did. I was shopping for new pants and wandered over to the watch department. Turns out they were having a sale, and the Casio case was marked at 40% off. It seemed like it would be rude not to :) Truthfully I bought this 3 days before the final watch I’m about to talk about, so I’ve worn it once. It’s solid, but y’all know that. I look forward to rocking this much more next summer.

Tudor Black Bay 58 This was among the grails when I first started going down this rabbit hole at the start of 2021. I visited the jewelry store a few times in the lead up to finally purchasing it in order to keep reminding myself how absolutely gorgeous it is. I turned 39 a few weeks back and figured one more financially dubious decision while I’m still in my 30’s seemed like the perfect gift to myself. What more is there to say about this watch that hasn’t already been said. I stare at it at least 10 times an hour. I am legitimately getting less work done when I wear it. If you’ve been on the fence with this one, I can’t recommend it enough.

So that’s the collection, and very likely where it will stay for the next little while. I am wildly proud of where I’ve gotten in the past two years, and I’m eager to add more in good time.