Friday 27/1/2017 - This Week's Wristwatches.

I grew up in the 1970s on a semi-steady diet of TV comedy, which included The Carol Burnett Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. This may explain why I like a gal with a sense of humour, a quick wit, and a sharp tongue. Thanks, Ms Tyler Moore. 

I busted out the new drill last weekend. Wore my modified, circa 1993 Seiko 7002 'beater'. 

For those unfamiliar with the term, a 'beater watch' is what you wear when performing any tasks where there's a higher likelihood of your watch getting damaged. I don't know when watch collectors first coined this term, but it's stuck. If contemplating getting one yourself, I would suggest getting something that's battery-operated rather than mechanical. That way, you can just pick it up and put it on your wrist without having to re-set the time or wind it up to get it running.

Now, you might say; "Why not just not wear a watch, Teeritz?"

What are you, nuts!?

This Seiko has gotten paint-stained, covered in soil and sawdust, and picked up a few scratches along the way, but has always performed flawlessly. 

Once the work was done, I switched back to the Omega Planet Ocean;

However, later that afternoon, I thought I'd take a break from dive watches and swapped over to the Omega AquaTerra;

As nice as this watch is on a bracelet, I think I'll soon hunt around for a glossy black leather strap for it, just to dress it up a tad and make it more, uh, 'Winter-appropriate'. Although, it does look sharp on steel, I have to say. However, it's very close to the look of my Omega Railmaster, considering that both of these watches share the same case and bracelet designs, dimensions and virtually identical movements.

I've been thinking of giving this mid 1950s hand-wound Omega Seamaster a bit of a spruce-up. I got it off eBay about ten years ago for a steal ($127.ooAUD). Mind you, if I want to get it into decent running and cosmetic condition, I may have to sink some dough into it. I bought a set of hands for it five years ago, when these kinds of spare parts were easy to come by. Problem is, I didn't get a second hand for it. Now, I'm scouring the web trying to hunt one down. patience is key. The dial on this watch is pretty shot, but I read of a process that involves a mixture of distilled water and lemon juice which is meant to work wonders. I've seen before-and-after photos and, if I can convince my watchmaker to replace the hands, I'll take the dial home for a couple of days and try this cleansing treatment. 

Speaking of my watchmaker, he serviced my 1999 Omega Seamaster 300m last week and suggested I wear it a little, in order to help distribute the freshly-applied lubricants throughout the movement. Who was I to argue?

It was quite warm on Thursday when I put this watch on. I briefly thought about adding a half-link to the bracelet, but I couldn't be bothered. Too many other, more important things to deal with at the moment.

I'll wear it to work next week. I'll be interested to see what the timing machine at work says about the way this thing is running now. Hopefully, I won't let another seventeen years go by before its next service. 

It's held up rather well over the years. Although, despite wearing it solidly for the first six years that I had it, as my collection began to grow, this watch got relegated to the watch box more and more, as I found myself wearing other pieces a little more frequently than this one. Certainly, its design has dated since it was first produced in 1993, but it is still in production today, despite the various little tweaks that Omega have made to it over the years. Either way, this watch has become a modern classic for the Omega brand. 

Mind you, it got quite a bit of help from being the Pierce Brosnan Bond watch during his tenure as OO7. 

This morning, I switched over to the Oris Diver Sixty-Five. I had planned to go into town to catch up with a friend of mine, but I tried calling him and he didn't answer, so I figured it best not to go in, on the off-chance that he's busy with customers, etc. He buys and sells pre-owned wristwatches, and he credits (or blames) me with getting him hooked on wristwatches when he was a teenager. He's only twenty-three now, but he sure has come a long way. 

I'll catch up with him next week.

This Olympia SF is a great machine. I'd forgotten how nice it was to type on. 

Anyway, gang, that's all for now. Gonna try listing some things on eBay, in an effort to continue the de-clutter around here. I'm also gonna try finishing this epic post about our European trip a few months ago. That should keep me busy.

I hope you all have a safe and pleasant weekend, and thanks for reading!

 

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