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Cydonia
·Yesterday was the day that I finally made up my mind regarding my first Omega purchase, a black-dialed version of the Seamaster 300m chrono (ref 213.30.42.40.01.001 though I guess people here do know their Omegas 😁) and actually at the same time also my first "real" watch purchase. I'll include a bit of my background story here before and in between the photos.
I had decided that I'd get myself a graduation present, as I finally got my MSc degree 3 years ago (long years of studying and more of working-so-much-that-wasn't-able-to-study, but that's not essential to the story, hehe) - a quality/luxury watch. Back then I had no actual idea, what I was looking, only that it should be "affordable", as there was family to be fed, mortgages to be paid and all the basics. Of course, saving up the budget took a bit time, as I had close to none saved at the point of graduation - here goes a big thank you to everyone who appreciated my wishes for a graduation present, which was backing up my watch budget, or rather initializing it.
I did some research already back then, but mostly left it slumbering while I slowly started saving up money. Having 2 sons born less than 2 years apart (October 2010 and July 2012) the emphasis really was on "slowly". Finally, early this year, the sum I had saved up was starting to resemble something that could buy me a watch. That's when I started doing more thorough research - visiting local ADs of different brands, checking brand websites, reading through different watch forums, all the usual. Omega as a brand wasn't a real contender at first: my initial feeling was that it was out of my reach at this point, as I was mostly looking for watches below 2000€ (roughly $2600 or £1700 for non-euro talkers).
What I quickly realized was that images on the internet, be it on brand website or on a forum, tell only half of the truth, if even that. You really need to see the watch in person, sitting on your wrist. I had quite a lot of situations, when I had been looking for some models online and liked them quite a lot, and then went to the AD to check them out ... only to find out that in real life they were not at all suitable for me. And of course vice versa, some models that had been bland-looking online, were a totally different story when seen in person.
Luckily I was in no hurry to do the purchase, even though the anticipation grew stronger every week. After all, I had waited already for 3 years, so it wouldn't hurt to wait for a bit longer to find "the one" for this moment. On the other hand, I really wanted to get myself that first real watch. Anyway, one day when visiting the local Omega AD, looking for other, a bit cheaper brands, the dealer showed me also some Omegas. They started growing on me pretty quickly, and I realised that I'd better spend a couple of hundred euros more to get myself something I would really like, than stay in my original budget and settle with "the next best choice". And, after all, the 300m chrono diver is - luckily for me - from the more affordable end of Omegas collection.
Fast forward a month or two of saving up a bit more money, trying to decide what model would suit me best at this time, pondering, reading reviews, frustration... I had decided that ok, 300m chrono diver with blue dial would be my choice. A week or two back I went to the local AD to try it out in person, only to find out that they didn't have neither it nor this black-dialed one available: they had sold it like a week or two before. They did have the blue-dialed GMT version, which I tried on, and really loved. But I wanted to get my hands on the chrono as well, before making the decision... Then, yesterday the AD called me to tell me that now they have the chrono - with black dial. Ok, it wasn't the blue dial I had been hoping for, but anyway I wanted to go and see this one in person, as I'd get a feeling what the chrono dial looks like.
Bang.
I was pretty much sold when it landed on my wrist. Had to try to mask my feelings, though I believe the dealer saw pretty much right through me. A bit of haggling (their initial offer, my counter-offer, their final offer, sold) and off I went with a new Omega piece on my wrist. Got it for decent price in my opinion - don't know about forum guidelines so won't tell it right away, but if it's ok to discuss, I can share the details.
That's the story in short, hopefully I didn't bore everyone to death 😀 And apologies for the picture quality - I'll still have to learn watch photography. Given the age of my sons, there's not too much time for that activity though... The ones included were taken in the short time I had available yesterday, so no fancy settings here. First 3 photos that didn't fail miserably, enough for starters.
I had decided that I'd get myself a graduation present, as I finally got my MSc degree 3 years ago (long years of studying and more of working-so-much-that-wasn't-able-to-study, but that's not essential to the story, hehe) - a quality/luxury watch. Back then I had no actual idea, what I was looking, only that it should be "affordable", as there was family to be fed, mortgages to be paid and all the basics. Of course, saving up the budget took a bit time, as I had close to none saved at the point of graduation - here goes a big thank you to everyone who appreciated my wishes for a graduation present, which was backing up my watch budget, or rather initializing it.
I did some research already back then, but mostly left it slumbering while I slowly started saving up money. Having 2 sons born less than 2 years apart (October 2010 and July 2012) the emphasis really was on "slowly". Finally, early this year, the sum I had saved up was starting to resemble something that could buy me a watch. That's when I started doing more thorough research - visiting local ADs of different brands, checking brand websites, reading through different watch forums, all the usual. Omega as a brand wasn't a real contender at first: my initial feeling was that it was out of my reach at this point, as I was mostly looking for watches below 2000€ (roughly $2600 or £1700 for non-euro talkers).
What I quickly realized was that images on the internet, be it on brand website or on a forum, tell only half of the truth, if even that. You really need to see the watch in person, sitting on your wrist. I had quite a lot of situations, when I had been looking for some models online and liked them quite a lot, and then went to the AD to check them out ... only to find out that in real life they were not at all suitable for me. And of course vice versa, some models that had been bland-looking online, were a totally different story when seen in person.
Luckily I was in no hurry to do the purchase, even though the anticipation grew stronger every week. After all, I had waited already for 3 years, so it wouldn't hurt to wait for a bit longer to find "the one" for this moment. On the other hand, I really wanted to get myself that first real watch. Anyway, one day when visiting the local Omega AD, looking for other, a bit cheaper brands, the dealer showed me also some Omegas. They started growing on me pretty quickly, and I realised that I'd better spend a couple of hundred euros more to get myself something I would really like, than stay in my original budget and settle with "the next best choice". And, after all, the 300m chrono diver is - luckily for me - from the more affordable end of Omegas collection.
Fast forward a month or two of saving up a bit more money, trying to decide what model would suit me best at this time, pondering, reading reviews, frustration... I had decided that ok, 300m chrono diver with blue dial would be my choice. A week or two back I went to the local AD to try it out in person, only to find out that they didn't have neither it nor this black-dialed one available: they had sold it like a week or two before. They did have the blue-dialed GMT version, which I tried on, and really loved. But I wanted to get my hands on the chrono as well, before making the decision... Then, yesterday the AD called me to tell me that now they have the chrono - with black dial. Ok, it wasn't the blue dial I had been hoping for, but anyway I wanted to go and see this one in person, as I'd get a feeling what the chrono dial looks like.
Bang.
I was pretty much sold when it landed on my wrist. Had to try to mask my feelings, though I believe the dealer saw pretty much right through me. A bit of haggling (their initial offer, my counter-offer, their final offer, sold) and off I went with a new Omega piece on my wrist. Got it for decent price in my opinion - don't know about forum guidelines so won't tell it right away, but if it's ok to discuss, I can share the details.
That's the story in short, hopefully I didn't bore everyone to death 😀 And apologies for the picture quality - I'll still have to learn watch photography. Given the age of my sons, there's not too much time for that activity though... The ones included were taken in the short time I had available yesterday, so no fancy settings here. First 3 photos that didn't fail miserably, enough for starters.
