In NYC I see crazy stuff - Journes, Lange, Patek - with frequency. Just the other day was sitting next to a guy on Amtrak wearing a Lange 1815, apparently his son got it for him as a gift, but he didn't know anything about it lol

 

I notice Rolexes the most, but I think my recognition is a skewed bias because their designs are only rarely and conservatively updated and well represented in media.

 

Had a young guy in year 11 high school who served my lunch today gushing over my Speedmaster. He’s been saving for a Aqua-Tera

Showed me a few photos and took a photo of my watch.

Let him try it on in the end and he was smitten. Nowhere he could visit a AD or boutique in Darwin so thought I would give him a buzz for the day.
Mrs STANDY was telling him about you weirdo,s here and your WRUW thread

 

Or they are fakes that they all bought together on a trip to China. I posted a bit on a similar experience recently.

 

Was standing in line to get lobster rolls, remarked that the gentleman in front of my had a good looking sub. He rolls his wrist over to show me this:



One owner, purchased in Singapore in 1973. Still has the box, papers, original sales receipt. Daily wearer ever since. Commented that he bought it because the guys at NASA told him Rolex’s were the watch to own if you were a diver.

Excuse me, did you just say NASA?

Turns out, this gentleman was a diver at NASA that worked in a neutral buoyancy tank to teach the Apollo astronauts how to move in a zero g environment. Bought the single red when he moved into the private sector. And has subsequently been all over the world with it. Said they will be going out together.

Absolutely phenomenal conversation.

 

Amazing story that stands in stark contrast to my earlier story. This gives me hope!

 

Today, out with family at a restaurant. The older gentleman bartender drops a few beers off at our table, and I noticed he had on a Speedy. On his next trip back I ask him if he is a watch collector. He says no, but he is wearing his -69 Speedmaster he bought new in Aug 1969 to celebrate the moon landing. Without promting he takes it off to show me. Very proudly says he sent it twice to Switzerland to have it serviced and paid $800 and $1500 each time. He was very happy they sent the watch back looking like new.

Sadly, only original parts were case, movement and case back.

 

Whatever makes him happy. He's obviously not planning on flipping it.

 

That is awesome. For those who haven't watched the Apollo 11 doc - you should.

 

Hey you never know, he could have just been biding his time for 50 years...only to be scuppered by the rookie mistake of having Omega replace parts

 

Just returned from a short break in Spain.

I was disappointed by the lack of watches I spotted.

1) Rolex Deep Sea.
2) New design Speedmaster.
3) Black face 16570 Explorer.

The rest were Apple watches and a couple of Casio’s.

 

I went back from holidays this weekend and one of the guys in my plane had a blue El Primero Captain on bracelet. It looked nice, very discreet.

 

Which parts of Spain? I was recently in Mallorca and noticed a guy wearing a AP ROO. Most expensive watch I saw on that trip.

However, being based in West LA, Sub's are about as common as base package BMW 3 series.

 

Lots. All the time. I travel a lot and to NYC, Chicago, LA...lots of young bucks sporting lots of (mostly) Rolex...but some AP and occasionally, an Omega...

 

I spend quite a bit of time in Florida and as you would expect there is much bling down on South Beach. Generally Rolex. From time to time you hear about some guy who picked up a nice looking girl at a club, had his drink spiked, passed out, and woke up sans Rolex. Sometimes the event doesn't get reported because the guy is a tourist and the Mrs. back home wouldn't understand. Elsewhere, I rarely see people wearing expensive watches. They have more sense and use their money more wisely!

 

Today I gave a presentation to a group of court judges (one fell asleep during my 45 min of exciting Power Point slides). On my way in I noticed one wearing a Submariner 16610LV, a.ka. “Kermit” (hate the Rolex nick-names). Afterwards I asked him if I could admire it for a second. He had bought if new in 2008 and it had never been serviced or touched. Perfect condition We ended up talking watches for 15 min before I was kicked out the door so the meeting could continue. Super great and friendly guy. Turned out he had multiple Subs, DJ and a Milgauss as well as some Panerai.

 

Went to a meeting in Dallas Monday/Tuesday.

Nothing but Subs, with a couple of exceptions.
Was going to try to strike up a convo with a guy wearing what looked to be a relatively new BLNR but never got the chance.

 

The good, the bad, and the ugly:

The Good:

My first exposure to Omega watches was when my roommate 07 received a 2500 Aqua Terra (White dial, rose gold hands, leather strap, steel case). I have one other friend who's husband has a newer model Speedmaster on steel that looks quite sharp. I also know one other person in our circle of friends who has a gold on gold, blue dial/blue bezel Sub.

The owners of my company wear Rolex Datejust's, Breitling Super Ocean, and sopme kind of Tag.

I was jealous of my friend's Aqua Terra and the others for over a decade until my wife surprised me at our wedding a couple weeks ago with my very own dream watch - 2016 8500 Aqua Terra (Black laquered Rio Sidewalk wave dial, steel on steel, rose gold hands 231.10.42.21.01.006).


The Bad:

My Dad had a 95' Rolex Cellini (had to have been quartz because of how thin it was) gold on black leather and a 2009 Datejust midsize. Both were stolen by the movers when he moved houses back in 2013. The gentleman was caught and stated that he couldn't recover them from the people he sold the stolen goods to. The moving co. covered the costs and he pocketed some of the $$ and wears a Cartier Roadster now.

The Ugly:

I suppose my friend (who is among my absolute best friends) never truly grasped the level of prestige on his wrist and that Aqua Terra of his sits in a drawer, unwound, un-cased, and with the second hand having fallen off (never took it in for service of any kind). He now wears a "Samsung Galaxy Plus" watch or something like that.

 

The only thing worse than someone who doesn't appreciate (or understand) a timepiece and not wear it, is someone who KNOWS what they have and still decide that their phone is the better option.
My grandfather for example has a gold Day/Date that he quit wearing a few months back because his "phone tells him what time it is...".
I told him I'd be more than happy to give it some wrist time. He laughed at me and that was that lol
All gold is not really my thing anyway.

 

It's only been in the last two years that I've been seriously paying attention but in that time it surprised me to see how many people are wearing nice watches here in Seattle. What's kind of cool is the watches and people are of all walks of life - old contractors wearing vintage Explorer II's, young contractors with BIG Breitlings, developers with their Rolex (DD, DJ, & GMT II), professionals with Rolex Subs and DJ's, fellow parents with Subs - surprisingly one fellow is aways sporting a solid gold Sub, and a dentist with a Speedy. In the wild, it's much the same but noting a number of techies wearing DDSD's. Oh! And then there is the microbrands that pop up - cool watches! I don't quite have the eye to pick up on vintage Seamasters or Patek's. I notice people wearing that style but can't tell the brand from 5' - 10' away.
I have to say, for a city with a OB and Tudor AD, I just don't often see those around.