Incoming! Both are Space and Aviation watches, and not what you'd expect from me...

After I gave my son an SMP Bond quartz birth year watch for his 18th birthday in January, he decided that he prefers quartz Omegas over his SMP ceramic chronograph, which lets him avoid the more frequent costly mechanical movement services.

Over the past 2 years his SMPc chrono had slowly climbed from +2 sec/day to +4 sec/day, and finally was running more than +6 seconds a day over the past few months. He was disappointed with this slow climb in rate with no sign of being magnetized, and worried that a mechanical watch would be too high maintenance for his needs at his age.

Because his SMP Bond quartz was actually the first Omega he'd ever really wanted, and it made him very happy, a couple of weeks ago he traded me his SMPc chrono for a really nice 3D 7.2 surround sound home theater system. I felt bad that he'd given up such a nice watch for a home theater, one that I could have given to him for his graduation and let him keep his watch. I wanted to fix this, knowing he really wanted a quartz chronograph. I planned to give him a Seiko Astron Solar GPS Titanium Limited Ed with white dial and black ceramic bezel.

When my son heard me discussing an X-33 order with Jim 2 weeks ago his eyes got big and he was in love at first sight. I thought my X-33 would be here this week, but it's looking like next week because Basel caused a backlog in orders with his supplier. Regardless, I didn't want to give up my X-33, and I kept the actual order a secret. So, after I got his old watch back from being regulated to +1 sec/day under warranty, I ended up trading it towards my son's grail watch, the Omega Skywalker X-33.

I basically wanted my son to have his first brand new Omega (that wasn't a hand-me-down) for graduation. I knew that it would drive my son nuts to see me wear an X-33 for a while before passing it down. But now we can have matching chronographs again, as soon as mine arrives from Jim next week. I was keeping this under wraps, but couldn't wait any longer to post it now that one of the two X-33 has arrived yesterday.

I need to read the X-33 manual, because the alarm is easy to access but hard to figure out how to actually set up. Same with the other two time zones, and a few other features. You can sleep the watch and extend the battery life (LCD goes dark and all hands move to 12), and you can get the hands to move out of the way of the three lines with a button, but I'm also told that you can sleep just the LCD and I don't know if that's true yet.

I still have to decide what to do with the two X-33 until the end of May. I could hide them both until his graduation, so that having even one X-33 in the house would be a total surprise. Or, I can wear mine now and drive him nuts for the next two months as a lark, until he opens up his surprise watch to wear on his walk across the stage. But the second option gives him hope that he can talk me out of mine. Which scenario do you like best? I'm thinking #1. I would just have to wait longer to get to wear mine - I can wait if I have to.


I also picked up the new Bulova "Dave Scott" Moonwatch re-issue on bracelet. I have the limited edition version with tropic leather and nylon NASA strap arriving in 2 months. Only 1200 of the LE version on leather and NASA-style NATO will make it to the USA, and it's actually cheaper than the version on bracelet. I have no idea of the total number, and it might be like the FOIS, so I don't expect this to be any kind of investment. But I got a killer deal on the pair of Bulova from my local watchmaker. Worst case, I keep the LE with all the straps and the bracelet, and sell the extra Bulova on a generic leather or NATO if I don't need it (or a true WIS will have a spare).

The story of the original Bulova is kinda interesting, being built by Bulova USA (Universal) as a one-off chronograph and gift to Dave Scott before the Apollo 15 mission, I think with a Valjoux 7750 based movement inside. After the postage stamp fiasco, I have to wonder if he broke his Speedy crystal just so that he could actually wear the Bulova on EVA-3. But why didn't Bulova rest on it's laurels after that, and why did NASA keep it a secret for years, and why did Dave Scott forget it was a Bulova and not a Waltham for so many years? Regardless, he managed to contaminate his Bulova with moon-dust (it's on the Apollo 15 inventory sheets as well) and the rest is history ($1,625,000 well spent or not).

The pushers feel great, with a nice smooth click. It's a 262Mhz high accuracy quartz and the sweep hands are nice and smooth, except that the 6 o'clock second hand ticks once every half second while the chrono sweep ticks like 6-8x a second, and the 3 o'clock 1/10 second dial is totally smooth unlike any automatic except a Spring Drive. The bracelet and fit seem good, and the case-back has a history lesson about Apollo 15 printed out, including the EVA-3 date of 8/2/1971. The 3 o'clock sub-dial stops and rests after a while when the chrono is running to save battery life, and then it jumps to the proper position when you hit the stop button. The chrono sweep and 1/10 hands both reset by flying clockwise towards 12 position, and there is no lap counter feature. They hid a subtle date window at 4 o'clock that doesn't give away that the original had no date.

I'll add photos when the second X-33 from Jim arrives next week. We talked for a long time the other day on the phone after I got the X-33, about whether to change my order with him. I seriously considered the NIB NOS 3573.50 sapphire sandwich for myself instead, so I'd have a watch to receive my Mitsukoshi panda dial and silver hand set, but I really prefer the 3572.50 with Hesalite and he thought I'd like the X-33 more. I'd only do the sapphire sandwich if I didn't give an X-33 to my son, and I don't want to torture him like that.

I've bought and sold 5 Aqua Terra due to poor lume, wrong color, or sometimes too large looking with that big dial, and with no rotating bezel or chronograph I didn't wear them much, so i ruled out the AT Golf. I have a GSOTM and Ti PO 9300 so I didn't need a Ti Speedy 9300 or DSOTM either (too much $$). I considered the PO GMT but I have an old and new Rolex GMT II (Coke and BLNR) and I have an old and new Polar Explorer II (as well as a black Exp II), so it would be redundant.

Wow, both are great watches. I'd never seen that Bulova before, I love it.

I'm with ya, option 1. Let's you both get to enjoy wearing your new watches together.

It's option 1 for me. If you wait for your watch as well, it will make that date (of the graduation) all the more special, with something between you and your son that you'll remember forever, and every time you wear that watch (not that you'd forget your son's graduation anyway!).

Sounds like you have quite a solid collection there, the X-33 will fir right in!

Go for option 1. It will be a bonding experience for you both even if it seems like a small thing. I work as a teacher and very often these kinds of experiences mean a lot to the children even if they are not able to express it so articulately.

I won't pretend to be able to know what your family dynamic is and to me that is how you decide whether to keep them both in the safe or wear yours first. My sons are a bit older and I can definitely say if I was in your shoes I would wear mine first because of all of the fun stories that would be told in the future over a nice adult beverage. "Dad, you were killing me with that X33! Do you know how many different scenarios I came up with to try and get that watch from you? All the while you had one sitting in the safe for me (good punch in the arm or loving headlock)". We as a family would get hours of enjoyment multiple times out of a lark like this. Your family may have a totally different "tone". Great gift and your son is blessed to have parents so close. Whatever you decide will be the right thing. 👍

Fun watches and a fun dilemma to ponder. Thanks for sharing this! I would think option #1 would carry the best meaning for both of you. There would be a shared positive memory associated with each watch from that moment forward. I like it.

Great story, your son is a lucky boy, but by the sounds of it you feel equally lucky!

Put them both away, then plan how you will reveal them one at a time. Make sure he is there when you are opening yours for the first time. When you see his face light as you try yours on, then whip out his one and say how about you have one to!!

Well done

Cos

Option 2 without a doubt. he'll be like a 2 year old on neat red cordial for two months. It will be worth the effort to keep a straight face.

So much good advice. I'm slightly leaning towards option 1. But FlingIt brings up a good point about having a little fun driving him nuts seeing me get one, when I can look him straight in the eye and say, "you will not get THIS watch until you pry it from my cold dead hands". I'd be telling him the truth, because only I know I have a second one for him.

In my son's case, if I wear an X-33 before graduation he'd actually relax a little more knowing that there's an X-33 in the house, because he'd believe that someday he'll get it, if not now then later. And graduation is in only 6 weeks. If I hide both watches I can still truthfully tell him "I did NOT buy you an X-33 from Jim" (because his came from the OB and he thinks I was only working with Jim). And then he'll spend more time worrying about "if I didn't get the X-33 then what did I get?". As I said before, he strongly suspects that he's just getting a Seiko Astron, and has NO clue it's the X-33.

And I'm also trying to decide whether I give him the new watch from the OB or the one coming from Jim. With the OB watch they wont charge him for a lot of things when he brings it in, since they sold it, including shipping to Omega or cleaning it, or pressure testing it after a battery change.

When customers buy a watch elsewhere, my OB tend to charge for most things except bracelet resizing or strap changes. So depending on the price to replace the watch they'll charge either $60, $90, or $120 to double box up a watch and print a shipping label with insurance to send it to Omega. If he gets the X-33 from the OB he wont pay anything for most things except batteries, which is good for a young man starting out. So, that's another reason why I'm not wearing the X-33 until the one from Jim arrives.

Good choice Larry, the surprise and sheer delight you get to see on his face in 6 weeks with be worth the wait to wear it yourself.

Regarding the OB, can he take it to any OB for the free stuff? I ask because if he moves out of the area after graduation it may be a moot point.

Foiled again...

Larry,
I would definitely go for option 1, hold them both. My dad did the same with my first nice watch, a titanium Citizen Nitehawk, for my 22nd birthday. It was his first nice watch, too. So a few years later, after I qualified for the Bremont U-2 Squadron Edition, I ordered one for him too, so now we have two matching watches.
And both of your new watches look utterly fantastic! My fingers have been crossed for years that Omega would open up their military sales program again so we can order X-33s with a squadron RMO on the caseback, but no dice thus far. And that Bulova looks sweet as well!
Blue skies,
-only jake

So Jim is having trouble getting me the plain X-33 that I ordered 2 weeks ago. His supplier is behind due to Basel. But he has the Solar Impulse in stock although I kinda dislike the strap.

So he's offered me a great package deal on the SI limited edition full kit (in stock) plus an additional new X-33 Ti bracelet included. He says it looks great without the strap. (He has another SI that he's thinking he might want for himself).

I went for it, so my son and I will both have an X-33 on Ti bracelet, but mine will have the blue bezel and green ring/chrono second hand. I'll have the watch Tuesday and the bracelet will come later when his supplier ships it (might be on back order).

Do you guys agree with this move?

Help me decide if I made the right choice in my last post. I really like the black X-33 and worry that the blue/green on the Ti bracelet might still be too loud "hey look at me". Yet I prefer the blue Ti PO 8500 and 9300 over the black stainless versions.

Tah Dah!

Before:




New Ti Bracelet Arrived from Jim today:



Gave my son his X-33 Skywaker graduation present for his "capping ceremony" and I wore my X-33 SI2 on bracelet to match him at the event: