Mar 12th KoP G2G or how a watch swap became a birthday lunch gathering

RevZMan123 · Mar 12, 2023

Picture this Baltimore, 2022. @gbesq shows me his Ranchero and Seachero in person after teasing me with some pictures in my inbox.

Fast forward to late January and I get another message in my inbox about said Seachero and its potential availability. What a nice guy, since I just sold something from my collection. 😉

So after a few messages back and forth, we agreed on a couple of dates, which so happened to coincide with my birthday. I said hey let's involve @TheGreekPhysique and @JwRosenthal as I kinda sort like those guys and we are all just about the same distance.

Turns out @vintage hab is a local to the area and has knowledge of the good places to meet at and reminds us that there's a newly renovated Omega Boutique there.

I dropped some hints on a post and @Aroxx got involved. A quick message to the previous attendees of the Mid-Atlantic group, but only @MTROIS was able to attend.

Thanks to @sygyzy and @seekingseaquest for reaching out separately. We missed you guys.

Anyway, we ended up at the Yard House and several watches were displayed. Beer was drank and food was devoured. Little did I know, but had an inkling when a bathroom trip took too long, but a birthday brownie showed up! Awesome

We traveled over to the OB, a short 8 minute walk through the mall. Right in Luxe Row with Breitling, TAG Heuer, Panerai, Bucherer, IWC, and Rolex we went. They were informed of our arrival and we were shown some very nice watches of our choosing. One gentleman who heard me mention it was my birthday, went in the back and brought out the delicious Bronze Gold Chronoscope. Wow. I couldn't even bear to hold it, but @MTROIS had no issue jumping right on it, flipping it over to get a glimpse of the gorgeous manual wind 9908 movement. He even dished out some sweet knowledge about the back of the X33 we checked out too.

Again, thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate the day with me. Especially to the 3 spouses who came out to have fun.

Oh, here's the reason for the journey, btw.

JwRosenthal · Mar 12, 2023

Some fun oddities handed around the table today, not the common big dollar pieces or ultra-rare, but more interesting everyday watches both modern and vintage that are not commonly seen in the wild- it was a pleasure to handle them in the flesh.
Bucherer had more used Rolex than new- surprise-surprise. Still didn’t bother asking to see any as I could feel my eyes watering and nose start to bleed looking in the display cases.
Those of us who couldn’t roll in the Omega boutique headed down to the swatch store- they only had the Mars and Sun moonswatch in stock. I asked my wife if she wanted one now that we could see them in the flesh (and previously loving the idea of them) and her response was “$275 sounds like a lot of money for something you can’t service and just throw away when it breaks”….yup.

Dsloan · Mar 12, 2023

Happy Birthday! And congrats on the Seachero. I'm sad I couldn't drive up today, but glad y'all had fun.

We think another Mid-Atlantic G2G is in the cards for later this year?

MtV · Mar 12, 2023

Happy birthday Erric! Looking forward to seeing a few of you in April 😀

Aroxx · Mar 12, 2023

Thanks for the invite. It was a lot of fun to meet everyone and talk watches! I wish we had more time. I regret I didn’t get to see Niko’s stuff. Some pretty cool watches passed around the table today! You guys left too early though and missed the second show-and-tell in the parking lot.

My takeaway from the OB is the X-33 is not as big as I thought it was. Those are kind of growing on me…

sheepdoll · Mar 12, 2023

Happy birthday. I am on the other coast so a bit far.

Sounds like a lot of fun. I would probably be tempted with the marsswatch If I was there. (reparability does not bother me.)

JwRosenthal · Mar 12, 2023

sheepdoll
Happy birthday. I am on the other coast so a bit far.

Sounds like a lot of fun. I would probably be tempted with the marsswatch If I was there. (reparability does not bother me.)

The mars has rockets for hands on the sub-dials, it was the only one that did, nice touch. The sun was brilliant yellow with a lovely gloss yellow dial- truly a beacon. But I agree when thinking about handing over $275 in cash for a plastic watch (bioceramic, whatever) that it feels like throwing money away on a toy.

sheepdoll · Mar 12, 2023

Depends on the toy.

gbesq · Mar 13, 2023

Dsloan
We think another Mid-Atlantic G2G is in the cards for later this year?

Already in the planning stage! We'll start talking seriously about dates toward mid-summer, but the current thinking is that maybe late October would be best as a number of members couldn't make the early December date in 2022 due to holiday commitments.

gbesq · Mar 13, 2023

Aroxx
Thanks for the invite. It was a lot of fun to meet everyone and talk watches! I wish we had more time. I regret I didn’t get to see Niko’s stuff. Some pretty cool watches passed around the table today! You guys left too early though and missed the second show-and-tell in the parking lot.

My takeaway from the OB is the X-33 is not as big as I thought it was. Those are kind of growing on me…

Wish that I could have stayed longer too. I had another commitment to attend a concert in Philadelphia at 3:30 and barely made it. Looking forward to the next Mid-Atlantic event. We've got a nice core group of members who are coming up with some good stuff. I'm even getting some golf partners out of this! 😀

RevZMan123 · Mar 13, 2023

JwRosenthal
The mars has rockets for hands on the sub-dials, it was the only one that did,

I think this one would be the best as it's different from the rest due to that fact. Still, even as cool kitschy wear, at 275 I'd rather have a comparable g-shock. At 199? It'd be a much better proposition for me, but Swatch got greedy when they saw the lines forming.

Aroxx · Mar 13, 2023

gbesq
I'm even getting some golf partners out of this! 😀

If you ever need a disc golf partner let me me know. 😉

The speed demons among us may try reuniting at the race track and maybe organize a NJ/Tri-State Cars and Coffee and Watches meetup. We’ll see how ambitious we become.

RevZMan123 · Mar 13, 2023

Aroxx
If you ever need a disc golf partner let me me know. 😉

The speed demons among us may try reuniting at the race track and maybe organize a NJ/Tri-State Cars and Coffee and Watches meetup. We’ll see how ambitious we become.

I sure miss being a speed demon -- living in the dirt really beats up a regular sports car (I was thinking maybe a rally race build lol) and since my shoulder injury of 10 years ago has now made it almost impossible to ride, being on 2 wheels is difficult as well. Poop.

Jones in LA · Mar 13, 2023

Looks like it was a lotta fun, thanks for the report!

gbesq · Mar 13, 2023

Aroxx
If you ever need a disc golf partner let me me know. 😉

The speed demons among us may try reuniting at the race track and maybe organize a NJ/Tri-State Cars and Coffee and Watches meetup. We’ll see how ambitious we become.

I'm up for it. I drive a Japanese family sedan, but it's a Mazda 6 (by far the best looking of the Japanese family haulers in my opinion) and I like to drive it FAST. Does that count? 😀

Aroxx · Mar 13, 2023

RevZMan123
I sure miss being a speed demon -- living in the dirt really beats up a regular sports car (I was thinking maybe a rally race build lol) and since my shoulder injury of 10 years ago has now made it almost impossible to ride, being on 2 wheels is difficult as well. Poop.

You can still come check out the cars and smell the fumes. That's probably what I'll be doing. And you're the closest to NJMP.

gbesq
I'm up for it. I drive a Japanese family sedan, but it's a Mazda 6 (by far the best looking of the Japanese family haulers in my opinion) and I like to drive it FAST. Does that count? 😀

Yes, all are welcome. No crazy car required. We are a watch group after all.

RevZMan123 · Mar 13, 2023

Aroxx
You can still come check out the cars and smell the fumes. That's probably what I'll be doing. And you're the closest to NJMP.

Yes, all are welcome. No crazy car required. We are a watch group after all.

I didn't say my Subaru wasn't fast. I DID buy the Onyx XT after all. My wife trounced some Lambo the other day -- sure it's all about the driver and I'll give the guy some leeway because it was a little wet. But come on. Still. WOOSH. I'd love to get it on the track and see what it can do in stock form because once that warranty is expired ... ooo la la.

TrboDieselPwrd · Mar 13, 2023

Happy birthday @RevZMan123 , looks like this was a fun gathering! Wish I could have made it up. Enjoy the Seachero, it's a stunner!

TrboDieselPwrd · Mar 13, 2023

Aroxx
If you ever need a disc golf partner let me me know. 😉

The speed demons among us may try reuniting at the race track and maybe organize a NJ/Tri-State Cars and Coffee and Watches meetup. We’ll see how ambitious we become.

I'd be down for this, except given the hp ratings of my cars, I wouldn't qualify as a speed demon 👎. Sign me up for the fumes though, I've got plenty of those!

Aroxx · Mar 13, 2023

RevZMan123
I didn't say my Subaru wasn't fast. I DID buy the Onyx XT after all. My wife trounced some Lambo the other day -- sure it's all about the driver and I'll give the guy some leeway because it was a little wet. But come on. Still. WOOSH. I'd love to get it on the track and see what it can do in stock form because once that warranty is expired ... ooo la la.

I didn't say your Subaru wasn't fast either. 😉 I think tracking the car could void your warranty (if they find out). I could be making that up. I've been holding off on re-flashing my ECU because it voids the warranty. Subaru cracked down on this because they got tired of warranty claims from all the WRX/STI guys modding and flashing tunes and breaking stuff. And they can tell if you flash the ECU and then flash it back to stock before bringing it in.