Cog Gobbler

Longines Spirit Zulu Time 42mm I nearly bought this because of all the god damn Black Friday sales happening. So nearly bought this one. The specs are amazing for the price point I was finding it at - chronometer, 70 hr power reserve, date wheel, "true" GMT with a mutidirectional bezel.  This has been on my radar from early on but I thought it was too expensive to buy for just the looks. Now that I know way too much about watches I feel (slightly, it's still terrifying) more comfortable plopping down a bigger chunk of change. The only thing stopping me from pulling the trigger was that literally none of the watches Jon has mentioned have Arabic numbers on the dials. I've made a collage of all the watches, so I should know. It felt like a bit TOO much of a departure, perhaps, and Longines has never been mentioned despite the copious and not so subtle probing I've done. Really really nice looking, but maybe not right. There's also the issue of the 5 stars on the...

 Yeaaaah.. Remember that last update? Well, things have changed. I had this Christopher Ward bronze C60 in the closest for a couple weeks and kept looking at it a few times a day to try to reassure myself it was "the one". It's gorgeous. It's lovely. But it didn't feel right, and I think it's because of the brown dial. Felt a bit.. Meh. And not special enough for this particular occasion. So it's going back. The search continues.  I am losing my mind. 

 A decision has been made and it's none of these, but I wish I could also buy these  Henry Archer Vesterhav Meteorite A Danish microbrand, this Meteorite dial looks good, but unfortunately it's a preorder and not available until January. They have a few more meteorite options which may work better for Jon, as he SAYS he doesn't like two toned (although the watch he wears every day is two toned?) I've emailed the owner of this brand and he's incredibly helpful and nice, so I think there may be a purchase here for another time. I was really very impressed.  Zelos Mako GMT I really want to get Jon a GMT because he's one of the few people that I think will actually get use out of the function with often working American PST (also, American football games). Zelos do really nice dials and I love this mother of pearl. I think Jon would like the bright colored GMT hand, too. I just really like mother of pearl, man, I'm like a moth to the flame with these dials. Is i...

 Now that I know, and apparently care about, movements, I have taken a closer look at Christopher Ward. I had never heard of this brand before Jon showed me what he was looking at. All the other brands Jon has mentioned, I've been able to find on the high street, but this feels like more of a deep dive. This is feels like the watch equivalent of listening to records on vinyl for the audio quality, but we also have a record collection now, so I guess we are those people. Listen, I don't really understand how a brand that's 20 years old has the Internet forums foaming, when anything else I find less than 100 years old gets trashed. I think the brand is so well respected because you get good value for money with the craftsmanship?  Christopher Ward Twelve 40mm Glacier Blue Jon specifically said he liked the Twelve line, and I've got to say, it's really not for me. I can appreciate the dial, but the bracelet makes it look like an 80's piece and it doesn't do it ...

 Is this how it starts? I've spent hours trying to learn about watches. What makes a good watch. Why this is this one so expensive. Don't they all do the basic function of telling time? What more could there be to them?  I have looked at watches so much that the ones that previously all looked the same to me now couldn't be any more different.  I have opinions about where the date dial should be located.  I know all about the quartz crisis.  I now judge watches that have an accuracy of +45 and -35 seconds as inferior, and what's that? A quartz movement is so much more accurate and less expensive? Where's the art in that!!?! So this is how it begin. Not with the tick tick ticking of a quartz powered seconds hand, but the smooth sweeping of a mechanical movement. 

If I decide to go completely rogue, these are the options. Jon has not mentioned any of these brands, but after looking at watches for way too long, these are the ones that I would pick based on what I like and what I think Jon would like. Montblanc Watch Star Legacy Automatic Date39 mm Limited Edition MB130958 I really like a lot of the Montblanc designs, especially the ones with moon dials. Apparently despite making watches for over 30 years Montblanc is "new" ?? But they're a true Swiss brand (I still don't know what that means exactly, I just think they look nice) with lots of pieces that I think Jon would like, particularly the Iced Sea ones.  Oris Big Crown Day Pointer 40mm in Bronze  After going down a deep rabbit hole, it seems like an Oris is a more "respectable" brand (i.e. Has a history - all these watch nerds seem to care about are 100+ year old brands). I think the date dial on this gives it slightly more interest, but it looks decidedly vintage...