u/bpgluckman

To coffee and Costco

Simple but serious question, because I’ve seen multiple photos and videos of it where it seems to be either medium green, dark green, blue-green, dark blue, or almost blue black. And now I’m just curious and confused.

I owe whoever first posted about this watch an apology. I couldn’t understand why this was nearly $1,000 on a forgettable nylon NATO strap, but after reading and seeing so many amazing reviews, I gave in and bought one. And, holy wow, is this thing good.

The bezel turns with about as satisfying an action as you’d ever want. The crown is a meaty thing that feels fantastic to screw and unscrew, and the movement is a dateless SW200 which is just such a nice touch. The lume is by LUM-TEC — which assembles these in Ohio — and is like a torch. It’s one of the mostly easily read watches I’ve ever worn in the pool. The strap is — well, the strap is crap. One of the cheapest cheap NATOs I’ve ever seen. How the hell did that end up here when everything else is so good?

Fortunately, Santurce is planning to offer a bracelet in the spring, and owners like me will be able to buy it separately, too. Till then, I’ll wear it happily on an aftermarket strap.

I'd been really excited about the idea of picking up the WD0019 when it was first announced, but by the time it came out, I had acquired an actual CW C60 Lumiere, which even though it pretty much immediately required a warranty repair*, is still one of my favorite dive watches in my collection.

A lot of the reviews on here of the WD0019 have been rather tepid, but after finally grabbing one during the recent sale, I've got to tell you, this thing is a lot better than people think, especially for roughly a tenth of the price.

Objectively, sure, the CW is better. It's thinner despite having a better movement, it packs more dial in the same size case, the clasp is shorter despite having more micro-adjustment points, the markings glow white versus the soft blue hue the Watchdives takes on the second it hits light. It's lighter because it's titanium. It's a whole lot of watch compared to a Tudor Pelagos 39.

But the Watchdives is pretty damn good on its own merits. The purple gradient on the dial is just lovely in person. Legibility is absolutely excellent -- this is going to be an easy watch to glance at in the water and know the time. Timekeeping seems solid, and the pushpins were no trouble to adjust with the tool provided. And the lume measure right up to the original.

If you've been on the fence about it because you were worried it wouldn't measure up, consider this a buy recommendation. Even for $250, it's definitely worth the money.

*FWIW, and despite stories to the contrary, my warranty repair with CW was fast and seamless, so I will give them that.

Picked this up through the recent sale on the Shop app, as I've always loved photos of the dial, and how the color seemed to shift in the light from grey to green to black, with the hashing adding some really unique texture. Plus, having a small wrist, the specs suggested a large dial that maximized its space in a compact case, ensuring it would work a dressier piece on my 6.4" wrist.

On these points, the Canton doesn't miss. It also does a really nice job dampening the LJP G101 rotor noise.

What is a total cock-up is the bracelet. The OTF clasp has a large range of adjustability; unfortunately, if your wrist is below 6.5", you're going to need to remove all the links on both sides of the bracelet and start using that OTF adjustability to get a comfortable fit. But if you do that, you end up with the bracelet biasing more links on the 6 side than the 12, which is just wrong -- it means the clasp isn't balanced on the back of the wrist.

This is annoying -- I've run into this issue exactly once before (on a Watchdives); the rest of my watches I own or have owned got this right.

tl;dr: if you're thinking about Jack Mason and have a small wrist, you'll want to pass if you want to wear it on the bracelet.

My new Phorocydes PH-2 arrived, and figured it didn't have enough lume, so it needed a Zuludiver lumed strap to go with it.

Last week I posted about looking at purple watches, and that I was looking at the Farer Discovery which was being retired. Then someone in the comments offered me a virtually unworn Lissom. Being indecisive, I ended up getting both.

I'm actually glad I did, because they're surprisingly different pieces. The Lissom is more versatile -- It looks good on the purple strap I have around but also looks good on blue and would also work on white or pink, too. I have noticed wearing it today that the way the lugs are designed, they have a fairly deep downward curve to them, so I find myself wanting to micro-adjust the strap like I would a bracelet, and I think I might invest in a Fitwell buckle for this.

The Discovery is really the pure purple watch I was looking for, and a huge step up from the San Martin I had (and which clearly took inspiration from the Discovery, though it's not a straight homage). Shipping from the UK was superfast and without hassle. I also appreciate that the stock Farer strap fits smaller wrists without my having the punch holes in it. One thing I have noticed: it turns out the LJP-G101 shares the Miyota 9XXX's rotor noise. It's LOUD.

I've now gone from having never handled a Farer to owning two, and overall, I'm impressed.

Lured this dude into the trap with the irresistible force of wet food in June for TNR, since he was too feral to go into the foster system. He's been coming back for more of the good stuff ever since, and tonight, he actually let me get within 10' of him while putting out his FOURTH can for the evening. Still a ways to go, but I'll gladly take the solid progress we're making. He's pretty young -- maybe 18 months or less -- so hoping by fall, he'll be ready to learn to love the great indoors and find a forever home.

Finally arrived today, and already had the Uncle scales bracelet and a diver's clasp from Tactical Frog ready to go. This thing is neat! Definitely will upgrade the crystal when those come back in stock. I don't know if it's really waterproof to 666 feet, but took it for 2,300 yard swim tonight, and it handled that just fine, and it's super easy to read while doing laps.

Thinking of pulling the trigger on this before Farer phases it out. Any other purple watches to consider? I'm not looking for a diver, because I already have a meteorite purple Henry Archer, and I'm not looking at a purple non-diver Henry Archer, either. But open to other ideas. Or just tell me this is the one to get!

I've wanted one of these for a while, but they've been sold out of the original silver 2HAPPY case (they do have some 2LAZY with the black case, and 2BUSY, which is more art deco in style). I finally found one in Sweden, and brought it over, which was surprisingly easy.

It's THICC, but some of that is an optical illusion; it's maybe only 2mm taller than my Sinn. It's a watch you either absolutely love or you completely LOATHE, but either way, you'll have an opinion.

Arrived late last week and today is the first day of wearing it.

I know this thing at times brings out Studio Underd0g levels of controversy, but woo-booy, is this it good. Bezel action is absolutely incredible, the micro-adjust clasp is the only one I own truly on par with Tudor's, the bracelet is both supremely comfortable on my very small wrist and feels truly premium. The lume is so bright you'd be forgiven for thinking this was a C60 Lumiere. There are even some impressive small details, like how the bracelet tapers so gracefully, they ended using different size screw links to make it work.

Also, communication with "John" at Ginault was fantastic -- timelines were clearly spelled out and all fully realized, and there was no issue whatsoever in asking that the finished watch be held a week for shipping while I was out of town at a funeral.

The only even slightly negative thing I can think to say about it is I think I'm about to be out another $1,800 this year when I order an Ocean Rover II.

Last week, the folks at Belhamel posted a thread about using real photos rather than renders in marketing that grabbed a lot of discussion. They also announced that they had the Contra A39 on sale. I'd been looking at this watch back when it was in pre-order stage, having wanted to add a fun white dial diver to the mix for summer, but was on the fence and was thinking I might want to get the Baltic Aquascaphe instead. Then a bunch of crap in my life happened and I was on the road nonstop, and I forgot about it. I did get to handle the Baltic in person and wasn't blown away, so when this came up for $427.50 shipped, I said YOLO and got it.

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Overall, I'm glad I did, though it's not perfect.

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On the plus side there's a lot to like: apparent build quality is generally very good: nothing fancy, but the bracelet endlinks fit flush to the case, everything lines up well on the dial, and there's nothing jangly like some pieces at this price. The Miyota rotor noise is well dampened -- I can't hear it -- and the bezel gets a special callout for its smooth action. If you've ever handled something like a Serica or a Longines, it's on par with that. Also, the packaging is ridiculously nice, including quick release spring bars for a NATO strap (which isn't included), and two screws whose purpose is a mystery to me.

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Size-wise, the case fits well on my small wrist (passing the mirror test) and this thing works well on a lot of different color FKM straps, which fit very flush to the lugs and get a finished look as a result. And the bracelet has quick-release tabs, making it a cinch for putting on a strap. Lume is good, too.

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Complaints? The bracelet is huge -- it barely works on my 6.4" wrist with all the links removed and the OTF adjust set to the smallest setting. Also, the screws were a bit hard to deal with, like there was loctite in place, except I'm pretty sure there is not. Also -- and this is because I am anal-retentive about details like this -- I do not understand why there are two spaces between CONTRA and A39 on the dial.

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Oh, and yes: the real world photos the Belhamel folks posted match the real thing.

If this watch were any more French, it would come with a beret and a pack of Gauloises. The bidirectional bezel is designed to ensure you perfectly cook any egg, anytime, anywhere.

Egg Master II Watch – MAT watches

A few months back I posted here about Big Red, the once Ghost Pepper Chili level spicy boy who'd calmed down to a mild jalapeno. At the time, he was *so close* to being ready for the indoor life, that all that was needed was a foster ready with room and a little time to tame the last bit of hot sauce out of him.

Then the worst happened: he showed up on our back step clearly injured, limping and with a crick in his tail. We tried to lure him close, but he then disappeared entirely.

But! This story has a happy ending. A few weeks ago, he started showing up again, still injured, but clearly on the mend. The group we work with, Rat City Rescue, pulled a spot for Big in their vet clinic, so all that was needed was the cat. Luckily, in addition to us, Big had also become a regular visitor at another house two blocks over, and they had no trouble scooping him up and getting him to the vet, where he was infinitely more cooperative than the last time.

The vet thinks Big tangled with a coyote, but I promised you a happy ending: he's going to make a full recovery. Better still, the other family has taken him in as a foster, where Big immediately took to such critical activities as following his new foster parents around, rubbing their legs, cuddling with their two other cats, and sleeping on pillows. And so, we now expect he's to make the best kind of failure: a foster fail. His new parents are so smitten, they've been sending us pictures of Big living the life he was always meant to live.

Enter stage right: Boots. Boots started showing up right around the time Big got injured, a very scared cat lured by the promise of the free food we leave our. This week, we decided to trap him, and an hour after putting out the trap, he was caught. Pauly, please take notes.

RCR reports he's a VERY spicy young boy, so he'll likely be released back to our yard Friday once he's snipped and healed. And so, the taming process begins anew.

Got this roughly 38 years ago when I was 12. Runs a little fast, but still ticks and the color wheel still turns. Just got a new strap for it last year at one of the stores in Vegas.

Picked up this used Oak & Oscar Olmstead 38 a few weeks ago on r/Watchexchange. Discovered when it got to me that the crown was wobbly when setting it; my watch guy suggested reaching out to them since the crown is signed to see if they could fix it.

Oak & Oscar couldn't have been nicer or more helpful -- they got me set up quickly to send it to them, and when it got there, they told me it was an issue with some early builds, so they ended up repairing it for free, which I totally did not expect. Only cost to me was the $27 to ship it to them! Fantastic customer service -- would definitely buy from them again.

Got the Sillage Hakama Suede Four -- these things are the boldest pants I've got, and I've got some floral pants from Mr. Turk. From head to toe:

• Glasses: Rigards
• Chore Coat: Kapital
• Sweater: Huckberry
• Pants: Sillage
• Shoes: Spingle