Reply With QuoteWhat a difference a strap makes. Here's my SKX007 on a black & orange NATO I recently bought from P9CLY off SC. I think it goes really well with the orange plongeur hands...
So I figured I'd write a bit about my mini watch journey over the last year…
It all starts about 15 years ago when I fell in love with the Seiko RAF Gen 2 watch. At that time I had no idea about NATO straps but loved the look of the RAF watch and, to be honest, thought this was the only watch out there that had this clever two-strap "NATO" thing. I bought one from an online aviation shop for, if I remember correctly, 175 pounds which seemed a lot at the time, though when I see what they go for now, sigh. The sad thing is somewhere over the proceeding ten years I lost it – don't know when or how, but it's very annoying.
Eventually I was passing a watch shop and on a whim bought a new watch, this Victorinox Swiss Army quartz model # 24221.
I wanted something with simple lines, robust, waterproof, and with a cloth strap, and have to say that over the years since it's proved a pretty good wear-anywhere no-nonsense watch that's served me well. Over time the strap broke though, got another one, then that broke. So on the search for new straps I discovered all about that strap that had been on my Seiko RAF – the NATO strap. In the search for such straps, I found Timefactors. Nice straps, but wait, what's that sweet sweet watch they are selling – The Speedbird III.
Now I really wanted that, but dithered for a couple months until eventually I bit the bullet and went to place an order only to find out they were now out of stock, the last one had got sold that morning and the next batch would only be available in a few months. Damn! I decided to wait for it but in the meantime I started reading more about watches. Thus began a bizarrely long and circular process of trying to decide on a new watch, doing the rounds from the Speedbird to Seikos to the Longines Legend Diver to endless variants of dive watches, Halios, fliegers… it went on and on with no choice made. I also loved the Eterna Kontiki IDF re-issue, but that was way too expensive for me.
Then I saw pictures of the then-to-be-released limited-edition Tactico TC2 by Crepas. Very nice it looked indeed – Eterna Kontiki IDF styling in a modern 500m dive watch at the right size and price.
I placed my order with the ever-helpful Ana at Crepas/Tactico and a month or so later it arrived. I was tempted to get the optional leather strap but decided against as I knew it'd end up on a NATO. The quality is really excellent, nice size, double-domed sapphire, super lume, beautiful dial… I think they did a great job on it. The bracelet isn't great if you ask me, but I never wear bracelets so don't care. Some say the hands could have been a little larger and I think that's somewhat true, but I think it still works and am very happy with it. But unfortunately the watch bug had struck and I soon started looking at other watches again.
I'd always liked the modded Seiko SKX007s I saw posted but having the work done seemed a lot of hassle, so when I saw a very nice one offered for sale at a reasonable price on Sales Corner, I bought it.
Sorry for the crap photo, it's a lot nicer than that one shows. I liked the modded dial, plongeur hands, the sapphire glass and especially the bead-blasting. I hate watches that are too flashy or shiny. This is a good workhorse that I can take around without worrying too much about knocking it etc. It's good on a NATO, and then I bought a black GasGasBones strap off Sales Corner. It feels very chunky on that which I like though the lug-to-lug on the GGB proved a little long causing the strap beneath to bunch up a little, but no big deal.
I thought that would now be the end of my watches. One nice, the Tactico TC2, and one as a beater, the SKX007. But it turned out my thirst for the Speedbird III had not been quenched and I spent many months poring over pictures of it, though could never decide if I preferred the look of the standard or the GMT version. To be honest they are both good in different ways. I didn't really have the money for another watch, but I was sitting at home one afternoon when I saw a Speedbird III GMT posted for sale and couldn't resist. I was quick, which was good because the seller got four offers to buy within two minutes, but seems I was the quickest to say yes.
It's a really nice watch and generally am happy with it, indeed I wrote a mini-review of it here.
So where next?
Not sure really. I'm holding off on any new purchases for a while I think (I hope!). I currrently alternate between the TC2 and the Speedbird GMT, and when I go to rough places where damage or theft is likely I wear the Swiss Army. The Seiko isn't getting that much wrist time recently, but I still like it. Currently I'm looking to get a GasGasBones FB-20 for the Speedbird in either tan or blue, and a Phoenix NATO in Admiralty grey for the TC2, to see how those work out.
But there's a fair few watches out there I'd love to own some day. I don't aspire to any very high-end watches I think, and there's definitely limits to how much I am willing to pay for a watch. But eventually I can see for the right deal I may end up thinking about one, or some, of these:
Glycine Airman SST
Chinese Air Force 1963 re-issue
Crepas El Buzo
Longines LLD
Lip Nautic-Ski
Marathon TSAR/GSAR sterile
Kemmner Bund
Seiko 6117-6410
Vintage Jenny Caribbean
Zodiac Super Sea Wolf
Some of the more funky Yema designs
Precista PRS-29B
Dreadnought GMT Voyager - oh yes this looks like it will probably be very nice and I may have to "try" to get one.
Or maybe I'll just finally come full circle back to where it all started and get myself another Seiko RAF :-)
Last edited by occamsrazor; 28th April 2013 at 19:13.
What a difference a strap makes. Here's my SKX007 on a black & orange NATO I recently bought from P9CLY off SC. I think it goes really well with the orange plongeur hands...
Now have the Tactico TC2 on the GasGasBones... The lug-to-lug length of the TC2 fits much better than the SKX007 did, and so far quite liking it, although it definitely feels more "bulky" than the NATO did...
Excellent proofs that a great collection does not have to cost a fortune!
Cheers,
Christian
Tactico looks awesome!
Although I really like the "Speedbird" NATO I was getting a bit bored of it and fancied a change. For some reason I didn't get on with the below strap when I first got it - material is a bit thick and soft and I find it a little harder to push through the lugs - but today I'm really liking the colour combo....
Very nice. Good to see the old Seiko getting some love.
State of the collection 2014 - new additions Kemmner Bund and Sekonda Tideranger, see some thoughts on those here:
Last edited by occamsrazor; 11th January 2014 at 15:21.
Recently I've added a Marathon TSAR which I am pretty happy with - and have posted a review of this watch here.
Nice to see the old Seiko. Best regards.
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