I think i'm starting to get addicted to watches now, a week ago i picked up a Luminox 3000 series (blue face) to replace my beat up old Timex Ironman, and i was happy with it, then i started to do research online and discover that watches were almost as addictive as knives and flashlights.....
i started off with the Luminox (time exposure);
tritium illumination is incredibly cool, no charging of photoluminescent paint and the slow fade to darkness, just a constant light output good for 12 years before the dimming starts.....
i then went to Kittery Trading post, bought a Wenger Battalion because it was on clearance, problem is, it was a major aggrivation to get it synced up to the Atomic Clock (Time.gov) and the day/date bilingual calender was a royal headache to set, i hated it and returned it the next day....
i took a few days off from watch searching, until this weekend, when i discovered there was a Seiko Factory Store in one of the Kittery outlet minimalls, and they were having a 30-50% off sale....
i stopped in and purchased a Black Pulsar Tech Gear Solar 4000 series Diver watch ("Black Diver"), Pulsar is Seiko's "economy" line, they use the same movements as the Seikos, they just cost less and don't have the "prestige" of the Seiko name, internally, they're very similar
the Diver is very similar to the world-renowned Seiko "Monster" series, they have a similar high performance lume paint, a slightly lower end clockwork mechanism, and are solar powered, they also have a few advantages *over* the Monster (besides the price savings)....
it's Solar powered, and once fully charged, the battery has a 6 month power reserve, the Monster is an automatic, and has a 24-48 hour power reserve
the second hand stops moving (or "Hacks") when the crown is pulled to position 2 to set the time, the Monster does not hack, making it annoying to perfectly sync with Time.gov
the Monster *does* have a better crystal (concave as oposed to convex) and is better constructed than the Pulsar Diver, but it's also more expensive, i'll eventually get a Monster (probably an Orange Monster) at some point, but with my Luminox and Diver, i'm set
I did stop in a second time to the Seiko Outlet on Saturday, they have some "almost perfect" factory seconds on the back wall, watches that may have some cosmetic flaws, or were used as demos in watch stores and can't be sold as new, they lower the price dramatically and give them a 30 day warranty, i picked up a Pulsar Chronograph, but was not happy with it's luminescent paint performance, so i took it back and swapped it for an "Almost Perfect" Blue Diver, same price, but with far superior lume paint....
darned if i can find a thing wrong with it, aside from some extremely minor cosmetic scratches on the watchband which will happen with normal use anyway....
now, if these watches only came with Tritium Traser illumination, they'd be *perfect*.... solar powered, built like a tank, a heavy, solid, manly chunk of stainless steel...
here's some more pics of the watches....
hopefully these three timepieces will satisfy my watch needs for the forseeable future....
i started off with the Luminox (time exposure);
tritium illumination is incredibly cool, no charging of photoluminescent paint and the slow fade to darkness, just a constant light output good for 12 years before the dimming starts.....
i then went to Kittery Trading post, bought a Wenger Battalion because it was on clearance, problem is, it was a major aggrivation to get it synced up to the Atomic Clock (Time.gov) and the day/date bilingual calender was a royal headache to set, i hated it and returned it the next day....
i took a few days off from watch searching, until this weekend, when i discovered there was a Seiko Factory Store in one of the Kittery outlet minimalls, and they were having a 30-50% off sale....
i stopped in and purchased a Black Pulsar Tech Gear Solar 4000 series Diver watch ("Black Diver"), Pulsar is Seiko's "economy" line, they use the same movements as the Seikos, they just cost less and don't have the "prestige" of the Seiko name, internally, they're very similar
the Diver is very similar to the world-renowned Seiko "Monster" series, they have a similar high performance lume paint, a slightly lower end clockwork mechanism, and are solar powered, they also have a few advantages *over* the Monster (besides the price savings)....
it's Solar powered, and once fully charged, the battery has a 6 month power reserve, the Monster is an automatic, and has a 24-48 hour power reserve
the second hand stops moving (or "Hacks") when the crown is pulled to position 2 to set the time, the Monster does not hack, making it annoying to perfectly sync with Time.gov
the Monster *does* have a better crystal (concave as oposed to convex) and is better constructed than the Pulsar Diver, but it's also more expensive, i'll eventually get a Monster (probably an Orange Monster) at some point, but with my Luminox and Diver, i'm set
I did stop in a second time to the Seiko Outlet on Saturday, they have some "almost perfect" factory seconds on the back wall, watches that may have some cosmetic flaws, or were used as demos in watch stores and can't be sold as new, they lower the price dramatically and give them a 30 day warranty, i picked up a Pulsar Chronograph, but was not happy with it's luminescent paint performance, so i took it back and swapped it for an "Almost Perfect" Blue Diver, same price, but with far superior lume paint....
darned if i can find a thing wrong with it, aside from some extremely minor cosmetic scratches on the watchband which will happen with normal use anyway....
now, if these watches only came with Tritium Traser illumination, they'd be *perfect*.... solar powered, built like a tank, a heavy, solid, manly chunk of stainless steel...
here's some more pics of the watches....
hopefully these three timepieces will satisfy my watch needs for the forseeable future....
.
