By a few more watches I mean 11, and by 11, I mean I tried on 11 luxury watches, a pretty insane experience considering my lack of experience with watches in real life. I know I seem like I have a problem, but I assure you, I do, and that should have been evident as soon as I decided to start a blog. I don’t really want most of these watches, if I’m honest. I love trying them on but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to afford them so I try not to fall in love with them more than I already have. All photos are from me this time and this is not a review of any of these watches.
When I first walked in, there were three brands I was interested in, Grand Seiko, Omega, and IWC. I walked straight to the Omega section, and got two try on two Seamaster’s, the No Time To Die edition, and the Bronze Gold heritage Seamaster. They both fit better than I expected, especially the modern Seamaster 300m. I prefer the dial of the heritage inspired Seamaster, with the sandwich dial, and the gold-bronze Omega uses looks so good, but the mix of vintage and hyper modern on the 300m was just as great.
I tried on three Grand Seiko’s afterward, only two of which I could find online. I obviously had to try on the Snowflake, which did not disappoint, I am so glad I got to experience that hyper smooth Spring Drive sweep, the beautifully textured dial, and the titanium case. There are more modern Grand Seiko’s that I prefer, but I had to try on the watch that put them on the map. The second Grand Seiko had a relatively boring dial, that still looked beautiful, I could not find it online, but it looked nice. The third Grand Seiko I tried on was in a gorgeous brown color and based off of the 44GS. It doesn’t have a super unique dial but it was gorgeous nonetheless, and I loved the size.
After Grand Seiko, I had to humble myself, so I tried on a more affordable Oris Big Crown. This watch might’ve been my favorite one to try on, I thought the size was great, the color was really nice and I love date pointers rather than the more traditional date window. The watch felt incredible, looked incredible, and I kind of miss it if I’m honest. Maybe one day I’ll actually own it.
Finally I made my way around to IWC, and I didn’t hate them! IWC is sort of known for making large watches just because, they sort of got their start from pilot watches. I tried on the Mark XX and the Portugieser Chronograph. The Mark XX was nice, but not interesting, I also didn’t like the blue sunburst dial, personal preference. The Portugieser Chronograph, on the other hand, was incredible, while it is not a small watch, the lug length is so short the watch feels much smaller in person. The blue and white is really well proportioned, and I loved how glossy it looked in person. That Chronograph might be a new grail.
Finally I tried on a few Hamilton watches. To start bluntly, I do not like the Ventura, it is an interesting watch but the lugs are so weird that the watch feels unbalanced, but I tried it on, and I’ve always wanted to feel it. The PSR was incredibly fun to try on, it was very obviously luxury and I do appreciate the minimalist look it offers. My favorite Hamilton very much held up in person. The Pilot Pioneer Mechanical felt really nice, it was finished well, the nato strap felt great and was super thin, and the small cushion style case fit super well. I’m a bit embarrassed to love this watch as much as I do.
All in all, I tried on about $52,000 worth of watches. Some of these watches held up, some didn’t, and some I fell in love with on the spot. I guess the only real problem is my lack of money…
Watching Watchmaking is written of Ribbon Eichler. © 2024. All Rights Reserved.
