Recently I saw a number of ‘role model’ watch wearers of unassuming round watches under 40mm, on leather strap. They were influential to me because they wore watches, not sported them. And it got me thinking of my odd-shaped G-Shock Mudman solar, the chunky marbled 2200, the watches that attracted so much attention to my wrist and if I had deep pockets. And I realized that I was doing it all wrong. I had to stop collecting watches and start buying for the true me.
The true me always wanted quality and respect yet in a humbler, more universally accepted form / outlook. The true me has always been practical and frugal. That, I didn’t like homages and blatant copies. And I required durability.
So sometime ago, I sprang $100 for the Baltany D12. An AliExpress brand I had never heard of before. The watch arrived machined to perfection but was quite the generic, sterile timepiece as far as watches go. Things changed when I found it the right strap. A double thickness textured nylon in pale olive green. This set the D12 off like no other strap before and it has become my EDC.
The specs are pretty impressive for the price: sapphire crystal, unguarded screw lock crown, superluminova lume, bead blasted SS, Seiko VD78 quartz movement, 35mm diameter. It was almost perfect. I suspect the small seconds requires less torque and will last longer between battery changes. Maybe 40% longer.
Aesthetics wise, the watch is ordinary and boring, undecorated and unimaginative, maybe they saved on not having a designer look it over. It really is just the most basic way to tell time effectively. Nothing extra. Having paired it with NATO, leather, rubber, and even lizard, I was unimpressed. It was still boring to the point that the $100 I paid gave me ulcers. The last one, the yellow lizard looked best but clashed with the whole point of the watch’s basic personality. Eventually, a flea market buy saved the day. The ridged and woven faded-effect fabric accentuated the D12’s innate seriousness and gave the dial some bite. But more importantly, it meant I could now wear my most practical buy with ease and peace.
More later…
Noticed the price of Seiko 5 military watches went up by almost 1.6 times. Alpinist, up 10% at least. Stocks of Orient are low. A Star Classic on Carousell going for a reasonable 1kRM, used. Not sure whether I’ll add to my ‘collection’ but mostly I rotate between:
MudMan tough solar -my adventure / outstation / travel watch (560RM)
MQ-27 on faux lizard -my dress watch (90RM)
Baltany D12 -my casual / daily wear watch (460RM)
I would also like a traditional-looking hand-wind piece as my heirloom watch when I save more money, but for now these will have to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment