2014 Watch Year in Review

[hayday]

I added a lot of watches in 2014; eight in all. The majority of these additions were vintage pieces, and only one was a gift. Here is the month by month breakdown:

January: 1967 Zenith Calibre 2531. I have long lusted after Zenith, particularly the Captain series, but couldn't justify the price tag at this point in time so I did the next best thing. I went vintage. I love everything about this watch: the size, the small seconds hand, the grey-tan color of the dial, the Zenith star. It's really a great little watch that looks great in pretty well any setting.



February: 1955 Hamilton Powell. I don't wear it terribly often as it is a little too dressy for my personality. Still, the vintage bug had bitten me hard and was demanding an American-made Hamilton. I believe there are few things in the watch world as beautiful as the Hamilton Jazzmaster series, and the same can be said of the American-made Hamiltons of the 1940s and 1950s. This watch is the picture definition of elegant simplicity in a dress watch. Lemme know if you're in the market for an American-made Hamilton and I'l hook you up with Dan the Hamilton restoration demi-god. Special hat tip to Imitation of Life for helping me with my quest; I wouldn't have gotten over my disdain of yellow gold without you.





March: Seiko SKX009. This is technically another vintage as it is from 1984; at least that's what the eBay vendor told me. Like most of us, I really like the look of a Pepsi-bezeled dive watch and plan on gifting myself a birth year GMT Master II when I turn 50 (holy shit, that's in five years?) To whet my appetite, I went with the only other Pepsi-bezel dive watch in its league: the Seiko SKX.



April: Melbourne Flinders. I fell in love with this watch when I first saw it, and I kick myself everyday for not getting it at its kickstarter price. It is the most expensive of all the watches I got this year, though it still falls solidly in the "affordables" category. This watch is about as perfect as a watch can be. I gave myself this watch when I got a new job (i'm a high school special education teacher) and I wear it often.



June: 1972 Timex diver. I will defend Timex against any and all detractors, and I believe their divers from the 1960s and 1970s are among the best there ever will be. Ok, that may be a stretch, but, still, how do you not love these awesome little divers. It is tiny and doesn't get the wrist time it should, but I always enjoy wearing the little bugger.



July: After adding four watches in four months, I took of a month off. I had to make up for lost time and got two watches this month. The first was truly special: a birth year Mickey Mouse watch. It took me about a coupla months of research and sales forum patrolling to find the right one, but finally-o-finally I found it, "it" being a 1970 Ingersoll/Timex Mickey Mouse. Purely a fun piece, I only wear it every coupla months and keep it for the sentimentality.



The second watch was also a diver and another Seiko. This time an old Seiko 7002 that I had modded. I love snowflake hands but couldn't find a Tudor Sub for a price I was willing to pay so I went the other route and got a Seiko on the cheap and modded it. Snowflake hands, new dial and blue/black bezel compliments of Dagaz, and awesome workmanship by Duarte at Northeast Watch Works.



December: Seiko 5 World Timer. World timers usually turn me off, but Popuki posted hers and it became one of only two that I actually like; Frederique Constant makes the other. I put this, and a few other things, on my Amazon wish list after the wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I was not expecting it and was quite surprised by it. Damn glad I included it, and everything about this watch is understated greatness.



What does 2015 hold in store? Dunno, but I do know that I won't be adding as many pieces as I did in 2014. I will definitely get a Scuba Dude, I may finally get the Oris Artelier Regulateur I first fell in love with two years ago, and the Gavox Legacy keeps whispering sweet nuthins in my ear.



Stay tuned, and thank you again for all of your help, advice, enabling and camaraderie.

-hayday