INTRODUCTION

 

Instead of writing yet another review and because so many are writing reviews these days, I decided to do something a little different. I wrote a story, yes, a story. Basically a "day in the life" of an every day Watch Idiot Savant. This is my first attempt at such an undertaking and if enough of you like it, I may continue to write my reviews in this fashion.  

 

 

SAM'S DAY

 

Sam woke up that morning to the sound of his G-Shock Frogman’s alarm. Being solar powered, with Atomic time keeping, Sam never had to worry about missing wake-up call. It would take a lighting strike to stop the Frogman and frankly, if lighting did strike so close to Sam’s bed, being late would be the last thing on his mind.

 

There was just enough time for a quick shower and shave, then the dreaded drive to the office. He often wondered how others can get up very early, read the paper, make breakfast and take their time before leaving for work. No matter how many times he tried, he was not a morning person and could never sustain the early morning wake up.  Instead it was a daily mad dash out of the house.

 

The only morning task he took his time with, was his watch selection. Which watch would it be today? His daily wearer was his beloved IWC Aquatimer, but he always felt he neglected his lesser worn watches. Thankfully he owned a beautiful Wolf Design multi watch winder and kept a minimum of three running at all times. Just in case he decided to change at the very last minute and did not have time to properly set one of his mechanical watches.

 

Today was casual Friday and why not go with something different. One of them caught his eye. Almost as if he heard it say “Wear me”. He was sure he was imagining things, nonetheless he could not resist. As he grabbed his Crux CX-1, he was immediately reminded why he had chosen to purchase this watch in the first place. The clean look, applied numerals and stunning hands seem to pop off the dial. On went the CX-1 and off he went to work.

 

After some dismal traffic due to the rising sun, Sam arrived at his favourite coffee shop for his daily caffeine fix.  This particular Tim Horton’s is very busy at rush hour and Sam always takes this time to admire the watch he chose for the day. The Crux’ recessed case back and 44mm size make this one of his most comfortable watches. The bezel is his favourite attribute, as it is deeply sculpted and lines up perfectly with the dial. A long honk woke him from is day dream and he realized the drive-through line-up had moved along ahead of him and the morning commuter behind him was losing his patience. Definitely not a WIS!

 

Fifteen minutes later our protagonist was sitting at his desk filling out his morning report before his 9:00am deadline. If traffic would not have been so bad this morning, he might have had time to surf his preferred watch forums; regrettably it was not to be. It is a shame when “real life” gets in the way of one’s hobbies. TZ, WUS and the others will have to wait until lunch...

 

At 11:00am one of his suppliers made an unexpected visit and off to the conference room they went. As soon as he sat down he noticed the Oris strapped to his visitors wrist. Cool! Could this be a fellow WIS? The only way to find out was to comment on his watch. Well, what do you know, he is a collector, but has never visited any of the on-line watch communities. He had stumbled onto Oris when visiting a local authorized dealer and fell in love with the design. That is when Sam decided to “educate” him on boutique watches and can you think of a better way than showing him the Crux?

 

Crux he asks in a puzzled “did you really say Crux?” way. Yes Crux, named after a constellation only seen from the southern hemisphere.  Sam went on to explain that the founder, Kenneth Chan, is based in Australia and he was very helpful when it came to choosing a CX model. There are 4 choices, from applied markers on a deep black dial to a cream “patina” lume on a brown dial. There is a model for almost every taste. Sam’s came with a smooth black calk skin strap, with white stitching and a super soft silicon strap. The latter fit the case so snugly, that it could not be articulated downwards. You would think this would be a problem, but with the short lugs, the silicone suited the watch perfectly and it was Sam’s favourite combination.

 

Sam’s supplier seemed weary of non-Swiss watches and that if it was not Swiss, then it better be Japanese. Sam took off the CX-1 and handed it to him and said, “This baby has not gained or lost more than 3 seconds a day since I received it and that’s the very same ETA 2824 pumping life into it as in a Breitling SuperOcean.” This seemed to impress the supplier a great deal.

 

Sam went on to say “Gone are the days of having to pay huge dollars to get interesting watches. The internet has brought along an incredible amount of variety, with remarkable quality, housing respectable movements and at almost every price point.” If anything, the supplier agreed to visit the on-line watch communities Sam suggested and then it was time to get down to business.

 

Sam could not help his mind from drifting, as the supplier was trying to convey his reasoning behind a 2% price increase for his services.  What if he had never stumbled onto Bernardwatch.com some 14 years ago and traded is vintage Tudor Prince Oyster Date, which led to his discovery of TimeZone.com and WatchNet.com. Would he too be so difficult to convince about the possibility of *gulp* affordable quality watches? Probably...

 

The remainder of the meeting went about as predicted. Try as he may, the supplier did not get his 2% increase, instead he was talked into an additional 5% overall rebate for Sam’s continued patronage.  It was a gift; Sam has always been able negotiate his way through any business transaction so that the outcome was in his favour. He should try and put his talent to good use while watch hunting. Unfortunately his infatuation for all things that tick seems to render him powerless against the opportunity to own the one he lusts for next. After all, there is always a next one...

 

The afternoon did not turn up any interesting WISful events; in fact, he had to work through lunch putting out fires.  So the forums had to wait again, but this time until after work, when he got home. He did however promise himself that he would post something special, as he was not been present all day. Once again life had gotten in the way.

 

The drive home was brutal. There must have been an accident on the highway and the descending sun was glaring through windshields at such an angle that the visor was rendered ineffective, which created further unnecessary havoc. When he leaned to the right onto his arm rest, his left arm grabbed the top of the steering wheel and that is when he noticed the sun’s incredible reflections on his watch. The markers seemed to just float above the dial, he was stunned! Right there and then, he knew exactly what he was going to post tonight. A photo shoot of the Crux was in order!

 

He could not wait to get home and when he did, it was the usual hustle and bustle of supper with the family and homework with the kids. Though once the kids were in bed, he brought out the camera and off to the basement he went, but not without a disapproving “You and your watches again” comment from his wife. Of well, he was used to it, it is a small price to pay for sharing your enthusiasm with your fellow WIS. For as long as he could remember, he has always been into watches, but the ability to share with others like him from all around the world is what really ignites his passion.

 

For this reason he spent a good chunk of the late evening snapping pictures and then the better part of the night posting them on the forums.  It was getting very late and he needed to go bed, as he had to get up early again tomorrow to start all over again. Thankfully he can look forward to reading all of his friend’s comments about his new Crux photo essay.  That is if he gets to work early enough...

 

 

SAM'S PHOTO ESSAY

       

 

       

 

* Please click on the various thumbnails to view in high-resolution

 

Other pictures from my BLOG

     

 

   

 

The last seven pictures are mine, taken with my Nikon P80 camera and were used in my 1st impressions post on my BLOG. They pale in comparison to Brandon Sparks' incredible pictures above. If you would like to see more of Brandon's handy work, you can catch him on EOT's Main Forum, where he is the moderator. Thank you again my old friend!

 

I hope you enjoyed this story. It was a lot of fun to write. As I said above, if the response is positive, I may do more reviews in this fashion. My next project is a Tawatec diver. Would it not be cool to read a story about a Special Forces Sniper who happens to wear one and how it saved his life? I already have the story plotted... :)

 

 

Thank you for reading,

Marc Levesque