[geeks] Re: hub needed

[Chris Byrne]

> I recently got my first watch in about five years:
> 
http://www.legends-inc-watches.com/swatirautbod.html


Nice watch, I didn't even know swatch made any automatics. I bought my
Stepfather the Sergio Garcia special edition Irony Chronograph for
christmas because he doesn't like to wear his 74g 18k Geneve all the
time. I bought my step brother a sekonda chronograph as his first "real"
watch, also for xmas. 

I'm big into watches, perferably large face chronographs. I have about a
dozen and I want more.

My main daily wear watch is a Citizen ProMaster Navihawk with a Rosewood
custom extra long leather band. 

http://www.wristwatch.com/depot.asp,,sku,,cit-jn000427e,,idx,,19671,,slt
,,37585.7685300926 

When Im feeling bracelety or when I KNOW im going to be gettting wet
(the navihawk is rated fot 10ATM, but the band doesn't like salt water)
I go for my Tissot chronograph. It has a stainless steel bracelet and
sapphire crystal.

I also regularly wear a VERY thin and small tissot echo, and a movado
museum

I have a beautiful automatic Omega Chronograph that I pretty much never
wear because its too expensive for daily wear. I also have a nice TAG F1
chronograph from the eighties, a solid gold Tower, an original issue
hamilton bomber crew chronograph (1946 I think. I havent had the serial
checked) and a few others including an actual russian submariners
chronograph (not the new production ones you see in catalogs) that I
bought in a street stall in Prague for the equivalent of $10 two years
ago.

I keep wanting to buy a breitling navitimer 

http://www.breitling.com/en/models/navitimer/index.php?size=1024&fs=no

but when I've had the money recently I havent had the inclination to
spend it on a watch and when I had the inclination to buy a watch I
didn't have the cash on hand (about $2,000-$10,000 depending on where
you buy it and which options.)

I got started on this watch buzz by my grandfather, who when I was 13
gave me a Rolex Oyster Perpetual chronograph (at the time Rolex
Chronograph movements were made by third parties, so it wouldn't be a
real oyster perpetual but they still called it that) in gold and
stainless that a client had given him as a gift and he didn't want (he
himself had a gorgeous solid gold patek philippe with a 56 gram nugget
style bracelet that he wore for 30 years). 

When I was 16 I was racing my Hobie Cat on lake Winnapesaukee in NH. I
was going like mad, hiked out on the trapeze just a bit too far in just
a bit too rough water, and the harness link snapped. I made a grab for
the running stay and missed, but unfortunately the bracelet didn't. Also
unfortunately it didn't hold either. The clasp popped and scraped a
bunch of skin off with it when it went. About a half second later I went
into the lake, the cat went ass over teakettle, and I lost both the
race, and my watch. Hurt like hell both physically and emotionally. I
NEVER want to see another $10k watch go into the drink.

Actually whats interesting me the most these days is the guy who
patented a mechanism for powering jewled mechanical movements with body
heat. The link was on /. A few weeks ago and the watches are absolutely
beautiful but start in the region of 10k and go up from there. Also some
of the lesser known swiss chronographs, and the newer watches coming out
of Russia. Their procuding some really excellent outomatic movements at
very reasonable costs because they have an excessive pool of skilled
machinists and slack factories.

Chris Byrne