In which I talk about my watches

And now for something completely different. Feel free to ignore this if time-keeping wrist ornaments aren’t your thing.

For most my life I never saw much interest in collecting things. That said, I always liked wristwatches; I’d ask for them as a kid, and two of my favorite birthday presents were watches, both of which I still have (seen below). The funny thing is I’m the diametric opposite of a jewelry guy; I have no desire to adorn my neck, fingers, earlobes and other body parts with shiny baubles – it makes fighting assassins much harder when they can choke you with your own pendant, you know. But lately my interest in watches has turned into something of a mild fascination; something about a nice timepiece on the wrist just clicks for me, not to mention how they’re fairly marvels of engineering.

So I’ve decided I’d start myself a little watch collection, beginning with the four I presently have (not counting a $10 hunk of plastic I keep shoved in my drawer somewhere), arranged by length of ownership (older to the left, newer to the right):

Stand in awe before my mad photography skills.
Also, you would not believe the amount of lamp-wrangling jujutsu I had to pull off for this mediocre lighting.
[full size (2048×1353)]

From left to right:

[full size (1108×2838)]

• Columbia CL-7408
  Date acquired: C. 2003–2006 (birthday gift from aunt)
  Dial: Analog, dark blue, 12/24-hour marks, 3 hands (hour, minute & second)
  Luminescence: Hour, minute and second hands (no hour marks)
  Other functions: Date
  Water resistance: 50 M
  Movement: Quartz (battery)
  Case: Stainless steel, silver
  Band: Aftermarket Polo-brand 19 mm black genuine leather strap with pin buckle
  Notes: I don’t remember when exactly I got this, yet I remember semi-dreading it; I knew my aunt had bought me a watch, and I (being younger and less appreciative) was afraid I might not like it and would then need to fake enthusiasm. So I was more than relieved when I opened the box to find this little beauty inside. I may have outgrown it long ago (it looks tiny on my wrist), but I’m still fond of it and you couldn’t pay me enough to part with it.


(Original wristband pictured)
[photo: eBay | full size (879×1500)]

• Timex T2M704 Chronograph
  Date acquired: C. 2007–2009 (birthday gift from parents)
  List price: ~ US $100–150 (discontinued)
  Dial: Analog, dark grey, 12/24-hour marks, 3 hands (hour, minute & chronograph second), 3 subdials (2 o’clock: chronograph 1/20 second; 6 o’clock: seconds; 10 o’clock: chronograph minutes)
  Luminescence: Hour & minute hands, hour marks
  Other functions: Date, chronograph (up to 30 minutes), unidirectional rotating bezel
  Water resistance: 100 M
  Movement: Quartz (battery)
  Case: Stainless steel, silver
  Band: Aftermarket Timex Ironman Triathlon 20 mm black rubber strap with pin buckle
  Notes: I’d been pestering my folks for a while about wanting a watch with three subdials (I was always one for specific tastes), so when they finally caved in and got me this for my birthday I was fairly over the moon. It’s gone through through a handful of straps since then, but it’s another cherished item that isn’t going anywhere. My only peeve is that the second hand is actually in the lower-most subdial; the larger third hand is only for the chronograph, which trips me up; I keep expecting it to move, or wondering whether the watch is broken when it doesn’t.


[photo: Amazon.com | full size (967×1500)]

• Citizen BL5470-57L Eco-Drive Chronograph
  Date acquired: August 2015
  Price: CA $400 on Amazon.ca (list price: US $450)
  Dial: Analog, textured dark blue, 12-hour marks, 3 hands (hour, minute & second), 3 subdials (2 o’clock: function dial & chronograph 1/20 second; 6 o’clock: mode dial; 10 o’clock: 24-hour dial)
  Luminescence: Hour & minute hands, hour marks
  Other functions: Date (perpetual calendar), chronograph (up to 60 minutes), 24-hour alarm, dual time zone, lower-power warning
  Water resistance: 100 M
  Movement: Quartz (light-powered)
  Case: Stainless steel, silver
  Band: Stainless steel bracelet with push-button foldover clasp
  Notes: As much as I like the Timex piece, eventually I decided (since I finally had my own income) to splurge on something a little more expensive but that would satisfy my every demand. A lot of searching later, I decided on this beauty. Trust me when I say the photos don’t do it justice – it’s so glitzy and shiny I swear I get transfixed by it the moment I step into a well-lit room. It’s also wickedly accurate, gaining only a couple seconds per month, well within the official specification of +/- 15 seconds. The lume is incredible, very bright and lasting well up to 8 hours and beyond. Finally, the Eco-Drive light-powered battery is good for life, so as long as the watch is regularly exposed to any lighting (which is guaranteed if its worn regularly or left on display), it’ll still be ticking a century from now.

  Really, my only issue with this watch is the bracelet; it’s beautiful and sturdy, but no amount of adjusting can get it to sit on my wrist just right, so it’s either too loose (enough to slide halfway up and down my arm) or tight enough that it irritates the skin beneath the clasp. It also can’t be swapped for another, according to the local jewelers. That’s the primary reason I eventually decided to get myself the next watch in my collection.


[photo: Amazon.com | full size (939×1500)]

• Citizen BL5250-02L Eco-Drive Chronograph
  Date acquired: December 2017
  Price: CA $200 on Amazon.com (Black Friday sale) (list price: US $425)
  Dial: Analog, textured bluish black, 12-hour marks, 3 hands (hour, minute & second), 3 subdials (2 o’clock: function dial & chronograph 1/20 second; 6 o’clock: mode dial; 10 o’clock: 24-hour dial), tachymeter (60–500)
  Luminescence: Hour, minute & second hands, hour marks, 6-o’clock mode subdial hand, 12-o’clock bezel “pearl”
  Other functions: Date (perpetual calendar), chronograph (up to 60 minutes), 24-hour alarm, dual time zone, unidirectional rotating bezel, lower-power warning
  Water resistance: 200 M
  Movement: Quartz (light-powered)
  Case: Titanium, silver
  Band: Brown genuine crocodile leather strap with white stitching and pin buckle
  Notes: I basically wanted a BL5470-57L clone with a leather strap, so I couldn’t do better than this. This slightly older model (2006; the BL5470-57L’s from 2012) has identical features, and even a couple extra with the diver’s-style rotating bezel, the added luminescence, the tachymeter and the enhanced water resistance rating. It’s also all-titanium, which means it’s literally half the weight of the hefty all-stainless BL5470-57L. Having only owned this watch for less than a week as of this writing, I’m pretty pleased with it – it’s much more comfortable on my arm. Still, I plan to swap out the original brown leather strap for a nice black leather one with a foldover clasp – the BL5470-57L’s ruined me for pin buckles.

#mycitizen #blackfridayftw #hashtagabuse #illstopnow pic.twitter.com/78OeE2kfwW

— Joé McKen (@joemcken) December 21, 2017

It’s a humble assortment for now, but I hope to grow it in the months and years to come as new pieces catch my eye. I’ll probably post more then.

Edit (12/27/17 @ 12:01 AM ET): Typo fix.