My first experience with a mechanical (or hybrid) watch. Seiko Kinetic SKA366

Around eleven years ago, I ended up purchasing a mechanical watch, albeit not an automatic one, but a hybrid. This was when I had a basic G-Shock G2900F-1V, a Guess Waterpro, and fashion brand watches  (Kenneth Cole tank watch, and a Swatch Skin). I have just started working for my local Costco, where my older brother was a staff manager (who also liked watches) and I wanted to follow his footsteps. One area where I found myself copying him was wearing a nice watch to work. He had a Tag, Victorinox, just to name a few. He did have a watch that had me drooling and that was a Seiko. I already knew Seiko as a company and I knew about their Astron watches, but I had zero knowledge about watches in general. At that point, a watch to me just ran on a battery, nothing more. I immediately bought the watch on eBay as soon as I found the model. I didn't know what I was getting into, all I knew that this watch looked good and it had the name Seiko on it, a brand I associate with TV ads and flyers inside airports growing up. I made sure the watch was exactly like my brother's, but with a slight difference to differentiate his from mine. He had a silver tone polished bracelet and a sunburst blue dial while the one I got was a dual tone silver and gold bracelet with a sunburst black dial. 

When the watch finally arrived, it was love at first sight. I was astonished on how gorgeous and elegant it looked. Most of all, I was in awe with the exhibition case back. I had never seen anything like it before. I was indulged into this little window that had all sorts of gears, screws, and a rotor.

 As I read the instruction booklet, I found out the watch didn't need a battery, but instead, the rotor powers and charges the watch through the movement of the wrist or your Kinetic energy. That right there, the joy of not having to change the battery blew my mind. I wore that watch everywhere I went, from date nights, outdoor barbecues, and of course work where I wanted to be just like my brother. I ended up giving away my older watches to my friends (G-Shock got stolen on a basketball court) due to the fact that this was the only watch I needed aside from the mentioned missing Casio. Sadly, due to countless wear and tear, the watch got all scratched, chipped, and the dial misaligned. Unfortunately, I don't recall where I last stored it and I haven't seen it since. My wife (girlfriend at that time) saw how much that watch meant to me so she went ahead and got me something I wanted too as well, a stylish G-Shock. Since I lost my first G-Shock and my Seiko all banged up, she gifted me a GA-100MC 2A the following Christmas. Right after then, it was another turn of events for me in the watch world, but that'll be another story for another time. I know this was a long one, but I just wanted to share my story since this is a watch enthusiast's blog/forum/social media anyways. Cheers! 🍻