Watches in the Wild Interlude: An Ode to a Grand Seiko
The big girls are sick. The baby is sick. I am sick. My wife, iron woman though she is, is also sick. Plus, the first draft of the Watches in the Wild that was set to go out this week mysteriously deleted itself which is frustration incarnate.
So you get a late and short post this week due to my technological incompetence. But even so, I had an encounter this week with a budding watch enthusiast that compels me to write and share.
As always, no actual pictures of the spot, its not how I roll. Oh, you're also going to have to cope with some navel gazing as well.
Grand Seiko SBGA211
Seen on the wrist of a gentleman in a parking garage at work. I complimented it and asked if it was a Snowflake.
He looked surprised for an instant, then laughed and said that I had superior watch identification skills to his. Friend, I am glad you are not quite as broken in the head as I am. Seeing watches everywhere occasionally feels like sensory overload.
But we chatted a bit and I showed him my watch (was wearing a Jaeger LeCoultre Master Geographic at the time). He's an aspiring collector but, with some chagrin, said that this was his only real watch. Honestly, it's a pretty damned iconic watch to be an only watch. We should all be so blessed to have that level of taste.
I've waxed poetically about the Snowflake before so I won't bore you with how perfect I find this watch, from movement to dial to materials to the wabi sabi placement of the power reserve that is so evocative of freshly fallen snow swept to the side by a plow.
I will only leave you with this thought. Every great watch brand has a truly iconic watch that is emblematic of what is best about it.
Rolex has the Submariner. Omega has the Speedmaster. And Grand Seiko has the Snowflake.
A masterpiece.
Personal Waffling
It was the above conversation (and seeing the Snowflake in the bracelet) that pushed me to take the strap (that @AllTheWatches kindly directed to me towards when I beseeched WC to crowdsource a strap for me) off my SBGA429 and put it back on the bracelet.
To me, the Soko Shadow is a watch that lives its best life on the metal. Not that I don't like the leather straps I got for it, but the grey anthracite dial is fabulously set off by the bright steel of the case and bracelet.
I have often reflected that in the absence of sentiment, the Soko would be my #onlywatch. It's sporty and sleek, classic in looks but powered by a thoroughly modern caliber, capable and understated. It can go anywhere.
Over the past two weeks I wore my Soko to a trampoline park, a meeting with the endowment of a large private university, and in my sweat pants while deathly ill with some toxic combo of cold and RSV. It is my steady travel companion and has visited the diviest dive bars and the most Michelin bespangled restaurants in the world. It is a watch that I struggle to feel out of place wearing.
I own many other watches and will own many more in the future. A sickness is a sickness after all (and we ain't talking about the flu).
But the Soko is MY watch, in the deep and all encompassing way that only a watch nerd can talk about such things.
Back to our usual programming next week.
Fin.
By day, investor and father. By night, Seiko nut. #justgooutsideandtouchgrass
That was an enjoyable read!
I Absolutely adore the soko shadow, love it! Hope you get better, i too am off work sick!
If this is you when you’re sick, taking care of family, and handling all your business, you’re a freakin’ hero. Get some rest and stop ogling watches🤣
I was sick from my shots this week and I couldn’t even be bothered to wear a mechanical watch.
That was an enjoyable read!
Thanks! Just a short one, because it's been a messy week as is!
I Absolutely adore the soko shadow, love it! Hope you get better, i too am off work sick!
I need a weekend of sleep which I probably won't get but I'm largely on the mend.
The Soko Shadow is probably the best value in GS's entire catalogue, especially if you source it used or grey market. It's a perfect toe in the water for the Grand Seiko collection as a whole.
If this is you when you’re sick, taking care of family, and handling all your business, you’re a freakin’ hero. Get some rest and stop ogling watches🤣
I was sick from my shots this week and I couldn’t even be bothered to wear a mechanical watch.
I don't choose the watches! The watches choose me!
I'm on the mend, mostly. Just a bit of an annoying cough right now.
Sleep is for the weak anyway.👌
I don't choose the watches! The watches choose me!
I'm on the mend, mostly. Just a bit of an annoying cough right now.
Sleep is for the weak anyway.👌
Is your meme about your family or your watches? 🤣
Pain is weakness leaving the body.
Always gorgeous!
The Soko is a great watch! You need more GS!
Always gorgeous!
It's hard to take a bad picture of the Soko (or the Snowflake for that matter). GS dials are hard to beat for the details.
The Soko is a great watch! You need more GS!
Whenever GS makes a competent clasp, I'm in for a titanium GMT of some sort 😉.
But until then.....
love the green second hand
Spotted this guy on the wrist of an aerospace executive during business negotiations. It looks much better in person than in pictures.
love the green second hand
Me too!
Spotted this guy on the wrist of an aerospace executive during business negotiations. It looks much better in person than in pictures.
Totally with you there. It's a definitely a big watch but it's the most attractive diver that Breitling has ever made. I wish they invested more in this historical aesthetic.
Every watch is a real watch. :)
Did a business dinner last night. A guy at my table (the CEO of a company we are doing a deal with) was wearing an 18k gold Rolex Cellini moon phase and his assistant was wearing a Cartier Ballion Blue. Beautiful watches both. My Aqua Terra was outclassed at that table.
I always like seeing Cellinis out in the wild but I do occasionally wonder if Rolex's tool watch DNA runs too deep. Case shape wise, the feel very sporty to me.
Being the former owner of a BallonBleu, I can't help but approve!
Excellent spots!
Every watch is a real watch. :)
Undoubtedly, though I got the gist that he genuinely owned only the Snowflake. I suspect he might be a reformed fruit themed smartwatch wearer given the comment.
Undoubtedly, though I got the gist that he genuinely owned only the Snowflake. I suspect he might be a reformed fruit themed smartwatch wearer given the comment.
I wear both. (currently wearing an Accutron Spaceview and an Apple watch Ultra) I'm just tired of the idea that a watch somehow isn't a REAL watch till it cost enough money to hurt properly. If you wear it and it tells time, its a watch.
I wear both. (currently wearing an Accutron Spaceview and an Apple watch Ultra) I'm just tired of the idea that a watch somehow isn't a REAL watch till it cost enough money to hurt properly. If you wear it and it tells time, its a watch.
I don't really discriminate on price and I don't know that he was making that specific point either. I'd like to think this watch spotting column has been pretty wide ranging in the price points of the spots. As you said, if you wear it and it tells time...at the very least, price shouldn't have a place there.
Smartwatches are harder for me.. I'm not really against them so much as they kind of trigger the question as to when something stops becoming a watch and starts becoming something else (like a cellphone or a computer). Maybe it's an intent of use thing, where the primary function should be around telling time. Like a cellphone being able to play games doesn't make it a game console. The Nintendo DS being able to tell time doesn't make it a pocket watch.
This is not a particularly well formed thought so I'm always open to being convinced otherwise.
I don't really discriminate on price and I don't know that he was making that specific point either. I'd like to think this watch spotting column has been pretty wide ranging in the price points of the spots. As you said, if you wear it and it tells time...at the very least, price shouldn't have a place there.
Smartwatches are harder for me.. I'm not really against them so much as they kind of trigger the question as to when something stops becoming a watch and starts becoming something else (like a cellphone or a computer). Maybe it's an intent of use thing, where the primary function should be around telling time. Like a cellphone being able to play games doesn't make it a game console. The Nintendo DS being able to tell time doesn't make it a pocket watch.
This is not a particularly well formed thought so I'm always open to being convinced otherwise.
The same reason I don't consider a smartphone a WATCH. A watch is by definition a time device you wear. Apple watch sold 20 million watches last year so they definitely fill the watch bill for a LOT of people. My Apple watch Ultra is a 21st century tool watch. But my classic watches are fun. Hence why I double wrist. I refuse to do without either. :)
A great read. The SkyFlake might just sneak past the Snowflake in the masterpiece stakes. The blue is mesmerizing.
A great read. The SkyFlake might just sneak past the Snowflake in the masterpiece stakes. The blue is mesmerizing.
FWIW, I like the skyflake more than the snowflake. But the Snowflake was the OG so attention must be paid 😉
@Edge168n Am I allowed to say "Ha!, I knew you'd go back to the Soko with bracelet"? After the brief dalliance with aftermarket straps (I did it myself and even bought the same strap from etsy) you know the Soko on bracelet is the way....
I have the most wonderful weird relationship with my Soko. It's something special, it's something boring, it's something amazing - it depends on the light, it depends on the mood. If it wasn't for the the lime-green seconds hand, if it wasn't for the yellow GS, if it wasn't for that one moment where the light shows that the dial is not flat at all but something amazing, if it wasn't for the "wait it's black, no it's silver, no it's the best brown/burgundy I've ever seen...wait I can see the bamboo!"
All I know is that it's a watch I will never part with, and it walks a unique line between boring and always-changing. And for that reason I think it's better than a Snowflake.
@Edge168n Am I allowed to say "Ha!, I knew you'd go back to the Soko with bracelet"? After the brief dalliance with aftermarket straps (I did it myself and even bought the same strap from etsy) you know the Soko on bracelet is the way....
I have the most wonderful weird relationship with my Soko. It's something special, it's something boring, it's something amazing - it depends on the light, it depends on the mood. If it wasn't for the the lime-green seconds hand, if it wasn't for the yellow GS, if it wasn't for that one moment where the light shows that the dial is not flat at all but something amazing, if it wasn't for the "wait it's black, no it's silver, no it's the best brown/burgundy I've ever seen...wait I can see the bamboo!"
All I know is that it's a watch I will never part with, and it walks a unique line between boring and always-changing. And for that reason I think it's better than a Snowflake.
Totally! I'm always up for a good "I told you so" especially when it's directed at me.
I think those straps are really good though, they're a good change of pace
@Edge168n Am I allowed to say "Ha!, I knew you'd go back to the Soko with bracelet"? After the brief dalliance with aftermarket straps (I did it myself and even bought the same strap from etsy) you know the Soko on bracelet is the way....
I have the most wonderful weird relationship with my Soko. It's something special, it's something boring, it's something amazing - it depends on the light, it depends on the mood. If it wasn't for the the lime-green seconds hand, if it wasn't for the yellow GS, if it wasn't for that one moment where the light shows that the dial is not flat at all but something amazing, if it wasn't for the "wait it's black, no it's silver, no it's the best brown/burgundy I've ever seen...wait I can see the bamboo!"
All I know is that it's a watch I will never part with, and it walks a unique line between boring and always-changing. And for that reason I think it's better than a Snowflake.
And to respond to your edit....I agree completely. The Soko is Grand Seiko at its very best. Subtlety that gives way to grandeur. I have never before owned a watch that has such different characters depending on the light and mood.
It is not the most expensive watch I own (far from it) but it's the one that I enjoy the very most for it's own aesthetic merits.
Sorry about the family illness. Hope everyone is on the mend soon.
Sorry about the family illness. Hope everyone is on the mend soon.
We're getting there. It's been a bad week but a better weekend. If my youngest can shake it, then we're back in business.
I'm hopeful.
I hope you’re better soon my friend.
And the accidental delete of a long hilarious column - 😣 ouch
Love the ode to GS, real bummer you couldn’t attend the event with us.
I’ve never had on either of the Arashiyama GSs. But Light, shadow and simple elegance is the GS way.
BTW - did u also try the white colorway? I think that is my preference of that pair.
My perfect GS 👇 ? For now!
I hope you’re better soon my friend.
And the accidental delete of a long hilarious column - 😣 ouch
Love the ode to GS, real bummer you couldn’t attend the event with us.
I’ve never had on either of the Arashiyama GSs. But Light, shadow and simple elegance is the GS way.
BTW - did u also try the white colorway? I think that is my preference of that pair.
My perfect GS 👇 ? For now!
Getting there. The kids are still not sleeping amazingly but I am at least well today.
I did try the silver colorway....it's lovely but I favor the darker dial for its malleability!