WINDING UP THE WEEKEND!

LONG FORMAT ALERT!!!

My delayed flight is parked on an active runway (always exciting!) at SFO so I'll start this post and see how far I get.

While leaving town I approached the BART station heading to SFO where a homeless dude had an array of new hats and kept cheerfully repeating "I'm not panhandling, I'm working! Get yourself a hat!"

That interaction encapsulated much of what is weird and wonderful about San Francisco. Real challenges with a spirit of goodwill and perseverance. Many of us are just doing the best we can and income level is often a poor predictor of what lies within.

I had flown in early on Thursday to scout the WatchCrunch Meetup space and ended up meeting a family that owns a couple of really nice restaurants in the area including Zingari where the WatchCrunch gathering was being held.

I was hosted at two of their restaurants and like a rookie I got pretty wrecked my very first night in town! In my defense the San Francisco hospitality was pretty compelling.

Despite being a little hung over the following morning, Friday, I decided to walk the two miles from my hotel to the 2024 WindUp Watch Fair as the weather was perrrrfect. However in yet another rookie move I had totally underestimated just how steep some of those downtown hills actually are.

I would pause occasionally to take architectural pics...

while sharing a little Banksie street art...

but catching my breath was also part of the secret agenda. I definitely felt it in my legs the following days despite exercising on a regular basis.

As I cut through Fort Mason to take the pic at the beginning of this post I randomly ran into @CTBOY1 (aka Craig) and his friend Demetrius. Craig is a long time watch buddy and both Demetrius and I have gotten great watch deals from Craig in the past including this Rolex GMT that Demetrius scored from him.

@CTBOY1 , ever the enthusiast who remains on point, was flying his IWC Ingenieur...

As we approached the Gateway Pavillion it became a greeting fest as old friends gathered and new friends were made. The few minutes waiting before the WindUp doors opened had that magical combination of anticipation, morning energy and a fresh watch budget. (Shout out to @TomatoBass and any others who originally posted some these pics.)

My first stop Friday morning was to see Marc Frankel of Islander Watches. Marc had posted that anybody rocking an Islander could stroll on up and ask him for a crisp $50 bill! Fact or fiction!?

FACT! Getting paid to wear a watch? I felt like a compromised YouTube content creator! 😅

There were quite a few new and older catalog watches I was pleased to see being offered up at various price points.

At the always busy Oris booth there was a solitary 2021 Oris Okavango Air Rescue...

I had been pining for one and this one was being offered at about 10% more than elsewhere but I had decided to support Oris and buy the Okavango anyway, one of a limited edition of 2011 pieces.

The Okavango dial mimics a speeding overhead view of an African savanna which pays heed to the animal rescue mission of the organization. Much of their work is aviation based for obvious reasons.

However an unfamiliar Oris associate kind of dampened my desire to buy the watch at WindUp. The associate didn't know the model name, number of pieces, anything about the Okavango animal rescue mission, whether the piece I was looking at was a return or merely dead stock or actually anything about the watch other than the price. Kind of what one might expect at a department store counter but not so much at a gathering for watch geeks.

For whatever reason I decided to hit the pause button on that purchase and do a little more research. That was about as close as I came to a watch purchase during the event. I was surprised the Okavango was still there the following day until I dug in a little deeper and found it available new elsewhere for about $400 less.

A cautionary example not to get sucked into "show fever" and think that the show prices will always be the best. Many vendors were repeating the same line of "Our prices are already so low that we don't give discounts." The unfortunate part of that equation is that a potential buyer has already expended money to attend the event rather than just purchasing online so at the end of the day I don't think many walk away with the deal of a lifetime but more of an experience to cherish.

My airfare, lodging, ground transportation and WatchCrunch Meetup bar bill would require quite the watch discount for me to even attempt to boast to my wife about what a great deal I got at WindUp. Still though I feel like for what the 2024 watch fair and San Francisco offered up in general it was money well spent. I only returned this year due to the larger venue as last year it had badly outgrown the event space and I'm happy I gave it another chance.

Many of the prices at the show weren't any lower than elsewhere and some were definitely higher than elsewhere but the fair itself was a bargain as far as entertainment is concerned.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself but the following day, Saturday, I ran into @whystopatone, @Fieldwalker, @OmegaMan75 and @AlohaBrah21

It's always fun seeing which watches my fellow Crunchers are wearing and what makers they are enthused about.

@whystopatone was rocking a JLC and I really enjoyed my time with him and his wife.

@OmegaMan75 introduced me to Sebastian from Bravur watches, a brand that impressed me last year and that made the short list of watches I'd consider buying.

After WindUp finished up on Friday we assembled for our WatchCrunch Meetup at the Hotel Donatello. Was it fun? Ohhhh yeah! It quickly became packed and I was having so much fun that I hardly took any photos. Hoping that others might post any that they took.

Our esteemed guests for our WatchCrunch gathering were Raphael Granito and Markus Walchli (@Formex) of Formex fame and all around watch media personality Ripley Sellers. Ripley was joined by his lovely partner Esmerelda and their laid back pooch Ziggy.

After the WatchCrunch Meetup I joined them for some clubbing and other late night shenanigans. It was perhaps one of the funnest evenings I've had since the pandemic.

Though it was raining lightly Ripley, Esmerelda, Ziggy and I walked the mile or two back to my hotel at around 2 in the morning. The wet streets reflected all the beautiful night lights just like in the movies and I'm pretty sure we were quite the joyous sight as we merrily navigated our way homeward.

The following morning, Saturday and again hungover, I returned for the second day of WindUp.

I started a fresh search for another watch I've been interested in, though not new, it's this Laco Mojave...

I have a home in the Mojave Desert where I keep a lot of my off-roading toys and where I spend time with my wife and friends exploring. That's not enough of a reason though to buy a watch named Mojave unless the watch stands on it's own which I believe this one does. Once again though the show price didn't scream "buy me here!" so I kept on browsing.

Here are a few more watches that were fun to check out starting with Christopher Ward...

Tissot...

Wolbrook...

Nivada Grenchen, Paulin, Anordain, Circula....

Saturday evening I was invited to a private party at the home of an epic collector who lived on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

When I arrived I was blown away by the jaw dropping views and location...

And then the jaw dropping array of watches that greeted us as we walked in the door...

There was a Taco Bar set up and all the adult beverages one could ask for. The next few hours were a magical mix of conversation, libations and watch exploration.

Here is a closer peek at just a few watches that were on hand by our most gracious hosts who I am purposely leaving anonymous...

After an epic evening with other watch nuts I caught a ride back into the city and had one last drink at Zingari. I had some gifts that I wanted to give to the wait staff who worked the WatchCrunch Meetup and I hadn't had the opportunity to tell them thank you.

I went to bed thoroughly played out and awoke the following Sunday morning...you guessed it hungover!

I had a wonderful walk from my hotel to the BART station, bought my SF baseball cap then boarded my plane for the flight home.

As I approached LAX I could see Dodger Stadium was packed and I was pleased to learn they were leading the Braves. A nice welcome home.

An even nicer welcome home was my wife all dolled up to pick me up at the LAX arrivals curb to whisk me away in her little sports car for a Cinco de Mayo celebration with live music, authentic cuisine and of course Margaritas! The Cadillac kind!

Edit: finishing up this post Monday morning the 6th.

It was a great event with great people and though I spent a small fortune without even coming home with a watch I feel like I derived great value from attending the 2024 WINDUP SAN FRANCISCO WATCH FAIR and hope to attend again next year.

Shout out to those below and those I may have missed.

If anybody took pics of the Friday night WatchCrunch Meetup please post them on this thread or give them a #windup tag.

@Alanhuynh @ajklein5007 @AlohaBrah21 @artpordiaz @Complicated_Times @CTBOY1 @Fieldwalker @Formex @Framper_22 @MikeShaw @OmegaMan75 @Rome1234 @Tiempo_Relativo @TomatoBass @whystopatone