Watch Hunting

The girlfriend is out of town for a couple of days. That can mean only one thing, World War II movies and watch hunting. Trying to hit 15 or so places this weekend.

I needed to wear something to show that I was a "watch guy" without wearing something too expensive.

The post will be updated throughout the weekend.

Who wants to come with me?

Close to My Old Stomping Grounds

Day 1:

Stop 1: a tiny out of the way pawn shop on a side street that I never have caught open. They were finally open today but unfortunately only had lawn mowers, bicycles, and used mattresses. Yuck.

Stop 2: a resale shop benefiting battered women. Only fashion watches as usual but some day it may pay off.

Stop 3: thrift store that tries to make it look like they're associated with a charity or non-profit but they really aren't. Lots of smart watches and fashion junk nothing here.

Stop 4: my favorite pawn store this place either doesn't know what they have or doesn't care most of the time. Today they had an Oris diver 65 with the gold bezel for about $1,000 and of quartz Tissot PRX. As usual they had tons of Invictas and Bulovas. Probably a total of 50 or 75 watches.

Stop 5: on the very edge of a slightly sketchy neighborhood. The guy here always stays behind the glass. They had an 18 karat gold jump hour watch from Chaumet, Asking price $2,500, too rich for my blood. Didn't investigate further. Beautiful watch.

Stop 6: Deeper into the slightly sketchy neighborhood. Good deals to be had at this place sometimes. But also I don't think they would be above selling fakes. It was Movado Central today, then I saw it an Omega SeaMaster Diver 300m in Black. The asking price was $4,500 and included the original box and papers. Sometimes, just sometimes I think that I should have bought a Diver 300M instead of the Heritage 300.

By My Old Work

Stop 7: Pawn shop in a wealthy area. 2 Omegas, 4 or 5 Rolexes, a Breitling, a Tudor, 2 Balls (seriously grow up guys), and two Jager LeCoultres.

Stop 8. Community thrift store. Complete bust but it is in a wealthy neighborhood so it could yield fruit in the future.

Stop 9: Furniture only will skip in the future.

Stop 10: Goodwill, nothing

Stop 11: Salvation Army. Quartz fashion watches. But worth stopping in. You never know.

Stop 12: Second location of resale shops benefitting battered women. Nothing but a 1980s Tissot green stone watch. Worth stopping in the future.

Close To Home

Stop 13: Tiny corner pawnshop. This place is on a corner but because if traffic it is near impossible to get into and out of easily. They had a Breitling Chronograph for $3,800.

Stop 14: Final stop of the day. Pawn shop that had an uninspiring Seiko Automatic for $150.

By The River

Day Two:

Stop 15: The skuzziest thrift store I've ever been to. If I get out of here without lice or fleas I'll count myself lucky. This must be were donations to Goodwill in the Salvation Army end up if this organizations don't what them. To be fair is is mega cheap and I guarantee there's almost no sorting going on.

Stop 16: Antique store in an old church. More ladies antiques for decorating and crafting.

Stop 17: Mini antique small with 35 small booths. One specializes in jewelry but every time I ask them if they have watches they always seem very annoyed. Some booths smell very strongly of potpourri others smell very strongly like farts and some very special booths smell like both.

Stop 18: Nothing this time. The lady said they do get watches but they go pretty fast, she was part time. She asked me a few questions about how to recognize good watches and I shared a few basics.

Stop 19: On the other side of a building that houses a coffee shop that my girlfriend goes to every weekend. No sign 9nthe front of the building. Last day of business was today. Mostly pottery.

Stop 20: The end of the road. 12,000 sq foot antiques mall. Nothing found. Talked to a woman who said men's watches "go fast." She offered to take my name and phone number and share it with one.of the vendors who regularly gets watches so I could get first crack at them.

Total miles driven 122.6 miles.

Watches purchase 0

Still had fun.