Holiday Impulse Buy

I didn't intend to get a watch while on holiday in DC. I knew I wanted something new before yearend, but I hadn't made up my mind fully on what brand I sought next, other than I found myself looking lot at these pieces on Chrono24:

• Marathon's 41mm anthracite GSAR

• Sinn's 103 (Ti Ar and Klassik), 105 (UTC), 356 (Fleiger Chronograph), 358 (Chronograph)

• Laco's 1925 (Chronograph), Kiel Weiss (Chronograph), Pilot Frankfurt (GMT)

I spent the last year and half waiting for my job to end, positively, in that my company was acquired and I opted for the severance. Well, on September 15, I got what I had wished, and my professional work break started. (Let me tell you it's a weird feeling working 23 years straight and then stopping work completely.) As any watch enthusiast knows, we can find all kinds of reasons to treat ourselves to a new watch. I'm no different... except that most of my "shopping" has been online since I've been "off."

All that changed a day after Thanksgiving. While taking a nice joy ride in my buddy's new Porsche Boxster (his own midlife treat to himself), we decided to designate a small jewelery shop 45 min away as the destination.

Ending preview - I rode home with a new-to-me (pre-owned) Bremont. I had a range I wanted to spend for my work-break celebration 🎁 and it was 2k-ish. New or Pre-owned, big brands or independents didn't matter much to me, but I have to love the watch. May be a month before the trip the same buddy put me onto Bremont when I mentioned that I was hunting for a rugged tool watch with diver, military, and/or aviation themes.

With all of the watches I had mentioned earlier on my mind, none of Bremont's newer releases in store spoke to me. But after handling and trying on a few I was definitely feeling their modern designs and, more importantly, build quality and finishing details. Also, a bit offputting was the price tag for brand-spanking-new pieces... i.e. far far over my budget.

I was ready to float around everything else they had in store, since it was Black Friday sale bonanza! All that came to a halt when I saw the pre-owned Altitude Zulu Time x Chronograph combination. I have found myself liking fauxtina owing my Seiko SPB239, so I fell in ❤️ with all this watch offered. Heft, presence, complications, design, etc. Sure - I read a bit about the backlash they ate for in-house movement claims, the lack of deep history and heritage, being a spaceship with the case construction (I like that it stands out actually).

By the way, a major selling point was the shop's apparent price tag ticketing error. They worked with me and I walked away with it and a second blue suede strap. Today I threw it on a NATO strap that I typically use for my 45mm Oris Big 👑 ProPilot and 👌 wow this thing is versatile.

Back to the honeymoon now...🍻