SOTC. Winding down 2022

You are buying big, like the love 💕

I went a bit crazy this year and am going to have to take a proper look at things but the big ones for me are:

Hamilton Titanium Khaki Automatic H70575733

Chris Ward C60 Sapphire Orange 

Tissot PRC200 T055.427.17.057.00

E. C. Andersson Calypso II

Wise ADM9

And my incoming Clemence Watches Photic Diver

I’ve bought a lot of watches this year but I think these are my top ones. 
 

Next year I need to take stock but the brands I’m most interested in are Farer and another CW. 

A Grant Brown 9415C, in green with a brown leather strap. I signed up for Watch Gang and that's what I got sent one month. Quartz, not my color preference. Never sees the outside of the box. The teen claimed it.

A Blacklist Streetmatic SM012: Another Watch Gang piece, but I picked this one after the wife bough me some credits to allow me that option. I wear it a fair bit.

My Garmin smartwatch, Darth Vader Version with a Speedy dial face: Another gift from the wife (Father's Day 2021), Wore it quite a bit last year, but not a fan of all the notifications so I killed most of the functionality & made it a fitness tracker. 

An M. Johanson MOZIA: the first watch the wife (then GF) gave me about a decade ago. Has temp & humidity gauges, day/date and a moon phase complication. It's HUGE (56mm case, probably 60mm lug to lug) and I've broken the crown. Still needs to get to a shop. 

An Invicta Diver Chrono Model 14875: First non-novelty watch I think I myself ever bought. Still, it's inexpensive but looks decent. Was mostly my beater; now Retired.

An Archon Seafarer Ref SF06: Another from Watch Gang. It's an automatic with an open case back, small seconds; but brown, which is a bit of a bummer. When you leave the decisions to others about what watch you get in a subscription model, that's what happens. It's a shame really, because the watch itself is fine, great even, but I'm not a fan of brown dials/bezels. Gifted it to my graduating nephew.

Second row left: Another gift, this time from the first wife. A Citizen Corso Ref 5510-F52452 Y. Currently broken; might remain so for symbolism's sake.

A wooden watch by Treehut: Nothing special, except it's a gift from the wife (sensing a theme? LOL) and wooden. My dad was a carpenter and I like things made of wood that usually are not.

My Nautis Dive Chrono 500, 17065-A: Another Watch Ganger, but I enjoy this one. I call it my 'Aquaman' for the orange & green colors. Kinda thick & heavy.

A Cheap, Chinese knock off of a Diesel. Binned it yesterday.

My Star Wars Novelty Battle Droid watch I bought in 1999. Cheap quartz digital display, but fun with the flip up face.

Now for the onslaught of the other watches...

4 other novelty Star Wars watches I picked up for $20 total ($60 total in 1999). More fun watches, all with the flip up display cover

My Casio G-Shock DW-9052: I am trying to complete a collection with a theme of 'Wristwatch History of my Lifetime' and this was a budget-friendly G-Shock. Now, I'll probably pass it on to my teen. 

A cheap Mumbai Special 'Citizen' I bought for $30 as an example of an automatic watch to fill the collection.

An Invicta Pro Diver... Impulse buy, but not unhappy about it. Bezel action sucks though. 

A Timex Marlin birth year watch.

A Citizen Eco Drive Darth Vader I bought myself for Father's Day. 

A vintage Vostok Kommadirskie which is a POS, but will be used as a learning tool when I start taking it apart. 

A Sugess Pilot Chronograph with an open case back showing some interesting finishing. I love watching it run. 

A Forsining fashion watch that was bought because I liked the case & bracelet decoration along with the skeletonized dial.

A Glycine Airman GMT I found on eBay for a really good deal. Proper Swiss automatic with a GMT. Love it. 

2 CasiOaks, purchased with the intention of swapping the modules with each other to create a Tuxedo watch (black case/strap w/ white module) and a Rainbow Cloud watch (White case/strap w/ iridescent crystal). However, the white module is 2mm too small. 

A Timex TW2R362 dress watch, identified as a ladies watch, but it's slim with a beautiful radial design on the dial. Very nice and unobtrusive dress watch. This was a NOS buy that clicked zero boxes in the collection criteria, but was too cool & inexpensive to pass up. 

And finally an Armitron digital watch in red. Impulse buy and a bit of retail therapy if I'm completely honest. Fills a hole in that I didn't have a red watch for my CFB team, but it also clicked zero boxes in the collection criteria. 

Summary: Began the year with 11 watches, 3 non-runners. Gave 2 runners away, acquired 18 new watches bringing my total collection to 27 watches. 

Some excellent additions. 

I'm all set with  4 figure watches after 5+ decades of watch accumulating. I actually enjoy the budget market now. Especially since the quality of Micros has improved exponentially in the past few years.

Some recent additions

Honestly, Foggy, it has been your foray into affordables that once again peaked my interest in them. 
 

I am not yet done with the $1500-$2,000 range but am getting there. unless I make one big purchase at retirement, I won't likely ever go over that amount again. For me the law of diminishing returns really hits hard above $2K. 

I've been looking at lower costs watches and have my eye on the Steeldive Pilot 1903.  How do you like the watch since you got it?

I like it a lot. Great size for me an tha mecaquartz movement is accurate, though with a shorter battery life than regular quartz, at about 2 years. No big deal to me. Very well made watch at a bargain price. It's my 3rd Steeldive.

Nice to see someone else from the area here.

Thanks, Jeff.  After weeks of comparing the Steeldive with much more expensive options (Hamilton Murph; Nomos Club; Oris Big Crown) I just pulled the trigger on the Pilot 1903 Automatic.  The mecaquartz was sold out, unfortunately.  But the automatic still seems like a great deal.  I ordered a khaki nylon strap as well as the black leather.  I'll post pics on WURW once it comes in.  Thanks for your feedback, and it is great to see another New Englander on this site!