Impulse buy turned out even better than expected

Picked this up from a trusted watch enthusiast selling on the Best Damn EDC Discord server, whom I've purchased from before. It was unplanned but the price was good ($215) and is a model that is not available anymore. I knew I had to act quickly and the price wasn't enough to cause any sort of undue strain so I decided to take a chance.

The way I've gone about collecting is to fill certain style roles with inexpensive Timex and Casio pieces, and then upgrade them piece by piece over time. A blue dial Casio Duro had been my diver role for a little while, so I when I saw this go up, I knew it could be a solid upgrade to that piece in my fledgling collection. Although this Islander is smaller in dimension than the Duro, I think it actually sits better on my wrist. The Duro had a rubber strap that did not have a sweet spot for my wrist size - it was always either slightly too tight or slightly too loose. The Islander bracelet, however, is well made despite its affordable price and I found a very comfortable adjustment point. Furthermore, my everyday GODA piece (a Seiko SRPE-51 with an aftermarket jubilee bracelet) is also a 40mm so I think my wrists have become accustomed to that size - it just feels natural to me, despite it being on the smaller end of the spectrum for my chunkier wrist (7.25 in).

The only thing I wasn't sure of was if I'd really like the seconds hand. Both its contrasting red color and the shape on the end of it had me wondering if I would jive with it. I'm happy to report that both have won me over in short order. This is a watch where I liked it at first sight, and now that I have it in person, it is continuing to improve my opinion of it - which is a really great feeling.

I am also glad to finally join the Islander family. Marc was instrumental in developing an interest for watches in me with his YouTube videos so to have one of the pieces he designed, and moreover one I can truly see being in my collection for life (we'll see what the next tier brings years down the road for the diver piece), makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.