Out with the SS in with the BRONZE

Autumn 2020: The dial I have drooled over is on my wrist encased in a beautifully finished stainless steel case. How many times did I watch that Bark & Jack video? Obviously not enough, because I'm handing the watch back to the sales person, and walking back out into the cold with my SO (she was the one initially trying on watches).

Summer 2021: More experienced in the world of watch collecting, more experienced with bronze, and more experienced in watching the same Youtube reviews over and over, I visit an Oris AD.

In the metal, the bronze Oris Big Crowns are breathtaking. However, the brown and green dials, are nothing compared to that delicious red. It is domed-sapphire-crystal-clear to me that the bronze case should be matched with the red dial.

I suggest this modification to the AD, and we work something out, in exchange for a hefty extra fee on top of their already ridiculous price.

A week or so later, while waiting for the AD to order and get everything, my SO and I come across the original red dial watch with the ss case, at a great discount, half the price of the bronze special order. I buy it, thinking I'll have the dial I love, the design, and a fancy case, saving lots of money in a scratched-up-plexiglass economy. And long story short, I cancel the bronze special order.

Winter/Spring 2022: Doubt. The watch has managed to get compliments from people who aren't even into watches. The watch received the compliments, its high polished steel cutting its connection to me like the outline of a UFO against reality. It chose me, and I deserve no praise for being its wearer.

New straps, that's the answer, right? Everytime you feel something is off with your collection, or that you should get another one.
A Hirsch Performance strap is bought and attached to the Oris. I love it, it wears well and allows me to wear this watch on more occasions.
Great, should I buy the same type of strap for my other watches? "Yes", I think, "It would make them all more versatile"; forgetting old wisdom,  "When everyone's super... no one will be.".

Summer 2022: 1WC. Wearing my Citizen and nothing else, made me reassess my collection and think hard about each one. One conclusion from this was that I shouldn't let a watch take up space in my collection when it's not really the one I want there. The stainless steel Oris Big Crown Pointer Date, "It'll have to go".

Today, I have the red dial, the bronze case, the watch I truly wanted on my pink-beige brown dotted hairy wrist, and I love it, not just the dial, but the case and the handset too.

Thanks Oris for listening to common color combination sense, releasing the bronze-red combo, and thanks to the dealer for the great price.