my journey into collecting chronographs

Chronographs always appealed me the most. Fell in love with the look and my interrests in life (racing, cars, aviation, space) are often associated with Chronograph watches. So that journey started almost 20 years ago, and even if I don't plan to stop collecting chronographs, my tastes evolved over years and now I do also enjoy other types.

This Fossil was my second watch that I got as a gift almost 15 years ago. The plan was to replace my first Fossil chronograph that was getting nasty scratches(in highschool I wore that watch playing football, fell on it on the street while skabording...). I made a review about this one a while ago, and for what it is, I'm still happy with it. It was my main watch throughout my university and still goes pretty well. I bought a Bulova Lunar Pilot as a replacement, but I still haven't retired it or sold yet.

This Citizen was the first watch I bought, 15 years ago probably(can't remember exactly. Titanium case & bracelet, sapphire crystal, Eco-Drive, the specs back then impressed me, as I was still young and didn't really had any knowledge on watches, but still today I find it pretty cool. It's really thin, have 38mm with quite short lugs, it's a bit on the smaller size for my wrist. since it's made of titanium, it is ridiculously light, I easilly forget I wear it. My only complain is the watch seems to gather scratches easilly.

I got this Seiko 12 years ago now. The chrono have a really nice sweep for a quartz. What made me choose this watch was the similarity with a black IWC Chonograph that that I fell in love with in a jewellery store, but coudn't afford the IWC (I still can't today😕). Still, the all back watch case & dial with white markers still look great today, even if I would prefer a stainless steel version. The lume on it is really good, quite easy to read.

Bought this one right at the begining of the Pandemic(great times) as I just had finished university. I always found bicompax in white panda to be really beautiful. I had my eyes on the Hamilton Intra-Matic, but buying a 2000$ watch in uncertain times... I opted for this 250$ Dan Henry 1964 instead. The VK63 meca-quartz have a quite nice sweep, the pushers have a satisfying click. The domed sapphire crystal gives a nice effect on the dial. The 38mm case is great for smaller wrists, but it is quite thick with the domed crystal. The case have some nice finishing, having some surfaces polished while other are brushed. The 19mm lug width is a bit of an annoyance though, as all my watches are 20mm or 22mm.

The Lunar Pilot was a bargain, bought it from somebody that recieved this as a gift, but was too big for him, so it was a brand new watch for a really good price. While it can fit okay for me, a 45mm watch is big. The 43mm would have been perfect for me. That chronograph hand have a pretty smooth sweep, even the small second hand have a nice sweep. Being my most expensive chrono, I pay extra care, I amost only wear it at home, too scared to scratch it.

That is the new one of the batch. I've seen a lot of praise from San Martin, so I pulled the trigger on this one, there was a special on AliExpress for 150$, so it is quite a cheap watch. The Breguet type XX is a beauty, but 20k is a ridiculous price. The Longines Big Eye or Mathey-Tissot type XX are tempting, but still expensive. I bought myself a new house, a new car... So with the rising mortage rate, I went the cheap route again to give a try to this style. So far, I'm quite happy for the price. The case finishing is all brushed, it look pretty nice. The dial is completly flat, no recess for the bicompax, the markers are painted, like the Breguet, but the lume isn't incredible. The crystal have is a bit raised, it's not completly flat. Ah and the bracelet is really soft, I expected something really crappy, got quite surprised here.

So where the road brings me next ? For now, I would like to jump to the automatic chronographs, but there's a huge jump in price for that. You can find amazing automatic watches under a 1000$, but no chronographs under 2k. 1k is still a price barrier that I'm not willing to cross for now. I'm still in my early 30's, university still feels like yesterday, but chronographs are expensives, and at that price range, lots of other watches are tempting. Before getting a BigEye or an Intra-Matic, there's an Oris Pointer date that is tempting me, and I feel it would be a pretty cool one as my first watch over a 1000$. For now, I might be tempted to sell the Fossil and the Dan Henry and get myself a Sugess Chronograph for 250 CAD. That watch seems to look almost as good as my Dan Henry, but with a super sexy movement exposed. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001668337796.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_groupList.8148356.49.327e3f579YxoZw&pdp_npi=3%40dis%21CAD%21C%24%20646.84%21C%24%20271.67%21C%24%20252.27%21%21%21%21%4021038ede16923835346726949ef4d3%2112000027815233541%21sh%21CA%214525145392#nav-review

For now, I'm quite happy with my collection of cheap chronographs. The most expensive was the Bulova but it was still a bargain compared to the regular price. Making the jump the automatics is huge, and having such an expensive watch, I'll be ultra carefull, and I'll be angry as hell if I dent it. Still, an Omega Speedmaster or IWC Portugieser are still my dream watch after all, and watch collecting is a journey.