That's the same reason I bought my Arnie; I wanted that rugged functionality but I don’t really like Casio's design language

Too many.

The first watch I ever bought with my own money was a ginormous Skmei ani-digi three-timezone monstrosity that I got from Amazon for $20. I bought it because I swore it had a whiff of 70s kitsch about it, even though people back in the 70s were wearing Royal Oaks and Oysterquartzes and not shit like this.

The buckle broke the first day I was outside of the US in London, and I threw it away later on.

One of the reasons I came here was because I was tired of Reddit, and to a lesser extent Instagram. I pride myself on making content that's meant for actual watch enthusiasts, not people on Reddit or close-minded forum users who unironically think bullying people for buying an Omega and not a Rolex os a good thing

That Arabic dial Casio looks sick; where'd you get it?

I reckon that with a bona fide luxury watch you practically get everything most enthusiasts look for in a timepiece: quality, history, street cred, etc. But there's just something I find very appealing in watches from affordable independently-owned brands-especially Vostok and other formerly Soviet brands-that I feel you'd miss out on if you hit the ground running with a Datejust or an Aqua Terra. The best way I could describe my feelings regarding my Vostoks is that even though it superficially shares a lot in common with something like a Seamaster or a Submariner, it was designed to be a reliable timepiece that some of the most socioeconomically deprived people in history to rely on, not just a glorified piece of jewelry you'd show off to random people on the street; there's this good-natured humbleness that you find in Vostoks that is completely absent in a Rolex or a Hublot. It's sort of like how driving a slow car fast is way more fun than driving a fast car slow.

The 1963 is a great watch and the ST-19 is THE gateway drug for mechanical chronographs. That being said if you want a "real" 1963 you're gonna have to shell out over $500 for one on Alibaba if you want to buy it from Seagull themselves. But even though the cheaper ones are "fake" because they aren't directly produced by the Tianjin factory, they look practically identical, and you can get one off Ali for about $150.