I recently bought a blue Citizen "Silver Leaf" NB1060-12L, and have had it on wrist for almost two weeks, so it's on my mind. I also own Grand Seiko. The dial is very Grand Seiko-esque, and the overall look is not so far off. The finishing of the case, hands, and markers is not up to Grand Seiko, but is excellent.

There's also the Citizen Chronomaster, aka The Citizen, which gives Grand Seiko quartz a run for it's money. Fit, finish, and design I would say is half a step down from Grand Seiko, not quite up to par but close. Their quartz movement in some ways tops Grand Seiko; its rated accuracy is higher, many are solar powered, and it has a perpetual calendar.

I'm not sure where all this was going. As far as people "don't like" Nomos watches, sure, some don't, as is true of any brand. I don't know what that means as a general matter. Nomos is almost always talked about with respect among watch peeps whenever it comes up, even if they sometimes add, "though it's not for me." Yes, Nomos watches are offbeat and quirky, so do not have the same mass appeal as say Tudor or Omega, but then they're not they're not trying to compete with the big mass market brands on their turf; they seem to have found their own niche.

As for "they all look the same," they have many distinctive designs within their niche. Sure, someone not draw in by their design language can take a quick glance and say they're all the same, but someone who's interested enough to look a little deeper will find lots to choose from. Divers to me look pretty much samey samey, and I don't care enough to figure out the differences, even though lots of folks will go on ad nauseum about all the myriad Seiko divers.

Whatever the financial state of young people in general these days, there are plenty who can afford a multi-thousand dollar watch. Nomos is not trying to sell to every young person, they're just trying to reach a fraction of the fraction who can afford Nomos prices. Nomos is still at the low end of luxury, so a good place to start once you get past the "affordable" brands. They do seem to be pushing this part of their market with their emphasis on the Club line, their entry level line with more approachable designs and prices, presumably with some success since they keep doing it.

As for me, at the long end of Gen X, so boomer adjacent. I'm an urban professional, but no longer young, and I don't think my income rises to the level of the prototypical yuppie. Nomos spoke to me, more so one watch in particular, the Metro Gangreserve, so I bought it.

All in all, looking at them from the outside, Nomos is a niche brand traveling a narrow lane, but with the parameters they've set for themselves they've found success.

I recently went to Puerto Rico, and planned to bring the Lorier GMT, and a Christopher Ward diver for the beach. At the last minute, I thought screw it, and also threw in the Grand Seiko SBGJ249 Shosho. I ended up wearing that pretty much the whole time, except at the beach. I worried not a jot on the streets of San Juan, or up in the rural mountains where I spent most of my time. I did worry a bit about losing track of stuff as one does with the chaos of travel, but the the watch was always at the front of mind, so it was fine. It might have been different if it I had moved every day or two, rather than mostly staying put. And as an aside, I live in New York City and wear my Grand Seikos everywhere and at all times day or night, and I worry not a jot.

The picture of the Soko up top brings back memories. Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, as the pestilence came upon us and lockdown was descending, I somehow landed on watches as something to pay attention to that wasn't disease, death, and mayhem. I quickly fell down the rabbit hole and read and watched everything I could find, and started buying watches, beginning with low end Seiko, Orient, etc., as one does. Eventually I ran across Spring Drive. It immediately grabbed my attention as the coolest thing in the world, but the price was clearly completely out of the question. I mean, my $400 Hamilton was already an outlandish extravagance after all. Later that year they released the Soko. At $5000, rather than $6000 or $7000, it was less outlandish, but still absurd; but maybe, just maybe, I could consider it?

As lockdown lifted, I made my way to the Grand Seiko boutique on Madison Ave.; it might have been the first luxury watch store I visited. I tried on the Soko (and the Snowflake of course, since that's what everyone talks about), but the watch that really grabbed me was the Shunbun, and wouldn't let go. Skip ahead half a year, with shaking hands I handed over the credit card and bought me the SBGA513, and I actually owned a Grand Seiko Spring Drive. While I didn't buy the Soko, it was a stepping stone to jumping the shark and adding a 0 to the amount I was willing to spend on a watch.

And now I also own a Peacock. Clearly I got over luxury watch sticker shock. It's lovely. I bought it for the look and design the look and design; while not unwelcome, the GMT function was wholly incidental.

PS I was also tempted by the JLC Master Geographic, but having just bought the first Grand Seiko, it was too rich for my blood.

The Ikepod website pops up "We are setting your language and currency. Please wait a moment..!" and I can't make it go away, so the website is unusable. I was likely going to vote for Studio Underdog anyway, but Isopod, sorry, you lose!

Thanks! But don't get too excited; in general I don't think my photos are too exciting. But just to whet your appetite, here's the Shosho with the white tunicle (yeah, I know it looks blue, but that's just the orphrey), and the Shunbun in said tunicle (I wish I had a picture of the blue one). I probably shouldn't take pictures of watches in church.

I'm not too keen on green watches, I find they tend to clash with clothing and are hard to match with straps. The Alpinist is mostly stashed in the back of the watchbox these days, but I'm glad to have it around. I guess I'll have to break it out this summer.

I agree, but I can't get that worked up about it. I don't think anyone says you must buy X or you're lame, they just suggest X might be a good place to start. It's well known and respected, it's robust, it's versatile, etc. etc. Why watch videos and read forums unless you want to get thoughts, opinions, the lay of the land in the wild world of watches? Good to know that the whole world loves the Speedmaster, even if I don't really want one.

My first luxury watch was Grand Seiko SBGA413. I bought it because it grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go, until with shaking hands I handed over my credit card. It's not on anybody's list for first watch, but it turned out to be an excellent choice. It's still my favorite and most worn watch. If anyone were to ask, I'd say almost anything in the Grand Seiko Heritage Collection would be a good start; pick your dial, movement (I'm partial to Spring Drive), and price point. But nobody's asked, and they'd be free to look elsewhere.