Are you a member of the GS9 Club? Then they just send you emails. And while I can be cynical and say that it's just a marketing ploy, you do get to go to events where they ply you with Japanese whiskey and sushi (not that I can drink the whiskey, but I've had so much Grand Seiko sushi). And it helps to be in New York, ground zero of Grand Seiko.

I'm in. Here's my contribution to the nations leading progressive grassroots queer advocacy organization, since queer folk need defending these days.

Grade 5 titanium a la Grand Seiko is not dull. It’s slightly grayer than steel, but you’d be hard pressed to notice unless you held them side by side. Well worth the tradeoff for the light weight and comfort.

Busy dials can look overdone, but they can be done well. For me a good example is the Citizen Nighthawk. Lots going on, but well thought out and usable. Well, you have to squint at the slide rule bezel, so not very practical, but then how useful is a slide rule bezel anyway? And yes, I did teach myself to use it. The busyness also mitigates the size. The 42mm would look like a dinner plate on me, but the business makes it wearable.

I got display case backs on Seikos to Grand Seiko. Given a choice, I’ll always take a display caseback, I don’t care how cheap the movement. I like to see the cogs and the balance wheel tick.

The Royal Oak does nothing for me. If I had Royal Oak money, I would get a Lange, or something, you know, attractive.

I have a G-Shock Square, the plain Jane black variety, and a Casioak. Fair enough if you don’t like the look, but I don’t see what’s flashy about them, or how they’re anything like the Royal Oak, including the Casioak. They’re perfectly utilitarian. Well, my Casioak is red, but I like red.

I always put mayo on a burger. Fight me.

The one with Roman numerals, absolutely. The black one, too stark, and I can’t cope with no hour markers. Except I wouldn’t pay Cartier money for a Tank. It’s so iconic it’s generic. I’d save my pennies for something more interesting and unique, like the Santos.

I dig the red.

Reading this article more carefully, photoluminescent paint was invented in the 60s, which eventually developed into LumiNova in the 90s.

Shortly after the war, Nemoto started working on a non-radioactive compound and, in 1962, created a new phosphorescent material made of strontium aluminate... Nemoto’s creation has an induced luminescence, meaning it needs to be charged by a light source in order to glow. 

To make a long corporate story short, what Nemoto created came to be known as LumiNova after being joined by RC-Tritec AG, a Swiss manufacturer of Tritium luminescent paint founded in 1993.

Glow in the dark paint existed before the 90s, and, if my memory serves, and I think it does, was used in watches.

Hmm, I really don't think my memory is that far off. And I would have thought radioactive lume was even cooler (both my parents were physicists). Glow in the dark toys and such certainly already existed.