Walking Through Tourneau's

I just got back from a Vegas getaway. We did a lot of walking, eating, drinking, and marveling at the grand facade architecture. It was good times. And speaking of times, I was on my own little watch shop tour. At the top of my list was the time dome - Tourneau's.

I'm glad I made it. Tourneau's was amazing. Two floors and three levels on the first floor. Everything from the usual luxurious offenders to G-Shock. I was anxious to put the Tudor Pelegos on my wrist again, but they only had her in blue. I wanted to see the black one in person again  ... since I'm trying to save for it. Sad.

Also sad is - I found Tourneau's itself more exciting than  the watches in it. I'm too picky. There were only a couple watches I really liked, and nearly all of those were minimal, classic divers like my Armida. But Tourneau's itself was huge and amazing, like the casino it sits in. I have never been surrounded by that much horology in my life.

You should go, it's definitely something to see.

Put Something On Your Head

I have a lot of hats. Pork pies, pub caps, fiddlers, greek fishermen, cadet caps, Stormy Kromers, dixie caps, Mau caps, jeep caps, beanies, boonies, can hats, and a fez. Hats are a great way to express yourself. I've dug up some of the more unique hats I've encountered and would like to share them with you.

Stormy Kromer - perfect camper / boater
I have a Kromer and I love it. But I do have to be in the mood for it. I typically prefer shapes quite a bit different from Kromer's, but they are so well made. They are comfortable and amazingly functional. With their large bill and snug fit I actually wear mine sailboat racing and camping.

Duck Canvas Greek : perfect Popeye
White fiddlers and fisherman caps are perfect summer caps. They are fun, humorous, and to me scream I AM the party - because they just don't care. And who doesn't want to party with Popeye.

Aphgani Pakol : awesome wool traditionale
I found these a few years ago and really wanted to get one. Had I found the black one I JUST encountered I probably would have purchased it. Wearing one them in this part of the world would definitely be a bold fashion statement. They are nice and minimal, rugged, utilitarian, and wool! I'll have to get one sometime.

Stetson Docker : expensive... beanie?
This one is truly strange. I like the stitched panel beanie idea, but it would have to be fitted. I feel like making it sizeable just makes it look like a classic baseball cap that has had its bill cut off. And then there's the price. Now I am TRULY confused.

Howell Shantung Pork Pie : because, Ska!
To me this hat screams Ska. And I love me some Ska. It is another great summer and party hat, like a young fun cousin to the Panama.

The Telescope : a porkpie cap
This is one of the strangest hat... cap... uh I don't even know.  I have zero love for flatbills, so taking a Pork Pie (Which is a style I love) and putting a flatbill on it is an abomination. The end result looks like a cross between a conductor hat and a Civil War Kepi But I have to give it full credit for its uniqueness.

RT Love

I am not a Macross/Robotech nerd. I am the guy who sees a big cheap watch and thinks it's cooler than the watch on the nearby person - who's wearing a Blancpain. I'm just a dood who digs RT and has read some of the novels, seen some of the cartoons, collects RT/Macross TShirts. Speaking of which, here are the coolest RT/Macross shirts I've found - and or own - so far.

Classic! VF-1 Valyrie
I have this shirt and love it. Such a sweet VF pic, it looks really good.
Link.
https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/864690-vf-1-valkyrie

Guardian - red version:
I bought this shirt when it was still awaiting it first release, so it was a long wait - but totally worth it! Guardian configuration is my favorite, so I love it! I believe this also comes with yellow triangle etc.
Link.
https://www.80stees.com/products/guardian-robotech-t-shirt

Cyclone S&R:
The service and repair shirts are cool. I want to get them all! I have this particular one in gray. I won't list and link them all, but there are S&R shirts for all kinds of RT/Macross tech.
Link.
https://www.teepublic.com/kids-t-shirt/1818454-cyclone-service-and-repair

RDF Logo:
Nice and minimal, and only those who know RT will know what it is. I don't have this one yet, but need to.
Link.
https://www.redbubble.com/people/olahragayu/works/27002779-robotech?grid_pos=3&p=t-shirt&rbs=860521f2-ed38-42dc-b7a2-c4878e7a9189&ref=shop_grid&style=mens

My Favorite Ignored Divers

I spend a decent amount of time perusing watch forums, doing image searches for watches, scrolling through Pinterest watch feeds, and talking about watches. It is safe to say I have a passing interest in them. If you follow my articles at all you know I enjoy all kinds of watches. I have a cllection of cool looking 'space age' watches. Sadly some of them only LOOK cool. cool half of them are sitting dead due to insanely rapid battery depletion, or dead dead - apparently due to rusted contacts. But they look like they came out of yesterday's future.

Ultimately, however, dive watches are my one true watch love. There are other styles I like, but nothing like dive watches. I have a couple Citizen dive watches, and they are beautiful. Nearly every Citizen I've ever seen is really good looking. But my current taste is classic and minimal. I am constantly looking around for great minimal classic dive watches.

I love the look of some of the older Submariners.
Minimal face, dot indicators, minimal hands (I prefer sword hands to the Mercedes hands), clean bezel, flat sapphire  crystal (A nice bevelled edge is cool), date optional, no cyclops.

This love of traditional divers started with the first topic of this article. While it isn't entirely ignored, plenty of articles mention it, but I think it coupd always use more exposure:

Seiko SKX007

The 007. This was is classic. Sure it's no Submariner, but it's just as traditional. It is affordable, mine was less than $200. It's tough and handsome. The face is properly minimal, the lume is decent, the second hand is beautiful. It is reasonably accorate. The movement is a workhorse. And it's ISO certified! The only gripes I have with the 007:

I prefer minimal hands. The arrows bother me a bit.
I also prefer watches on the larger end of the standard sizes spectrum, and the 007 is a bit small for me.

My issue with the 007's size is what brought me to the last topic of this article. This watch truly is ignored. I have seen numerous, articles mentioning Orients, Steinharts, even Invictas, when discussing traditional and homage divers. I've only seen this next watch in a couple places. It was compared to the Steinhart Ocean, and it got a mention in a Watchuseek thread...

Armida A2

The Armida I own is their lower end model. 200m resistance, NH35 movement, no drilled lugs. But it holds its own, in fact I have a difficult time choosing between the Armida and my Marathon GSAR (Which is at a much higher price point). It is everything I was looking for in a minimalist traditional diver. Armida's really deserve more mention. I love the way my Armida looks, and feels. The only gripes I have with the Armida is:

I would prefer 300m resistance.
I wish it had drilled lugs like its higher end relatives.
While I do like Seiko movements - they have reputations of being tough workhorses - the higher end movements ARE more accurate.

Well, USB-C.

I have a house full of USB rapid chargers and USB cables. I even have a couple of super 12' cables from the fair. Soon all of these will be useless. It seems the government is phasing out USB in favor of USB-C.  This is sad... And ironic if the government is choosing winning tech and forcing companies to build what they want in order to 'save the planet' by cutting down on waste - they just created an entire household of waste. USBs that would have been used for decades to come will soon be thrown into the trash because they will not fit any of our phones.

All that being said, I do like USB-C. It's nice not having to care about the plug's direction. Hopefully the fair will be selling super USB-C cables this year. I wonder how long it will take other tech to make the switch. Until then I'll have twice as many cables, and later half will be thrown away.

Savimg the planet.

I'm Too Picky

Well apparently I am a very picky person. I have an upcoming trip and decided - even though I WILL fail - I'm trying to scrape up a few thousand dollars for a really nice dive watch.  Not that I don't love my low end Armida. On the contrary, I like my Armida so much I just might end up blowing my money on a high end Armida. Even though - case wise - it would be identical to what I have. However it would have an ETA movement and 500m water resistance. So this is kind of like job searching when you love your job.

Every day I sit around for a bit looking at what's out there. I like super minimal classic dive watches. I like black faces and bezels. I like minimal hands - or very vintage style ones. So right there something like 80+% of my options are gone. No complications, or date bubbles, or overly large cases, or big huge buttons / crown cerings (whatever they would be called).

I like the IDEA of Omegas, but I don't love most of their watches. I like their black military watches, but very few military watches are worth the quad digit price to me. Steinharts are pretty cool - but lower end and they have domed crystals. So I'd rather just get a higher end Armida.

As much as I try to.not like them, I must say I do love the non-date bubble Rolex Submariners (I believe these are actually the originals, the bubble was added later). They are minimal and absolutely classic. But at five digits there is NO way. And again, I actually kind of like the look of Armidas more.

I also like the Tudor Pelagos. It's different, so it is nothing like my Armida. It's not a classic diver but it's very minimal and has all the characteristics of a classic. And while it's beyond my paygrade - if I were to REALLY hump and git it - I might be able to pull it off. I've tried one on before and it was amazing.

So that's it. After weeks of looking, I've found TWO possibilities. I am apparently VERY picky.

The Hunt

I enjoy the hunt. Yes of course I'm talking about nerdiness. It's frustrating how tough some of my hunts are, yet if they weren't they would be boring. I've written about some of my recent hunts:

Years ago I was on the hunt for solid brass nautical jewelry. I ended up finding brass deep sea diving helmets and made some jewelry and Christmas tree ornaments with them. I tracked down a solid brass ball chain and have my personal dive helmet attached to it with brass wire. I found a decent solid brass anchor pendant also. It seems there aren't many hobbyist jewelers out there who are interested in non-costume components. And related to these, figured out how to make fiddler caps, because I couldn't find black wool fiddler caps that I liked.

Then, after a trip to Disneyland I became obsessed with Tomorrowland. So I began hunting for watches and other things that look like my idea of retro future / futurism. I have tracked down t-shirts that celebrate retro-futurism, sci-fi, Linux/Unix. It's amazing how tough it is to find cool space age looking watches. Or decent square watches in general. Turns out I'm about 5-10 years too late. I missed some amazing looking Diesel watches, Stark watches, and some smart watches.

After perusing shops in Maui I've returned to my love of dive watches. I ended up finding a very reasonably priced Armida that has everything I was looking for. I am looking around for something further up the luxery chain, I would like to have a better depth rating, and would like to see a Swiss movement in action. I like the Seiko movements, they are rugged work horses, but they are not as accurate so need adjustment often.

We'll see what hunts come next. Strangely enough I'm actually not.a huge collector. I have a few watches sitting around, a few shirts, hats etc. But once I achieve what I'm looking for, I'm done. And... I try to offload stuff so I keep the numbers down. :)

RM -RF Shirts!

I created a couple of 'official' rm -rf / tshirts. A command only and sudo version. If you want one, you can get em here via Zazzle:

Command Shirt

Sudo Shirt

VIM Cheat Sheet In Person

I just got one of my own VIM cheat sheet shirts. I have to say that it turned out better than I could have expected. I applaud Zazzle! The small text is very clear and it doesn't feel like the old custom shirts (like the ink is nothing more than a sticker put on it). We'll see how it stands up to time.

Get yours here!

RIP Space Watch

I'm sad. My 01TheOne X watch is dead. It was one of the most scifi looking watches I own. Such amazing design! ... Wasted.

When I found the watch online I had to have it. It looked like Space Mountain. It had so many visual elements I was looking for. In fact it would have made a killer smart watch. It was large, square, and had cool transparent blue elements. It even ticked like a Swatch.

When it arrived it looked even cooler in person! It was well built, had a tough rubber strap, solid body, it was great!

But I found that I rarely wore it. The biggest problem was readability. It doesn't have a light in it and unless you are in decent light good luck seeing the time. But when it's on your wrist you feel like the pilot of a sweet 1980's spaceship.

After maybe half a year it went blank. The battery was already dead? Considering how small the digital display was, this seemed odd. I opened it to remove the batteries until I was ready to buy more. At that point I learned that it requires not one, not even two, but THREE batteries. Ugh. I just took it in to get two of the three replaced. I didn't really need it to tick at this point.

But when the batteries were replaced it still didn't work. It turns out the circuit board points were corroded. What? After less than a year? And I took amazingly good care of the watch. I was very sad. It has now become a neat looking bracelet.

The whole ordeal has soured me on novelty watches. So now when I'm hunting for scifi looking watches I look for surf watches. And my options are very limited. Diesel no longer makes any of their killer square scifi watches. The Stark lines are all discontinued and Tokyo Flash makes me nervous - they are novelty watches.

Rip Curl makes some cool watches, but I already have their green crystal Rifles watch (Now my fav scifi watch), and the others are either not quite as cool, or they're $100s of dollars. Nixon's clear Comp watches are cool, but I have one of those also. The FitBit Ionic is very 01TheOne X looking, but it is muktiple $100s also. Everything else is round, or VERY cheap.

The hunt continues. RIP Space Watch.

See the watch here:
https://www.watches.com/01-the-one-an09g04

Official RM RF Shirts

I created a couple of 'official' rm -rf / tshirts. A command only and sudo version. If you want one, you can get em here via Zazzle:

Command Shirt

Sudo Shirt

VIM Shirts, Yay!

For all you VIM lovers out there, here are some shirts I've found:

:w! saves

Faster

Cheat Sheet

Hacker's Punishment T-Shirt

Another official rm -rf shirt!

Check out the Hacker's Punishment shirt.

Via Zazzle

RM RF Shirts

I created a couple of 'official' rm -rf / tshirts. A command only and sudo version. If you want one, you can get em here via Zazzle:

Command Shirt

Sudo Shirt

In Defense of Square

I have a shelf full of futuristic or retro-futuristic watches. A couple 01theOne AniDigi watches. One with a black X and one with a blue/green X.  A crazy 01theOne binary watch. Nixon Comp, Rip Curl, etc.
One thing in common with all of these watches: They are all square.

So when I decided to add a smartwatch to my scifi collection I wanted a square one. As you can imagine my options were limited. I ended up getting the steel SmartWatch3 for a great price. And I love it. It looks futuristic and square is perfect for code/console watchfaces.

As a watch guy, I personally don't understand round smartwatches. Why buy a watch that pretends to be a 'real' watch? But to each his own. It IS interesting to read reviews of watches like mine. The comments are filled with the likes of:
"Not round, so don't care."
There are TONS of round smartwatches, why get down on one of the very few square ones? At least companies are bold enough to try them.
I say get a smart watch that is conducive to an actual screen. I say get a smartwatch that knows what it is and isn't trying to be what it isn't.

I say be square.

VIMless Plug

I am an unabashed VIM fan. I am certainly no guru, but it's the only editor I use - when I have a choice.

In honor of my favorite editor I created the VIM cheatsheet t-shirt. Enjoy:

Via Zazzle