Sunday, May 29, 2016

Watch Sighting: Raymond Weil Tradition Swiss Quartz Watch

I spotted this Raymond Weil Tradition Swiss Quartz watch at a Costco.  Raymond Weil is one of the last independent Swiss watch makers.  The firm was founded in 1976 by an experienced watch maker that struck out on his own during the height of the Swiss Quartz watch crisis.

Raymond Weil Style


From a design watch, this Raymond Weil is an interesting gold-tone dress watch.  The Roman numerals on the dial look modern and lean forward.  Yet, the watch itself is very traditional.  A small date window at 3 o'clock adds to the functionality.  This Raymond Weil Tradition model has a gold-tone stainless steel case.  With it's genuine Swiss pedigree, a Raymond Weil watch would look great in any business setting.  Even on the weekend, if your idea of casual is khaki slacks and rolled up sleeves on a monogrammed dress shirt, this watch would fit you well.  It has a classy understated look.


Raymond Weil Availability


While many Swiss watches are priced for the stratosphere, this Raymond Weil watch is priced in an affordable zone of around $500.  That makes it a watch that most men can aspire to own.  I like that.  You shouldn't have to spend a vast sum of money to display that you are a person with good taste and refined sensibilities.  You may be able to find this particular model at CostCo or at Overstock.com.  However, it is available for a reasonable price at Amazon.com as well.


There are a variety of other watch styles in the Raymond Weil Tradition line.  These include a handsome stainless steel variation of this watch and a variety of round dial watches.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Watch SIghting: Bass Pro Shops Quartz Watches

This weekend my travels brought me to the Bass Pro Shops store located in Duluth, Georgia.  While I was shopping for other things, my journey through the store did take me past a display of inexpensive Bass Pro Shop-branded watches.


Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World Store - photo by Michael Barera [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

I had to stop and take a few spy photos so that you can see some of the inexpensive watch options available there.  The display square in the store shows five watches that can be found for $19.99 each at Bass Pro Shops.  Unfortunately, only a couple of these watch styles were available when I visited the Duluth, Georgia location.


The first style that caught my eye was the this militaristic camouflage dial watch with tachymeter.

The next watch to catch my eye was this silver-dial quart watch.  It gets middle of the road reviews on the Bass Pro Shop website.  The negative reviews point to the quartz watch simply running out of the juice.


The third watch is a simple watch with a diver-style bezel.  It's a basic watch with a nice solid look and a metal band.  Again a fairly good value for $20.


If you are shopping for someone who is into BassPro shops and the outdoors, a watch like this is not a bad deal.  It would also be good for a young boy or teen.  If you are looking for more expensive watches for outdoorsmen, you should check out BassPro.com online.  They have more expensive brands like Casio, Luminox, Reactor, Suunto, Victorinox, and Wenger.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Watch Sighting: A Timex Elevated Classics Gunmetal Tone Mens Watch at Walmart

I recently spotted this Timex watch at Walmart.  It is an interesting fusion of Diver and Military Field watch design elements.  As a low cost quartz fashion watch, it emphasizes looking good.    Unfortunately, the bezel does not rotate and the watch offers a minimal 50 meters of water resistance.  It's a day-to-day watch.


According to Amazon, this Timex is an Elevated Classic dress watch with a genuine leather strap.  It has a 42 millimeter brass case and a mineral crystal.  For under $50, this Timex is a great looking watch at a great price.  It's perfectly appropriate for any business casual environment.

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Choosing a Zombie Apocalypse Watch

With the popularity of Zombie- themed movies and televison shows like The Walking Dead, it's only natural that watch collectors might wonder which watch would be best for surviving a Zombie Apocalypse.

Photo By Direction and cinematography both by George A. Romero (Screenshot from timeinc.net) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Would you choose an automatic, a quartz watch, or a solar watch?  An automatic or even a manually wound watch would free you from the need for batteries.  A solar watch would provide quartz accuracy with the inexhaustible power of the sun.   A traditional quartz watch would ultimately require watch batteries at some point.  Even an automatic is supposed to be serviced every few years.

Vostok Amphibia - photo By Matthew Bellemare (Flickr: Zissou Vostok Amphibia) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

One automatic watch brand stands out to me:  Vostok.  The Vostok Amphibia was the standard time keeper for the Soviet military for many years.  If you are pulling your SKS or AK-47 out of the gun room for the duration of a Zombie Apocalypse, the Vostok Amphibia definitely completes the look.  I'd suggest getting a paratrooper or tank commander version for maximum effect even if brainless Zombies aren't impressed.


The Vostok is a very tough watch.  In fact, the primary consideration in choosing a Zombie Apocalypse watch would have to be ruggedness.  When you look at pictures of the U.S. military in tough environments and combat conditions, the men and women of the military generally seem to be wearing Casio G Shock watches.  These watches provide unparalleled toughness and are affordable to middle class people.  In the U.S. Navy photo below, the trainee in a SEAL candidate class is wearing a G-Shock.


Since this is a high resolution image, we can zoom in and see the trainees watch clearly.  If a Casio G Shock is good for Navy SEAL BUDS training, it's probably good enough for the typical Zombie Apocalypse.

Casio G-Shock in Combat Training Exercise
The watch worn in the photo above does appear to be the standard solar G-Shock digital model shown below at a very affordable Amazon price.



Now that the wristwatch portion of planning for a Zombie Apocalypse is complete, check out this blog HowToFightZombies.com for more information on getting ready for the Zombie Apocalypse and other disasters.