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.

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.

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.

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.

Three Solar Dive Watches for the Sun and Sea

With summer just around the corner, the sea and the sun are beckoning many of us back to the beaches.  For watch enthusiasts, it brings up a question:

What's a good men's watch for both the sun and the sea?

If a watch harnesses the power of the sun, it allows you to enjoy quartz accuracy without ever having to worry about batteries.  As a watch collector with many a dead quartz watch to my name, I find solar power to be an awesome feature.

Photo by Quinvo - Laser 4.7 naviguant sur l'étang de Thau avec Amandine à la barre. (CC By SA 2.5)

 While a quartz solar watch may never have the collectible cachet of a Swiss-made mechnical watch, it would remove many hassles and open up a whole new world of reliability. That's why I've recently been surfing for solar powered alternatives to traditional quartz or mechanical watches.

Surfer - By Eric Nelson (Flickr: 2010 US Open of Surfing) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

I've recently found three watches that might be perfect for the sun and sea.  They come from the Seiko family.  One is a Seiko and two are Citizens. 

The first watch is a Seiko Solar SNE 109 Dive Watch with 200 meter water resistance and a unidirectional rotating bezel.  The watch is nicely proportioned with a 42 millimeter diameter case that is a comfortable 12.2 millimeters thick.  The polyurethane strap is a well-proportioned 20 millimeters wide.  It comes in various dial colors and is a nice looking watch from any angle.  It can also be found a great price points on Amazon.



The next watch I like the looks of is the Citizen Eco-Drive Scuba Fin Dive Watch.  It gets extra cool points for having an actual name in addition to the requisite series of numbers.  This watch has a 46 millimeter diameter case that is 12 millimeters thick.  It has a stainless steel band that is a manly 26 millimeters wide.





Of course, to be a real dive watch, you expect a watch to have 300 meter water resistance.  That's the depth you need for a serious SCUBA diving watch.  The
Citizen Eco-Drive Professional Dive Watch (shown below) meets that criteria easily.  It has a uni-directional rotating bezel, a screw-down crown, and a 48 millimeter diameter case that is 19 millimeters thick. 

It's a big and clunky watch, but it brings a serious set of specifications down to the sea and into the depths below.  You never know when a bit of extra stainless steel on your arm could come in handy!

Diver Meets Giant Travally - Photo By Docjtc (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons