Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste

[WRXtranceformed]

Hmm? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/882...expedition


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Nice find!  There is a lot to like there.  Sellitas are decent Swiss movements, double dome sapphire, display caseback, etc. not a bad price point at $400ish.  The different colored Superluminova is an interesting touch.  While I do agree with the Kickstarter quibble, it seems like a lot of these crowd funded microbrands do at least actually go into production.  The challenge is that if their quality control is not good, it's probably tough to get warranty repairs done.  With that said, the parts should be easy to come by since it uses a modern Swiss movement so any watchmaker could fix it if it breaks (at your cost).  I am a big fan of microbrands (like Dagaz, etc.) because you just don't see them that often and they can be made with very high quality.  Joey got to handle my Aurora over the Thanksgiving break and remarked that it was nicer in person than in pictures.

My big thing with the rotating bezel / functional watch thing is that if you're getting a piece dedicated for outdoorsy stuff with a medium to large sized case (anything 40mm+) you are up against really tough competition in the digital "ABC" realm (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass), specifically Suunto and Casio's Protrek lines.  Protreks are some of the most staggeringly feature-packed watches for the price and they are nearly bullet proof.  I just bought this model for my employee / analyst as a thank you for helping us reach our goal:

 

I have owned two Protreks and my current one will be the one I will grab when ole Trumperton pushes the nuke button.  



They used to be solely digital but now a lot of their models are a hybrid analog / digital which gives you the best of both worlds, if you care:



With solar power and in many cases atomic clock sync, you would never have to worry about the watch running out of steam or becoming inaccurate when you're in the middle of nowhere.  The new generation sensors are really accurate when calibrated and there are lots of cool features I have used like the barometric pressure alarm (warns you when a storm is coming in quick).

If you're stuck on analogs, I love the Alpinist suggestion.  It's a classic Seiko adored by many.  I am also fond of my Nighthawk.  It has a rotating inner bezel for calculations, not really for compass readings.  I don't see how you could use an inner bezel as a compass reading without any kind of magnetic indicator though anyway.  The Protreks can be calibrated for true north or magnetic north and have a digital reading for precision.



Coincidentally, I may put this Nighthawk up for sale soon even though I really like it. It's just not going to get any wrist time with the new purchase in rotation