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

[WRXtranceformed]

If you're gonna impulse buy a used watch, you might as well buy it from Lee. 

The truth is I didn't exactly impulse buy it because I'd recently wishlisted a dual time, slide rule Orient: http://amzn.to/2AxSJzz

I was more interested in dual time, but I started doing more research about slide rules and kinda had a nerdgasm. I'm interested in it for all the reasons I stated above and realized the Nighthawk made much better use of it than the Orient. The pre-markings for imperial to metric on distance, volume, and weight are really cool, in my opinion. I'd googled Nighthawks a bit over the last few weeks, but never got serious about. Then, a good deal for one with a crystal sapphire popped up and the rest is history.

If I'm honest, the watch wears better on my wrist than my Tag. I like that watch, but it's 41x16 and feels really tall on my wrist. This watch is 42x13 and the extra width is meaningless given it's shorter and sits flat against the wrist (the Tag is more pill shaped). The weight is solid, but definitely not the heaviest watch I own. Lighter is better for me, so this will likely be for air travel. Mostly. The watch feels way better than what I paid for it, although I will say it kinda has a tinny feel... which actually works with the aircraft theme. I have other watches that feel like lead bricks, so I appreciate this one feels a bit different. Setting this watch is not intuitive AT ALL, in my opinion. You set the plane hand (24 hour hand) with the minutes at crown position 2, then move the regular hour hand by one hour increments in position 1. I'm usually pretty good at intuiting that stuff, but I had to google it. The screw down crown is a nice touch.

I need to add two links, so I'll have to look and see if there's an easy way to do this myself. I don't have time to find a decent shop around here and I loathe jewelry stores, so I won't be wearing it for a bit longer. I'm maxed out on my 10-watch case, so I'll have to demote something to a drawer.

Lastly, I told the wife yesterday "I bought a watch from Lee." Judging from her face, I think she thought that meant I spent a few grand. She didn't really say anything, but when I tried to show it to her tonight she said she'd already taken a peek while it was on the table. I then showed her how to slide rule will help with conversions and she thought that was cool... especially since I always have to do them for her in my head. win/win.

Even with the unsized mock up, you wear it well my friend!  That sapphire reflection tho 

Yes I thought the same thing when initially setting it, although I found it interesting that the GMT Master II has basically the same setting process for its GMT hand.  Having had the alternative method in my Steinhart Ocean Forty-Four where the GMT hand is set independently from a certain crown position, I actually like the Nighthawk/GMT's process better.  While on paper it might seem more convenient to rotate the GMT hand directly, the problem was that the same crown position was also shared by the quick-set date.  So inevitably on that watch every time I went to set the date I would twist the crown the wrong way and accidentally adjust the GMT hand instead of the date.  If you make a mistake and twist it the wrong way on the Nighthawk, it takes a lot less time to readjust the hour hand to where it needs to be.  In fact, the Nighthawk actually has a better quick-set date mechanism than the GMT Master II, as the second crown position on that watch only rotates the hours hand.  So you have to do two full revolutions of the hour hand in order to quick-set the date, vs. just twisting the crown one revolution to advance each day on the Nighthawk.

Man if I was there I could size it for you, but yeah those links are held in by pins so it's really easy to change.  On the back of the bracelet you will notice directional arrows engraved on some of the links.  With a jeweler's "punch", a jeweler's hammer, and a small plastic sizing block, you can knock those pins yourself in a minute or two.  You usually do it on the links closest to the clasp (because a lot of bands/bracelets are tapered from the lug toward the clasp), reinsert a new link and the insert the pin you punched out from the top where you punched it out from in the same direction it was originally inserted.

I bought this kit last year and it's not super high quality or anything but has worked fine for me:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0188BQO7K/ref...=UTF8&th=1  

There is also a cheaper $13 option without the extra spring bars

Or if you can stomach it, any competent jewelry store can do it for you for like $5 or $10.  I would recommend finding a good, dedicated watchmaker in your area.
I can't vouch for this place because I've never used them, but they get really good Google reviews and I bet they have some really cool stuff you could ogle over while they size it for you:  http://www.nesbitswatchservice.com/   Maybe they could also be a good resource for you when you need to get your TAG serviced in the future!