Swatches
I already told the story of my first Swatch, and I recently bought the updated version while on a trip to New York. I was very happy with that first one, and it was my day to day watch for a number of years.
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| The left is original and the right is the new version. |
Swatches were cheap, and looked cool, so I ended up with several of them throughout the 90s. They were always a touch small for my small wrists, but wore them anyway.
I actually have owned a few more. In the 90s I had both a Diver and a Chrono that were in heavy watch rotation until the bands disintegrated. They're probably still around the house someplace, and I've bought a few replacement Swatch bands. But many of the bands were part of the design, so the watch really loses something without them.
I also was always bummed when the batteries would die. Back in the 90s, before Amazon, finding the right battery could be a challenge. That's why I was thrilled when Swatch started making automatics. The Earth Day one on the right I still wear pretty frequently, even though I had to change the band.
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| The band on the right is a replacement |
I have a few Irony Swatches as well, but they aren't that comfortable to wear.
Finally, I have this Mark Spitz watch. As a club swimmer during the Munich Olympics, Mark Spitz was my hero. Seven Gold Medals! How cool was that? And everyone cared about swimmers in the Olympics.
I found it for around $50 on eBay about 10 years ago.
In the 00's I stopped wearing my Swatches. Tastes change, and there weren't any that really appealed to me the way they did in the 90's. That, and they're just a little small for my wrist. I don't think I have particularly large wrists, but the Swatches just don't seem to sit on my wrist as well as my other watches.
Watchgang Five-The William L
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| The William L Mecaquartz 70's Chronograph |
The William L came wrapped in a white box, which held a grey travel case.
The grey travel case looked nice, and I might be able to get some use out of it. I have found that I travel with a couple of watches, for no other reason than I have a bunch and like to wear them. On first glance, I hoped that maybe I could carry two or three watches in the case, which would be nice.
Interestingly the zipper pull came off the zipper almost immediately. A small thing that I just corrected with a pair of pliers, but a detail that makes you wonder what else is missed.
I unzipped and found the watch.
The unidirectional bezel moved well enough, but the push buttons for the stop watch and reset didn't feel particularly solid. Again, I don't think I'll use those features much-my Timex Ironman handles all my timing needs, but it seems like those buttons shouldn't feel flimsy.
Interestingly, it has a see through back, something you see on automatic watches where the movements do something. On a quartz watch, I guess you can watch the battery drain. It's a Seiko movement, which is very reliable, and a mineral crystal, so it shouldn't scratch too bad.
William L, according to their story, "does not hide its Chinese production. Each piece is conceived in Paris and manufactured in Shenzhen," not necessarily bad-the Chinese can make good watches, but not carrying the same cache as a Swiss or Japanese watch.
On my arm, there's some heft to it, and I'm going to have to wear it about to get a feel. On the William L website, they have the watch with a brown leather band, and I think I like that better than the metal band. With the silver bezel, it doesn't feel like there's enough contrast on my wrist to make it stand out.
Otherwise, it's not a bad watch at all.
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