The Watchman Cometh
When Jen told her coworkers she was
coming to Japan, she proceeded to get a big list of things to buy and
bring back, such as DVDs of shows they can't get {easily} in the
US. She was also tasked with trying to find a watch.
I'm fond of the Citizen Eco-drive series, which requires no battery because it charges itself using light. It also has a large number of time zones pre-programmed into it which has been useful during my travels. The Skyhawk model also includes a version of the E6B flight computer which is used to calculate things like how far you can fly at a certain speed, or how much fuel you're using. It's a neat feature, but I would need different glasses to really use that feature in flight.
I bought the first generation when it came out in 2001, but it was kind of getting scratched and beat, and I'd recently heard about the 3rd gen which includes certain things I really hoped for: a backlight, more time zones (original only had 23 and couldn't do non-hour based zones, now it has 43), and more easily viewable hands. It also receives the time from radio broadcasts around the world so it's always up to date. And the E6B is more visible. So I bought that and swap between the two of them depending on where I'm traveling. Here's what they look like: kind of large for a watch, and a little heavy, but very functional with a geek quality.
Generation 1 Generation 3
My preference in a watch is primarily function, with a certain geek wow factor. But stylin' you might not say it is. If unique style is your primary focus, then the watch we seeked (soke?) is the opposite - highly stylistic but only fractionally functional.
What we're talking about is Steampunk - a genre of fantasy where steam is the power source - and watches made by Haruo Suekichi. Read this article for a background, but here's what they look like:
Jen did a lot of research and found a store that may sell them, out by where Dennis and his family used to live, so off we went on our shopping adventure:
I'm fond of the Citizen Eco-drive series, which requires no battery because it charges itself using light. It also has a large number of time zones pre-programmed into it which has been useful during my travels. The Skyhawk model also includes a version of the E6B flight computer which is used to calculate things like how far you can fly at a certain speed, or how much fuel you're using. It's a neat feature, but I would need different glasses to really use that feature in flight.
I bought the first generation when it came out in 2001, but it was kind of getting scratched and beat, and I'd recently heard about the 3rd gen which includes certain things I really hoped for: a backlight, more time zones (original only had 23 and couldn't do non-hour based zones, now it has 43), and more easily viewable hands. It also receives the time from radio broadcasts around the world so it's always up to date. And the E6B is more visible. So I bought that and swap between the two of them depending on where I'm traveling. Here's what they look like: kind of large for a watch, and a little heavy, but very functional with a geek quality.
Generation 1 Generation 3
My preference in a watch is primarily function, with a certain geek wow factor. But stylin' you might not say it is. If unique style is your primary focus, then the watch we seeked (soke?) is the opposite - highly stylistic but only fractionally functional.
What we're talking about is Steampunk - a genre of fantasy where steam is the power source - and watches made by Haruo Suekichi. Read this article for a background, but here's what they look like:
Jen did a lot of research and found a store that may sell them, out by where Dennis and his family used to live, so off we went on our shopping adventure:
