Go-To watches, eh?

Well for years and years my Pawnshop Mark II Professional was my Beater/Go-To watch. Most rugged watch [mechanical or Quartz] I've ever seen, as accurate as all get out and the dependable to tell time and record elapsed times accurately.

Then a terrible thing happened... I started collecting watches and I decided it really wasn't fair to let the old dependable Mark II endure life looking so, well... worn. So I sent it off for a clean, lube and service along with a new dial, hands, crown and crystal via Watch Collector and Seller William Chu whom I first met when I bought a Heuer Pasadena. When it returned:

And it came back in far too nice of shape for beater duty.

So I was back at square one. I needed a Go-To beater watch with the same attributes as my old Mark II Pro, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money and I didn't want to feel too guilty about subjecting it to hazardous duty...

Eventually, on eBay I located an auction for a 510.503 that had been denuded of it's Pewter PVD coating and now possessed a brushed Stainless finish.

Which I paid something like $400-410 for including shipping. The watch came on the pictured Timex Ironman stamped steel/rubber strap, which I had a duplicate of... So I added enough links so that I would wear it on either wrist and it became my hazardous duty timepiece.

It keeps very accurate time, all of the features work perfectly [it has one of the crispest start/stop pushers of any watch I own] with one small exception... One can push the reset pusher while the chronograph is running. Which isn't normal, but it doesn't seem to have effected the chrnograph's function or it's timekeeping.

Perhaps someday, I'll have it serviced, but at this point, unless something goes south with it, I'm pretty content to let it go for as long as possible.

I know some people might consider that a lot of money for a "beater" watch, but it works for me. I currently have it on a Ron Sabo, 20mm straight ended Oyster-style bracelet which i very comfortable and very secure.

To follow Jeff's example, I can have four "go-to" watches... Currently my Heuer is my first "go-To" watch... For number two... Well, sometimes, one needs an all weather watch that one can put on their wrist and not worry no matter what the weather might be. For me there is only one choice for such duty:

The Seamaster Professional Chronograph Chronometer.

Back in 1999 I called this watch the best all-around chronograph watch on the market, today, it remains worthy of that title. The TAG-Heuer AquaGraph 2000 is a worthy competitor, although I believe the SeMPC's more business-like [and less dive-instrument appearance wins the nod for me. My example I purchased from William Chu for $1,400 in 1999. Unfortunately, Omega has since discontinued the Titanium version, but thankfully Omega wasn't so shortsighted to kill the Steainless Steel version of this watch, although they recently revised the dial of the Stainless Steel version and changed it's Case Reference Number.

For my third "Go-To" watch, there are times when I know I have to do a lot of work on my laptop computers. When I'm on the road, or need to be away from my desktop setup. One of the watches I happened on early on in my collecting obcession was the IWC-Porsche Design Delrin 7750 Chronograph:

The advantages this watch affords the user is that it's one of the more petite 7750's ever produced, it's a very unassuming chronograph, integrated pushers make it easy to mistake this watch for a non-chronograph. It also has a plain and modern enough appearance to pass as a Swatch watch, an attractive point if one is traveling in shady places. But what makes it especially attractive for laptop duty is the bracelet which is made of Delrin, a Dupont synthetic material which is similar to nylon but has steel like properties. The nice thing about it is that this material is very similar to the material most laptop computers are made of. OK, Apple's moved on to using Aircraft grade Aluminum, but still, one doesn't need to worry about scuffing up one's laptop on a busy day. I believe I paid somewere around $500-525 for this example off of eBay from a Miami based seller. I know there was a certain amount of consternation because at the time of the transaction there was a Hurricane bearing down on MIA but thankfully it turned away from the city and the IWC's delivery wasn't held up or jepordized by the storm.

Last, I probably should have a "full-dress" watch. For most occasions I have one "Go-To" watch for that sort of duty:

I've heard people call this model Heuer, made for the 125th Jubilee of the founding of Heuer called "Little DaVinci" for it's resemblence to the IWC DaVinci chronograph. Fortunately, this Heuer didn't have a similar price tag for me, I paid just under $1,000 for her also back in 1999.

Come to think of it, 1999 was a great year for me collecting wise. It was my first year collecting watches, there was plenty to learn, and the herd of available chronographs was huge and prices were low, shockingly low by today's standards. Oh to be able to go back then and make some strategic purchases!

So there you have it... Four watches... One Omega, One Heuer, One "Ed. Heuer & Co." Heuer and one IWC-Porsche Design. Movement wise: a Lemania 5100, a pair of Valjoux 7750's [One COSC rated] and a Lemania 1874 base movement, nice representation there too.

Cheers and have a great weekend everyone!

-- Chuck

Chuck Maddox

Chronographs, like most finer things in life, only improve with time...

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