Saturday, November 6, 2010

Watch The Throne

What feels like forever ago, on a family vacation in the Caribbean, my father bought himself a duty free watch like most guys tend to do.  With his new Omega chronograph he had no need for the Heuer diver he had been wearing since before I was born.  My Dad isn't really into material items so having two watches makes absolutely no sense.  To remedy this now surplus of timepieces he ended up giving his old watch to me.  At the time I was excited that he had given me the watch, but didn't really think much of the watch itself.  I already owned a time keeping device and being young and very stupid meant that said time keeping device was my sweet Nokia cellphone.  The Heuer eventually feel by the wayside and got beat up over the years as I grew up and began moving my life up and down the east coast.  Recently I revisited the watch and thought that it might make sense to get it refurbished.  The watches that I do wear are mostly of the cheap, but reliable variety.  I don't always take the best care of my shit and for some reason I end up getting extra negligent with nicer things.  It makes no sense, I know, but definitely lends itself to buying lower end watches.  I called up TAG Heuer to get things in working order (the watch now had cracked and scratched crystal and a nonfunctioning bezel), but since the watch was over 25 years old TAG told me they would not be able to service it.  As a side note, I'm not sure if people realize this or not, but Tag Heuer's North American headquarters are in Springfield, NJ.  I ended up taking the watch to a local jeweler who shipped the watch out to Atlanta, GA to get it refurbished via a third party.  It just came back all spiffy and now looks as good as it keeps time.  I know I don't normally talk about my own stuff on here, but I think the "new" Heuer looks great paired up with a spare olive/beige and red NATO that I had lying around.


-L.A.S

22 comments:

  1. Really love it , it is such a classsic!! Glad to have found you!

    Come and see my latest Interview and enter my new Giveaway....I know you will love it!!

    xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

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  2. Karena, way to pull a Mrs. Robinson on Big L. This feels like The Graduate all over again...

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  3. Hey man, I really dig the post and the watch. I thoroughly enjoy when you do talk about your gear.

    www.mensstyle101.blogspot.com

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  4. fantastic watch.

    that's olive??

    keep up the great posts at sartinc man!

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  5. The watch looks great - the NATO band sets it all off as well. Good luck.

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  6. Spiffy! How much did the refurb cost?

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  7. Nice watch! I bet your dad wants it back now. :)

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  8. Forget about the watch. Nice counter tops. I'm impressed by your taste in interior design as well.

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  9. You make it sound as if it is your opinion that something more expensive than a timex/cheap cellphone is not a realiable time keeping device. All this time I thought you had better taste and were more intelligent than that. If you want to wear a cheap POS that will get the job done, then why bother posting about or wearing well designed and well made things? After all, there are plenty of sweat pants and flannel shirts hat will keep you warm, and you can get them on the cheap at Walmart!

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  10. The fact that it was over 25 years old is precisely why Tag Heuer should have been pleased to service your watch.

    Bloody fools!

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  11. Foop- "You make it sound as if it is your opinion that something more expensive than a timex/cheap cellphone is not a realiable time keeping device."

    Not sure where you are getting that from. All I was saying is that sometimes I am clumsy with my stuff, so I haven't really worn expensive watches up until this point.

    I am the one that isn't reliable, not the watches.

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  12. Damn, LAS, Foop went in on you. Anyways, great post, dig the watch! $75 is well worth the end result.

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  13. Do you have any pre-restoration pictures of the timepiece?

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  14. Beautiful watch. Just put a Nato strap on my sub, very pleased with the result.

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  15. Man, Ryan of YHBTI really attacked you this morning.

    Here's a small excerpt:

    "I'm so sick of seeing and reading shit on the internet that these people have never seen, tried on, or will ever be able to own and yet they are experts or have "style". It's a joke, and I'm glad whoever started Fyeahmenswear has hit their breaking point with it all, even though it's apparent that they are the biggest menswear fan I have ever seen write a sentence. They always say, your biggest fans are your haters..."

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  16. Anon 9:53- Considering I know Ryan pretty well and that we talked about his sentiments last night I am going to have to disagree with you.

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  17. "Considering I know Ryan pretty well." On Twitter, Facebook, and AIM I'm sure.

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  18. YHBTI is so awful. No one needs to see photos of any bloggers outfits. GET A LIFE.

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  19. Anon @1:09- I've actually had the pleasure of hanging out with Ryan in person the last few times he has been in NYC.

    And AIM? Seriously? People still use that?

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  20. beautiful man, props for real.

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  21. NICE, vintage Heuer is really good stuff, especially with that ETA quartz swiss movement. Timothy Dalton wore one similar as Bond in The Living Daylights. You have some nice patina on the dial, bezel and hands. Eventually you'll probably have to get it relumed which just consists of the watchmaker repainting the markers. Also if it hasn't been in the water in a while, you might want to get it pressure tested to make sure everything is tight.

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