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August 2020 Watch Fast

Create and participate in challenges related to the watch hobby.
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Sporkboy
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Re: August 2020 Watch Fast

Post by Sporkboy »

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OK, it is the last day. It has been a journey and it will be complete at midnight. Congrats to everyone who joined along. Feel free to collect your thoughts and share your insights.

Who is still with me here?

If you dropped out, how long did you last and what did you learn?
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whoagorgeous
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Re: August 2020 Watch Fast

Post by whoagorgeous »

A few days. Lol

I learn that I can't do it lol.
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TheJohnP
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Re: August 2020 Watch Fast

Post by TheJohnP »

One day left and I can freely post deals again.
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Far and wide I will find 'em and I ride 'em
Bricks and mortar get my licks just for kicks
AD or authorized I don't analyze
Retail, wholesale never fail
Online or offline, I find I don't redefine
Too big to fail or yard sale they all hale
Run or hide just for fun deals I find
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BostonCharlie
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Re: August 2020 Watch Fast

Post by BostonCharlie »

I learned that good company can make a difficult trial kind of fun. Thanks again, Sporkboy! Congrats to those who made it!
tjcdas
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Re: August 2020 Watch Fast

Post by tjcdas »

Sporkboy wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 7:27 am In a few days I will attempt a watch fast for the month of August. You are welcome to join me if you'd like.

Background
Conceived and popularized by the Two Broke Watch Snobs, a watch fast is where you try to go a full calendar month wearing the same watch. This gives one a chance to really get to know a watch and allows you to see what you miss in other watches...or what you don't miss. It may provide a sort of WIS clarity that few other experiences can provide. It is as if all of your other watches are gone, and this is all you have for the month.

There are variations of this. Some purists say that switching out straps is cheating, but I think that's fine.

Rules
For myself I am setting these rules:
-Strap/bracelet changes are allowed.
-When I wear a watch, it must be my watch fast watch.
-I can't 'try on' another watch until the fast is complete or I fail.
-I can still do any mods or repairs of other watches as that is a different aspect of the hobby.

Invitation
If you'd like to join me on this watch fasting journey, state your intent and the watch you intend to use. You can change your mind on which watch to use up until the start of the challenge.

We can use this thread to discuss insights, frustrations and that sort of thing. I was going to do it anyway, but I thought it would be more fun with a few friends.

My Watch Fast Watch
I could make this easy, but I don't think I'd learn anything. For this challenge I am leaning towards my blue Seiko 5 sports watch, which I have tried to love in the past and just haven't clicked with it. Different straps didn't do it, it just didn't seem to suit me. On @TheJohnP's suggestion, I have been wearing it for a couple of days and I think I need to give this watch a real shot. I could change my mind on using this watch, but I have a few days to decide.
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I don't know that I will make it to the end, but I'm sure it will be an experience either way.
Results meh, like or now love the watch?
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Sporkboy
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Re: August 2020 Watch Fast

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I now love my watchfast watch. Part of it is the shared experience, but mostly it is the brown leather and me having got over the idea that it was ‘too dressy’ for my everyday use.

It is not without faults, but the faults I held onto are not the ones I went in with. The big one is that the case design (2-piece case) has a groove that is perfectly designed to catch shmutz and wrist cheese.

I am also puzzled as to why the watch has a 30m WR rating while much less expensive quartz Pulsar and Alba models come in at 100m. Maybe it was just sticking to the original 5 tenants of the Seiko 5. I think Seiko 5 sports come in at 100m. Maybe the WR is undersold on this watch.

Surprisingly, this was not very hard for me at all. I enjoyed putting on the same watch from my nightstand day after day. I discovered that the day/date complication is not over-rated.

The one think I missed was my digitals. The repeat alarm on my Ironman Triathalon 8-lap especially, so that is the watch I broke the fast with.

The watches I was thinking about selling are now definitely getting sold as I didn’t miss them at all. Additional collection slimming will likely happen.

Smaller watches work best for me. This I knew, but it was reinforced. Anything 40mm or larger is going to be looked at very closely.

All in all, this was a productive exercise and I learned a lot about this watch, how I wear watches and what I want out of the watches in my collection.

I read of a WUS forum member wearing each of his watches for 1 week straight day and night. Any watch not comfortable enough to last a week was cut from the collection. That is extreme, but may be something I think about for the future.

Thank you to all that joined me along the way.
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recapt
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Re: August 2020 Watch Fast

Post by recapt »

Hey crew. Now that the fast is officially over, I wanted to share my learnings and insights. I made it 21 days into my fast due to my Wolbrook showing up (after waiting for 9+ months).

As a reminder, this is the watch I wore for the challenge, the Citizen PMD56-2952.

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General Takwaways

1. At first, to protect the watch, I would do things without a watch on WAY more often than usual. I didn’t like that at all.

2. Then, I found myself wearing the watch in situations where I’d usually only wear my G-Shock. I tend to baby my watches, so this was a bit unnerving and took some getting used to. In the end I realized that I am overprotective and these things can typically withstand more than I give them credit for.

3. It was very hard not to try on another watch when putting it down with the others for the night, however I found that this got easier as time went on.

4. I decided that a sub-40mm case and sub-47mm lug-to-lug is perfect for my wrist and will be my strong preference going forward.

5. Having new straps arrive makes it REALLY hard to stay faithful to one watch.
I found myself playing with straps way more than usual.


Watch Specific Takeaways

1. One thing that I had hoped to make peace with was the the bracelet sizing on this watch. To get super-nerdy for a second, there's a 6mm difference between the link length and the quick adjustments range on the bracelet. This would often cause the bracelet to wear a bit too big on my wrist. I realized that taking out one additional link worked much better for me and made me like the watch that much more.

2. Speaking of the bracelet, this thing had never been off of it before. I was happy to discover that it looks pretty sharp on rubber and MN-style staps too. I guess it's not very suprising that it looks good on other straps given its field watch look, but I was happy regardless. I still prefer the bracelet though.

3. I think I convinced myself that this watch will continue to scratch my itch for a Sinn 556a or 856 UTC. That being said, I did suddenly find myself as the high bidder on a crazy cheap Sinn 856 UTC with 12 seconds left during this challenge. I'm glad I didn't win becuase that money is better spent on some other watches I have my eye on.

4. I've decided that this watch qualifies (in my book) as a COVID-era GADA watch. Who know when the next time I wil wear a suit will be, and I think I could pull this off with a sportscoat if I had to.


Net/net, I love this watch and it's definitely a keeper. I am really interested to see if I find myself reaching for it more often now that I've had this bonding experience with it.
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