New watch: Seiko Sportsman

My brother bought me three NATO watch straps from Gnomon Watches for Christmas, and feeling like none of the watches in my "collection" (I use that term loosely) were up to par with how awesome the straps are, I picked up this watch last week from a local antique shop.

It's a silver Seiko Sportsman manual wind watch with the seahorse back case. From what I've been able to gather from the internet, it is most likely from the 1960s. It is in very good condition externally, and seems to be running well, though it does lose 4-5 minutes over 24 hours, but I can live with that for now. It's also a good size and looks cracking on a NATO strap (as can be seen in the picture). I like the resemblance that it bears to some of the older Omega Seamasters, like the one below (not mine).

I apologize for the picture quality as I am currently without my normal camera since my brother took it with him to London for the month of January, so I did the best I could with his camera (not that my normal photos are anything to write home about). If you actually have any more info on this watch, I would really love to know more.

Regimental NATO straps on the cheap

Inspired by a post on a time to get, I Googled "nato regimental straps" and was rewarded gnomonwatches.com where they are offering NATO straps in regimental patterns, in both 18 and 20 mm, for $14 a piece. This is a steal when you considering that J. Press sells them for $30 ($21.75 when on sale) and RLT Watches sells them for significantly more when you factor in shipping and pounds to dollars conversion rate. This is really a great deal; I can't wait to pick some up myself.

J. Crew Timex military watch, redux

Photo courtesy of Alan's Vintage Watches

In my post last November, I provided some alternatives to the Timex military watch that J. Crew is currently selling. The other day I received an email from Alan at Alan's Vintage Watches telling me that he had a review, with a number of photos, of the J. Crew Timex on his website. While I am not generally a favor of people soliciting their websites like that, after taking a look at his page, I realized that it really was worth sharing. If you didn't want one of these watches before, after reading his page, it just might change your mind. Check out the review here.

J. Crew Timex military watch alternatives

I'm suspecting that Michael Williams over on A Continuous Lean did not expect all of the backlash he would get from suggesting the J. Crew Timex military watch on his holiday gift guide. I'm a little bit divided on the subject because while I agree that it is a pretty cool looking watch, and is a unique item that can only be found at J. Crew, it is a little pricey for a quartz watch. I certainly don't think it was a poor decision to suggest it for his gift guide, though, especially since the guide was suggestions of presents for women to give to men. While it is true actual Timex military watches can be found on Ebay from time to time, and while these would be preferable to the J. Crew version, it's not exactly comparing apples to apples since you simply can't choose to buy one whenever you want. Because of this, I've decided to create a little list of alternative watches that are similar to the J. Crew one. Hope you enjoy.


Name: Military Watch
Source: US Cavalry
Movement: Quartz
Price: $13.99


Name: Squad Leader Watch
Source: US Cavalry
Movement: Quartz
Price: $27.99


Name: Camper
Source: Timex
Movement: Quartz
Price: $35.00


Name: Field Watch
Source: Orvis
Movement: Quartz
Price: $69.00


Name: Classic Field Watch
Source: LL Bean
Movement: Quartz
Price: $89.00


Name: Vintage Field Watch
Source: LL Bean
Movement: Quartz
Price: $89.00


Name: Marathon Special Field Watch
Source: Westcoastime
Movement: Manual wind
Price: $145.00


Name: Stainless Automatic Watch
Source: Orvis
Movement: Automatic
Price: $149.00

My thoughts:
I think that the Squad Leader Watch from US Cavalry is a surprisingly good looking watch, especially for the price. I have the Orvis Field Watch and it is a decent little quartz watch. I haven't worn it in a while, it needs a new battery, but makes a nice looking choice for a beater.