The idea for the Summer Side-by-Side series of reviews came from my struggle to find my watch identity over the last year; a struggle that was happening alongside my journey to discover who I was in the world. Watches play a pivotal role in my day-to-day life. What I wear on my wrist reflects the stage of the journey I am currently on in life, and without a watch that fits this time in life, I feel lost.
So, when I realized that it was time to change up my watch game, I had to find a design that resonated with who and where I am now. This can be difficult when living in a more remote part of the country. I can find all the brands and models I like online, but I am not able to go to different watch and jewelry stores to try them on.
The closest serious watch retailer is 140 miles from my home. They are a great resource and are always very helpful and knowledgeable, but they are unable to answer my very specific questions since they are in the business of selling these watches, not using them. I use the reviews available online, but often they do not address the specific concerns that I am looking for in a watch.
Concerns such as the watch’s durability based on experience, not just specs. Whether it wears well when it is wet or muddy or cover in snow. How it stands up to extended periods of hard use and whether or not people who are active and wear their watches while doing activities would recommend the watch to others. And, very importantly, whether or not the reviewer is being paid to review the watch. I got frustrated when I was not able to find this information. So, instead of complaining, I decided to create and conduct the reviews I was looking for.
I am starting this review process off with what I call the Summer Side-By-Side; a side-by-side comparison of two watches I was interested in purchasing and did with my own money, worn over an extended period of time, without receiving any samples or discounts from either manufacturer or any dealers. I want to be able to use the watches and honestly review them, without worrying about taking the watch out of the office or making anyone angry. I would like to take the experience I gain while wearing these watches and make it easier for anyone who is interested, to make a decision.
Before deciding to do the Summer Side-By-Side I wore an Omega Seamaster 300 Master Co-Axial and a vintage Rolex Submariner 1680. Vintage Rolex’s are great, but they are not up to the task of being banged around. Because of this, the Omega is what I wore damn near every day.
Omega is a brand I have admired since I embraced my love of watches (and officially became a watch nerd) at the age of 6 – the Casio Calculator watch started it all. The Omega Seamaster 300 Master Co-Axial is the third Omega I’ve owned; The others being a Planet Ocean and a Seamaster Pro 300 chronograph.
The Seamaster 300 Master Co-Axial was everything that I thought I wanted in a watch: stylish, beautifully designed, with an awesome movement and the ability to go anywhere and do anything without worry; the opposite of my vintage Rolex Sub. From what I read, the Omega seemed more than up to the task of getting scraped on rocks, falling down hillsides, getting rained on, covered in mud, and whatever else nature could throw at it. I wore it every day after I bought it: hiking, running, exercising, doing yoga, going to school, shooting, and swimming.
It kept great time averaging +2 seconds a day no matter the situation and Damn, did it look great. I liked it conceptually, but I found myself wanting a watch which is more comfortable to wear. I tried different straps in conjunction with the OEM bracelet, but I was never able to get the watch to sit well on my wrist. I had tried the watch on once before purchasing it and it had seemed comfortable, but this quick trial was not enough to really understand what it was like to wear it.
I often found myself shifting it around on my wrist throughout the day and I always looked forward to taking it off in the evening. I can not remember a moment where I forgot that I had the watch on my wrist. It was always present and on my mind. A few factors were responsible for this less than stellar comfort. The first was the sapphire case-back. While looking at the movement is great, it isn’t worth the impact the see-through case back had on wearing comfort.
The sapphire crystal stuck to my wrist whenever I started to sweat, locking the watch head in one place and not allowing me to move my hand comfortably or freely. This is not something that I had experienced with my solid case-back watches. They always move freely on my wrist and remain comfortable through most activities.
The second was the bracelet. The bracelet was comfortable to a point, but after a while it would always start to irritate me. I think this is because it did not taper like a Rolex bracelet does, increasing the weight and surface area it takes up on my wrist. The third was the clasp. While awesome and functional, it always felt a little chunky and in the way; it dug into my wrist and would irritate it. After a year of wearing it, I decided it was time to sell this great watch and find another that was more comfortable and would make up for some of the shortcomings of the Omega.
Grand Seiko was the first choice when I started looking. I have always wanted to try out a Grand Seiko but have never been able to find one to look at in the metal. While researching, I stumbled across an article by Jack Forester on Hodinkee about the SBGV245 quartz model that Grand Seiko had recently released. I wanted a watch that could do anything while keeping great time, and the SBGV245’s reported reliability and excellent timekeeping (10 seconds a year!), made this an easy sell. I wanted to see the amazing attention to detail that Grand Seiko was reported to put into every watch they make. After not being able to locate one to try on I decided to take the risk and buy the watch sight unseen. I found one online and arranged a deal a few weeks later.
The Grand Seiko is not what I have normally worn in the past; a slim and relatively dressy watch with slender hands and no dive bezel or other “sporty” features. The fact that it had a quartz movement didn’t bother me, the only thing I had to get over was how different it was from what I have owned before. 
Upon receiving the Grand Seiko, on a supplied OEM steel bracelet (the cloth strap came with it as well), I was very impressed with the level of fit and finish the people at Grand Seiko put into their watches. Everything on this watch was superbly done, and I confess I was in love. I wore it for a month, loving every minute of it, but I was left wondering if I had made the right choice. Would this actually be a watch that I could use while living an active life or was it better suited to being worn in an office?
I started to look at some other options around the same price that were more in line with what I was used to wearing and more likely to be cited as watches that can survive rough conditions. I wanted to take a break from Omega and see what else existed, so, I looked at a couple brands like Sinn and Doxa, before stumbling across Tudor.
Tudor was a brand I had read a lot about but had never had the opportunity to really see in person. My watch gawking trips to Las Vegas (the closest place that had a dealer that carried Tudor) never actually brought me through the doors of any Tudor AD’s for whatever reason. I did my research and ended up deciding that the Heritage Black Bay 41mm with the in-house movement was the model I was most interested in. I bit the bullet and picked up the red bezel variant.
I knew going in that it was thick, that it was heavy, and that it was an old school diver watch that was about as opposite from the Grand Seiko as one could get. And I really don’t care, it spoke to me, so I knew it was the one to pick up. Life doesn’t always give me the choice to compare apples to apples, sometimes I am put in the position of comparing cinderblocks to pancakes.
Upon receiving this watch, I was just as in love with it as I was with the Grand Seiko. It is awesome! The thickness is nothing, it wears easily and doesn’t even move on my wrist when I wear it while hiking. The bracelet is superb, the dial is beautiful, and the bezel really stands out. I expected to like this less than I do, and it is going to make the decision on which watch to sell at the end of summer even more difficult.
So, the process begins. I will wear each watch and report on how it performs in a series of articles. I will let you know what works, what doesn’t, and what I think of the experience of owning the watch. The one thing I will not compare is timekeeping, as a finely made Japanese quartz watch and a beautiful Swiss mechanical are not on the same playing fields as far as time keeping is concerned. At the end of the summer I will publish an in-depth article stating what I learned and then sell off the watch I do not connect with. This should be fun!
EscapementSV 