I’ve been revisiting the watches in the collection more than ever, selling back those that don’t get worn, or might be redundant (do I need three watches for walking the dog?). The process of freeing up space in the watch box has much improved in the past year; thank goodness my tastes are aligned with high-value and low cost, and I think additions have just about equaled subtractions. So, what is new in the watch box this year?

Worth a mention only because it is very good-looking, and I wanted to see what €25 would get you from aliexpress, knowing that it most certainly could not be a real Seiko – and it is not, though you have to look hard to tell. A copy of the SNDF93 panda chronograph, this does at least keep good time, but the movement (not a 7T92) does not work as the original should (the seconds indicator at 9 o’clock, for example). Hey, it was only €25 and does look great on a leather strap.

The G-SHOCK is where my heart is, and I sold on a few to justify this addition. There were a couple ana-digi models that I never wore (GA-500 and GA-700), a negative display GD-350-1 that was too “military” for my liking, and the negative display version of this model, the GX-56BB-1, which was just about impossible to read except in direct sunlight. All of these got flipped to make room for “The King”, GXW-56-1BJF. This is a Japanese domestic market version only, and had been discontinued, so was very hard to find; when one became available, I picked it up. Tough solar, multiband 6 atomic timekeeping, and comically large, making it a very fun watch. It is surprisingly comfortable despite that size; being able to read the positive display makes it a winner for me.

Readability, as mentioned before, is really important, which is why I’d become more drawn to analogs. Here is the G-SHOCK GWG-100-1A3, one of the Mudmaster series, which is great for anything outdoors but also very easy to use, with big buttons and an incredible backlight; those hands are high contrast and so a quick glance tells the time. There’s a lot of overlap here with my GG-1000-1ADR Mudmaster and my GW-9400-1 Rangeman (which I would never sell), so this one is going back on the market. It’s a nice change and can be worn in a lot of casual situations, like the beach, walking the dog, hiking, and cycling. The green strap is really solid yet super-comfortable. So why would I ever sell it? Flip that question around: when would I choose this over my Rangeman, which has every feature possible? If it were a more casual setting, I’d probably choose my Protrek (which also has all the sensors, including moon and tide graph), or one of the other ana-digis in the box. The Mudmasters are a fantastic line of watches, but my Rangeman and Protrek really do cover all bases.

Here is one of two impulse buys, another G-SHOCK and another analog version. The GA-2000WM (WM = “wavy marble”, the design on the strap) is an understated, and underestimated, model, with nice big buttons and all the great functions of a G-SHOCK. That off-white dial is what I liked the most, there are nice contrasts and subtle differences with the indices, hands, subdials, and the face itself, making it one I simply love to look at. The overall look is polarizing, and I like it, to me it’s a sort of panda-style without being obviously a panda face. I accept this isn’t a daily-wear watch, but it has found a place in the watch box and will probably stay there.

The Berny “compressor” style watch (not a true “compressor”, where the deeper you go, the more waterproof it becomes). Still, the value proposition here is incredible, 200m of water resistance, a Miyota movement, 316L stainless case, and sapphire crystal, it has features of a watch worth 10X the price paid. The internal rotating bezel is very cool, and again the features of the dial are something I love to look at: applied indices, the red seconds hand is a nice touch, as is the waffleboard on the center section of the dial. The day/date window’s day triplet is quirky and different, and the overall bright yellow/orange really pops. This was my birthday gift to myself, and it will stay for a long time.

I was not intending to get any more watches this year, I really wasn’t. There was an old vintage Pepsi-bezel Seiko 7002-700A diver in the box that I knew needed repair, so I had it evaluated and the cost to fix was nearly the cost of a new watch. Instead of repair it, I sold it “as is” to someone who can hopefully give it new life, either by practicing repairing it themselves, maybe even modifying it to their own taste. In the meantime, I saw that the venerable Casio Duro with the marlin logo on the dial had been discontinued (apparently something to do with licensing that logo). In the interest of being able to still get the model with the marlin logo (MDV-106, as opposed to the new, sans-logo MDV-107), I found this one available and grabbed it. The convenience of a quartz movement is welcome. The dial has a nice sunburst effect, the red secondhand and hands are simple and effective. I’ve come to like just about everything about this watch, even it’s quite large 44mm size. I have found the strap isn’t so comfortable after a day’s wear, so something silicone is on the way.

Even with these additions, I’ve gotten better at flipping watches I don’t wear, and there are more slots opening up in the watch box. However, I’ve no plans to expand the collection; for the first time in a long time, there’s nothing on the radar. I have to resist the desire to hoard all the cool stuff! Right now, paring down the collection is nearly as much fun as adding to it.