Pike’s New Shiny | Clockwork Hare

Ten days ago or so, the battery on my wristwatch died. Rather than buy a new one, I decided it was time to do something I’d wanted to do for a long time: namely, I decided it was time to graduate from a cheapy Wal-Mart watch to a nice real one.

For the uninitiated (aka sane people who aren’t watch geeks like me yet), most watches these days are battery-powered by way of electrical pulses sent through a quartz crystal. This makes for a watch that is very highly accurate, but the downside is that opening up the back to look inside is pretty disappointing because it is made of so few parts. Clearly this would not do for someone like me who is enamored with the beauty of real mechanical action. So it was that I went online, discovered a very nice watch for a very nice price, and ordered it.

And waited…

and waited…

And finally the UPS Truck arrived today when I was in the middle of eating lunch. I had the biggest ever smile on my face when I was opening the box and was met with the most beautiful object I’ve ever laid eyes on:

This is a real mechanical watch– it was painstakingly made the same way they’ve made ’em for hundreds of years. It will never require batteries, and it winds itself via a rotor that spins when I move my arm. It is not quite as accurate as a modern quartz watch, and I’ll probably have to adjust the time when it ends up a few minutes slow each week, but to me that is a small price to pay for the Epic Factor.

And for being able to gaze lovingly at little tiny moving pieces anytime I check the time ^_^

It is also gigantic. Here it is compared to the Wal-Mart watch that served me well for the past few years:

It’s heavy and sits a bit awkwardly on my scrawny wrists (which are already small to begin with because I’m a girl) and it’s a good half an inch thick– at the least. But holy cogs, it’s beautiful. No matter how much respect I have for your utilitarian quartz watch for being accurate and being a pretty awesome technical achievement in its own right– you really can’t beat having the whirring heartbeat of a real mechanical wonder on your arm.

(And the back is see-through. How cool is that?)

15 thoughts on “Pike’s New Shiny”

Man, that’s pretty freaking sweet. Good on you to get one.

That watch is full of win. Too bad I lost the ability to tell time with analog devices about a quarter-centry ago.

Yay watch! …and you win the game of Is My Stuff Here Yet. My stuff still hasn’t arrived. :/

I have a momentum-driven watch, as well. It’s a classic Seiko, back when that make meant something other than ‘mass-produced junk’. It has day-and-date counter on it, too, so I don’t lose track of the day of the week and/or month so easily.

Momentum watches are so much more awesome than battery ones.

I’m not a “watch geek” like you are, but even I think that that’s a mighty impressive and cool-looking watch.

I’m glad that you survived the waiting period (I know what it’s like waiting for the UPS or the FedEx truck, believe me) and can finally wear your new toy. 🙂

I am nsure if someone figured out how to strap a grandfather clock tou your wrist you totally would.
(So would i, btw)

Fail typing is fail

Size queen!

Gratz on the new watch! And, if you’re ever feeling a bit down or somesuch, you only have to gaze at your wrist to write the universe! (clever pun inserted for cleverness)