My 16600 was a grail, then I sold it.
Then my son was born (in 2009) and I bought one for him - his name and birthday in the papers.
Now I can't sell it, of course. So, reverse grail?
(My daughter has a 16570 that's the same!)
As there’s a resurrected thread about grails that didn’t live up to expectations, let’s here it for those watches bought to serve a purpose that became firm favourites*
First is my Seamaster. Bought one whilst my work seadweller was at service. Firm favourite now.
Second was when I was first getting into watches. Wanted to start wearing a watch for work so did what ‘normal’ people do and went on eBay and bought a mid priced Seiko. I wore it every day at work for years and it became my favourite watch. Probably still is.
*I know this isn’t strictly a grail but as I hate the term anyway, I don’t care 😂
My 16600 was a grail, then I sold it.
Then my son was born (in 2009) and I bought one for him - his name and birthday in the papers.
Now I can't sell it, of course. So, reverse grail?
(My daughter has a 16570 that's the same!)
Interesting subject.
I bought a rare Wempe Fliegeruhr back in 2004. It was a grail watch for me.
It got some negative comments here so I sold it. Years passed by and I then decided to try to find another one. It took me 12+ years to find one and it finally arrived after a very long shipping delay.
The watch has a Navigator dial but no other modern Navigator pilots watch touches it for quality. It's a watch that needs to be handled to be fully appreciated.
It's the movement of the second hand in the vintage style that I particularly like:
https://youtu.be/m4KFRLXke28?feature=shared
Last edited by j111dja; 12th May 2024 at 19:46.
I bought this SSNAV-D to replace an ageing plastic Navigator as my night time and swimming pool watch. But now I struggle for motivation to pick out something more special from my watch box of a morning.
The sandblasted Zuludiver Octopod buckle matches the case finish extremely well and really elevates the whole ensemble.
Last edited by Caruso; 12th May 2024 at 21:02.
I bought this just to be light and cheap for when I'm riding my bike. Now I can't remember when I last wore anything else
Quartz and reduced by Jomashop to something adjacent to nothing. Dirt cheap strap too.
Oh, and I only bought this brown dial because they had sold out of the black dial with a bracelet version
Last edited by Der Amf; 12th May 2024 at 22:09.
Would be a stretch to call it a grail, but I wanted an MRG Square since release. Wrote it off due to the RRP, but it came my way a month ago at a more reasonable price (thanks Ryan) and has barely left my wrist since
Last edited by M1011; 12th May 2024 at 23:38.
I bought this one as a bit of a stop gap beater, without much enthusiasm for the style, brand or anything else, but it turned out to be great.
Surprised me how much I liked it, especially for something that has zero WIS interest and coverage whatsoever. We went through many scrapes and adventures together, before inevitably I eventually killed it in Australia.
RIP my unlikely grail Luminox.
The moment I set-eyes on a Damasko DC56 (black dialled chrono) I had to have one. I stalked SC for months, but either none came-up, or when they did, I missed them. Then a full-lume DC57 came up - at a good price from a well-regarded seller - so I bought it, expecting to sell it when a DC56 came along:
Since then I have owned - and subsequently flipped - two DC56s and a DC76, while the DC57 not only stays, but is by some margin my most-worn watch and likely the one I'd keep if all else had to be sold.
Possibly waiting in the wings is another unlikely candidate:
Purely to satisfy idle-curiosity about a watch and case-maker of some standing (if not terribly popular nowadays), and because I liked the case design and tool-watch-iness of it, I wanted to try a cheap Squale diver with the 1521 case - possibly with an eye to buying a more expensive variant at a later date...
Eventually a WTB yielded a battered and bodged example - which hasn't actually left my wrist since it arrived a fortnight ago:
Obviously a fortnight is an eternity in the WISiverse, but the reality for me is I need to keep a watch at least a year - and probably more like five - to know if it's actually a keeper, but there's a LOT I'm enjoying about this no-nonsense strapwhore of a timepiece, and it might just be the best all-round diver's watch I own