I had a free afternoon today, so decided to hop on the bus to Stratford, East London. I had some lunch at the food court in Westfield and passed WoS. Popped in for a look around and to see if they had an IWC Mark XX in stock, sadly they didn't. I then popped over to the Rolex section to ask about the Rolex Explorer 40mm. They were very enthusiastic about it but only had a bi-metal 36mm in the store. However, they mentioned that the Canary Wharf branch had one in for demonstration. In the mean time would I like to register my interest?

I should point out that I was dressed very casually and was looking a bit scruffy. They didn't seem to mind at all though and were very polite, kind and courteous, which impressed me greatly.

So they registered my interest and then asked me if I had any questions. I asked about availability and time-scale. They replied, hard to tell, anytime between a month and a year. Which I kind of expected for a steel sports model. Still I thought, worth getting on the list, I could get lucky.

I then realised I had enough time to jump on the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) to Canary Wharf. Why not, I thought, it would be lovely to see the Explorer 40 in the flesh and the DLR is always fun.

Indeed Canary Wharf WoS had a demo Explorer 40 in the window. I went in and talked with them about my day. They didn't seem to realise they had the watch in the window! But were more than happy to show it to me and even let me try it on. Wow, what a watch it is in the flesh. Absolute minimalist perfection. I was completely smitten. Had a lovely chat with the sales person about watches, he even said nice things about the Speedbird III I was wearing. He was definitely a Wis, and loved watches. Very enthusiastic.

I said my goodbyes and wended my way back home. I'm keeping my fingers crossed about the Explorer 40. Even if I have to wait a year, I'm hoping that I'll be able to buy one. It's a truly impressive watch. I can heartily recommend WoS as well. I dropped in without an appointment and the service was impeccable. I had a great afternoon!