You know, I’ve tried to avoid hodinkee.com. Primarily because I’m about forty-two percent certain that I’m a brain in a jar somewhere and this so-called “universe” is an elaborate Matrix-style joke on me. The whole idea of Hodinkee is suspicious. Why else would John Mayer, my favorite modern musician, start writing for a watch website, proclaim his love of IWC, then turn around and specifically disrespect the IWC Ingenieur Titanium AMG, the watch that I won by beating Tommy Kendall around a (very small, cone-lined imitation of a) racetrack in 2006? Surely they’re screwing with me here.
Too many coincidences. Was it the same cat? You get the idea. And now, Hodinkee has decided to sell watch straps made of Horween #8 cordovan. Unlikely, right? What are the chances that the website where John Mayer dissed my watch would be selling straps made of my favorite shoe material?
And yet… they’re doing it. I found the strap totally by accident; I was Googling “shell cordovan watch strap horween 8”. As one does. It only took a minute, girl, to fall in love with this strap.
Problem was that I didn’t have a watch for it. The Hodinkee site shows the strap on an IWC Pilot.
I bought an IWC Pilot back in 2006. However, it’s currently on, shall we say, long-term loan, and that’s a story for another day. I don’t think I’ll ever get it back. Not sure I want it back. Now, I could buy myself a new IWC Pilot and then put the strap on it, but the price of Pilots has gone through the ceiling lately. A Spitfire UTC like the one I no longer have can’t be had for less than three grand used. Like beat to piss used. Like, the ads say “IWC Spitfire UTC, 2001 model, scratched crystal, damaged lugs, no strap, recovered from car fire, faint aroma of human flesh, $3,099 FIRM.” I think there’s a guy in Taiwan who has one for $2,650, and how could it be anything but a fake?
So although Jomadeals is currently selling the brown dial Saint-Expery for just over nine grand — a fabulous deal, for me or for John Mayer — I had to put aside the fantasy of a cordovan-strapped IWC. I’d need to buy a watch for the strap, as ridiculous as that sounds.
The Hodinkee padded cordovan strap is only available in 20mm or 22mm widths. So I needed a watch with those lug widths. Automatic movement, if possible. Not made in China. Not much more expensive than the strap. It took some doing, but I found one.
Enter the Japan-made variant of the Seiko 5 Sports. Available with an olive strap and face for under $150, shipped right to my door. Bad ass, right? I could have had the Chinese variant for $109, and I’m sure it works the same, but I have other Japanese Seikos and I wanted to have a Japanese watch if I couldn’t get a Swiss one. An additional $6.95 secured me the watch tool.
I’ll explain how this is done for future generations. You use the u-shaped notch in the watch tool to push the spring-loaded pin in the strap out of the lug.
Put the pin in the cordovan strap, then use the other end of the tool to compress the pin enough to get it into the lug so it can pop into place. Protip: you can scratch the watch doing this, so work from the back, yo.
It’s just that easy! Now I have a cordovan-strapped watch. It matches my shoes and my belt. There are still people in this world who believe that’s important. I’m kind of one of them, sometimes.
The workmanship of the strap is absolutely up to par. I can’t wait to wear my new watch to my new job, about which more later, some other time. But not right away. For the near future, I’ll keep wearing my Ingenieur. Just in case I run into John Mayer. Just in case the people running the Matrix for me let that happen. Are you listening, brain-in-box maintenance staff?
Believe it or not, I own a watch tool. Not that I have valuable watches or anything — current timepiece is an 80s Casio digital — but while the watch has survived life with me, the bands have proved to have little longevity.
Arabic script for days?
Yeah there’s a choice between that and English on the wheel.
Can’t go wrong with a Seiko 5 or a horween strap. Nice setup.
Thanks for the info, I have this same Seiko (Japanese made version) on the canvas band and primarily use it as a “knock-around” watch as its pretty rugged. But I’d like to have a leather strap for similar reasons: to match my old leather boots when I’m out in the field.
I was considering a cheap but well constructed Bertucci titanium watch with a horween strap but this will be easier to justify. And I really love the marker lume on this Seiko.
As I think I’ve stated here before, my high school after-school job was in a very high end jewelry store as an engraver, delivery and errand boy, and after-hours maintenance and cleaning man. I worked in the back, with the jeweler, me at my machine and he at his bench, setting stones, creating one-off pieces. Across from us sat the watchmaker. The store carried Seiko for Everyman, and Tudor and Rolex for the well-to-do. So our watchmaker was Rolex certified. Huge man, massive hands. Looked like a defensive lineman hunched over his bench, his giant round face squeezed into specialized three-lensed magnifying glasses. Yet despite his bulk, his meaty hands were so steady, precise, delicate. Could’ve been a surgeon. For people who don’t understand the allure of a fine Swiss watch, sit with a watchmaker, prepare to have your mind blown at the absolute mechanical brilliance that goes into a fine timepiece. Imagine a Ferrari’s engine squeezed down to the size of a quarter, still fully functional. It was by watching this giant of a man fix springs the size of a human hair that I learned that a basic set of watch tools would be a necessary investment. So I have the basics, not watchmaker quality, but good enough to be dangerous/useful. As it only took you five minutes to swap out the strap on your Seiko, I see this isn’t your first rodeo, either. A fine, classic, gentleman’s look. As I get older, I find myself wearing leather straps watches much more than the ones shod in bracelets. Not sure what this means, other than I may be fast approaching retro-grouch get-off-my-lawn-you-kids status.
I’d read any blog/site/magazine/book where you wrote about your experiences at that shop BTW.
The owner had been a WWII bomber pilot and was missing the ends of two fingers, thanks to a well-placed shot by an Me109 fighter pilot. Kept a loaded 30-30 Winchester model 94 behind his desk in the back office, and made sure I knew it was there and that I knew how to use it (I did). He was a mathematical genius. Could count three decks in his head, which got him banned from more than one Vegas casino. Hard-ass demeanor, but the biggest anonymous donor to our local Boys/Girls club. Every year.
Closing time, after the doors were locked, the safe was opened, and all the staff would clear the shelves of millions of dollars of inventory in less than a minute. I’d hold the padded, silk covered carrying tray and one of the sales ladies would fill it with 40-50 Rolex watches. Can you imagine being 17 years old, carrying a tray that’s worth more than your parents’ net worth? Then the trays for the diamonds, which were worth multiples more than the watches.
After everything was locked, the owner and I would set the alarm, and I’d stand watch while he locked the door. We lived in a very low crime small city in the American west, but it was always an intense moment, being in the dark, on the sidewalk, wondering if this would be the night a masked gunman would force us back inside. (Safe was on a timer and couldn’t be opened until the next morning, but imagine trying to convince a strung out drug addict of that.)
He’d turn without a word and walk down the street to the bar. I’d watch to make sure nobody followed him.
I’ve never really thought about that job as being all that unique or special, but now in retrospect, how many high school kids are trusted to handle, ship, deliver, work next to millions of dollars worth of diamonds, gold, watches? Maybe the trust the owner put in me is why I felt the need to watch over him? I hope the kid that took my place when I went away to college felt the same. A real live fucking bomber pilot! Probably explains the nightly visit to the same barstool. God watches over him now, where I hear even the streets are paved in gold.
Nice setup. It’s been said that Seiko is one of, if not the last honest watch manufacturers. I’ve been looking for a quality leather strap for a green Alpinist, and I think this strap just might be the answer.
Let me know how your experience goes!
Excellent watch/strap combination, Jack. I recently got into the watch world thanks to a vintage Bulova Accutron I inherited from my late grandfather. A modern marvel those watches were at the time, with a tuning fork used for better accuracy than a balance wheel. After some research I discovered the wonders of automatics, and two of my favorite recent purchases have been the simple, entry-level Seiko 5 SNK809 and a genuine Russian Vostok Amphibian. I have spent more money changing out the bezel and the band on that watch than the price of entry, but after many months of tinkering I finally found the perfect combination. My wife thinks I’m nuts…
And kudos to you for wearing the watch on your actual wrist, and not practically on your hand like a lot of guys seem to be doing these days with their massive watches.
My grandfather also left me a Bulova, but not an Accutron. You’re lucky.
Damn, can’t find that color Seiko on Amazon, it’s the perfect color. Bonus points for the Horween.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003549AOU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Don’t never say I never did nothing for you, man.
And you didn’t even point out that I should have used a semicolon and not a comma there 🙂 Now just tell me if I’m going to want to give up my first new car (90 Miata) when I inevitably buy the ND — not sure if my wife is gonna countenance two of them in the two car garage, but…
Nice Seiko 5! I’ve got a pair of the Malaysian “SNK80x” models that I’m still in amazement about… How they can sell these things for $55 is beyond me. I’ve been bitten by the watch bug lately after not having worn one for at least a decade. I hold you partially responsible, since I’ve probably read all your threads on watches two or three times. I’m now many thousands poorer than I was six months ago, so I make it a point to stay away from Hodinkee.
I have one of those with a brown face. It’s amazing, really, as an engineering feat the Seiko 5 isn’t so far away from the Glock 17.
Interesting color combo there. My instinct is always to go for a black dial but I like how those look together. Also nice to hear the strap is well made.
http://coolmaterial.com/style/mhd-customized-seiko-5-military-watches/ Lots like this from customisers like Yobokies, Dagaz, etc. I like the look of a simple, customised Seiko5.
http://gearpatrol.com/2013/10/22/modding-seiko-5-secrets-subculture/
My God, If I don’t come up with a FFF I will die!