Those who know me well, have most likely never seen me without a watch on my wrist. Acquaintances and co-workers quickly learn that they can always ask me for the time, and I've got them covered.
My watch obsession started when I was six years old and my Old Man bought me my first watch, It was a swiss made 3 jeweled Mickey Mouse watch. I proudly wore that watch for two years before I fully grasped the concept of how to tell time. I continued to wear it until the digital watch craze took hold of me around 1980.
a few of my watches..
including a few Mickey Mouse's
I owned countless digital watches throughout my childhood. They were incredibly affordable, and I spent plenty of my lawn mowing money on them over the years. I owned watches with video games, calculators, stopwatches, timers, and alarms. I had enough of them to wear a different watch every day of the week.
They truly took a beating during my rough and tumble 80s Gen-Xer childhood. When I'd wear one out or break them, another snazzy and affordable piece of tech was always easily within my grasp.
Casio CA-53W-1CR
Calculator Watch
I actually owned the CS-83 CASIO calculator watch back in 1982, which was one of the CA-53's predecessors. It was the first CASIO I ever bought with my own money, and have been a loyal CASIO fan ever since.
I actually got in trouble a couple of times using it to do calculations in math class. I forgot to turn the chime off and the 'beep' instantly gave me away. This of course was back in the olden days when calculators weren't allowed in class.
Growing up in the 80s was an amazing experience. So much technology was being thrown at us, and digital watches were one of the many wonders that excited me to no end.
My vintage HMT Pilot
hand winding wristwatch from India
While I do love my digital watches, I collect and use all kinds of timepieces. I love pocket watches, but seldom use them unless I am wearing a long sleeve shirt. You see, I have what appears to be a permanent white stripe around my wrist, under where my watch sits.
The times I do give my wrist a chance to breathe and go watch less, I find myself consistently flipping my bare wrist to check the time. I often sleep with my watch as well, so I can quickly reference the timepiece in the middle of the night if required.
Pizza Time!
I truly feel naked without a wristwatch attached to my person. Wearing a watch was engrained into my psyche from a very young age. I was even taught to never go to a job interview without wearing one, as you'd instantly be judged as an irresponsible person who doesn't manage their time.
Forty years of watch wearing has definitely given me a good grasp of time, as well as how to manage it. As a young boy I used to chuckle at the term 'Timekeeping'. I knew no one could keep time, but soon learned I could manage and efficiently use it. I take pride in being prompt and on time. I would rather be an hour early, than one minute late anywhere.
Yes, watches can be fun, stylish and invaluable tools, but timepieces helped in part to mold the man I've become. Somewhere along the way.. I became a watch collector. There's no rhyme nor reason to what I collect, although it does tend to heavily lean on the digital side. If it looks good to me and feels good on my wrist, I'll buy it.
CASIO 3405 GW-M530A
G-SHOCK Tough Solar
I could write a book on CASIO watches, and if I did, a good part of it would focus on the G-SHOCK 500 series of watches. My 500's have proven to be indestructible and have never failed me. In fact, my daily wearer is now almost ten years old. The watch grabs radio waves and syncs to atomic time nightly. It is without a doubt the toughest, most reliable and most accurate watch I've ever owned.
I've have recently begun cataloguing my collection, so I'll have to write some posts soon on some of the pieces I own. I foresee several articles focusing specifically on CASIO models. Stay tuned..