Horological Meandering

Kartik
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An introduction, with some wedding pics

Hi everybody,

I’ve been lurking on this wonderful forum for quite a while, so I thought it was finally time for me to introduce myself, and my little collection.

By way of background, I grew up across India, the UK and the US. I just finished business school in the US, and am now back in London (for now, anyway).

I was recently lucky enough to get married to the girl of my dreams. Both my wife(!) and I are from India, so we had the big fat Indian wedding. Except, since she’s Christian and I’m Hindu, we actually had two big fat Indian weddings: one in her parish church and another in a beautiful old palace.

The wedding was a week-long party, and was an absolute blast. And of course, I got to wear a different watch for every event! So, on an event-by-event basis, here is my collection. Apologies for the less-than-stellar photos…

Day 0

Accompanying me on the flight to India was my trusty Rolex Milgauss.

Though this was not my first nice watch (an Omega and a Cartier came before this), this was the watch that really got me ‘into’ watches. I bought it on a bit of a whim when I went to help my sister pick out a watch for herself, and ever since then I began noticing details about watches. This is the watch that led me to various online watch fora, and started the madness.

I actually didn’t end up wearing this to any of the wedding events per se, but this was strapped to my wrist every moment in between. This is pretty much in line with my usual wearing patterns these days. I end up wearing this watch during travel or when I don’t have anything specific in mind, especially on weekends. All said and done, I think this is the piece that probably sees the maximum wrist time in my collection. And it’s got the marks to prove it.

Day 1

Once I got to India, the first wedding event was a small ceremony which is just meant to be for the groom’s family and close friends. It’s meant to be a nice, purifying ritual, where after the priest is done saying his bit, the groom gets gently anointed with turmeric paste by his family. Unfortunately, it’s now become an excuse for everybody to take out years of frustration on the poor groom by viciously assaulting the poor chap (ie, me!) with this stuff. There was only ever one watch that was appropriate for this -- my tool watch, an Omega Seamaster Pro (Americas Cup LE).

We did this at my parent’s beach house, where the day began quietly.

Then guests arrived, had a few drinks and everybody was having the good time.

Then this started

And then it got ugly – literally lost my shirt!

But the Omega took the licking and survived just fine, just like it has on my wrist for over a decade now. It was my first, and for quite a while, my only, mechanical watch (a birthday gift from my parents), but it doesn’t get a lot of wrist time these days. The date bothers me (gravitating towards cleaner dials now), and the total lack of adjustability in the bracelet is annoying. But every time I put it on (only for rough activities or adventure travel), I feel a really strong connection to this watch – I love the horned lugs, the slim profile of the case, the patina of the WG bezel, and most of all, the memories associated with it. So despite the fact that I keep thinking about replacing this with an ND Sub, the Seamaster endures.

Day 2

The next day (which saw my fifth shower in 24 hours to try and wash the turmeric off) was a party hosted by my cousins, just to get everybody warmed up for the week. When you say ‘party’, the first thing that pops into my head is my AP Millenary 4101.

This watch was the first result of my newly developed watch-mania. Deciding that my then collection (Seamaster, a Cartier Roadster and Milgauss) needed a smarter watch to balance it out, I spent months trying on various watches in my $10-15k budget. I surprised myself by landing on a watch that I had never thought of before: a GO PanoMaticLunar.

But before I pulled the trigger on that piece, SIHH 2011 rolled around, and the new AP 4101 just made my jaw drop. I couldn’t stop thinking about this piece, so in a fit of passion decided to forget about the GO (and my budget!) and place a deposit on the AP, sight unseen, at the NYC boutique. After months and months of waiting, the watch finally turned up (AP NYC claimed it was the actually very first customer piece delivered in the world!), and I was absolutely smitten.

Two years in, and I’m still well and truly in lust with this watch. For me, it is many ways a perfect watch: pedigree and elegance combined with daring innovation. I like to think that it has spectacularly high horological value, and is a true watch guy’s watch. Gets a lot of love from both non-WIS people and from the likes of Kari Voutilainen and Stepan Sarpeneva (whom I was lucky enough to meet at SalonQP).

I don’t wear it in the day very much because it’s a bit flashy to wear to work with a suit/tie, but it’s almost always on my wrist during evenings out. I think that out of all the material possessions that I own, this is the one that gives me the most pleasure.

Day 3

The 3^rd day of the wedding was a big one, the church wedding. To go with my tuxedo, the clear choice was one of my two new additions for 2013: the amazing, classically elegant, timeless JLC Reverso Duo Bleu.

I have been thinking about a TTR 1931 Reversos since the very first one came out. I was very tempted by the Rouge, but when I saw the Duo Bleu photos from SIHH 2013, I was hooked. The blue face is what convinced me to pre-order it, but after delivery, what has amazed me is how lovely the white verso face is! The beauty and flexibility of this watch more than make up for not having a blank canvas for an engraving.

I started the wedding proceedings wearing the white face, since it seemed more appropriate.

But as the evening wore on and the alcohol levels went up, the blue recto side came out to play.

This is just a stunning watch – simple and elegant, yet so very special. Wearing it as I type this right now (blue face, on the Fagliano strap) – gets a lot of wrist time, especially as a daily-wearer to work.

Day 4

Day 4 was a hungover travel day, where the party moved to an old palace that has been converted into a hotel. As usual, the Milgauss was at hand.

Day 5 - am

The morning/afternoon of the fifth day saw the ‘mehndi’ ceremony, where the women decorate their hands and feet with henna. We had ours in what used to be a royal pleasure garden. Traditionally the men never attended this, but now it we get to hang around and drink. The right watch for this tough job was my Cartier Roadster, worn on a tan OEM strap.

Some of our friends made a new friend

The Roadster was the first watch I ever bought myself, and my 2^nd nice watch overall. I wanted a more work-appropriate watch to complement the Seamaster, and picked it largely because I thought the quick-change strap system was very cool. I’m a little OCD about my watch band matching my shoes, so at the time, having one watch with several different straps seemed like the perfect solution. (of course, now I know better: the right answer is just to have several watches ;-) )

Never worn it on the bracelet even once – always on one of the 4 leather straps I have for it.

I now have mixed feelings about this piece. It’s certainly handsome looking and I love the quick-change straps, but the date bothers me + I don’t like the movement or solid caseback. I suspect this one is going to go in 2014 (my first ever watch sale). The Reverso has taken over as my primary-office-watch, and will likely completely supplant the Roadster once I get around to getting it a full wardrobe of straps with QR springbars.

Day 5 - pm

After a quick nap, we re-booted for a formal dinner event that evening, where the theme was black, white and gold. These colours were just perfect for my AP, so it made a re-appearance.

Can’t get enough of this watch! Or her ;-)

Day 6

Once I finally woke up on Day 6, it was time to get ready for the Hindu wedding. The gold brocade outfit called for a gold watch – my other new addition of 2013, and the last watch in my collection, the GO PanoMaticlunar in RG.

I had been thinking about this watch for years (before I bought the AP), and finally pulled the trigger this past year. So many things to love about this watch – solidly milled case, elegant yet quirky (a quality I look for in all watches) dial, and an absolutely beautiful movement. I tend not to like watches with dates, but the big date function on the GO is just outstanding! I actually rather enjoy setting it every time I wear this watch after a few days… a lovely, tactile process.

This is my first (and so far, only) gold watch. I was rather sceptical about the metal, but after living with it, I’m shocked by how easy it is to wear. This may be the start of an expensive interest…

In Indian weddings, the groom goes to the waiting bride, along with all his family and friends. Here’s the procession, with my sweet ride.

The wedding ceremony goes on for a while, so plenty of time to joke around!

So, as night falls, my presentation comes to an end.

Thanks for making it all the way through, and I hope you liked my little collection. Obviously quite modest compared to most here, but still puts a smile on my face.

If any London forum members are interested in getting a drink or coffee, please PM me – would love to meet up!

Cheers,
Kartik.

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