A Cemetery Walk in Smyrna, Georgia, with my Citizen Watch

A Stroll with my Citizen Stainless Steel Quartz Chronograph Watch

Watches have long been associated with adventures.  Mountain climbing, SCUBA diving, Formula 1 racing and various arctic and jungle expeditions have all been sponsored by watch companies. My local adventures are a little more low-key. As this is October and fall is upon us, some of my adventures have included walks in our local cemeteries. They are old and slightly spooky.  However, the fall leaves are beautiful and these cemeteries are tranquil places nestled in a very busy city.  Let's take an early October stroll through Smyrna Memorial Cemetery in the Atlanta suburbs.  It's a small angular cemetery that's about a block long.

The Smyrna Memorial Cemetery Gate is Open to All Who Venture

In early October, the leaves have really started to change, but they haven't peaked. My Citizen watch places us in the late Afternoon. The date reads '31' as I have forgotten that September only has 30 days.  With a 46mm case and a white dial, the watch is easy to read in the shadows and the edge of the shadow world.   

A Historical Marker for Smyrna Memorial Cemetery

I love the old tombstones that are sometimes nestled in family plots.  They tell the stories of families long departed.  Some are surrounded by intricate wrought iron fences.  When the inscriptions are readable, they chronicle love stories and tragedies.  Babies who died in the era of primitive medicine.  Couples who passed away within months of each other.  It's all there for those who care to pause and ponder.

A Family Plot surrounded by Wrought Iron

As the sun gets lower in the sky, I'm cognizant of the days growing shorter.  But, they provide a glow to the trees and changing leaves.

The Citizen Stainless Steel Quartz Chronograph

As I stroll, I hear the rustle of leaves.  Chipmunks and squirrels forage.  But, they are being watched--as am I.  I catch a glimpse of a hawk maneuvering in the tree tops and surveying the scene. The cycle of life plays out daily in this place.  It spans moments and centuries.

A hawk perches in a tree surveying the landscape

With my errands in the village done, it's time to depart.  The cycle of life must continue.  The hawk is hungry and so am I.

The full color of leaves in Smyrna Memorial Cemetery

I pause for a shot of the church that lies behind the cemetery.  The steeple is framed nicely by the trees. As I review the photos later, I see that an orb floats below the steeple and above a tombstone.  I'm sure, it's just a reflection. Right?

A mysterious orb appears to float above a tombstone.  Probably just an optical illusion.

I hope you've enjoyed my little adventure. I'm sorry it didn't involve sharks, crocodiles, extreme temperatures, and only the slimmest possibility of ghosts or spirit animals. But, it was a few minutes of meditation. If you'd like more information about the Citizen Stainless Steel Chronograph, you can read my review here on this blog.

Watch Wearing Wednesday: Timex Expedition Gallatin Out Among the Fall Foliage

 As fall progresses, I've taken my Timex Expedition Gallatin out for a drive among the turning leaves. I reviewed this watch before here on this blog.

Timex Expedition Gallatin

While the leaves haven't officially peaked in my area, the colors are certainly turning and turning fast. The 11.5mm thick case doesn't stand too tall on the wrist.

Timex Expedition Gallatin on a fall drive

But, with an easy to read with a 44mm diameter case, bold diver-style hour markings, and large well-marked hands, the Timex Expedition Gallatin is always to read in any environment.

Timex Expedition Gallatin Face and Bezel shown on a drive through fall color

The Timex Expedition Gallatin is available on Amazon in the Black Case/Green Strap combination (shown) or with a Black Case/Black Strap combination (for extra ninja-ness).  You can find the Gallatin here on Amazon. It's a fun and comfortable watch for daily wear.

Wristwatch Review: Jones New York Men's Diamond Watch

Every once in awhile, my wife and I come across a His & Hers watch set. I recently came across one from Jones, New York, at Burlington. It's another unique find from my many excursions for watch shopping at Burlington. I provided two watches for just $29.99. Unfortunately, the women's watch didn't fit my wife, but the men's watch fit me well.

Jones New York Diamond Watch attracts attention

Jones New York Watch Style

Jones of New York is best known for women's clothing and accessories.  However, the style of this watch worked for me. Generally, this watch follows the design of many inexpensive quartz diamond watches with a silver-tone hands and hour markers. The case is a shiny silver-tone and the metal mesh strap continues the silver-tone theme.  The strap is unusual in that it closes with a traditional buckle and loop system.

Jones New York Metal Strap

The unusual metal mesh strap can be a little difficult to tighten appropriately due to the distance between reinforced eyelets. But, once on and tightened, it's a comfortable watch to wear for hours at a time. 

Is the Diamond in this Watch Real?

Yes.  The diamond in this Jones New York Watch (and many other "Diamond" titled watches) really is a real diamond. Of course, it's a teeny-tiny diamond.  It is actually surrounded by foil and embedded into the watch at 12 o'clock. 

The tiny Diamond on a Jones New York watch magnified

Jones New York Watch Construction

This watch has a stainless steel caseback and a lightweight base metal case.  The crystal is typical of flat glass crystals in low cost watches. The watch claims some water resistance, but it isn't enumerated. I would not count on doing much beyond washing your hands or walking in from the car when it is raining.

Jones New York Watch seems solidly constructed

Jones New York Watch Dimensions

This Jones New York watch is 40mm in diameter and 9mm thick. The dimensions are large enough to easily read the watch. The watch can be worn in dressier settings and would fit easily a long-sleeve cuff.

Jones New York Watch Overall Impression

Overall, I like this watch because it offers a unique look and I like the rather unusual mesh strap. 

TGIF: Nautica Plastic and Resin Watches At Reasonable Prices

I recently came across a couple of interesting Nautica watches that use resin in the cases or straps.  They are both attractive watches and come in around a $50 price point.  In these inflationary times, $50 seems to be a rare price point for a quartz watch with a known and popular designer brand label. Let's take a quick look at the Nautica watches in question.  The first is the Nautica N83 Men's Coronado Bay Black Case, Black Dial, Back Resin Strap Watch.  The model number is NAPCNF109.  According to the Amazon listing here, this watch has a plastic case and a resin strap.

The Nautica N83 Coronado Bay Plastic Watch in Black

This first watch offers a reassuring 100 meters of water resistance. It has a bit of lume on the markers and hands and Indiglo backlighting. This isn't surprising since Timex Group designs, manufactures, and sells Nautica watches under a licensing agreement. On Amazon, some reviewers criticize the Indiglo function for not working or being faint, but overall the watch gets 4.4 stars out of 83 ratings. One Spanish-language reviewer stated that the watch was a good value for the money.

The blue version, the Nautica N83 Coronado Bay is similar. The model number is NAPCNS214. This watch offers 50 meters of water resistance. The listing for this watch says that the case is made of resin and the strap is made of silicone. This Nautica Coronado Bay watch is available here on Amazon.

The Nautica N83 Coronado Bay Resin Watch in Blue

I generally prefer watches with metal cases. But, I have plenty of watches that have plastic or resin cases.  My venerable Casio Forester has a plastic case. My LaCoste watch has a composite (plastic) case. Even my Armani Exchange watch touts at nylon case. 

Poking around on the internet, I see that plastics and resins are touted as being lighter than metals and appropriate for long wear as sport watches. I'm certainly no materials engineer, but the rise of various plastics is an interesting development when it comes to name brand watches.

Watch Wearing Wednesday: Perry Ellis Solar Watch

As Halloween approaches, it's time to show more watches in spooky situation.  But, with the bright blue of my Perry Ellis Solar, it's hard to be spooky. Plus, this wood carving relief of a skull isn't exactly scary. Nevertheless, I love to show this watch off because it has been a great addition to my collection and its a very comfortable watch to wear.

A Perry Ellis Solar Watch

One cool thing is that I've finally found this exact Perry Ellis Solar watch on Amazon and you can get it for a nice price.  If you want to read my complete review of this great watch, you can find it here on this blog.

Perry Ellis Solar Watch (Amazon photo)

Sharp Watch Shout Out: UNDONE Basecamp Classic Military and Vintage-Inspired Automatic

If you're willing to experiment with a new brand, you might be well rewarded.  The new brand, UNDONE, has some great looking offerings on Amazon.  This 40mm diameter watch has the venerable Japanese NH35 automatic movement, a Lexan polycarbonate lens, and an attractive leather strap.

UNDONE Basecamp Classic

This watch offers a unique and very attractive look for less than $400. It also has 100 meters of water resistance for real performance. This Hong Kong-based brand makes rugged and beautiful watches across their entire product catalog. But, this Basecamp Classic earns them this week's sharp watch shout out. It's just a great looking watch. To see it on Amazon, check out this product listing.

Wristwatch Review: Tahari Diver-Style Watch

Recently, I've been wearing some of the inexpensive watches that I picked up over the summer. This one from Tahari is one of my finds from watch shopping at Burlington. For $20 to $25, this Tahari watch checks many of the Diver-style watch design boxes on my list. 

Poolside with my Tahari Men's Watch

Tahari Watch Style

Fashion designer Elie Tahari is best known for women's fashions and accessories. In the days of disco, he popularized the tube top. The vast majority of Tahari labeled products are aimed at women. However, under Bluestar Alliance brand management, the Accutime produces a limited number of Tahari-branded watches for men. However, I found Tahari branded men's watches at Burlington and you sometimes see them on various online auction sites.

My Tahari diver-style watch has a dodecagonal (12-sided) bezel that does not rotate. Around the circular dial white numeral batons are edged with gold tone as are the hour and minute hands.  A thin second hand is also gold-toned.  The gold tone is continued with the crown.  It's a nice look that is not overwhelming or gaudy.

As a fashion watch, the Tahari is not for swimming or diving

The watch is comfortable to wear with a soft strap and it doesn't stand overly tall on the wrist for easy wear with long-sleeved shirts or business attire. According to the caseback, this watch uses a standard SR626SW watch battery. As an inexpensive watch, you can readily see that the bezel is simply molded into the case. It's a minor detail that reveals that this one is a cheap watch.

Tahari Watch Construction

Without an online listing of this watch, I have to assess the materials by look, feel, and labeling. The watch has a stainless steel caseback and a somewhat slick feeling case that I presume is a base metal. It doesn't have the solid feel of a stainless steel case or the flexibility of a plastic case. It has a flat crystal that seems like the glass crystals of most Accutime watches. The strap is generously long and made of "simulated leather."  I would not count on this watch having any water resistance beyond minor handwashing splashes. However, for a $20 fashion watch, I feel that the build quality of this one is pretty decent. Accutime certainly knows how to mass produce quartz watches with lots of brand names at match various price points.

The Tahari Dive-Style watch for men has a generous simulated leather strap

Tahari Watch Dimensions

This Tahari watch has rather large, manly man, dimensions. The case is 47mm in diameter and 10mm thick with 24mm lugs.  From the tip of one lug across the watch to the tip of the opposite lug is about 55mm.  I like that that strap fits my rather large wrist and is long enough to fit both keepers.  Overall, this watch is large without being obnoxious and is easy to read and easy to wear.

This Tahari watch looks good when the lights are low

Tahari Watch Overall Impression

I like this watch.  It's one of my favorite cheap watches.  It's lightweight and comfortable for all day wear.  It's also very easy to read. Most importantly, this Tahari Men's Watch simply looks good.