Watch This Space

Ming Thein 17.03 GMT

The old Timex Forester I had worn for twenty years had given up the ghost. It was a cheap watch to begin with and I never liked it. I should rephrase that. I had the Timex for twenty years, but I seldom wore a timepiece. But I have found a watch to be essential in my world travels—sometimes you just have to be at a certain place at a certain moment. I thought about the Apple Watch, a fabulous thing to be sure, but much too much for me. The Ming Thein watches shown above are considered “affordable” in the classic watch world, but not in mine. I find it interesting that they are priced almost exactly the same as the latest top of the line ceramic Apple Watch: $1300.

Leaving the world of luxury watches aside, I began to prowl the almost infinite offerings from Amazon and eBay. A much cheaper (and funkier) option was an Indian HMT, a 17 jewel mechanical watch. It was still being made, by hand, up until a few years ago. A mainstay of Indian police, military and railroad workers for half a century, they came in a variety of styles and colors; refurbished models are about $18.



I eventually got this one:

I also bought this Tonnier “Naviforce”, a brand-new military style timepiece, for less than $10 new, it came directly from China:



It was too bulky so I finally sprang for this sleek Danish design ($70):



Scandinavian enough for my Iceland trip although, if I really wanted to go all out, there is a watch manufacturer in Reykjavík: