Watch Wednesday (6/23/10)

The camera battery needed a charge, but we have an older camera that the Mrs. likes to carry with her to take pictures of flowers and such. I know this picture is still slightly out of focus (mainly because the older camera lacks the image stabilization of the newer one, and I have a very hard time holding the camera completely still while shooting), but this camera really does a better job on the close-ups. So why haven't I been using it all along?

Somehow I'd forgotten about this watch, which I've had for about two years and which I do wear, though perhaps not as frequently as some of my others. It's from a company called Jacques Lemans, part of a line inspired by auto racing (hence the "F1" designation on the dial). These watches were all over the internet at the time I bought mine, on sites like Overstock and SmartBargains; I happened to find the best deal on this one on ShopNBC, which I otherwise never bother with.

I guess I liked this watch because I thought it slightly resembled a TAG Heuer Carrera, which costs around $3K. I also like the red accents (though they don't pop off the black dial quite as much as I'd like) and the knurled crown and the sleeves of the chronograph buttons. Overall, it's maybe just a little too busy-looking, but it's a nice size and it keeps accurate time.

As with most of my watches, this one came with an awful strap: it was black perforated neoprene with red edging, and there were pieces of metal inside it to keep it in a curved shape. This strap is made in the US by a company called Hadley-Roma. I love the red stitching (it's also available with blue, orange, or yellow), but I don't love the red edge, which you can kind of see a little of at the bottom of the pic. I think it's painted on or otherwise applied, because it's starting to come off in a couple of places. But it's still a huge improvement on the original.