My long time friend Eric decided to get me into watches this year.  I've personally never owned a watch that cost more than $150, to this is a first for me.  He likes watches about as much as I like guns, and his collection shows, nearly 50 or so watches (I don't have that many guns though).  

Anyway, we've had conversations about watches, how to get started, what to look for, where to look etc.  I've had my eye on the watch of James Bond for a short time, lol, because that has really been my only reference to fine time pieces.  Of course, I know of Rolex, but in all honesty, that's just beyond my comfort level of spending for metal and glass, especially if it does not allow me to spot my splashes at 1,000m away, hahaha!

Omega on the other hand, was within my realm of possibilities.  I was casually shopping around for a Seamaster 300m Chronometer (2531.80.00) or a Seamaster Planet Ocean ( 2201.50.00), but other obligations popped up and shopping for a watch sort of fell by the wayside.  I still want one of these, but that will have to wait.

In the meantime, my buddy Eric decided to plant the seed of watch collecting and sent me a Seiko Prospex SRP773K1.  

Some details on the watch:

Imported

NEW 4R36 Automatic winding with manual winding mechanism, 24 Jewels

Power reserve 41 hours

LumiBrite luminous hands and indices

Brand, Seller, or Collection Name: Seiko Watches

Model number: SRP773

Part Number: SRP773K1

Item Shape: turtle

Dial window material type: Hardlex

Display Type: Analog

Clasp: Fold over clasp

Case material: Stainless steel

Case diameter: 45 millimeters

Case Thickness: 13

Band Material: Stainless steel

Band length: Men's Standard

Band width: 22 millimeters

Band Color: Silver

Dial color: Blue

Bezel function: Unidirectional

Calendar: Day and date

Special features: 41 hours running time

Movement: Japanese automatic

Water resistant depth: 200 Meters

This is pretty much the finest watch I've ever owned.  I don't actually wear watches that much as I often resort to my cell phone for the time, and I don't wear any jewelry aside from my wedding band, but it felt kind of nice to put this time piece on.  Though it is not often visible in my regular work attire (plain business attire minus the tie), I find myself thinking about it sometimes, wanting to look at it.  Lol, I feel like Golem, coveting the one ring that ruled them all, hahahaha!

So, on CGN, I sometimes see folks taking these artsy style photos of their watches, often with a knife, gun, flashlight and passport or other such objects so I decided to play around with some of my toys to see if I could get the same effect.  

I have to say, the watch photographs very well.  It looks great in photos, it looks great in real life, and I know this sounds silly, but it feels good wearing it.  I went to The German Watchmaker in Vancouver and had the watch fitted today and it's kind of nice to wear a watch again.  He told me that I had a very functional and very useful watch which should serve me well for a very, very long time.  As this is not really a review, rather observations from a noob watch guy, I defer further information and details about the watch to a professional watch review:

https://monochrome-watches.com/seiko-prospex-srp-srp773k1-srp775k1-srp777k1-srp779k1-hands-on-review-price/

Anyway, I'm very happy with my new Seiko, thanks again Eric!

Something that has eluded my firearms hobby is a revolver.  It's not that I don't like them, it's just that it hasn't been a priority for me.  I knew that I'd have one eventually, just like a black powder muzzle loader, but just not anytime soon because there is other stuff I still want to get.  Anyway, a chance to pick up a Ruger GP100 for a fairly awesome price came a long and I could not resist.  Thanks Ray!

The revolver came at such a low price, I didn't even ask for the mileage.  Anyway, it came from a buddy so I trust him when he says that it's still very accurate.  

This is probably how it comes from the factory, including the lock, papers and the shell casing from the factory test round.

This is one beefy hunk of steel, and it sort of reminded me of that line from that film Snatch "Heavy is good, heavy is reliable.  If it doesn't work, you can always hit them with it." - Boris the Blade/Boris the bullet dodger/Boris the sneaky fucking Russian.

Ray replaced the front blade sight with an aftermarket fibre optic one.  I've seen some people simply paint their front blade with a bright red paint, which probably works fine as well.

The machining that goes into these seems to be done extremely well, with what appears to me as fairly tight tolerances.  I have to admit, I opened the cylinder and spun it like so many cowboy movies I've seen and that thing just kept on spinning like a well oiled machine (I also flipped it closed like in the movies too, lol!).

Not a very good shot of the bore, but it was very bright and shiny, with strong rifling which suggests to me that Ray probably didn't shoot it very much. 

I've never had a shiny gun before (stainless or chrome finish) so this was a first for me.  It was hard photographing this pistol because of the way the light bounced off it.  The camera also picked up all sorts of scuffs in the finish that don't appear to the naked eye

Ray also tossed in a bunch of speed loaders and a holster.

Something about brass, stainless steel and black that look great together.

After reviewing the safety features of this revolver and familiarizing myself with it's safe usage, I felt confident enough to load live rounds in it for the photo shoot.  I made doubly sure the hammer was down and there was no way it would go off.

When Ray first showed me pics of the GP100 and mentioned it was a .357 Magnum, I really had no idea how big it was going to be.  I watched a few youtube videos and it really didn't look very big.  When I picked it up, the size and the weight was truly a surprise for me.  

I know it's not the biggest revolver out there, but it's definitely a good size for me.  The 1911 is a good size pistol for me, and the GP100 feels bigger.

In comparison to my Sig 226, which I consider big, (but light and accurate), 

My Walther PPQ truly felt dwarfed by the GP100

Lol, my GP100 next to my first revolver.  When I was a kid, my dad got me a transforming .44 Magnum made by Takara (same company that made the Transformers toy line).  My brother got Megatron (lol, the Walther P38 is still on my pistol wishlist) and I got this guy.

Advantage S&W .44 Magnum, it transforms into an evil robot hell-bent on world domination.

Anyway, can't wait to take my first revolver out to the range to try out.  I totally feel like Saeba Ryo with this beast.

Lol, only fans of older anime will know what I'm referring to.  As a kid growing up in Japan, my wife watched the animation City Hunter in which the main character's (Ryo Saeba) firearm of choice was a Colt Python in .357 Magnum.  I know mine's not a Colt, but the wife doesn't know the difference (lol, neither do I at this point) but because it's a .357 Mag, I sort of have her approval because her favorite anime character had one, hahahahaha!!!!