Oliver Whitaker 
First Impressions: Unboxing and Initial Gut Reaction Let me set the scene. Package arrives on a Tuesday afternoon. Generic brown box, nothing fancy. I’d been eyeing this particular Duxot watch for about three months, waiting for one of their infamous flash sales to hit. When the price dropped to around $160 from the listed $600-something … Read more
I’ve been wearing the Grand Seiko Quartz SBGV233 for the past couple of weeks, and let me tell you, it’s been quite the experience. From the moment I took it out of the box, I knew this watch was something special. It was my first Grand Seiko, and I’ve always heard rave reviews about the … Read more
First Impressions Out of the Box Let me be honest with you right from the start: the Raven Venture Dive looked underwhelming in every photo I’d seen online. Flat, maybe even a bit boring. Something about the grey dial and utilitarian design just didn’t translate through a screen. So when the leather travel case arrived … Read more
The Bulova Computron wasn’t a watch I bought on a whim. I’d been circling it for months, half convinced I needed a reason to add such a strange digital slab to my rotation, half amused that I kept coming back to the same quirky trapezoid case every time I browsed for something fun. The shape … Read more
The first time I slid the lid off the box and saw the Seiko SARB035, I actually stopped for a second and just stared. It didn’t scream for attention, it didn’t sparkle like crazy, and it definitely didn’t look like a “flex” piece. Instead, it sat there with this calm, creamy dial, quiet polished edges, … Read more
The first time I strapped on the Citizen Promaster Aqualand, it felt less like putting on a watch and more like starting a little experiment: can a serious dive tool actually work as a daily companion with meetings, grocery runs, gym sessions, and the occasional lazy brunch? I didn’t save it for a special trip … Read more
The first time I saw the Tudor Black Bay GMT in person, it wasn’t on a dealer’s cushion or behind a glass display. It was on a guy’s wrist at a Denver airport bar, halfway through a red-eye delay. I remember noticing the bold red-and-blue bezel peeking out from under a hoodie sleeve, and before … Read more
The Omega Seamaster Diver 300M has earned a spot among watches that blend rugged capability with refined looks. When I first strapped one on years ago, it wasn’t the Bond connection that got me hooked — it was the feeling that this piece could handle a day at the beach just as easily as a … Read more