WristScan

[that’s my best Matthew McConaughey impression] 

My thanks to Mr. White for giving me the honor of judging Watch of the Week. There were SO many good entrants, this was really hard to determine a winner!! To help narrow the field, I started by looking for one of two things:       

(1)   Something really SURPRISING (that most of us would never think of doing) but really works!! 

(2)   A new pair of shoes that really ELEVATE the watch beyond its original standing.

So, I’m going to also award these sub-category winners before getting to the WOTW Podium. 

The SURPRISE Winners!! 

Crown Comfort’s Girard Perregaux. What I love about this is that it is just so unexpected, but it works!! Nothing about a GP Richeville screams “Hey, put me on a yellow Nato!” but it looks great and I love the juxtaposition of a more formal case structure paired with a much sportier strap option. Nice one! 

Stromer and his GO PanoInverse. The Raspberry strap works so well and plays off the rubies and greys in the dial. Love the use of rubber on a more formal piece, too. I personally don’t think this look takes it feminine (although it looks great on Mrs. Stromer!) I see it as a really cool mod that would work for anyone. Nice job!

I was hoping Arie would actually put that Pink Nato on the Patek, that would have been awesome!! But no prizes for wimping out and just laying it over the strap 😊

The ELEVATE Winners!!

Marcus Henke’s Seiko. What I love about this is how the strap elevates a relatively inexpensive watch and just makes it look outstanding. It has a very “Forest” theme to me, the contrast stitching complements the forest green bezel and dial and the woven brown texture reminds me of tree bark. It’s an outstanding example of how new shoes can elevate a piece beyond its original standing. Awesome job!

SubExplorer’s Panerai. This one works on every level: the yellow and blue in the strap plays off nicely with the blue and yellow in the dial, of course. But I also love the texture and thickness of the strap that complements the thickness and masculinity of the case perfectly. Panerai new shoes are easy to do and easy to mess up. This one nailed it on every level. Great job.

Okay, without further ado…. The Podium for Watch of the Week!!

 

Second Runner-Up

Claes-T’s Explorer. On the surface, this looks so simple, right? Pick an accent color in the dial and pair it to the strap. But the simple things in life are often the hardest to execute as you have no margin for error. The strap color needed to be such a close color match to the dial orange to work and you avoided the obvious option of going with orange rubber and went instead with the Nato. Perfect execution of a classic “new shoes” theme, well done!

First Runner-Up (you get the crown if the winner cannot complete their duties )

Count de Monet’s Submariner. This is so classic Marlon Brando “The Wild One” to me! The slightly-aged Cordovan leather matches the watch perfectly. There must be, literally, tens of thousands of Submariners in the world and the vast, vast majority of them are on the OEM bracelet. This is the perfect way to reinterpret an iconic watch. Great job!

Drum Role!!........  Winner of Watch of the Week!!

Mr. Green’s vintage Girard Perregaux. What I love about this is that you are celebrating the watch as it ages. It has a nice patina and the original white indices have become a light yellow-to-green. The green strap highlights these colors perfectly and presents aging as a strength and not a weakness. The decision to go with a distressed leather strap also perfectly complements the aging of the piece. I see what you did here and I approve. Well done, Sir!

Thanks to everyone for participating! SO many great New Shoe Mods here it was a privilege to be your judge this week 😊

 

NickO

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