What is a WIS? Well, a WIS is a Watch Idiot Savant. Here are a couple of passages from a popular TZ article that can shed some light on the subject:

"A WIS is someone who can be so distracted by his watch, that he fails to note the time." Paul Schliesser
"A WIS is self trained to sleep in 5 positions with wearing his/her COSC certified chronometer in bed." L Stone
"...ten minutes after meeting someone for the first time, can tell you what kind of watch the person was wearing, but can't remember their name." Kent

Link for the original article on TZ: Definitions of a Watch Idiot Savant

Now I ask you, can a WIS ever be content? The answer is… I don’t know, but I think I’m close!

As many of you already know, I’ve been an Omega Seamaster fan for many years. I’m now on my 4th one and I’ve already written 4 articles on the subject. Including one, which appeared in the March/April issue of InSync Magazine. It was a long-term test of my Seamaster Pro, model number 2531.80, a watch that I owned for over a year and had a difficult time replacing. Here’s a picture I took while on vacation in Montebello, QC CANADA:



Please don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t looking to replace it because I wasn’t satisfied or didn’t like it anymore. As a WIS, I always seem to have that "grass is greener/need a new watch" feeling. I’ve even concluded trades while the watch I’m trading off is still in transit to me. CRAZY, I know! Last year we purchased a new home and this coming December/January I await the appending arrival of my son (really excited!). Needless to say, my watch fund is completely depleted. The only way I could satisfy my WIS feelings was to trade my Seamaster Pro. The only problem was finding a watch that would satisfy me. In the last 2 years, I traded over 30 watches. I really didn’t feel like doing that all over again, so I wanted to be choosy and find something that I could hold onto. Well at least as long as I held onto my Monster.

With having gone through all of those watches and reviewing many others for InSync, I had a pretty good idea what I wanted. Something solid, non-chronograph, mechanical, with a water-resistance rating of at least 200m, it must have a sapphire crystal and a good stailess steel bracelet. It must also be versatile, I’m one of those bizarre people who will wear a large sports watch with a suite, but it cannot be TOO chunky. It has to atleast fit underneath a shirtsleeve. Well, after posting numerous WTT ads with little to no avail, I decided to wait a while. Looking back, I’m glad I did. An opportunity for a quick 3-way deal came up and I jumped all over it! After the smoke cleared, this is what I ended up with:



I know what you’re saying; DUM DUM, you ended up with another Seamaster! You know what? It turns out, I probably wouldn’t have been happy with anything else. An IWC Aquatimer just wasn’t in my budget, nor was a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, besides I remember once complaining about the thickness of the Aquatimer after first seeing it live. The America’s Cup Seamaster was/is IN MY OPINION, the perfect solution to my problem; I wanted a new watch and I didn’t want to get ride of mine.

Many noticeable changes have been made to this new version and even some minor ones, which I will attempt to point out. Here’s a scan that shows all of the cosmetic changes done to the dial and hands:



Again, this is just my opinion, but the new dial is much nicer! The hands are much longer, the markers are bigger and the dial has much less useless writing on it. I mean, do we really need to be constantly reminded that it’s a chronometer or what the depth rating is? This is information that can be engraved on the case back or left out all together. One of my biggest pet peeves is having a black on white date wheel on a dark dial. Isn’t the time the most important information found on the dial? Then why point out the date so much? I find the new date wheel and aperture on the AC Seamaster much more appealing. Of course this is all subjective, as is this article. A couple of other small changes are the differences in the solid end links and the engraving on the clasp. These minor changes may be insignificant to others, but I tend to examine everything very closely, I guess I’m just anal. Here are the end links side by side and the clasps side by side:





The new end links provide much easier access to the spring bars, which makes the changes from bracelet to strap less difficult. They also seem to hug the case a little closer, no big deal, but in the long run it might make the bracelet rattle less. My old one still doesn’t rattle and it might never, just thinking out loud. As for the changes in the engraving on the clasp, the engraving is much deeper on the old one, I know I’m just being anal again. I also like the way all of that useless information I described earlier is engraved onto the case back, classy!

When my wife first saw my new watch, she said I don’t like it, it looks too much like an old man’s watch, like a Rolex. You have to understand that my wife has very limited watch knowledge. I often ask her if she likes this or that watch just to get her honest and innocent answers. Her replies still shock me and I love it! I tried explaining to her that the design is reminiscent of classic Seamasters of yesteryear, but I figured a picture is worth a thousand words. So I found this:



She still thinks it looks like an old man’s watch. Oh well, I guess you can’t please all of the people all of the time. I’ve now had it for 2 weeks and I still catch myself staring at it. Its timing is excellent, I hate to say it, but it outperforms my old one. So far, I’ve lost 10 seconds in 14 days, which is less the one second a day! Another stupid thing I noticed is that this one’s date change is at 2 minutes to midnight (remember that heavy metal song?) and my old one used to change at 4 past midnight. Again, it’s no big deal, but I’m happy, the closer to midnight the better. Here are a couple more shots that I took with my flatbed scanner:




The first was with the Limited Edition certificate placed on top of the watch and the second is my attempt at being artistic. Guess I’m no Monet, but not bad for scanner shots if I do say so myself. And yes, the color of the white gold bezel does look that different from the SS on the case. It is even more noticeable live and it's AWESOME! Here's a hairy arm shot that shows it off a bit more, besides what article would be complete without a hairy arm shot? Here’s mine:



This last one was taken with a cheap $200(Canadian) Agfa camera. a camera we purchased to take quick pictures at work. It’s a shame close-ups are impossible with it, but it’s fun nonetheless.

All in all, I’m VERY pleased and to answer my earlier question, am I content? Well, for now I am. The bigger question is FOR HOW LONG???

Thanks for reading!

Marc Levesque
Time2watch

UPDATE! Here are a few pics I took with my new SLR camera: