AVO

Suzanne in Sète. Thérèse in Toulon. Natalie in Nice...

Not so much a country as a romantic ideal. It’s a little harbour town somewhere on the Mediterranean (probably the south of France). It probably doesn’t exist anymore except in Belle Époque movies. I can walk down to the little harbour from the house I’m renting every morning, sit nursing a coffee, or perhaps a beer or pastis at a café with sweet little blue painted chairs and tables, and read Baudelaire or Hugo while people-watching in the sunshine. There are no tour buses, there’s no crappy “music” blaring out, though maybe a little Chopin or Debussy on a distant piano. English isn’t spoken so Mr and Mrs Chicken-Nugget haven’t heard of it. And I’m wearing my (hypothetical) one-watch collection (blue VC Overseas) with no fear of being mugged.

CW C65 Trident Diver.

Electrics and locks, specifically when leaving the house. As I switch things off in the morning before leaving for work, I have developed the annoying habit of saying to myself “Off, and spoken off!” The idea being, I suppose, that if I have told myself it’s off then I know it’s off. Consequently when I lock the front door I say “Locked, and spoken locked!” Which works very well until I have backed the car out of the garage, by which time I have to go and check the front door again! Apart from that, I’m not OCD at all.

Thanks, Roger. I’m around but just haven’t checked in or posted much. The last few months have been a bit manic with work and other things I’m involved in. Plus I have been rethinking watches – very much tending towards the idea that I might consolidate my collection, most of which I don’t wear, into just a few cherished pieces. Becoming slightly bored with the whole watch thing, to be honest – I think I need a new interest.

Petra in Petersburg, Natasha in Nizhny-Novgorod, Malina in Moscow, Irina in Irkutsk. ‘Tis no secret, Tovarisch!

Cheers Nigel, just been a bit busy with one or two projects. Sorry, back to Davey’s thread...

Pertinent question, Dave. I used to take multiple watches on holiday, but I started to think about the folly of taking my better watches and now leave them in safe storage instead. My travel watch, and I think it’s a perfect one, is the Christopher Ward C60 Trident GMT. A lovely looking watch, 600 m water resistant, with a GMT function and a 24-hour bezel to show you a third time zone. That way, if I’m in some distant part of the world, I will know when it’s not a good time to telephone Doris in Dibley, Vicky in Vancouver, Susie in Shanghai or Maria in Montevideo. I have worn it on my last three holidays: Greece last summer; Cyprus for Christmas and New Year, and Lanzarote this Easter. Multi watch holidays are now a thing of the past for me.

Move to Spain...or France, or come to think of it practically any country that doesn’t speak English.

That’s the way to go. I used to agonise about giving them all a turn, matching the watch with what I was wearing, where I was going etc. ad nauseam. I used to get as far as the front door and change my mind. These days I just pick one and if some get more time than others so be it. Did that for about 17 years with my Omega Polaris. I just kept a beater with a loaded battery in the drawer, ready to go

ABC collection. Nice.

Speedmaster is spot-on IMHO, or if you like a diver there's plenty in the Seamaster / PO range.

Tell the maid to look for it when she’s cleaning.

Great to see you back. Congratulations on the family augmentation.

Christopher Ward C5 Mk1 on choc alligator Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk