 |
PM |  | |
Quote | | |
Reply | | |
Full Topic | |
| Joined: | Mon Sep 13th, 2010 |
| Location: | Cambodia |
| Posts: | 100 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
First of all - very sorry to post such a feeble entry yesterday and then leaving everyone hanging...this from someone who was begging everyone for photos . I got hung up at EMS and then went into Moray Delirium for a while .
After successfully navigating the first hurdle which was lack of passport as proof EMS then sting me 7000riel or US$1.75 to get my hands on the box and I am like " here take $2 gimme gimme gimme !" Drool_27.gifDrool_27.gifAfter putting the large box on the counter I am about grab it and leave when a very sour looking dowager duchess in a blue Customs uniform comes over to me and says "HALTEN !" and grabs the box. UH OH this cannot be good I think. This brute of a woman takes MY box and produces a stencil knife
and cuts open the grail like an emergency surgery doctor. Much to my amusement foam bubbles explode everywhere and she picks up the long white box about the size of a large bar of Semtex plastic explosive and looks it over slyly. She has a bit of a ferret through the box and then looks at me . Here we go I think to myself. But no sooner am I thinking the worse than she shoots me a radiant smile and says " OH ! Benarus !! NICE CHOICE ! On your way Sir....." and I have the box and am tripping out of the EMS office with glee.I make my way to the truck and have to stop myself from opening the white box as I cross the street. There are monkeys everywhere on the road and overhead on the power wires and those little bastards take everything that glitters so this is not wise plus it reeks of desperation so I decide to play it cool......until I get to the car that is. I can then hardly contain myself as I remove the Frankenmonster I am wearing and take a deep breath as I fish the watch box out of the sea of white foam.
The Moray is revealed and my first reaction is stereotypically WOW.
The face is just huge and elegant and stylish and the darts are superb. I remove the Moray and test the weight which is very nice without being monstrous and the brown distressed strap is impressive. Then comes the moment I have been waiting for as I strap it on to my 7" wrist. The leather band is stiff as all buggery and its a little hard to get it into the right hole at first but eventually it finds its way and settles down.
I have never owned a domed glass watch before and in fact all of my watches are brutish ,hard lined divers like the Frankenmonster. The Moray is just a superb looking watch IMHO and I do the elbow bending wrist waltz as the watch is rotated this way and that and my arm is extended and withdrawn like someone trying to sooth a tennis elbow. The huge face really shines in the light and the steel finish of the bezel is perfect. It is not overly brushed and has enough of a hint of glint about it.
To be honest right now I am not hugely enamored of the distressed brown leather band. YES it is a fine band but I personally am not a huge fan of brown....or leather for that matter ! FWIW I bought two very nice black and brown leather bands for my Frankenmonster and it has hardly spent any time on them. I think the buckle on the Benarus leather is very harsh / sharp and a bit over-sized and looks to me like a tool you could scrap ice off a frozen windshield with which is a problem I will never have in Cambodia
. I chose this strap as it was the one that looked best when I viewed the HDV that Steve made. So I raced home and decided to immediately swap out the leather for the silicone strap which was looking great in the box. Of course, I am not the kind of guy who reads manuals so I take the leather off and then insert the same pins in the silicone and the first one gets about half way before it just stops. Its like I am trying to stuff a hot dog through a needle. DAMN IT ! So eventually i read the manual and it tells me I should use the screw bars with loc tite.
. I cannot get the pin out so it is currently still stuck in the silicone band and we do not have loc tite here so it may be useless to me as a strap. Luckily I have some 22mm NATOS so I go to Plan B and try the black ( nice ) the James Bond ( excellent but the JB is a bit old ) and then finally the Moray goes onto a brand new Dark Navy Blue NATO and BLAM.....dancing.gifit has found its home for a while. The 22mm NATO actually looks fine on the watch and it has not been off since.I play a bit with the bezel which seems quite stiff to me although I am sure it will loosen up in time ( and as a desk diver it is no issue anyway ) and I notice that it is about 1mm off on it's line-up with the internal minute markers but Steve tells me this is hard to achieve when the bezel is a solid piece and not an insert and it is only when the watch is on and you are scrutinizing it that you could tell. No-one else will ever wear this watch so again.....no biggy !
Possibly the biggest test you can give a watch is The Woman Test. Now...I did not tell my better half about this purchase as a) I don't have to report in on budgetary expenditure like some guys do and b) If I did, it wold simply spark a " well what do I get !!" exchange so easier not to go there.
However, I think it is interesting to test just how perceptive your woman is and this is a perfect way to do it. Obviously my regular Frankenmonster and the Moray are as similar as chalk and cheese to a WIS BUT will a woman notice a new watch has crept onto my wrist ? I wear the FM on a Watchadoo so there is an instant giveaway as the Moray is on a NATO but i have worn the FM on NATOS many time and my wife is used to seeing me swap out bands so I am hoping there will be a period of grace before the previously mentioned " what do I get ?" kicks in. As I wait for the 1kg of Cambodian of rolled,marinated and trussed beef to cook on the bbq I swing in the hammock in our garden and enjoy a glass of Chilean red whilst sneaking looks at my new watch. The heavily pregnant wife waddles out,sits down and takes one look at me and says " oh....Darling.....you have a new watch! It is beautiful ! ". *cough*. Damn. I quickly divert with a " Sweetheart can you check the beef ?" and noting more is said which I don't like. Something is not right and I fear an ambush attack which will probably come today as we are going to a big wedding tonight so it will be " I need a new dress" or " i need some new jewelery ".
. Fair enough - she is carrying my son so she deserves it !So there you have it. A Moray comes to Cambodia. I love everything about the actual time piece and it really just reeks of style. I think it will be staying on the NATOs as I have come to realise that for my climate and my style, they are perfect. See some examples;
22mm Navy Blue
22mm Emergency Orange
22mm James Bond
A final ?? ; Can someone please direct me to a good source for NATOs that are heat sealed as the holes on the ones I have are a bit ratty despite them being newish.
and
ps ; You didn't really think the Cambodian Customs official knew her arse from her Benarus did you ?
Last edited on Fri Jan 14th, 2011 08:52 pm by jgarnett