Okay, so I finally gave in to the whole "bronze watch thing," even though it seems to be largely over among my fellow WIS. But then, does anything ever truly go away in this odd little hobby of ours? It doesn't seem so, though some of the guys here look like they at one time participated in the once-booming "wrist sundial" phase of Horology of yester-millenium. And no, I won't identify the gentlemen whose wrists look like they belong at the "Shady Rest Care Home," but y'all know who you are...

So here's the Dead Guy's first foray into the Bronze Revolution, and I have to say that I rather like it, despite once expressing my impatience with the whole genre. It's from the fine folks over at Steinhart, and the model is called the Triton, and it's got an interesting "color palette." (Oh, by the way, due to ongoing computer issues that continue to preclude my taking and processing my own photos, those featured herein are courtesy of the gent who sold me this pretty cool--okay, Aces High!--watch.)



For some reason, that first picture makes me think of my G.I.Joe days, back in the early sixties, when my Dad, a proud Marine Corps Veteran of the Korean War, bought me the Marine version of the old full-size "action figure." Okay, so it's here that I must, in the interest of honesty and full disclosure, tell you that they weren't called "action figures" back then; that bit of vocabularial gymnastics didn't come about until the first Star Wars film was released in 1977, and they couldn't very well call all of the resultant "action figures" anything other than, well, "action figures."

I bring all this up because my Mom, who had a bit of a mean streak in her, took a bit of evil pleasure in teasing my Dad about buying his son a doll to play with. Dad would bring home a new uniform for "my Joe," as I called the toy, and we'd dress him up in his new USMC dress blues, or WWII-style camouflage fatigues, or even Drill Instructor khakis, complete with broad-brimmed "campaign hat." And Mom, as always, loathe to pass up an opportunity to give the old man a ration of sh-, er, a hard time, would walk by and say something like, are you girls gonna want dinner tonight, or would you rather play with your dolls?"

I always figured that the term "action figure" was coined by some WWII or Korean War Vet whose missus picked on him and his son(s) for playing with dolls. Tease a guy about playing with an "action figure," and he's likely to just shrug at you and go on playing. (Or call you a "Commie" and flip you off.) Yep, all of this flashed through my mind when I first saw this unusual watch, looking for all the world like a tire from the Official GI Joe Action Jeep.

But what does that have to do with your new Steiny, Mort? you ask. Well, in a word, nothing. I just like telling little anecdotes to make things more interesting as I discuss my new watch. And here's a couple more pictures of it, now that we're back on topic...




I like these two shots because they not only allow you to continue seeing all that way-cool "military green," but they also show a lot more bronze than do any of the others. The case is 100% bronze, as is the stationary ring between the dial and the black uni-directional bezel. Heck, even the rotor on the automatic ETA 2824-2 movement is bronze, which can be seen in the next shot below, thanks to a friend of mine from 'another site' who was kind enough to provide me with an excellent shot of the superbly built case-back for inclusion in this post as a late edit/add-on.



Gorgeous, isn't it? I can easily picture that decorated bronze rotor shimmying around all of that polished stainless steel movement as it in turn sits inside all of that bronze that has been shaped into a solid case that is somehow gracefully laid out enough to belie the military package it is a part of. And look at that bronze-plated butterfly DEPLOYANT* clasp; is that not cool? Combine all of these components, and you have a watch of exceptional beauty and toughness.

*The term is deployant, not "deployment." A "deployment" is what I did all those years as a USN flyboy; I deployed overseas, sometimes for as little as six months, and sometimes as long as 11 months. A deployant is a type of clasp, and it is used to cinch a watch down on the wrist. Deployments have nothing to do with watches, other than the fact that those who deploy almost always take their watch(s) along with them. Pretty simple, eh? Yup. So why, then, do some of us so-called WIS's elect to use the wrong word? I don't know, but hearing it is as irritating as having large grain sand in your shorts from your favorite beach while you're trying to get your girl into a romantic mood. It really kills the moment...





The nearer of the two photos above shows the generous collection of items sent to me by the seller, featuring all of the original paperwork a buyer could ever want, including the original receipt from Germany, a nice tool to change out straps with, a tiny generic Steinhart owner's manual, a really cool "worn dungaree" watch strap, and a lovely, foil-stamped leather watch box in which to keep all of it. Nothing like a full set of everything to give you that amazing feeling of "new," as opposed to a lonely watch, wadded up in a handful of used bubble wrap and stuffed into a ragged envelope.





So that's it, fellow Watch Forumites, the quick and dirty (along with the not-so-quick-but-not-quite-clean) summary of what it was like to receive this amazing watch in yesterday's mail. I'm very happy with this purchase, as it returns me to the heady world of Steinhart ownership, a place in which I all-too-briefly resided a few years ago. Now, if I can just find a bunch of guys my age who wanna bring over their "GI Joe's" and relive all those wonderful childhood memories of playing with our dolls action figures.

Many thanks for looking, and have a great weekend, whether it's here already or has yet to come. In either case, don't forget to stay safe while you're at it, or I'll sick my Aunt Sophie on you...

(c) 2016, Mortuus Aviation, LLC.
Rancho Santa Fe, CA

Very cool Mort! I dig everything about that one especially the GI Joe reference.