Plus or Minus Thirty Seconds: Time & Watches
I used to say I wasn’t a watch guy, no lusting after a Rolex Daytona or dropping more on a watch than I did on my first car1. But I’ve come to realize that I might have been kidding myself. I wear a watch almost every day and I pay attention to what’s on my wrist. So, while I may not be deep into the world of limited editions and collector forums, I guess it’s fair to say I’ve become a bit of a watch guy after all. That habit didn’t start with a desire to be fashionable. It came from the Army.
In the Army, punctuality was fundamental to mission success, operational effectiveness, and discipline. When I was a tank platoon leader, if your company was supposed to cross a phase line at 0600, that didn’t mean “around 0600.” It meant exactly at 0600. The standard was plus or minus thirty seconds. That was the window. Arriving too early or too late could compromise the mission and disrupt the battle rhythm of the entire organization.
My Watches
To me, a good watch is like a good pair of boots, or a good blade, it does its job, it lasts, and it fits your style. I’m a university professor, a husband, a father, and someone who still gets his hands dirty from time to time. I don’t need a watch to say anything about me beyond, “This guy’s on time.”
Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate a few pieces. Not a giant collection. Just a few watches, each chosen for a reason. They’re practical, durable, and have just enough character to make them worth wearing.
In no particular order, these are my watches:
Armitron All-Sport Instalite 165WR
I picked up my Armitron All-Sport at the Post Exchange during my first duty assignment at Fort Knox, Kentucky. It was cheap, lightweight, and Army strong. This little digital watch served with me through my early years as an Army officer, both as a tank platoon leader and later as a mortar platoon leader. It was with me during Airborne School, countless field exercises, gunnery tables, and those long days that pushed me to be better.
Most memorably, it was on my wrist the night I got engaged to my wife. While it did not see much wrist time over there, the Armitron still provided reliable backup support on deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. For all its simplicity, with just a resin case and a quartz movement, it has lived a full life and earned more than a few sentimental stripes.
The Armitron All-Sport Instalite 165WR is no longer in production.
Victorinox Swiss Army Field Watch
This watch was a gift from my wife on our wedding day in 1998, and I wore it every day for years. It has a classic field watch design, basic black dial, 24 hour notations, luminous hands, and a stainless steel case that has taken its fair share of knocks. My Victorinox went with me to Iraq in 2003 and kept perfect time through the heat and dust. Nearly three decades later, it still runs. I wore it to dinner on our 27th wedding anniversary, a quiet nod to where we started and everything we’ve made it through since. It’s rugged, reliable, and still ticking after all these years. Kind of like the guy wearing it.
This model is no longer in production. Victorinox Watches
Apple Watch Series 6
My Apple Watch was a Christmas gift and became my daily wear for a couple of years. I liked the alerts and how seamlessly it connected to my iPhone and MacBook. It was convenient, especially during busy semesters when messages, calendar reminders, and health tracking all lived on my wrist. It was also with me when I turned fifty while visiting Alaska, a trip filled with spectacular views, family memories, and reflection of a half century of orbits around the sun.
That said, the short battery life is hard to overlook. My Apple Watch barely makes it through 24 hours on a single charge. These days, it still gets some wrist time when I want to be fully connected, which isn’t often. Most of the time, I’d rather wear something that just tells the time and leaves the rest alone.
Ambici Classic Black
Two of my students, who happened to be brothers, started a wooden watch company called Ambici. They were outstanding students, and I did my best to support and encourage them however I could, including buying one of their watches (full disclosure, I asked my wife to buy it as a Father’s Day gift to me). Ambici offered models crafted from maple, sandalwood, ebony, and the Classic Black, which is the one pictured here. Their watches feature a Miyota 2115 quartz movement from Citizen. It is light, accurate, and surprisingly fun to wear.
They did caution me not to wear my Ambici in cold weather, but I didn’t listen. On a rather chilly trip to Boston, the wooden case cracked. When the brothers graduated, they surprised me with a new Classic Black model, this time with my initials engraved on the back. That gesture meant a lot, proof that a simple watch can carry more than just the time. Geaux Reed & Riley!
Unfortunately, Ambici is not actively making & selling watches anymore. Ambici 2015 Kickstarter Campaign
Emporio Armani Sportivo Chronograph AR5963
Before deploying to Afghanistan in 2012, I needed a watch that looked sharp for briefings but wasn’t something I would worry about damaging in the field. I picked up the Emporio Armani Sportivo AR5963 secondhand, and it fit the bill. It had a bold silver dial, a solid stainless-steel bracelet, and a design that leaned more toward sporty professionalism than flash. In general, buying designer fashion watches like this one isn’t recommended. But in this case, it was affordable, reliable, and did exactly what I needed.
With a 43mm case, it is a large watch but it wears very well and my Sportivo performed reliably during a rather stressful year in Afghanistan. While I don’t wear it often now, it reminds me of that chapter of my life and still gets a little wrist time on occasion.
Best I can tell, the AR5963 model is no longer offered. Emporio Armani watches
Hamilton Khaki Field Auto 42mm H70605160
My usual instructions for birthdays and Christmas are simple: “Don’t buy me anything.” But for my last birthday, I made an exception and asked for this watch. The Khaki Field Auto was inspired by the watches Hamilton supplied to American and British soldiers during World War II, and it still carries that same rugged, no-nonsense character today. The deep green dial is what really sold me. It’s subtle indoors, almost muted, but step into the sunlight and it comes to life with a rich, emerald glow that feels right at home in nature. It is one of my favorite for daily wear. It reminds me of the discipline and clarity that military life instills. You get up. You get moving. You stay on time.
Seiko King Samurai Manta Ray SRPE33
My Seiko King Samurai was another Father’s Day gift and it is a tank, pun intended. It’s the kind of watch you could wear in a rainstorm, on a ruck march, or while pulling kids on a tube across the bay. There’s something comforting about a watch built to take a hit and keep going.
Seiko has a long reputation for making reliable & affordable watches and the King Samurai series is no exception. The name “Samurai” was originally coined by the watch enthusiast community, not by Seiko. When the watch first appeared in the early 2000s, collectors noticed its angular case design, which reminded them of a samurai’s helmet. The nickname stuck and eventually became so widely used that Seiko embraced it unofficially.
The “King Samurai” label, however, originated with Seiko as part of their modern upgrades to the original Samurai design. The Manta Ray edition adds a little personality to the toughness, with a deep blue dial patterned to resemble the movement of water and rays gliding just beneath the surface. It’s a serious watch with a bit of beauty baked in.
For some reason, Seiko includes a “dive extension” clasp on many of their dive watches. I found the extension uncomfortable, as it pressed against my radius bone. I experimented with several strap options, sailcloth, leather, rubber, and eventually came full circle back to the original bracelet. I swapped out the clasp for an aftermarket version that doesn’t include the dive extension, and that solved the problem.
Casio Marlin MDV106DD-1A3
There’s a scene in the movie The Town where Ben Affleck’s character comes to his friend and says:
“I need your help. I can’t tell you what it is, you can never ask me about it later, and we’re gonna hurt some people.”
Without missing a beat, Jeremy Renner’s character replies:
“Whose car we gonna take?”
They don’t waste time discussing the situation. They gear up and deliver some well deserved street justice. If that unquestioning friend were a watch, he would be the Casio Marlin.
The Marlin is low-cost, reliable, and always ready, full stop. I don’t know what kind of adventures this watch will join me on, but I’m looking forward to finding out. We should all be lucky enough to have one of these in our collection.
The AAFES Trifecta
As a retired Army officer, I have lifelong access to AAFES, the Army & Air Force Exchange Service. It functions as a military department store, offering tax-free shopping and access to quality goods, including some excellent deals on watches. Through AAFES, I can buy brands like Omega, Longines, and Tissot at reduced prices, with free shipping and no sales tax. That alone makes it a great place to find value, but every now and then the stars align and the deals get even better.
Recently, I took advantage of what I call the “AAFES Trifecta”: the Omega Seamaster 300m, the Longines Spirit Zulu Time, and the Tissot PRC 100 Solar. Between already competitive pricing, free shipping, no tax, and the rare opportunity to combine multiple promotional discounts, the deal was simply too good.
Omega Seamaster 300m
The Omega Seamaster 300m is one of the most iconic modern dive watches, known for its blend of elegance, durability, and heritage. It features a ceramic bezel, a wave-patterned dial, and Omega’s Master Chronometer movement, making it both highly accurate and resistant to magnetic fields. It’s a watch equally at home in a wetsuit or under a cuff. Although I do have my PADI certification, I haven’t done any open water diving in over a decade. If that changes, this will be the watch on my wrist.
Prince William wears one, and of course, it’s been the wrist companion of James Bond since Pierce Brosnan debuted it in GoldenEye. I didn’t buy it because of them, but I’m not mad about the company I’m in.
Longines Spirit Zulu Time
The Longines Spirit Zulu Time is a refined and capable GMT that blends classic style with modern functionality. Named after Zulu time, the military term for Coordinated Universal Time, it reflects the kind of coordinated precision that once enabled troops to operate on the same schedule across multiple timezones.
The black dial is clean, legible, and exudes quiet confidence. For more formal occasions, the Spirit Zulu pairs easily with a black alligator leather strap, offering a sharp look. I will be wearing it in May 2026 when I lead a study abroad course in Portugal focused on blockchain technology. It is a fitting companion for a trip that crosses both time zones and boundaries of innovation, and it currently sits at the top of my daily wear rotation.
Tissot PRC100 Solar
The Tissot PRC100 Solar stood out to me as a clean, modern watch with one key advantage, it runs on sunlight. I liked that it uses solar-power in a design that didn’t scream “eco gadget.” With its stainless steel case and precise quartz movement, it’s a low-maintenance, high-reliability piece that’s always ready to go. Whether it’s sitting on the original bracelet or wearing a black strap for more formal occasions, it checks all the boxes.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, watches are just a chunk of metal that does something your phone already does better. After keeping the time, my main requirement of a watch is to carry a story. Some remind me of where I’ve been. Others were gifts from people I love. A couple have seen real action in a combat zone, but all of them have seen some kind of action, whether in the field, in the classroom, or during time spent with family.
Each of my watches marks a moment, a commitment, or a lesson learned. More than machines, they’re reminders that time is best worn with intention and that showing up matters.
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Although I got what I consider a spectacular deal, my Omega Seamaster 300m did cost more than my first car. ↩︎