Inside the Growing Clicky Bezel Watch Collection: From Dive Watches to Grails

A New Year, A New State of the Collection

Well, it’s a new year and that means it’s a new state of the Clicky Bezel watch collection. We’re going to see where the collection stands now: watches that left the collection, watches that stayed in the collection, and new acquisitions from last year.

I’ll provide links for as many of these as I can, but because of the nature of watches, it won’t be for all of them. Also, we’re going to go over what I have my eyes on for possibly this year or a few years down the line. Let’s check it out.

 

The Dive Watch Squad

The Citizen Eco Drive diver – this is the watch that kind of kicked it off for me in this whole world of dive watches. I have it on an orange strap.

I’m a sucker for anything orange that’s on the dial, especially on that second hand. I don’t know, it’s a nice summer watch. Orange is not for everyone, but I think it looks really great on this guy.

Next in the line, we have the Blue Lagoon Turtle from Seiko. This was the first Seiko that I bought. I mentioned this before – it was between SKX or a Turtle case, and I went with a Turtle case. I’m kind of glad I went with it because it’s a little bit more robust.

I did own a couple of SKXs, the original 007 and 009, and I regret selling those guys very early on. I acquired it shortly after owning this Seiko. But I still wear this guy – it’s on the Uncle Seiko Z199 bracelet, and honestly, it wears super great on the wrist. It is a little bit top-heavy just because the links are a bit lighter, but I think it looks great.

Next is another Seiko diver, specifically the SBDC053, which at the time when it was released was kind of like the 62MAS reissue that wasn’t the reissue, and then it got updated later down the line. But this one’s still a prized piece in the collection because it was a gift from my in-laws, and it’s forever appreciated.

It’s a handsome piece. I forgot what strap this was paired on in the last state of the Clicky Bezel watch collection article, but this one’s paired with a sailcloth strap – I believe it’s called a hybrid sailcloth strap from Artem, and I think it’s a perfect pairing with this specific piece.

All right, next, we have the Solar Tuna. This one’s a really great watch. I really wanted a Seiko Tuna – I know it’s not for everyone, but ever since I laid my eyes on it, it really grew on me, much like a Seiko Monster that we’re going to see next.

But this one is the Save the Ocean series, and I think it’s a really nice variation of a Solar Tuna that’s out there. It has a wave pattern on the dial, and it’s paired up with this 22mm NATO strap from Fossil.

And that brings us to the Seiko Monster, and this one is a really great piece. It is a beater piece, and I did purchase it like this – well worn by the previous user. It’s just a great watch. It’s exactly what you think of when I think of a Seiko Monster in the first-gen series.

I think that the weathered look really fits this specific style – it’s very brutalistic. The bezel action is great. I mean, some people might call it cheap; I call it a clicky bezel. And I have it paired on the Artem strap as well, another sailcloth hybrid strap from them with a spring-loaded RM style clasp here.

Now, moving down the line of dive watches, we have the Vostok Amphibia section. There are only three, but this one is my favorite case – the 090 case, specifically in this dial configuration. It’s almost like a Panerai Radiomir-type dial with the 12, 3, 6, and 9-hour markers.

This one case is not for everyone – it’s a tonneau-style case. The original bezel that came with this, unfortunately, was a super high polish bezel, which didn’t match the case, like a bead-blasted case. So what I did, and I mentioned this in the last article, is I popped off the bezel and used the back of a sponge to give it some brushing to finish it.

Now we have another Vostok – this is the 120 case, which, for a lot of people, this is the one, this is the particular Vostok they think of when they think of a Vostok Amphibia.

Unfortunately, this one doesn’t get as much wrist time just because, yeah, that secondhand – it just stopped working. But it is a cool little piece to show people, especially if they’re just getting into watches, and paired with this silicon strap from Archer, it’s pretty cool.

Lastly, we have this green dial 110 case from Vostok Amphibia in a lagoon green dial, which I think is really cool. The weird thing is I got a lot of compliments on this particular watch.

I don’t know why – people seem to be drawn to it. Three Vostoks – I don’t think I’ll be getting any more Vostoks. I heard it’s kind of like a disease – like once you start, once you start collecting Vostoks, you just keep on acquiring more somehow, but I’m glad it kind of stopped here.

Back to Seiko now – we have a Seiko 5 diver, but the Rowing Blazers Edition and this particular one has this Uno style bezel to it. Actually, we’re going to come back to this watch later on because it’s in relation to a new watch that I bought last year.

This one’s pretty cool because it has some details that set it apart from your average Seiko 5, and that colorful bezel – at first, I wasn’t sure if I was really into it, but after a while, it’s a fun watch to wear. It has kind of like a few scuffs on it just because I’ve been enjoying this piece, but it’s a great watch that wears great on the wrist.

The legendary Casio Duro Marlin Edition – I remember before, I’m not sure if this is the case now because I haven’t checked the market, there was a moment when Casio was thinking about getting rid of the Casio Duro, and I don’t think they ever should because it’s the perfect entryway into a dive watch.

For many, this is a great size – for me, it’s a little bit big, it’s a little bit large, but that’s just me because I like wearing smaller cases anyway.

Great piece – I’m not going to mention Bill Gates because, for some reason, people don’t really like it whenever I mention the word Bill Gates, but I just mentioned it, so I guess people are just not going to like it.

The Squale Corso Italiano – this was a gift from them in exchange for a review. Of course, I love this watch – it looks almost like it gives Blancpain vibes, but to me, it kind of stands on its own, and it’s just a cool piece to wear.

I have it on a gray sailcloth strap from Artem again, and on the wrist, it’s the perfect fit, I feel. Also, the bezel action on this is silky smooth, very tactile, and has a great click.

And lastly, the last watch in the diver category of my collection is another Seiko 5, in the cream color dial on this vintage Uno strap from CNS Bands – great place, by the way, you should check them out for any of your band needs, especially for the prices.

This is not a sponsored article by the way, so I actually do really love CNS Bands. If I need to have a dive bezel at my disposal, this is probably the one I’m going to go to, especially if I’m getting my hands dirty for something.

Time-Only Champions

First things first, we have a Flieger watch here, and the reason why this is the first in line is because this was my first serious purchase.

I know in my last article I said that this was my first Swiss watch, and what I mean by that is, you know, my first Swiss watch movement watch, I guess you could say, but I’m aware that it’s a German watch, hence the name Flieger.

But yeah, this was my first serious watch into this whole world here. I love this thing. I picked this up in Hamburg, and it was a great time trying to hunt this down.

At the time, they didn’t have a big web presence – you had to go on their German site, but even then, you couldn’t really order anything through there, so you really had to go through some of the ADs, which at the time was all in Germany, or most of them were in Germany. So this is a great memento of that time when I was studying over there.

Next up is the mighty Casio Beside BEM-SL 100 trio, although we are missing one more variant, which is the blue variant. Honestly, I have no issues with that – I don’t really like the blue on that thing, but it would be cool to have it to complete the whole setup here.

They’re not running anymore. I changed the battery twice – actually, this thing consumes a lot of energy, but they’re great pieces. A lot of people have been asking me if they’re for sale. They’re not – this is part of my personal collection, and if you haven’t read my article already, you should because it was a pretty wacky time picking up those pieces.

I don’t think that Casio is going to be making these lines of, or not these lines, but this particular model anymore from the Beside line.

Now, this is the part of the article where I feel like a lot of people are going to be leaving because we have our first Rolex on the table, and whenever someone mentions Rolex, for some reason, people tend to get Rolex fatigued, and they run away.

But this is part of my collection, and here we have Rolex OP reference 166000. I love this watch – it was my first Rolex. It was between this or a 36mm Explorer reference 14270, but I opted for this one, one because it was cheaper, and two, I wanted something a little bit different, so I went with the silver dial.

I know it’s not an Explorer – it’s a very different watch, but I love this thing. I got married in this watch, and it’s never going to leave the collection.

So that’s a perfect segue into the modern iteration – well, not modern, but the most recent iteration of the 36-millimeter Explorer and the turquoise Edition, the Rolex OP reference 126000.

This one is sized for my wife’s wrist because she’s the one that’s mostly wearing this. Although, at one point, we did lend this to my brother-in-law when we were getting married to wear it with his suit, and he looked really great in it.

The only upside to this watch aside from the updated caliber and updated bracelet is I wish, you know, it did have this half-link adjustment here when your wrist blows up after eating something really salty, but overall, it stays in the watch box, and whenever my wife is feeling fancy, she’ll put this guy on.

Last but not least, in the time-only category, a perfect segue from the Tiffany OP is the “Tiffany” Seiji, or rather the Kurono Tokyo Seiji inspired by the Tiffany blue color. Actually, sorry, it’s not inspired by the Tiffany blue color – it just happens to be released during the time when the Tiffany blue color craze was going crazy on watches.

This was actually acquired before the Tiffany OP, and if you haven’t heard the story of that already, that Tiffany OP – we were able to acquire shortly after acquiring a Pepsi a week afterward, which is absolutely insane.

But this one is a really great watch from Kurono Tokyo. There was a lot of controversy with this – if you know, you know. Super sweet – this one I don’t wear, I think it looks a little too feminine on the white strap, but it is a great look, a great combo, but I really love this K shape and dial design from Hajime Asaoka.

This is a little bit of a foreshadow for what I picked up later last year. I mean, if you know, you know, because you’ve probably seen my articles.

The Chronograph Corner

Chronographs now – I don’t have many in the collection, so this is only going to be a very short section talk, but this one, let’s start it off – this is the Seiko 7A26. Amazing watch, I love this thing. If you know the story, I picked this up for less than $100 at the time, and it’s such a cool piece from the ’80s.

And you know, considering that it’s the first analog quartz chronograph, it’s pretty cool just knowing that, and it works perfectly, probably like it did when the owner first got it. And this watch I do frequently wear.

And last in the chronograph series, we have the WMT 6239 homage watch in this really funky dial, you know, paper cutout arts and crafts type of look to it.

Pretty cool piece – there was a point where when I purchased this, and then maybe a few months later down the line, I kind of thought about it, I’m like, “Hmm, I kind of regret buying this watch.” I mean, it is sold out, but I don’t know why I just FOMO’d into purchasing this watch.

But I think the reason why I bought it too is kind of to fill that void of a vintage Rolex 6239 that this is kind of based on, and of course, it’s not going to be the same, but nonetheless, a great watch, very fun.

GMT Masters

GMTs, and I know a lot of people don’t know much about this brand – this is the About Vintage 1954 GMT- I owe it all to them because they were actually the first sponsors of this channel, which is really cool.

I think I had close to a thousand or very little bit over a thousand subscribers at the time, and it was cool to collaborate with them on reviewing this piece for them. But this one’s particularly special because it does say the inception of my channel year and channel name – Clicky Bezel 2022. God, it’s been like three years already – that’s insane, time flies.

The Seiko 5 GMT – I remember when this first came out, it was amazing. I mean, they released the NH34 movements, and it seemed like there were tons of micro brands using these movements, and there were just a ton of GMTs out on the market just last year, which is great because the GMT is my favorite complication.

Some would say it’s the most useless complication, but to me, I think it’s pretty cool that you can use it while traveling, even though this one is not a traveler GMT – it’s a caller GMT, but either way, it’s a cool function to have.

And especially coming from a time when getting into watches, you couldn’t really get a cheap GMT, so this one’s really cool. It comes in an orange dial, which seems to be a crowd favorite – it is my favorite and super fun watch.

Last but not least, we have the mighty Rolex GMT Pepsi reference 126710 BLRO. The grail watch that I was somehow able to get within one month – I still can’t believe it. It’s such a cool fantasy to think that you can even obtain a Rolex sports watch at retail.

I know I’ve heard lately that it’s a little bit easier now to get a few of these sports watches, but the Pepsi and, of course, the Daytona still remain the hardest to get, so I’m forever grateful for the AD that sold it to me.

But yeah, this one is a very special piece to me – as I’ve always loved this ever since its release, especially on the configured Jubilee bracelet. I think that’s the way it should be for this particular reference, but you know, it’s been with me everywhere on my trips to Japan and anywhere where I can wear it safely.

I’m learning to embrace the scratches, learning to live with the watch. Will I ever sell this thing? I don’t know – I considered it multiple times, but we’ll get to that later in the article.

The Quirky Ones

Okay, now the next category of watches – I guess this one has its own kind of unique take on watches. These are, I guess, you can call the quirky watches of the group. The CIGA Design Blue Planet – this one’s in the titanium version, and it was gifted in exchange for a review with CIGA Design.

It’s a very interesting watch. I don’t wear it out too often, but I can see the appeal of why people would really love this watch. I know a lot of YouTube reviewers. They usually do is they get the watch in, and then they kind of sell it off or they give it away. I kept – I keep my watches depending on the occasion.

Maybe I need to wear something really quirky like the Blue Planet that we have here. I think they have a new version of the Blue Planet – I’m not sure what the difference is. Both of these are very interesting pieces.

And to round out the CIGA Design collection, we have the Series Z right here with the orange strap. Yeah, I think we all know what this watch kind of looks like – RM vibes, and all of which are on the silicon straps, which are pretty nice, actually.

But yeah, this one doesn’t really get that much wrist time – it’s not really the style of watch that I usually wear, but it was fun to wear during the time using this watch for review. I can see the appeal – some people really like this design, it is very striking.

Seiko School Time watch – a watch that I did a review on and dubbed as the true “baby Grand Seiko” for good reason. It kind of does look like a Grand Seiko in terms of the grammar of design.

I know it doesn’t have the facets as it is, but it’s really quite a watch because, one, it’s actually made for children, hence the name School Time, and from what I hear, they actually do have a new version of this School Time which was released a few years ago. But I mean, these guys, the vintage ones, are the way to go.

Another quirky watch that was featured in the last state of the Clicky Bezel watch collection article is the vintage Braun AW50, and unfortunately, this one doesn’t get any wrist time at all.

For some reason, the battery seems to tend to get depleted quite a bit, but yeah, it’s a really quirky piece. It is the original AW50 from the ’80s, I believe, and you know, it’s seen better days on the dial, but I mean, original Braun from Germany – pretty cool.

Now that I think about it, I think it would have made sense to group the Timex Weekender Chronograph with the chronograph section, but I don’t wear this one anymore just because it’s out of commission. I need a new battery for it, but I never got around to doing that for years now.

I wore it so many times during college, and it actually came with me during my trip to Europe for a few months over there, backpacking throughout Europe. It was a fun time – till this day, it’s a great watch, it looks the part.

That watch is actually the perfect segue to this Timex Q Quartz. I remember when the first one came out, I think it was a Pepsi version – it was sold out everywhere. It was during the time of the pandemic and it was a really handsome watch, and Timex was really headed in the right direction.

This one, I believe I saw it on Slick Deals for pretty good deals, so I had to pick one up. It’s not the Pepsi version, it’s a little bit different, but it’s a navy and orange dial here, which is pretty cool. And it looks like it just ran out of battery now.

I don’t know why I put this in the quirk category, but I guess it’s a quirky watch because it’s very divided – people either like it or they don’t. And for the longest time, I didn’t. The Alpinist, I myself enjoy the Alpinist, but for some reason I haven’t really found this on my wrist a lot this year.

I might have to change that for this year, but I have it here paired up on this Ranger Green Artem strap with this spring-loaded clasp – pretty cool look, matches that dial perfectly.

The Digital Squad

Moving on to the digitals, we’ll kick this off with the digital watch that really made me fall in love with watches – the Casio calculator watch. It has seen better days. It has not depleted its battery, which is great in typical Casio fashion. But I also have the white version.

I call it the Oreo because it kind of reminds me of an Oreo – it’s not particularly stark white. So yeah, they’re two great watches, and unfortunately, I don’t really wear them that much anymore.

I was wearing the black version a lot in college and I was actually doing calculations on this thing, which is kind of ridiculous if you think about it. It’s more of a novelty, but nonetheless, it’s two great and essential watches from Casio.

And speaking of essentials, I, of course have a classic DW5600 here. This one does occasionally get on my wrists from time to time if I know I’m doing something really labor intensive – this is the one that is probably going to be strapped on my wrist.

I guess I’m not wearing it enough because it is in pretty good condition.

And the last of the classic Casio digital watches is the “Casio Royale” – a great watch, it’s pretty cool, and it’s still running after all these years. I never had to change out the battery ever since I got one.

If some people are just starting to get into watches or they’ve just been wearing smartwatches for a while, this is probably the perfect transition before they get into, you know, a more analog-style watch.

And we have the Casio Arnie here – it looks like it’s almost out of battery because you can’t really see it on the digital display here, but it’s very similar to the Seiko Arnie.

This one was actually worn – well, not this particular one, but this model was worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger himself. And I don’t really wear it too much – I bought this used, and it’s seen better days, the crystal is all scratched up here. But I think it’s such a cool thing to get – I got it used for like, I don’t know, $10 or something like that.

And lastly, another watch that is out of commission but is a really cool piece I could probably get started again, is this Timex digital watch.

I think I got this from Walmart at the time – it has a stretchy bracelet, which is nice, Speidel style. Yeah, it’s probably not going to see the light of day anymore, but it’s not really worth selling either, so it’s staying in the collection.

The Plastic Fantastic

Now, these watches are going to have their own category – the plastic watch category, specifically the plastic watches that everyone loves and doesn’t really like anymore. But to be honest, I did fall out of love with these watches, but I owe everything about this channel to these watches right here.

These are the watches that started up the Clicky Bezel Channel – it was my very first article, and the first set of articles really featured these watches, and yeah, I owe it all to these guys right here.

Oh, also, I forgot to mention this, but I do also have a Mission to Neptune right here, and this one was actually bought from the store at retail price, and yeah, they basically did me a favor and sold me the first generation one that they had around.

And it’s pretty cool – I kind of just keep it here as a keepsake, part of the collection, and a reminder of how crazy those days were. I’m kind of glad the hype is dying down, but I’m a little sad, too, because that’s when a lot of people got into watches. And out and about, I actually see a lot of people wearing these watches, too.

I think they’re maybe it’s their first watch, maybe it’s their first watch outside of owning an Apple Watch, which is pretty cool. Maybe down the line, they’ll pick up a real Speedmaster – who knows? But yeah, these watches right here tell the origin story of the Clicky Bezel Channel.

And still on that same topic of plastic watches, we do have the original Swatch System 51 watch here, and this one truly is out of commission – like it doesn’t work anymore.

Kind of sad because it hasn’t been that long since I’ve owned it. I think it was 2015-2016, around there, when it was first released, and I got my hands on this. Nonetheless, it is a cool watch, but I know for a lot of people, it’s a very disposable watch, which I can see, but there it is – the first gen.

Last but not least, to round out the whole plastic watch collection, we, of course, have the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Scuba from Swatch. Super fun watch – it was fun in the moment to actually camp out and be the first person in line there at the San Francisco Swatch store.

It was a fun time, it was a fun time even though it was grinding – I think it was 16 hours of waiting in line. It was worth it, especially when you have good people around you.

The Japan Haul

This one was earlier in the year on my trip to Japan, and of course, it’s the Seiko Spirit chronograph in this ice-blue dial. This one is the reference SBTR027.

I mean, just look at it, how it’s just sitting there in the light – it looks really expensive, but in Japan, you can pick this up for less than $100. I picked this up in Bic Camera, and there are a ton of these things over there. Sometimes, I forget I have this because I kind of put it in my watch box where it’s kind of hidden, but whenever I see this thing, I have to put it on.

And next we have this beautiful Citizen Bullhead Challenge Timer from 1970. This one, of course, was picked up in Japan at Fire Kids, and what can I say – it is beautiful, it’s pristine, it has all the right dimensions, it’s vintage and it’s properly sized.

Now, as I said before, I’m not sure exactly what the previous owner did with this watch. Still, when I first acquired it, there were no marks whatsoever on the case.

With this particular model on the octagonal cases, it’s easy to see if it’s been polished or not because you won’t really see defined chamfer edges here, but this one is absolutely stunning. And when you run the chronograph – buttery smooth. On the wrist, it’s even better, check that out – it’s great.

Last but not least from my travels from Japan is this Kurono Old Smith 90-002. This one I knew I had to get it just because we’re in Kyoto – what better way to commemorate your time there than with the watch, right?

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to go to the actual retail store – they were actually a month out from opening, but I was able to acquire this one in their office. So either way, I got the same level of service, just not in their new fancy and beautiful store that they have now.

Special Acquisitions

Actually, this is a really cool shot here – this is the Kurono Tokyo Reiwa. It’s an amazing watch – I had a really fun time writing an article for this one. It has Tron Legacy vibes with the blue and the neons. It’s really cool – if you haven’t checked out the article, I’m really proud of that one.

Now, what really got me with this one is online. It doesn’t really look that dark and mysterious, but in person, it’s a great shade of blue against that black dial – very mysterious. That’s the reason why I kind of got some Tron vibes from that, almost like those Tron discs if you’re familiar with that movie.

But the way that it plays with the light is great, the way that the hands play against that black dial is great, and overall, it’s just a really fantastic watch to wear.

Now this watch is really cool not only because it’s a cool watch, but the way I acquired it – I did a collaboration with Eric Wind. And not only that, but he also gifted me this Vulcain Cricket, which is unbelievable.

And if you know Eric Wind, like he’s a prolific collector of watches, but in particular he really loves Vulcain Crickets, so what better way to remember that moment than this watch, which is still to this day – I’m still in awe that I was able to work with Eric Wind on that one. Really cool!

Looking Ahead: The Wishlist

So the last question is what’s next – like what other watches do I have lined up down the line? And to be honest, I don’t really know. I mean, I do have an idea, but it’s probably not going to be acquired this year.

A few watches that I have in mind – three watches, and they’re all vintage, all thanks to Eric Wind. He kind of got me looking at a lot more vintage watches.

One of which is, of course, a Rolex GMT 1675 reference. I’m just casually looking. I’m just seeing what’s out there. I wonder what I like and what I’m looking for in a 1675.

It would be really cool to have it paired up against a modern version here, maybe selling this for a 1675, but the thing is, I have all these stories tied to this watch, so I don’t know – I can’t really see myself getting rid of this modern GMT right here, but it’s a cool thought. Eventually, I’ll own one, but I don’t think it will be this year.

Next, I’ve been seeing a lot of Rolex Dates out there – the reference 1500.

This one is from Guidetti & Riccardi. The dials that he comes across are just amazing, and the prices are pretty great, too.

And an Omega Speedmaster Mark 2, and I’m talking about the ones from the ’70s. Now, the Mark 2s didn’t really get much love, but I don’t know, something about them – it’s really growing on me, the way how funky it is, and it’s almost like a Seiko Monster.

It kind of takes some time for it to really grow on you, but the vintage ones are amazing. I’ve seen a few modern ones, but they’re just a little too refined for my taste, but yeah, the prices are kind of crazy low on those, too, for what they are.

Watch This Review

Wrapping Up

That’s basically it – this is my collection here and where it stands at the beginning of the year. Yeah, we’re almost at 50 watches here – it’s 47 watches, but yeah, we’ll see where the collection goes for this year.

So yeah, I hope you enjoy this collection article. I am exhausted. I’m Chris. This is Clicky Bezel, and we’ll see you on the next one.