So, watch noob here. My career was spent working with high power lasers and in laser labs reflective things on or near your hands are strongly discouraged. I wore a watch until 1980, then I stopped until last week when a strange man* sold me his NITE Hawk out of the back of a pickup.
I took it out yesterday on this week’s long walk through the countryside. As a diabetic, when I’m walking I have to stop every 5k for a glucose boost. The first time I did this I noticed the rucksack shoulder strap snag on the watch as I slid my arm out, but thought nothing of it. My second stop was planned for the woods on Thame Lane but before I got there I found I had to cross a bloody ditch ! So off with the rucksack again. A mile or so past the Thame Lane stop I glanced at where my watch should have been and … there it wasn’t. Shit ! Shit shit shit !
I nearly gave up on it. I might have walked miles without it, mostly in the countryside. Despite the crap weather the plants have still grown, so surely the chances of spotting it would be zero. But although I have a lot of faults I can still be very stubborn. So I turned round and walked back towards home, checking the path for a lost watch as best I could. I stopped on Thame Lane and rummaged through the undergrowth, but no watch. However when I got to the ditch there it was, just lying among the spoil ! Hurrah !
It looked like this
The strap with the buckle on seems to have lost the pin which attaches it to the watch case. The strap itself looks OK except for a pretty small piece of missing rubber nicked out where the pin would have protruded as it passes into the watch case.
So if I’m going to keep this strap then I clearly need a new pin. First question for you watchmeisters: Who should I get to fit this ? Answers that occur to me are
i) any high street jeweller can do this
ii) it needs to be someone who specialises in watch strap pins (insert URL here)
iii) you’d be best off sending it back to NITE (can’t I send it today ? Boom tish !).
What do you recommend ?
Second question: I don’t want this to happen again so what should I do to prevent it ?
i) don’t take your nice watch into the nasty outdoors
ii) just fit a new pin. They wear out but a new one should be fine for at least 10 years
iii) you need a different type of strap/bracelet which can stand being tugged
iv) there’s this safety gizmo (insert URL here) which will hang onto your watch in the event of strap failure for long enough for you to notice.
Again, any advice much appreciated. I like this watch and I reckon I was very lucky to find it still lying in the dirt. I don’t want to risk that again.
Cheers.
*@Mrs_Maureen_OPinion . He said the watch had once belonged to @A_Touch_of_Cloth .