One more day with the Cruise Steel

As I heave a sad and heavy sigh, I have just one more day with the TechnoMarine Cruise Steel.

On the one hand, it is great to have two weeks to get acquainted with a watch, but it is then hard to say goodbye!

A full report/review tonight/tomorrow - stay tuned!

3 adjectives for the TechnoMarine Cruise Steel

With just a few days left for this review, I took a few minutes and jotted down the three most recurrent adjectives I have used to describe this watch.

COMFORT - for me, this is due to two key things - first the strap - a very soft, yet very strong rubber strap that dovetails quite nicely into the watch case itself.  Keep in mind that this is quite a large watch case, but it sits quite well on the wrist.  The design of the strap and case cause the strap to appear more integral than added.

VISIBILITY - this is a very reader friendly watch face.  Much like other more recent chronographs, TechnoMarine has clearly spent a lot of time and thought on the orientation of the watch face.  The Sub Dials are clearly indicated, and the use of alternating blue and black enhances this.  In addition, the partially skeletonized hour and minute hands are also a plus.

FUN - C'mon!  This is a fantastically fun watch!  I've said it before - I've been smiling every day since it arrived!

I have had a few requests for prices, retail locations, etc.  Stay tuned!

TechnoMarine and Memories of 1985

Okay, I realize that the readership out there probably spans from Boomer, to X, to an as yet unidentified generation group.  That being said, I think I finally twigged on to why I am so fascinated by the TechnoMarine Cruise Steel that I have been wearing this past week.

For those of you who might not remember, there was a magic time not so long ago when a young man from Kutztown, PA came to New York and through his use of subway drawings made art more accessible to the urban masses - and made graffiti more accessible - and hopefully understood - to the suburban commuters!  With the commercial success of  "The Message" an emerging music trend gained traction.  And SWATCH was just starting out.  And Madonna had begun the transformation from dancer  to singer/world phenomenon.  It was the 80s.

In 1985 I was a young man, having just moved out on my own living in the northern part of Ohio.  Yes, we had hair gel and U2 tapes - but the SWATCH was a completely new and fairly foreign idea.  My two friends showed up fresh from their summer vacations - one with a SWATCH Yamaha Racer, the other with a SWATCH Calypso Diver.  Needless to say, I had to have one.  I saved up my pennies, and off I went to the May Company at the local mall (local being a 45 minute drive away) and made my purchase.  The Calypso Diver.

For those of you not familiar - Squiggly Swatch has a fantastic archive of SWATCHES:

http://www.squiggly.com/us/en/swatch/calypso-diver-gm701.htm

The sad history of my Calypso Diver is that it got, well, crushed in an unfortunate moving mishap on my way to the University of Oregon and was never quite the same...

While this is, of course, not the Calypso Diver - I have to say that this Cruise Steel has made me smile several times every day.  The counter-play of the black dial with the light blue sub-dials and inner bezel - combined with the strap take a large, solid watch and made it fun.  And most of all, I do not fear for this watch's physical health should it take an unfortunate knock.  Thank you TechnoMarine for putting a smile on my face!

TechnoMarine Cruise Steel - Monday morning

Yes, it is Monday morning... but with something this cool waiting for you to wear, how bad could your day possibly be?

It was a great weekend wearing the Cruise Steel.  Once again, I called in a chronograph for the "Oregon Ducks" test, whereby I timed the University of Oregon game.  The watch was flawless - and the Ducks won again, so I really can't complain about anything!

And something for your "quick change" artists out there -

Stay tuned - plenty of TechnoMarine goodness still to come!