Daily, Fashion, How I Style, Photos, Reviews

A new addition to my watch collection

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I feel so lucky to be able to have a blog where I can review products and brands I’m passionate and enthusiastic about. I mean, if you’re not convinced by a product or item’s value, your post won’t portray it either.

This is why I reach out to my favourite companies more than I let them come to me. Don’t be passive. If  you want to work on something, ask to work on it.  The worst someone can say is no. Also, stay positive. Sometimes all you need to get your foot in the door is a good attitude.

I know I’ve stated before that you should let companies find you and have a ton of patience. Well, sometimes you do have to work for it, as it won’t always fall into your lap at the perfect time. For instance, I’m still in awe that I get to work with Fossil Canada, and since that took a lot of persistence, I did get my foot in the door and established a wonderful relationship (both professional and personal) with the women there. Everything takes time and effort. It’s all a process on how well you connect and interact with various people.

I didn’t realize I was such a huge fan of watches until I started noticing the growing collection on my dresser. This watch I received from The Watch Co, is no different. In fact, in 2012 Fossil purchased Skagen and some of its partners. Let’s sing it: “It’s a small world, after all.“Guess I have a love for all things Fossil related. Fossil watches still ranks #1 to me though :)

Skagen-watch-box-002

A new addition to my watch collection. The Skagen ceramic. skagen-ceramic-watch-in-box

I research my watches to an abnormal amount of time before deciding on a final product.  I saw the ceramic Skagen watches for the first time on a popular blog a number of years ago, and it just always stuck out to me. At the time being a newly hired designer at a job, it was out of my price range at $225. However now that I think of it, it’s quite an affordable watch

When I contacted The Watch Co for my second review I knew exactly what to pick out. Initially I went for the same style Skagen watch but in black. Unfortunately it was out of stock. Even after receiving the crisp white watch, I contemplated just buying the black one until my Boyfriend (and I quote) “You have a nice white one now.  No need to get carried away.  :)”. True enough. Having two white watches (Fossil Stella, and Skagen ceramic) and then two more black one’s (I have a Fossil Stella in black) would be getting a little carried away. You can see my watch collection here.

Skagen-watch-boxThe box that the Skagen watch came in was well designed and packaged. As a Graphic Designer, I can appreciate the thought process that comes into creating a showcase to present the product. The watch itself was settled into a plush leather pillow which was perfectly secure in the box.

Skagen-007I love larger watch faces on my small wrists. The ceramic band makes wearing it carefree and luxurious, and it won’t break the bank like some of the more expensive versions (Michele, Rado, or Armani to name a few).

The Skagen, I want to say is a more sophisticated version of the Fossil Stella I own. While the Fossil watch is fun and playful, the Skagen has an up scale design with a low profile, as it doesn’t lift off the wrist very high. I didn’t notice that it was on and I kept having to check my wrist to see if it was still there. I ended up having 6 links removed from the watch in order to have the perfect fit on my toddler sized wrist. Skagen-Instagram4

Ceramic material is used in all sorts of ways, these days. That’s not to say that your ceramic watch is going to be completely durable. Some of the materials used in ceramic watches are brittle. You can certainly wear it on a daily basis, but you need to exercise caution. The watch can shatter or crack if hit against a hard surface. The links are replaceable, so it’s not the end of the world if one gets damaged.

This is the first ceramic watch I’ve owned. Now, there’s pro’s and con’s to owning ceramic watches which I didn’t realize until the woman at the watch repair shop removing the links, mentioned to me.

  1. Do not put your watch on your wrist with tiled floors below you. If you’re clumsy like me, and drop the watch it will shatter.
  2. Ceramic is highly scratch resistant. Great if you plan on wearing it on a daily basis.
  3. Ceramic is incredibly shiny and very durable. Yes, ceramic jewellery is very long lasting.
  4. Although ceramic is strong and scratch-resistant, it can chip. So store it on its own in your jewellery box or watch box.

Do you wear a watch on a daily basis? I don’t always, but most days I do.

What is your favourite accessory? Mine are watches and bracelets!

Have you seen my how to style/care for watches post?

Or how about my watch collection.

I did receive this watch in exchange for posting a review of The Watch Co. on my website. While the product was free of charge, the opinions, as always are 100% my own.

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Daily, Fashion, How I Style, Photos

My watch collection

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my-watch-collectionI admit, I do have a bit of a problem when it comes to buying watches. It’s all justified though, especially since I wear the heck out of all of them in just the run of a week. I like to call it more of a collection than a  problem though.

I’ve been trying to come up with ways to store my watches other than on my dresser all sprawled out. Recently, I have been browsing eBay for watch holders like the one below.

watch-holders

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I’ve been debating buying one on the left. But they’re made of velvety material and I feel like having them on display not only takes up a ton of space on top of the dresser but being that it’s velvet, it’s a huge dust collector.

However after searching more into it you can also buy acrylic holders. I don’t love the look of them, which is why I haven’t purchased it yet. What do you guys think? I also hope that one would be enough due to the large amount of watches I have.

My grand collection of Women’s watches I’ve accumulated throughout the years.  my-watchesTop row: Skagen Ceramic Watch which was kindly sent to me for review from The Watch Co., and the gold clunker is my Michael Kors look-a-like that I bought on eBay last summer.
Bottom row: All of my favorite Fossil Stella watches! The brown stainless steel one was sent to me last summer. The other two are made of resin material and I bought those in 2009.

You’ll notice one of my watches are missing. It’s the Fossil Heather watch I received from my friends at Fossil late summer. I ended up giving that one to my Mom when I flew home over Thanksgiving. She loves it and it totally suits her!

I have three other watches I wear too. Talk about a collection hey?

my-older-watchesL-R: Timex sports watch, Nixon leather strap watch, and a coconut watch I got for Christmas this year.

I only wear the timex one if I’m heading out for a run. My Nixon watch brings back so many memories. It’s the first watch I remember purchasing, I got it at a skate shop in 2003 back home in Newfoundland and I wore the heck out of it. The leather strap is almost worn away on the backside.

I plan on doing a full review on the Skagen watch that I received, as well as another blog post on how to style watches. Because certain watches definitely won’t work with certain outfits.

Do you collect anything?

Do you wear a watch on a regular basis?

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Daily, Photos, Reviews

Review: The Watch Co

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My Boyfriend makes a rare featured appearance on my blog today, and for good reason! He recently received a gorgeous watch from The Watch Co. After a lot of deliberation (more on that later) we ended up going for one of the fancy Bulova Watches.

Some beaut, hey? Looks pretty sharp when viewed up close, but never over the top. Bulova really knows how to amp up their watches to make them feel lush. The packaging and the little plush pillow all added to the luxe presentation.

Picking out the watch was a lot easier said and done. Part of the reason is because me and Boyfriend look for slightly different things. I was mostly focused on the appearance, while he was worried about the features. The Watch Co sells so many different makes and models, there is literally a million different varieties of just about everything. If it weren’t for their search function, finding the right watch would be nearly impossible.

Still, picking out a watch without being able to see it on your wrist is no easy task. First off, the pictures just don’t do the watches justice. They are so flat and plain looking, you really have to use your imagination to get an idea of what it is going to look like. Take this watch, for example. Here is a comparison of the watch online and in person. 

As you can tell from the two photos side-by-side, as with anything, buying online is always a bit difficult, but with watches, you really miss out on the lustre and the three dimensional look in the stock images. We were overjoyed to see how great the watch looked in person because we weren’t entirely sure what to expect. Thankfully, the watch was just as beautiful of a piece online, as it was in person. It is probably a good idea to try and find some videos or amateur images on the internet before making such a large purchase to get a better idea of how it’s going to look on your wrist.

The Bulova Chronograph Stainless Watch fits well on the Boyfriend’s wrist here. He really enjoys wearing it and I really like the look of it on him too. What do you guys think of it?

We both thought Bulova was a good choice as they have a good reputation and are a bit less common than some of the other major brands. The Boyfriend wanted something without a battery such that it wouldn’t one day end up in the watch graveyard of watches with dead batteries he never bothered to have replaced. There are a few options here (solar, kinetic, automatic) and we settled on automatic. That means it is like an old fashioned windup watch, but it self winds as you move your wrist!  Neat right? Take it out of the box and just a few moments later you’ll see it ticking away.  The disadvantage is you have to reset the time if you ever let it wind down (a couple of days), but the advantage is it’s a watch for life!  Whenever you want it, it’s ready to go.

One other thing I think was a selling point for my Boyfriend was that you can view the insides (or the guts as I like to call it) of the watch, both through a little window in the front (a partial “skeleton” face, I think you call it) as well as when you flip it over. Again, cool to look at up close but not distracting.  He had to have a few links removed from the strap to fit his wrist, but the end result was perfect.

We were a bit nervous about the size, but this Bulova watch turned out to be perfect for his wrist.  It has a good weight to it (not too light, not too heavy), such that it feels solid but is not distracting.

You can style this watch any way you please, with a plain tee to wear it to work, or fancy things up a bit and wear it with a dress shirt. Definitely a bit dressier than sporty, but still very versatile. He’s been pretty excited ever since it came in the mail, and has been wearing it a few times per week to work. He hadn’t been wearing watches so much lately, but this one is too sharp to leave at home.  Who says you need to always check your phone to tell the time these days? I certainly have my smart phone on me constantly, but when I’m wearing a watch it’s a both a jewelry piece to accessorize an outfit, and also incredibly practical because heck — it’s a watch. You forget how convenient it is to be able to check your wrist rather than fumble for your phone.

If you can brave the many styles, shapes, and colors, The Watch Co no doubt has just what you’re looking for. They have great prices and free shipping on all orders. They have have some other beaut watches that I’ve got my eye on. Seeing as I’m an avid fan of anything to do with Fossil, I’m happy to know that they do sell them on their website as well.  I warn you, watch collecting can be addictive.  My Boyfriend wants to get a Seiko next…

 

Disclaimer: My Boyfriend and I would love to thank The Watch Co for kindly supplying this Bulova watch for review.

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