‘Oh, my God, what have I done?’

It all happened so fast.

All I had planned to do was window shop and compare prices while I continued to save up for a watch fund. I went into one store, which gave me a P3,600 ($81) quote. I took a mental note of the figure, which, while substantially lower than the P4,000 ($90) price I was given at another store (after PWC discounts), was still not low enough to get me to buy on the spot.

I was about to go home, but I decided I’d drop in at another authorized dealer. Just one more comparison-shopping stop.

Over I went to the Orient display case to inquire about the Bambino. “About P5,000 ($112),” the salesperson said. It was getting late, and I guess I wasn’t dressed like I was going to buy something then and there, so he didn’t even bother to whip out the calculator. “I see,” I replied.

Then I strolled over to the Seikos. There were quite a lot of stainless-steel Seiko 5’s with tempting price tags. But I wasn’t interested in them. No, sir. What I had my sights on was the Seiko 5 flieger. I pointed to the blue one at the end of the row. “How much is that?”

It took me a while to fully understand his response. “P3,000, sir ($67).”

Stay cool. Don’t pull out your money clip just yet.

“Ahh, I see.” I pretended to look at the other models, but my inner newbie watch addict was getting the better of me. “Do you guys have that model,” I said, pointing to the flieger, “but in this color?” I motioned to the beige military-face 5.

“I’m afraid not, sir,” he answered. I asked if they would be restocking, and he said something like “it depends.”

I had to ask again. “That really only costs P3,000 flat?”

“Yes, sir,” he smiled, and this time whipped out the calculator, punched in a few numbers, and repeated, “Yep, P3,000.”

And then, after a short pause: “Wait, you know what? We might have a unit left. Do you want me to check?”

I could almost feel my card holder kicking me from inside my pocket. “Sure.”

He consulted with his colleague and, not thirty seconds later, produced a beige Seiko 5 for me to behold. I cupped it in my hands for a while, waiting for an angel and a demon to appear on either of my shoulders. None came. I finally gave up on my futile, half-hearted attempt to mentally dissuade myself from saying what I was about to say.

“Alright, hold on to that for me. I just need to withdraw some money,” I said.

“We can use your card for the purchase, sir,” the salesperson replied.

With my eyes half-closed I took out my ATM card and handed it to him. I had just bought my first mechanical watch.

He promptly disappeared into a back office to process my payment. I tried to keep my composure, but while looking at the Hamiltons and the Tags in the display cases, a feeling of both giddiness and dread washed over me.

“Oh, my God, what have I done?”

Ever since I started to take on an interest in watches early this year, I’ve read about watch collectors’ experiences with pieces that “sang” to them, luring them into making a purchase. Now, I know exactly how it feels.

Someone on /r/Watches said the SNK809 was like a gateway drug to watch collecting. I can attest to this firsthand—this was the piece that got me interested in mechanical watches. I first stumbled upon it while shopping for a vintage digital Casio. At the time, I had no idea that modern watches ran on anything other than batteries and quartz crystals. Then, I saw the SNK809 in a watch shop, and when I flipped it over, I was greeted by its exhibition caseback, from behind which the mechanical movement teased me.

It’s definitely a very nice piece. At 37 millimeters, it’s perfect for my lanky figure. It sits well on my wrists, and the dial looks like it belongs in an airplane cockpit (flight simulators are another hobby of mine). The crystal (for the benefit of muggles, that’s the thing that covers the dial) is made of hardlex, which makes it cheap but scratch-resistant. Most of all, it’s been keeping perfect time so far—a bit of a surprise for a movement that costs as little as this does.

Those who, like me, aspire to spend a lifetime collecting watches but don’t have the money just yet for bigger names and models will definitely like this Seiko 5. It’s cheap but dependable and really pretty. It’s a great way to get introduced to watches.

And that feeling you get after getting your first mechanical never goes away. I never really realized what I’d gotten myself into until I took my watch out of its box for the first time, and a dreadful feeling washed over me anew when I realized something.

This would look really good with a NATO strap.

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