Harold Ng Interview

Have You Met Your "Gateway Watch" Yet?

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I’m not mournful like the day I cradled my faithful old Aussie as a kindly vet put her to sleep but there’s a sense of loss at bidding goodbye to a daily companion of 22 years. My Victorinox Swiss Army Officer’s watch with a brushed, stainless steel case and bracelet no longer keeps good time, despite regular maintenance and a new battery. Damn.

I bought her, erm, it, in 1993 because I needed a reliable, cheap field watch that could be dressed up or down. I was doing some undercover work as a journalist and traveled with all kinds of people in all kinds of urban and rural environments from New York law firms to militia jamborees in Arizona. So I needed a trusty tool watch with a bit of style but no flash to attract unwanted attention.

This model is no longer made and I’m annoyed that it would cost nearly as much to repair as to replace with a newer model. On the other hand, I figure that if I shop around and spend a few more bucks on a classic watch, then one day I can hand it down to my son.

He’s seven. I just presented him with his first watch. No, not a plastic digital watch with cartoon characters: a sturdy Timex Weekender field watch on a black strap with an Indiglo night-light and white dial with easy-to-read Arabic numerals, including useful digits for telling military time. Welcome to the world of everyday carry tools, my boy. He pets it like a treasure.

So I Googled to learn: What everyday carry watch should I buy on a budget in hope of one day handing it down to my son?

And thus I stumbled into a growing online community whose members dream and scheme how to own quality, affordable watches that are classically styled to go from the workday to the weekend yet customized to reflect the wearer’s personal brand.

yobokie/Photobucket

The Allure of a Gateway Watch

Like car aficionados who modify reliable, versatile, and accessibly priced Honda Civics with upgrades and aftermarket parts, many stylish and thrifty watch collectors mod Seiko’s mechanical timepieces into showpieces. Car modders kit a custom body onto a production line frame and drivetrain. Likewise, Seiko modders glamorize a workhorse watch movement and stainless steel case with custom pieces of kit.

Let’s stop right there. Before you read any further, it’s only fair that I pass along the same warning that was conveyed to me. You have to understand that a modded Seiko is what they call a gateway watch — a siren’s lure into the perdition of watch collection.

Redoubtable men from spec ops types to world travelers, hunters, aviators, professional divers, desk divers, and even the occasional writer have found themselves in this doomed community of watch enthusiasts. So beware the hypnotic online subculture of hackers who retrofit Seikos with myriad styles of dials, hands, crystals, straps, and finishes to produce custom looks that can be sporty and fun or sleek and luxurious.

In particular, the Seiko 5 line of durable, low-maintenance watches, first introduced in 1963, has earned a reputation as a handsome and affordable choice for everyday carry. They have been known to keep on keeping time for decades without service. They resist water and shock, show the day and date, and wind automatically, driven by a nearly unbreakable mainspring that needs no battery. They come in a variety of models that dress up smartly for the office while adhering to rugged traditions equally suited for the beach or the mountains. They have interchangeable parts whose variety is bolstered by a thriving trade in aftermarket parts.

So for a few hundred bucks, you can customize a Seiko 5 to closely resemble a watch that costs from four to forty times as much. But this is no cheap knock-off. Seiko’s pedigree goes back to 1881, and they still design and build competent mechanical watches in-house. Then you can tailor them to your taste in ways that can pay homage to some of the other great brands and traditions of horology.

The Famous Guru No One Knows

Surf any Internet forum on Seiko mods and you will learn the name of Harold “Harry” Ng (rhymes with king), whom Wired magazine recently dubbed “The most respected guru within the Seiko 5 modding community.”

You will find that he goes by the name Yobokies. And it’s as if there’s a collective hallucination where every modder hears The Most Interesting Man in the World saying, “We don’t always speak of Seiko watch mods. But when we do, we whisper the name Yobokies.”

But here’s the thing: no one seems to know any backstory about him.