I am the StrapMeister! Bow down before me!
Posted By: Ricky Lee McBroom
Date: Sunday, 2 December 2007, at 7:30 p.m.
I was tryin' to decide 'tween the Raketas and the Dolphin the other day and, not for the first time, was struck by what a shame it was to have THREE almost identical watches on the same cheap folded-link Wal-Mart SS bracelets.
I picked up the Dolphin and, remembering the rather nice OEM leather strap it arrived with (which was, alas, 3/4" too short for me - I gave it away here on the 
, actually.. which one a' y'alls got that strap? ), I looked at he 
Royal Oak T3 lying nearby. Eureka! A light bulb popped on over me head!
I whipped the 'nothced' strap off, knowing it'd be plenty long enough, and soon had it on the
Hmmmm.
This strap's actually 28mm across the big end, and so looks rather odd
paired with the 24mm span across the Dolphin's hooded lugs. Drat! I
briefly considered nothching the strap down to size, but quickly
dismissed that idea. I di'nt want to ruin it for the T3, plus it just
wouldn't look right. So, like any good WIS, I fired up de 
After
agonizing over my choices, I settled on a 24mm De Beer padded buffalo
grain, Long. A hefty strap intended for a whacking great chrono. Ah,
you see where I'm going...
Yep, I had Pam notch the strap..
..(and
never mind bowing down for the StrapMeister, you clowns should bow down
to me for my Woman Pleasing Ability. I mean, how many o' ya'll keep the
little lady so happy that, not only doesn't she give grief about your
addiction, she's glad to pitch in (enable it?)
In any case, I couldn't be more pleased with the result. I was still a bit worried that a big chrono strap might 'overwhelm' the Dolphin's modest case dimensions - never mind that it didn't seem to be a problem with the Royal Oak strap - but it just feels RIGHT!
The way the lines of the strap fall naturally away from the hooded logs..
..the
perfect taper down to the 20mm buckle, the sof pliable nature of the De
Beer leather, well, I'm just happier'n a slopped hog! 
So there you go! THE inspired strap choice for this particular watch. No! Hold your applause! Please! 
Seriously, this strap has totally transformed my wearing experience with the watch. I feel that, for the first time, the watch really fits me.
Later, Brothers!
-Ricky
Messages In This Thread
(views: 264)
(views: 72)
(views: 7) (views: 7) (views: 7) Strap looks great! Now, what TIME is it on that watch? (views: 12) 'tis 09:02:25 precisely, in the last . You know... >> (views: 70)..though I own not one, two, three, but four 24-hour movement watches, I admit the actual telling of time on them is still not "second nature" to me.
Four! Hmmmm.. time to flip a couple, maybe.
-Ricky
Looks perfect, Ricky! (views: 7) choices... >>> (views: 22)Ranked by price 'cause, yes, I'm a card carryin' (hell, kilt wearin'! ) Scotsman.
First, a dirt cheap ($14 shipped) Panny-style. I passed, as I really wanted a tapered strap. The whacking great 24mm buckle was a dealbreaker.. though I might have given it a go, had it lacked the distinctive Panny-shape to the buckle.
Next
up a blowout-priced ($18) 24mm Hirsh chrono, tapered to a 22mm buckle.
Gorgeous strap, it was the tint of the buckle here that killed the
deal. Can't hang with gold, at any price..
Then, for the same price, a Speidel carbon fiber. Had a silver buckle, but was a straight strap. Gotta hold out for tapered...
On the high-end (for me, ennyway
), a Hirsh Stingray. NICE strap, and is 24mm tapered to a great 20mm
silver buckle. But at $38, my Inner Scotsman just couldn't pull the
trigger. "Hoot, mon! 'tis too dear! Go wi' De Beer!"
At $21 shipped, I think I done good, I reckon. And Rust Watch was great, as ususal!
-Ricky
(views: 9) Now that's the way to git 'er done. (views: 11)Tried for some Catalog s of the Dolphin - De Beer... >
Posted By: Ricky Lee McBroom
Date: Tuesday, 4 December 2007, at 3:38 a.m.
Alas, they're not even close. A definite improvement over the Q & D pics I shared earlier, though, so here goes;
Click photos to SuperSize All photos were taken with the Tom Swift Hanging File Folder Frame And White Garbage Bag Light Tent©.
That's me Sunday Go To Meeting flask. 'twas given to me on my wedding day by my dear friend Gordon Cervo, and the laser etching you see was
. Those are my favorite brands of Irish Whisky, in alphabetical order.
'ere's a closer look;
The Strapmeister, bayyybe! Bow down!I gotta tell y'all, I am still insanely pleased with this combo. Given my predilection for long wrist-time allotments of late, it may be a month or two before I can pry this one off me wrist....
To illustrate how nuts this hobby is, as if you all need remindin'
KGB."
Think about it! This all started 'cause I had all the hooded-lug
-Ricky
Messages In This Thread
s of the Dolphin - De Beer... > (views: 131) Looks great! Makes me want one. (views: 3)
The highest compliment for a , of course. 
, Zeb! (views: 7)
I would definitely
rank it above Jameson, which I see as a sort of default Irish Whisky
for the world. A brand that, if not the best of it's breed, well.. at
you can get it even in Singapore. Sort of the Budweiser of Irish
Whisky, if you will. No! Wait! That's Bushmill's!
Still, you see what I mean...
BTW, I've been to the Kilbeggan distillery in person. Got pix somewhere but, alas, apparently not online. Here's one from the west of Ireland, though!
-Ricky
>> (views: 4)Though sittin' down with a dram of each and givin' it a go would be great fun!
Connemara's
and Inishowen aren't listed simply because I've never had the chance to
personally sample them. Notice I did leave room at the bottom for an
addendum...
-Ricky
I called the up on the overhead during a SNO Corporate meeting today... >
Posted By: Ricky Lee McBroom
Date: Wednesday, 5 December 2007, at 2:48 a.m.
Got into a discussion over the renovated DOLPHIN!..
.. with a middle manager, and rather than describing the before & after, I merely plugged in my stick, fired up Portable Firefox, and grabbed the respective PMWF / mcbroom.biz links.
Long story short, one of the more senior managers was hangin' back, watching this, and afterwards gave me three looks, all startin with 'A'; askance, aghast, and awe.
First, askance that I was wasting time with this during my workday, but at the same time he was sucked in 'cause he's something of a budding WIS.
Then aghast that I am actually so anal about watches. He pretty much said "Ricky, there's something wrong with you. It's like some wierd kind of Compulsive Obsessive Disorder.." at which point I explained the concept of WIS, and how it's really a small, harmless thing..
But he's like "No, you do this with everything.." at which the light bulb goes on and..
Awe, 'cause he realized, at precisely that moment, that is why I'm so good at my job...
Guess what I'm tryin' to say is that, for me, it was an epiphany in that I realized that WIS-dom, and most all my other 'interests', are just symptoms of an underlying.. trait? Disorder?
Ennyway, just thought I'd share. I imagine it's not everyday that
-Ricky
Messages In This Thread
up on the overhead during a SNO Corporate meeting today... > (views: 169) BUT, around here that's a good thing (views: 2) 2008: World domination, baby!!! (views: 3) 
(views: 3) Rule Ricky! (views: 11)"If a thing is worth doing, it's worth overdoing."
So, while striving for perfection is a part of it, knowing that you'll never achieve it is also part of it. Mostly it says "Whatever you feel is worthwhile, give it ALL the enthusiasm you can muster".
-Ricky (views: 3) (views: 29) 
(views: 6)They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning, No-one you see, is smarter than he...
Posted By: Ricky Lee
Date: Saturday, 24 January 2009, at 10:59 p.m.
Surprisingly good lume on this one, considering the price point.
to me. I suppose it allows a fairly accurate countdown of the relative
seconds.. but it also skews the apparent absolute time by a
half-minute. 
They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning, No-one you see, is smarter than he... (views: 77)
Ricky Lee -- January 24, 2009 10:59PM
(n/t) (views: 4)
Chris L is really the man for that job, boss. In fact.. (views: 3) (n/t) (views: 4) (n/t) (views: ) (views: 4)
(n/t) (views: 5) Whaaaaa..? Still lettin' the camera set that! Hmmmm... (n/t) (views: 4) (views: 3)
