Pugwash

The two outside watches are real.

I keep a cheap Timberland Quartz Chronograph to set my mechanical reps to. Its accuracy has a value.

This reminds me of Brokeback Mountain ...

Only 22? If you're counting the 70s UNIX inside, it's more than 30.

Was on the wishlist until yesterday ... Expect pics at the weekend.

Not everything that limps ...

That wasn't the government. Cokelore. Coca leaves were taken out of Coca-Cola because of a public backlash towards the drug Cocaine. Trace amounts were kept in to preserve the trademark, but eventually even that was removed.

Whereas I've settled into RWI quite well. TRC and RWI are the two places I like to relax, but I can't help but check the others daily too.

No, just 2 G5s in it.

Ahead of the curve? I'm already ahead of the curve, I have a Mac.

That's because the US is under the thumb of lobbyists that can afford to convince politicians that their interests are valid national interests. It's the price of freedom and capitalism, allegedly.

Franck Muller Crazy Hours. It's what Mrs. Pugwash is hankering over.

Subs don't have 7750s as that's a Chrono movement. You're looking at an ETA in a Sub if it's got a "swiss" movement. Without opening it, or having a reference piece next to it, it's difficult to say, but it's probably a "chinese" movement. I can describe the sound differences, but to be honest, if you've got nothing to compare it with, it's really hard to tell. You'll note I put quotes around the countries of origin. That's because all Sub movements are chinese, even the swiss/taiwanese ones.

No, the snow-themed Rep Watch Guide.

Three is good. I mean no-one visits the Winter Wonderland these days, right?

I like it! Give me a week and I'll have something for you. Why a week? Because my girlfriend is away next weekend and I should have my IWC by then. I could do a "How to photograph like TTK" article. While I appreciate that photos for this site are not commercial quality, we're talking about having zero control of the viewer's monitor calibration, resolution, ambient lighting, etc. Every photo taken for here is good enough for the web quality. For instance, my pics may come out a little dark for some people, as I'm using a 24" LCD flat-panel on a Mac, meaning my gamma is different than that of a PC, and I use Colorsync to keep my monitor calibrated. I am therefore spoiled by my equipment, and it may reduce the quality of my pics when seen on someone else's setup. You have more experience than me taking photos of watches, and I would love to see your work that wasn't hampered by web technology.

Cheating with the paintbrush!

... and here's 30 seconds in software on your photo: I did the patented Neil black-crushing, a hint of desaturation and a few other bits but not as much as I would normally do as the JPEG you uploaded was not good enough. No dynamic range to play with. I think you have the basic stuff sorted, now take a few thousand like that and you'll be able to rival TTK.

That's just the camera pedestal. You need a camera on top of that, and lights, and, and ... I reckon Neil has a lot of overkill kit because selling watches isn't his only profession. If it is, I'm changing jobs now. UNIX obviously doesn't pay enough.

Have a read of my photo articles listed below for cheap light-box stuff. So cheap you probably already have one.

I will do you the honour of discussing the photo and not the watch then. I like the different colour light in the top and bottom half. Everything else is perfectly fine. In focus, nothing in the way, clean ... Stuff I'd change: I'd fix the lighting/colour/contrast in software. Let's see if I can demonstrate. That's a first quick pass with the usual toolkits, but it brings out the details. This means there was nothing wrong with the photo itself that couldn't be brought out in software. This is a good thing.

Nubmariner time.

ANDREW: We are really super-villains now, like ... like Dr. No. (Jonathan grins) WARREN: Yeah, back when Bond was Connery, and movies were decent. JONATHAN: (scornful) Who remembers Connery? I mean, Roger Moore was smooth. WARREN: You're insane. You're short, and you're insane. ANDREW: I like Timothy Dalton! -Warren smacks Andrew upside the head.- ANDREW: Hey!

You can ring up your experiment as a complete and utter success. As for further advice, I'd say ... sneak preview of a future photo how-to. Time to spend a bit of cash on a tripod: A very little bit, admittedly.