When I bought my first Seiko in 1978, I had no idea a fellow USAF pilot, Colonel William Pogue, had worn one like it in space just a few years earlier. It was not until 40-some years later, when I sent the watch out for repair, that I learned the story.
Here I am at the Soesterberg Air Base Officers’ Club in 1981 with Donna and a couple of squadron-mates, wearing my still-new Seiko. On the right, Bill Pogue wearing his aboard Skylab in 1974. The watch we had in common didn’t have a nickname in those days, but today it’s known as a Pogue — and it’s a collector’s item.
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The most interesting part of the Bill Pogue story is why he’s wearing two wristwatches in the photo: the one on his right wrist is an Omega Speedmaster chronograph, at the time the only watch approved for wear in space by NASA. The Seiko on his left wrist was smuggled on board as contraband.
Since those days I’ve added to my inventory of watches. A couple of the pieces I wear have appeared on screen, worn by famous actors … but as with my first Seiko, I didn’t know that when I bought them. I ordered the Seiko diver on the left from Amazon in 2014, for example. I knew was a big seller when I bought it, but didn’t learn until a couple of weeks ago that Robert Redford had given it a boost by wearing one in the movie All Is Lost, filmed the year before.
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I note with pleasure that Redford didn’t like the metal bracelet it came with and replaced it with something better … just like me.
I’ve told this tale before: in 1990, while stationed in Japan, Donna and I celebrated our 25th anniversary with a trip to Hong Kong. I had planned to buy a Rolex Submariner while we were there, but when I actually put one on my wrist it hit me as too plain Jane for the money. I wound up buying a different Swiss watch, a Breitling Chronomat. As with the Seiko Pogue before it, I wore it in the air and on the ground, and it is now my second-oldest watch.
Last night I decided to look online to see if a watch like it had been in the movies, and what do you know, Bruce Willis wore one in Die Hard with a Vengeance, filmed in 1995. On the left, mine; on the right, Bruce with his.
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What I don’t know is whether the Breitling Willis wore in the movie was a prop or a personal watch. I suspect most watches we see on screen are product placement.
Not always, though: the Rolex Submariner Titus Welliver wears in the Amazon streaming series Bosch is his own, so even though other wristwatch nerds associate the Submariner with Sean Connery and James Bond, I always think of Welliver and Bosch. Alas, Rolexes have more than tripled in price since I looked into buying one in 1990, so I’ve had to settle for a Chinese knockoff, more in line with my budget. Left: Titus and his Submariner. Right: my Pagani Design lookalike.
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Unlike Titus Welliver, I ditched the metal bracelet and replaced it with a more comfortable leather band. Hell, 007 wore his on a cheap-ass fabric strap that wasn’t even the right width! Here’s a link if you don’t believe me.
Finally, let me get back to those Omega Speedmasters the astronauts wore. Here’s Buzz Aldrin wearing one on Apollo 11. As with the Rolex, the Omega’s too rich for my blood and I wear a Chinese homage instead. I flew fighters, to my mind an activity that’s loads more fun (and just as dangerous) as rockets. I never aspired to be an astronaut, but I do love the look of the watch they wore, and wear my copycat piece with pride.
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When I catch a glimpse of a watch on TV or in a movie, I can almost always grab my iPad and find a website or a Reddit post that identifies it, right down to the model number. Watch nerds love that sort of thing, and I guess I must be one of them!
Speaking of which, John Travolta wore a black Timex in Pulp Fiction. I wonder if one of mine is the same model … more to come on that!
Stay fresh, cheese bags!