FAVE
CURRENTLY OBSESSING OVER · 1/4
HMT Kannada Dial
manual wind · Kannada numerals · ~34mm steel · HMT era
Numerals in Kannada, the Gandaberunda — Karnataka's mythical two-headed bird — stamped at six o'clock. The rarest thing in the case, and the one that always gets a second look.
31
CATALOGUED SO FAR
8
BRANDS & COUNTING
21
JEWELS IN THE OLDEST
2
GRAILS FINALLY CAUGHT
01
HMT
11 pieces catalogued
Hand-wound heroes from Bangalore. HMT made watches for a nation for over fifty years; eleven of them tick for me now. Honest dials, buttery winds, one dial that isn't even in a language I can read at a glance, and two watches that share a name and nothing else.
FAVE
+
more HMTs are still waiting for their photo shoot
02
Orient
4 pieces catalogued
Four automatics, four completely different personalities — a diver, two dress watches, and a rectangular tank case that proves the brand didn't only do round. Orient's case for why "just get an automatic" is good advice, four times over.
+
more Orients on the desk, still in the drawer they came in
03
Titan
2 pieces catalogued
India's answer to "why is everyone still wearing HMT" — Titan showed up in 1987 and changed the assumption that a quartz watch had to be boring. Two very different pieces here: one dress watch, one institutional keepsake.
+
more Titans queued up for their turn
04
Casio
3 pieces catalogued
Resin, modules, and pure function — plus one watch trying very hard to look like it belongs in a different price bracket. One that goes hiking, one that tells you the time in every city on earth, and one playing dress-up with three subdials.
FAVE
+
the Casio drawer runs deeper than this
05
G-Shock
3 pieces catalogued
The tank shelf of the collection. Analog hands laid over a full digital module — stopwatch, world time, the works — wrapped in enough resin to survive a dinner-table incident, an airport, and a parking garage without complaint. Three of them now, color-coded like they were planned that way.
+
more squares (and a Mudman) still to come
06
Bulova
1 piece catalogued
The one brand in the case that isn't budget-anything. A two-tone chronograph that showed up specifically to make the rest of the collection look more honest about what it is.
FAVE
+
the one Bulova is doing a lot of heavy lifting
07
Citizen
2 pieces catalogued
Two Citizens, decades apart, both doing the same job without complaint. No backstory needed — this is what "it just works" looks like on a dial.
+
more Citizens waiting for their close-up
08
Timex
1 piece catalogued
One Timex, purely because Indiglo deserves a seat at this table. The only American brand in the entire case.
+
room for more if the right one turns up
✦
Curiosities
4 pieces catalogued
Four pieces that don't fit any brand shelf above — a promotional quartz from a cricket tournament, a photo-print dial with no maker's mark, a watch whose brand has worn off entirely, and the one "watch" in the case that isn't really a watch at all.
THE HIT LIST
Grails I'm hunting
GRAIL 01
Seiko SKX007
Discontinued, beloved, climbing in price while I hesitate. The diver every affordable collector eventually surrenders to.
GRAIL 02
Orient Bambino
The domed crystal and the sector dial — an easy upgrade from the four Orients already in the case, and I still don't own it.
GRAIL 03
Titan Nebula
Titan's premium automatic line — a step up from the two Titans already here, and proof the brand can do more than quartz dress watches.
Grail status update: two down. The Casio AE-1200 "World Time" and the HMT Janata both used to be on this list — see Casio and HMT above. Titan Nebula was promoted in to keep the list at three. Got a lead on the Seiko or the Orient Bambino? I trade. Seriously. Ask me.
ABOUT THE COLLECTOR
One wrist. Zero restraint.
It started with an HMT that wouldn't stop keeping time no matter how badly it was treated, then grew sideways into Orient automatics, a couple of Titans, and whatever Casio happened to be discontinuing that year. The rule is simple: no watch too humble, no dial too regional, no brand too far from "premium" to earn a spot in the case.
Friends, collectors, traders — say hi. Thirty-one pieces are catalogued so far; more keep turning up every time I dig through a drawer, and each one gets its own clean background and decent light before it earns a spot on this page.
GET IN TOUCH
Say hello, trade, or make an offer.
Spotted something you want, have a lead on a grail, or just want to talk vintage dials? Email me directly — or open any piece above and send a bid.
Email ssuhas2711@gmail.com ↗