Count Sunny Hours

About

If I could choose what I want to be known for in this small corner of the internet, it would be telling stories about the people who form the fabric of the watch community. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to be known for being technically learned as well – we should all strive to understand how these tiny mechanical wonders operate at a more intimate level – but it does mean I have a clear idea of what I love to write about most. If I am to be a man of the cloth, I should prefer that my cloister be one dedicated to the art of personal narrative.

The history that people have with their watches is really what I’ve always cared about the most. Watches can be objectively special, sure, but what enthusiasts do while wearing their watches are what give them lasting meaning beyond the metal. As a very pointed example, I do, but I also don’t, care about a Speedmaster Ultraman – instead, tell me about the person wearing the Ultraman and why it sparked a twinkle in their eye. Whenever I meet someone, what I am most curious to discern is the following: why do you love your watch? What does it mean to you?

I’ve been a Los Angeles resident for a year now, and while I have made a point to explore, I must admit that I am often guilty of hiding within my temperately weathered Venice cocoon. I had the idea recently to use my love of watches as a way to explore Los Angeles and SoCal, vast as they are, by visiting watch lovers and asking them these exact questions in the places they live and frequent. From that thought, a creative project was born – Faces of SoCal. Travel around, see the sights, and capture two faces – one human, one mechanical – to better understand the history that people have with their watches.

Consistency Is Key

Something important to the execution of this journey is that I had a pair of specific themes I wanted to follow. Both are related to the gear I wanted to use for the job (even if the only essentials can really be boiled down to my Sony camera and gasoline money).

The Watch

An implicit feature of this exercise, now and in the future, is asking participants to plant a stake in the ground and declare which of their watches is most meaningful to them. Each interviewee for this round answered that challenge thoughtfully and with intention. As the orchestrator of this whole affair, I should be able to do the same thing. Luckily, it isn’t a hard question for me – I love my Doxas, but I am inseparable from my 1994 GMT-Master II 16710. The Pepsi is and always will be a watch I consider integral to my uniform.

If you’d like to read more about why I love this Rolex and those quirky Doxas I mentioned, I’ll direct you to this post. It provides a lot of additional context as to why I’ve come to appreciate the people as much as the watches themselves.

The Wheels

Part of my thesis for moving to Los Angeles was the dream of enjoying a motorcycle ride while basking in the warm embrace of the Southern California sun. I was enamored with this vision for the better part of a decade, and it dominated my calculus in deciding to move here. I decided to make good on that goal for this project: although it wasn’t a 100% hit rate (I drove the Datsun to Sierra Madre, as I was simply too tired to ride safely), I ferried myself as much as I could by iron steed. Two motorcycles of vastly different make split time as the couriers: my relatively new-to-me 2019 Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled and my 1990 Honda Transalp XL600V. Red and white seem to be the unofficial livery for Count Sunny Hours.

Your Mileage May Vary

The wonderful interviewees of Faces of SoCal are brought to you by the following locales in order of distance: Venice, Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, West Hollywood, Sierra Madre, and Anaheim. This edition ultimately featured a heavy dose of the coast, although that wasn’t necessarily by design, and I recognize Los Angeles does not fly a banner solely featuring the West Side. With subsequent installments, I hope the neighborhoods will naturally diversify.

In total, I traveled 230 miles round-trip – not an insane amount of mileage, but also not insignificant. In that same spirit of experiencing new places, I would also like to expand the radius of my travels going forward. Perhaps that means cities outside Los Angeles’s immediate sphere of influence, like Santa Barbara to the north or San Diego to the south. I already rode the Desert Sled back from San Francisco the day I bought it, so the prospect of something at least that far is exciting. Ultimately, I suppose the destinations aren’t up to me – wherever there are stories about watches is where I aim to end up.

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Well, that’s it on the background of this circus. All of the people you are about to meet were incredibly kind and open enough to share their memories with me. Their mileage varies person by person, and each accompanying watch is unique. Camera ready, keys in hand, and a wallet ready to go at the pump – let’s head out to meet the Faces of SoCal, Volume One.

Sean Durham’s Rolex Submariner 124060

Editor’s Note: Sean is a talented strategy professional who is always manifesting a couple of different projects and ideas at a time. One creative expression that he is currently working on is Sixtymoresummers, a resource platform for men’s midlife reinvention. This project ties in wonderfully with the story below about Sean’s Submariner and the caseback inscription – stay tuned for the launch.

“This is my Submariner. I think it’s a perfect watch, maybe even the platonic ideal of a watch. I think a lot about organizations and businesses – to me, Rolex does excellence at scale, and that’s a pretty amazing ambition for a company.

When I graduated from college, my grandfather gave me his two-tone Datejust. I wore it for a handful of years as a 22-year-old with no idea of what watches meant or what Rolex was – just that it was jingly and gold and small – and that my friends had fashion watches. I knew it was cool because it was a Rolex, but that was about it at the time.

Later on, I came to understand more about my granddad and that he wasn’t a great role model for my dad and his siblings. I sold the DJ kind of abruptly and got rid of it in reaction to that knowledge as my way of taking a stand against a guy who didn’t set a great example. Through this and a bunch of different evolutions in my personal life, I started to think more about a man’s impact on his family, about how serious an honor and significant a responsibility that is, and I did the work internally on it.

When it was time to start looking for a serious watch, I had always loved the Submariner, but I didn’t really think it was in the cards at this point. The next time my best friend Robbie and I went to visit a Rolex AD, we struck up a great conversation with the sales associate and her husband (also an associate) working at the boutique in San Diego. I remember myself wearing a green Willard and Robbie wearing a Pelagos 39, so I think they saw us as wearing “watch guy” watches. We walked in expecting absolutely nothing, but had a great time talking watches for 30 minutes over a couple of cocktails.

Robbie wanted a Starbucks, and I wanted the no-date Sub. A couple of beers later over lunch next door, and we decided to go ahead and ask for the watches. The sales associate said she didn’t have them in stock, but was very gracious in saying that she wanted to make this work for us, and so we all decided to keep in touch. Two months later, she told us individually that the boutique had our watches ready. I remember being in a work meeting in Orange County and texting Robbie simultaneously to confirm we had both gotten the same news. We both left work early to meet up in San Diego and made it at 4:45 PM, right before they were closing.

As we were drinking champagne, the sales associate asked if we wanted to engrave our new watches. Robbie and I are on the same page about being very intentional about fatherhood and the way we want to approach family. He’s got one kid and one on the way, and I hope to someday, too. We care a lot about the idea of working on yourself and what that means in the context of relationships and family. We ultimately decided to both get the word “Breakwall” inscribed on the back of our watches.

The significance of “Breakwall“ is a structure that stands between the waves coming in naturally from the ocean and everything on the other side, thus creating a place where there is no destruction. We both see that as the way we want to live our lives and change family patterns of trauma and depression. We want to stand up, do the hard thing, and protect the generations that come after us. The destruction stops with us.

So that’s what’s on the back. That mission, combined with how enamored I am with this watch, just means a lot to me. It’s a beautiful watch with a reminder on the underside of what my purpose is. That’s the story of this watch and why I love it.”

Ori Zohar’s Omega Speedmaster Mark 40 3513.33

Editor’s Note: Ori Zohar is the co-founder of Burlap & Barrel, which is focused on transparently and equitably sourcing single-origin spices from small farms around the globe. When he isn’t enhancing your pantry, Ori can be found surfing Pacific waves off Venice Beach. I wrote about Ori’s neo-vintage Piaget over the summer (a watch I am surprised he did not pick, being honest) – you can find more on that time keeper here.

“I bought my first mechanical watch when I graduated from college. An automatic watch by Victorinox with a small day window at 6 o’clock and the full weekday at 12. I’d never seen a watch like that, and I picked it up at a small jewelry store outside of Washington, DC. It marked the beginning of a new chapter: with my college degree in hand, I was heading to New York City for my first job as an Assistant Account Executive at a big ad agency. I was an adult.

16 years later, I found myself in a jewelry store again, only this time to buy an engagement ring for my girlfriend, and now wife, Katherine. I wanted to get myself something to mark another new chapter. I had picked up a MoonSwatch a few months prior, and it reignited this interest in mechanical watches. I ended up picking up two watches online – this Mark 40 3513.33, and a ‘Sapphire Sandwich’ Speedmaster 3573.50.

The Sapphire Sandwich Speedy was bulky, heavy, and beautiful. I could feel its weight on my wrist, and I’d take it off a few times a day to look through the exhibition caseback.

This Speedy was an odd bird. Omega isn’t known for going off script with their Speedmasters. Collectors have devoted their entire careers to documenting the minor flourishes across hundreds of variations of the iconic Speedmaster line. This watch broke all the rules: a silver guilloché dial with yellow Arabic numeral hour markers and bright red chronometer hands and sub-dials. It’s a fever dream, and I was hooked.

Omega only made the 3513.33 in 1996 and only released them in Japan. It’s not a particularly expensive or historic watch. It hasn’t been to the moon. I love my quirky watch for a different reason: it marks the beginning of a fun, lively chapter in my life where my forever partner and I get to make our own rules.”

Abram Goglanian’s Tudor Black Bay 54

Editor’s Note: Abram’s passion for watches is only matched (and possibly exceeded) by his passion for cameras and photography. He’s a professional product designer with over ten years of experience, and has worked for incredible companies like Kettle, Apple, and Rivian. His Tudor BB54 is one of the more touching stories I have come across in our shared hobby.

“The Tudor Black Bay 54 represents the best way to marry the vintage aesthetic I love with modern features and quality of life design improvements that I desire. This is the first watch I’ve ever purchased new, and my intention is to pass it on to my kids after I’ve completed my journey through life. I’m working on an engraving for us to make it extra special and to imbue it with meaning, and just knowing that this watch will be a part of our lives and their memories.

Though it wasn’t the initial intention for buying it, it wound up taking on an additional special meaning for me. The day after I picked it up I left for a trip to the mountains to spread my mom’s ashes.

I lost my mom two and a half years ago; she and I were very close, and that loss left a great rift in me that I am still trying to heal. Coincidentally, the BB54 design is based on Tudor’s 7922 Submariner, which debuted in 1954, which also happens to be the year my mom was born. So through that experience and shared year, I find that it will always make me think of her as well. She lived a life of adventure, though she’d have never said so. It made me want to follow in her footsteps.”

Ronald Tran’s Panerai Luminor PAM111

Editor’s Note: Cameras and watches seem to run together. Like Abram and I, Ronald also has a passion for photography (particularly nature, street, and macro). I love Ronald’s story because he is a survivor – he overcame significant health scares in a previous life to become the marathon and ultra-marathon-conquering fitness fiend that he is today. Ronald is currently training for the Leona Divide 100. His Panerai is exceptionally well-traveled (at least by foot).

“This is my Panerai! It’s one of the first watches I wanted since I first got into watches a long time ago. I got this watch a few years after college during a pretty rough time in my life, and it serves as a reminder of how far I have come and everything I have gone through.

One of my great friends, who is a really big Panerai guy, got me into this watch, and I think he is one of the strongest people that I know. He’s been fighting cancer for the last couple of years, and so when I wear this watch, I think of him. If I’m feeling weak or down, I think of him – what he’s going through and how resilient he is – and it helps me feel like I can be like that too.

My Panerai means a lot to me, and it would probably be the last watch to go if I had to get rid of everything. I wouldn’t even let it go if I died; I almost feel that I’d have to get buried with it! I’ve done so many important things in my life with this watch, like marathons and ultra-marathons. It’s always there for me – whenever I open my watch box, it is always the first watch I see and the one I want to put on the most. And when I do swap to a different watch, I always come back quickly, too. It is my most worn watch and the longest one I have had at six years. It keeps the time and it’s just a great watch.”

Amarveer Brar’s Tudor Ranger

Editor’s Note: Amarveer Brar is the host of the World Cool podcast, dedicated to the idea that adventuring together is far better than doing it alone. You can listen to him on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. We’ll cover more about Amarveer’s Ranger in a future installment of Storing Time, but it is synonymous with his journey as a human and mountaineer. There might not be many other Tudors who can claim as much exploration legitimacy as the original Oyster Princes who traveled to North Greenland.

“My Tudor Ranger is an important watch to me. It’s my adventure watch and the one I’ve worn over the last decade while I completed my goal of summiting what I call 10 big mountains in 10 years. This watch was on my wrist for 9 of the 10 mountains and over 20 to 30 different summits during the training process for that goal. I have Mont Blanc engraved on the caseback to honor that accomplishment. This watch is going nowhere – it’s extremely special to me and something that I will always cherish.”

David Crabtree’s Heuer ‘Derek Bell’ Autavia 1163

Editor’s Note: David has an incredible sense of humor – he jokes about “Grandpa having stories” whenever he has a tale to share – but every bit of knowledge he drops is interesting. His 2002 has been his driving companion for decades, the stuff of legend that petrol heads wish they had for their own lore, and his taste in chronographs is impeccable. I know I certainly learned a little something from chatting with David – I very incorrectly assumed his watch was a Viceroy. The devil is always in the details.

“I’ve got a number of favorites in my watch collection. The chronographs are special because they provide a connection to another interest of mine in motorsports. Of those watches, my Heuer Autavia ‘Derek Bell’ is the most special to me. Growing up in the 60s and 70s, the European automotive racing culture was fascinating to me. This obsession started with Matchbox cars in the late 60s and kind of grew from there. I like the U.S. domestic stuff too, but the European scene felt so foreign and I just found it really interesting. My Autavia captures that really special nostalgia for me, and it’s kind of a touchstone to those emotions and excitement. It never fails to make me smile when I put it on and spark joy.”

Gene Stone’s Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Duoface

Editor’s Note: Gene Stone is a renowned ghost writer with 50 books under his belt; 15 have reached The New York Times Bestseller list, while another six are #1 national bestsellers. Some classics that you may know him by include Forks Over Knives and The Watch: Thoroughly Revised. I love Gene because, unlike the rest of us tool watch heathens, he has developed real taste – dress and travel watches are the name of the game, and this Duoface is a perfect statement for what he loves in horology.

“I started collecting watches maybe 30-something years ago when I finally had a tiny bit of extra income. The first watch I bought that I really felt in my heart was the Reverso. I just thought it was a beautiful watch! I liked the fact that it was two watches in one, as the Duoface version, and I’ve had it ever since.

I would say of the 25 watches I have now, it’s still the one that really speaks to my heart. I wear it the same way that, as a child, I might have had a teddy bear I really cared about. This is the watch that I go to when I want to have something familiar with me. If I go to a strange place, I can always look at my watch and think, “Ah, my Reverso is here. I’m safe.”

Matt McDonough’s Tudor Pelagos FXD

Editor’s Note: Matt McDonough is a certified aviation nerd (the best kind to be) and adventure aficionado. His love for his Pelagos FXD is a great example of how watches store time and bring us back to those core memories we are most fond of. Matt is one of the hosts of the Spirit of Time podcast, which often features a watch in one hand and a glass of something lethal in the other. You can find him and fellow podcast host Gregg at their website, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

“Like most of us, I probably have too many watches. And among that collection, there’s definitely more than one that holds special meaning or appeal for me. I narrowed it down to three or four, and ultimately chose the Tudor FXD for a couple of reasons.

First, as cool and special as this piece is to me, it’s actually relatively new and modern… which for me means that it is pretty relevant inasmuch as I wear it frequently and it is robust and trustworthy for daily wear. Some of my other special pieces may be more emotionally significant, but they’re worn in lighter rotation due to their age and perhaps relative fragility.

The other thing with this particular piece is the fact that I was one of the first– if not the very first– to get one from an AD in North America. That probably sounds pretty lame, but it’s one of the few elements of bragging rights that I have in the watch world! Within a week or two of acquiring this piece, I took it on vacation with my family to Kauai, and it was the first watch I wore on ocean swims in Hawaii. This watch is such a touchstone to such an incredible vacation and time with my family that I had it engraved on the case back to reflect my attachment and memories with this particular time in my life. Every time I wear this watch, it makes me think of the first time I took my daughters snorkeling in an environment with warm water and a lot of marine life that they could actually see. It makes me wanna go back to Hawaii!”

Sarah Burch’s RedBar Atlanta x Nodus Sector GMT

Editor’s Note: I state proudly and without reservation that my partner, Sarah, is one of the most impressive people I know. A former tech industry pro who reinvented herself as a pilot, Sarah fearlessly lives for the horizon. She also flies towards it at 41,000 feet – Sarah is currently a first officer on a Dassault Falcon 50EX for Lyon Aviation. She has a couple of watches, but this Sector GMT has special meaning for both of us.

“This is my watch! It’s a partnership between RedBar Atlanta and Nodus. Something I really love about this watch is that it was gifted to me by my partner Drake during our first year of dating, in which we were long-distance by direct line of about 3,400 miles and four time zones.

I love that it is a GMT because it means I was able to track both my time and his time. The funny thing is, while GMT watches are used to track both local time and GMT, I was able to use it for love instead, while also being a pilot who regularly uses a GMT watch!

Drake is always laughing at me because I beat this watch to hell and back. There are so many chips and scratches – it’s second nature to wear it as an extension of my arm, so I forget that I am, and then I ding it while adding oil, checking fuel, and everything else that comes with flying. Every scratch has been with me since I have had the watch.”

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I hope you enjoyed this inaugural installment of Faces of SoCal; if you had half as much fun reading it as I did putting it together, then it means I did my job and there’s a certain pleasure in that for me. If you have a watch you care about and are open to sharing your story, please reach out either on this site or via Instagram – I’d love to feature you in a future edition. Cheers, all.

-Drake