Bronzed by the Hawaiian sun...

[iwenger]

Hey TRFamily!

My wife and I recently returned from a lovely vacation on Oahu, and now it's time to share the week's watch thoughts with the only people I know who care.


*hotel view*


*better hotel view*

First of all...supply at the various shops. We visited the Rolex boutique in Waikiki; at least I can say they had a good supply of DJs? Similar situation at the boutique that's attached to Ben Bridge, but that one came with a slightly snooty salesman We unfortunately ran out of time to check out the entire Ben Bridge store (aka we found the Prada store first ). Surprisingly, I enjoyed our visit to the Tourneau in Waikiki. There's no Rolex there, but we had gone in to check out the PAM 590; the sales team was actually quite nice and seemed rather knowledgeable. They even offered me a discount on the PAM - I ended up passing to hold out for a 116610LV


*Ka’ena Point*

Now that that's out of the way, I thought I'd share my experience with vacation watch of choice. I don't have a large collection by any means (Tudor Bronze, Speedy, vintage dress piece, and a Shinola), but I still decided to travel with just one watch for this trip. Since we were planning on hiking a fair amount and were surrounded by ocean, the Tudor was an easy choice of equipment for the job. Though the Bronze has been in a pool before, I was really looking forward to getting it into the ocean and returning it to it's "natural habitat"


*why am I wearing a sweater in Hawaii?*

I have to admit, I was slightly anxious about exposing the watch to salt water after previous discussions regarding degradation of the aluminum bezel insert due to galvanic corrosion (I actually posted another thread late last year on this topic, trying to decide whether or not to take it into the Dead Sea - spoiler: I left it at home). But I came to my senses! I bought this watch to wear it, and I'll be damned if I don't wear it on a Polynesian Island in the middle of the Pacific where I can actually see it underwater


*OMG Jurassic Park*

So...the BBBr made the trip and participated in every activity and/or excursion we had time for. I did take the commonly advised precaution of rinsing the watch with fresh water after every dip in the ocean. It may have been overkill, but I also brought a second nato strap along to switch out for after swims - mainly I don't like wearing a wet nato


*fresh from a swim*

So how did she hold up? Perfectly. No corrosion (phew!), and as the watch is already two years old I did not notice any additional patina. I've loved this watch from the first time I saw it and now even more so after actually doing physical activity with it. It is very comfortable on a nato and kind of melts into your arm...but also has enough wrist presence that you don't forget you're wearing it and smack it into a tree. I don't have a water-worthy camera, so in addition to the pictures below you'll have to imagine the Bronze swimming with turtles, kayaking on the North Shore, and frolicking on Waikiki Beach (you may or may not want to imagine that one ).


*view from Kualoa Ranch*

In closing, these are my final thoughts:
-the Black Bay Bronze is amazing and I love it - go buy one
-Oahu was lovely, especially if you do/eat non-touristy stuff - go there
-handbags and small leather goods are cheaper in Hawaii - don't tell your SO's


*sunrise from Koko Head Crater*

So thanks TRF and all you crazy WIS's for caring about this stuff. I'm on here everyday and don't always have a lot to contribute other than good intensions, so it's nice to be able to share my thoughts occasionally. You guys are great, and I hope everyone wears in good health!


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