Instagram wrap-up: January 2019

Here’s what I shared on Instagram in January 2019. (ICYMI, starting this year I’ll be cross-posting everything I post to Instagram to this blog.)

Maggie

We had a super hot start to 2019. Maggie, being a very Australian dog, loves the heat.

It's going to be 42 degrees today.

[@nadianiaz, hanging up the laundry] It's *thoroughly* unpleasant outside.

[Maggie, an Australian cattle dog] It's perfect.

When the weather is nice, though, we all like to hang out in the garden.

Afternoon nap in the garden with Maggie. (Yes, yesterday it was 42 degrees here. Today it's a top of 19. That's Melbourne for you. That's also why I love this city.)

Maggie loves her rope toy.

Maggie recommends a slow and steady deconstruction of your rope toy. "Take your time and pull that thing apart thread by thread," she says.

Events

January saw the start of #SlowSummer on SBS.

All set for a #SlowSummer with the Indian Pacific on SBS :) #SlowTV #sundaynight

Nadia and I went to the Australia Open tennis tournament, where every year we take a selfie.

Annual Australian Open selfie with Nadia :)

Melbourne went through three-ish heat waves in January. The last series of hot days ended with rain showers across the city. I work on the 29th floor of a building in the Docklands that has great views.

Gap in the clouds at sunset from Docklands, Melbourne.

Selfie

I finally got around to buying a quality Panama hat. Which, of course, meant that I had to take a selfie while wearing it :)

Yay, quality Panama hat! Been wanting one for years. Literal h/t to Gentleman's Gazette for the purchase inspiration and City Hatters Melbourne and Avenel Hats for the actual hat :)

Decentralizing my online presence

Starting this year, I'm going to cross-post to my blogs:

  • everything I post on Instagram and

  • most of what I tweet (and retweet) on Twitter.

Why?

Two reasons.

1. I'm sick of the walled gardens that social networks force you play in.

It’s great that I can post stuff so easily to social networks. That’s where most my non-techie friends and family members are too – which is super cool.

But, once I do post stuff to a social network, there’s almost nothing else I can do with this content of mine. I can’t archive, index, search, tag, export, or repurpose any of it. And I certainly can’t share it to any other social network. So, once my content is in there, it stays in there.

That’s not the way things used to be, back when the web was more decentralized.

In the words of Tom Eastman: “I’m old enough to remember when the Internet wasn’t a group of five websites, each consisting of screenshots of text from the other four.”

Now I’m still a massive RSS user (yay NewsBlur!) so, for me, most of the web still is decentralized. I want my content to be part of this easily accessible, decentralized web as well.

Which brings me to reason number two…

2. Social networks are internet black holes.

If a post of mine isn’t in currently your social news feed or isn’t pinned to the top of my social profile, it might as well not exist.

Unless you’re willing to go to my profile and scroll through years of posts, there’s no easy way to see what I’ve posted since I joined Flickr in 2007, Facebook in 2007, Twitter in 2008, and Instagram in 2012.

None of my social network posts appear in Google or Bing, either. So, as far as the broader internet is concerned, this content of mine has disappeared into a black hole that you need to be a member of to access. And, even then, there’s no easy way to find what I’ve posted there over the years. (Though, to be fair, Flickr and Twitter do have fairly decent built-in search engines.)

I don’t want my content to be this thoroughly inaccessible.

So what next?

Initially, not too much is going to change. I’ll still keep posting regularly to Twitter and Instagram.

But, because I’ll be cross-posting most of my stuff to my blogs, too, you’ll be able to go to my blogs (this one and my professional one) and look through all the great stuff (mine and others’) that I’ve been sharing on Twitter and Instagram.

The best part: this blog content will be archived, tagged, and backed-up. And it’ll be easy to search for, export, and share to any other social network.

Yay for a more (re)decentralized web!

I switched my mobile phone account back to Telstra

Much of my life is on the internet so slow network speeds really irk me. Which is why, two years ago, I moved my personal mobile account from Telstra to iiNet.

The need for speed

Back in 2016 the Optus mobile broadband network had among the best 4G data speeds: 21% faster downloads and 33% faster uploads compared to Telstra (when measured from my office). And the prices offered by resellers of that network, in my case iiNet, were significantly lower too.

I’d been with Telstra for ten years, but switching to iiNet — who were offering a clearly superior product — was an obvious choice. (I’d had iiNet as my home broadband ISP for over seven years by that point too.)

I need 4G at work

I currently spend about a third of my day in the office every single weekday. When I’m there I connect my work phone to the corporate Wi-Fi network. However, for various reasons, I don’t connect my personal phone to work’s guest Wi-Fi network. So, for over half of my weekday waking hours (more if you count my commute), I rely on my phone’s 4G connection.

This was all well and good till about two months ago.

We move to a new building

My office is in Collins Square, which is a five-tower complex in Docklands, Melbourne. Two months ago we moved offices from a tower at the front of the complex (adjacent Collins Street) to a tower at the back (overlooking the Yarra River). The views from this new building are much better, but the 4G download speeds for Optus mobile network users are much, much worse.

My work phone is with Telstra, so I was able to compare the 4G download and upload speeds I was getting from both Telstra an iiNet in this new building. The results speak for themselves.

The 4G speeds I was getting from iiNet were better than what they were in 2016, of course, but they were 8 times slower than what I was getting from Telstra.

Better coverage goes a long way

Telstra has always had better mobile and mobile broadband coverage in both urban and rural areas across Australia. That superior coverage was making all the difference here.

An investigation revealed that the the iiNet cell tower that gave me the best signal strength in the new office building was behind two of the other Collins Square buildings. Meanwhile the Telstra cell tower that gave me the best signal was just across the river.

So, yeah. The decision to switch back to Telstra was about as easy as it had been to switch away in the first place.

The good news is that, over the last two years, Telstra’s customer service has improved considerably. Ten minutes with an agent at one of their stores was all it took to make the switch back. And, as a bonus, I’m getting three times as much data from Telstra for the same monthly price I was paying at iiNet.

All is well again.

Update 4/2/19: Since publishing this post I discovered that Telstra has activated a cell tower at the top of Collins Square! Since that’s the tower my phone now connects to most often, my 4G connection is now even faster and is considerably more reliable from all corners of the office.

My next pilot watch: Stowa Flieger Klassik 40 Baumuster B

I bought another pilot watch – and this one, finally, is a flieger! Say hello the fabulous Stowa Flieger Klassik 40 Baumuster B.

If you’re not familiar with flieger watches, by the way, here’s a nice overview from Watchuseek: ‘Flieger Friday: Everything You Need to Know About Flieger Watches’

Why the Stowa Flieger Klassik 40 Baumuster B?

There are lots of different flieger and flieger-style watches out there so I had a seriously difficult time deciding which one I was going to get.

I knew from the start that I wanted a Type B flieger (the observer/navigator’s watch) and my must-have features were a sapphire crystal and a hacking-seconds movement. Everything else I was flexible on (ie automatic or manual wind movement, open or closed case back, etc).

In the end my decision came down to four key criteria:

  1. Which brands I wanted to consider
  2. What category of watch I wanted
  3. Where along the historical-accuracy versus modern-evolution spectrum I wanted my watch to be situated
  4. What special thing about the watch, brand, or manufacturer appealed to me the most

1. Brand options

The original flieger watches from the 1940s were designed and manufactured by five companies: A. Lange & Söhne, IWC, Laco, Stowa, and Wempe.

Lange no longer make a pure flieger watch (only the Big Pilot’s and its variations) and Wempe no longer make watches at all, so the three remaining brands went straight onto my shortlist.

Since no one has a copyright on the flieger design, lots of other brands make flieger and flieger-inspired watches. Several of these brands went onto my shortlist, as well.

2. Watch category

Not counting quartz-based timepieces, flieger watches can be broadly divided into three quality categories: luxury, enthusiast, and consumer. Each category is served by several brands, for example:

  • Luxury: Bell & Ross, IWC
  • Enthusiast: Archimede, Aristo, Damasko, Fortis, Hamilton, Laco, Sinn, Steinhart, Stowa
  • Consumer: Citizen, Orient, Seiko

I wanted to get something from the enthusiast category because that’s where all the professional/tool watches are (not that pilots need to use these types of watches professionally anymore). Like the original flieger watches, I wanted my flieger watch to be a robust, reliable, high quality tool watch.

From that category I eliminated Damsko and Sinn because they don’t make Type B flieger watches. 

This left me with seven options.

3. Historical accuracy versus modern adaptation

I knew I wanted a watch with historical roots, but not necessarily a replica. I also didn’t want something too modern.

I eliminated Archimede because, even though Ickler (their manufacturer) has been around since 1924, the Archimede brand itself was launched in 2003 – so that’s not enough of a historical connection for me. Same with Steinhart: the brand itself is old, but its modern incarnation is from the 2000s.

I also eliminated Aristo because their modern-sized fliegers (40-44mm) have a huge Aristo logo on the dial (too modern) and their plain-dial version has a whopping 55m case size (far too historically accurate!).

Finally, much as I love what Fortis and Hamilton have done with their pilot watches, those interpretations are more modern that I would like for my first proper flieger.

This left me with two brands: Laco and Stowa – both original flieger manufacturers and both with modern versions of the Type B that I really like.

The Laco flieger versions are truer to the original: sand blasted grey case, closed case back, domed sapphire crystal, straight lugs. The Stowa versions are slightly more modernized: polished case, open case back, flat sapphire crystal, curved lugs.

Laco and Stowa’s brand philosophies are neatly represented in those design differences: Laco is selling you a piece of history (albeit a smaller version of the original) while Stowa is selling you a modern watch with strong historical roots (a slightly evolved version of the original). For my first flieger watch, I found myself leaning towards the latter.

4. That special thing

The other thing that got me to pick Stowa is that I like their brand strategy more than Laco’s.

Laco want everyone to own a piece of history so they have two tiers of pilot watches: ‘Original’ and ‘Basic’. The Basic models are more consumer level watches than they are enthusiast level ones. That means some models have lower cost automatic movements (that don’t have hacking seconds, for example) and some have quartz movements.

Stowa, on the other hand, want everyone to own an excellent quality mechanical timepiece that is deeply rooted in history so they don’t have any models that could be considered consumer level watches.

As someone who studies brands, I appreciate businesses that have identified the specific, narrow customer segment they want to target – in this case, people who want to buy enthusiast level watches – and then chosen to create products for only this segment.

I don’t dislike Laco’s approach, of course. I just respect Stowa’s willingness to ignore other potential market segments and stick to the one segment they specifically want to target with their timepieces.

This focus on selling only professional/tool level watches makes Stowa a slightly more exclusive brand. And, for my first flieger, this was something I liked the idea of.

(Laco have done a clever job of differentiating their Basic and Original tier watches from a brand perspective, by the way. None of their Basic tier watches, for example, have thermally blued hands. So, while Laco are willing to sell lower priced, lower perceived-value watches that have most of the historical markers of the original flieger watches, by holding some of the features back from the Basic tier, they still manage to protect the brand value of their Original tier models.)

Stowa were also among the first heritage watch brands to start selling directly to customers via their website. This means they understood their customer segment much sooner than others did – this is, our desire to easily purchase watches online, directly from the manufacturer.

And Stowa are still one of the only brands that offer several watch customization options up-front. The availability of these customisation options tells me they still understand their customers better than many other brands do. That is, customers wanting a consumer level pilot watch won’t necessarily want to spend extra on customization (eg a gold rotor, instead of a silver one). But someone who is after an enthusiast level pilot watch might. And given that’s the only segment they’re targeting, why not go the extra mile and offer this service? It helps their brand stand out from their competitors and it helps the customer’s watch stand out, as well – a nice win-win.

But this only works if you’ve done your research and have thoroughly understood your customer’s wants and needs (which Stowa has done) and you’re an innovative and nimble enough business to deliver on those customer wants and needs (which Stowa is).

All of which means…

All of which means I chose the Stowa flieger watch over the Laco one.

I do still plan on buying a Laco watch in the future – possible their Type A flieger replica or one of their fantastic special pilot models. But, for now, I’m happy with what I’ve got.

About the Stowa Flieger Klassik 40 Baumuster B

Normally this is where I’d run through the watch’s specs and talk about how awesome a timepiece it is. Fortunately, I don’t have to do that because lots of others have already done all that.

If you want to know more about the Klassik 40 Baumuster B, here’s a recent-ish review from 60Clicks that I quite like: ‘Stowa Flieger Klassik 40 Baumuster B-Uhr: Hands-On Review’.

Final thoughts

I received my Stowa flieger in early October last year and, over the last four months, have worn almost none of my other watches. It’s rare that I give any one watch this much exclusive wrist time but that just goes to show just how much I love it!

So, yay for my first flieger and yay for how excellent both Stowa and this watch are :)

 

The NBN is 62% faster in our new house!

This time last year we finally got connected to Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN).

Doing so dramatically increased our average download speed from 6.9MBps with ADSL2+ (over the old telephone copper wire network) to 46.7MBps with NBN (over a new NBN fibre optic connection to the closest telephone/internet exchange).

A little over a week ago we moved into an independent house in another suburb. This meant we were no longer sharing that fibre optic internet connection with the other residents in an apartment block.

I checked to see if this had increased our connection speed and, sure enough, our download speeds have gone up by 62% to 75.7MBps!

Woohoo! 

Pro tip: If you’re looking to move house and, like me, can’t live without the NBN, check out the nbnm8 Chrome extension. When you use realstate.com.au and Domain to search for properties it’ll automatically do the nbn availability look-up for you :)

My first mechanical chronograph: Seagull 1963 Airforce

One year ago I started my mechanical watch collection. This was thanks to Nadia and a bunch of awesome friends who got me a Techné Goshawk for my birthday. Since then I’ve bought two more mechanical watches, an Orient M-Force ‘Beast’ and a Vostok K-65 Komandirskie.

For my birthday this year Nadia and that super awesome bunch of friends got me my fourth mechanical watch – and first mechanical chronograph – the Tianjin Seagull 1963 Airforce chronograph. 

I’ve been wanting to get a mechanical chronograph for years but most of these are ‘luxury’ level watches (ie in the $1,500+ price range). Only a handful can be classified as ‘mid-range’ ($500-$1,500) and, of those, the Seagull 1963 Airforce chronograph is probably the coolest.

Given this is a brand new watch, you may have guessed from its name that this is a modern reissue of the original chronograph that was produced for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force in 1963.

About the 1963 Airforce watch

The particular variant of watch that I have is the more historically authentic 37mm version (there are newer, 42mm versions, as well). It has a polished silver case with a sapphire crystal, a crown, and two chronograph pushers. 

The cream dial has an outer index with black Arabic numerals and black minute-markers that double as second-markers for the chronograph. Those second markers are subdivided into one-fifths of a second (which only becomes relevant when you’re using the chronograph). The inner index has applied gold Arabic numerals and applied dart-shaped, gold hour markers.

You use the large blue hands to tell the time and the red hand counts elapsed seconds for the chronograph (which means most of the time it remains in the 12 o’clock position). The two sub-dials have small blue hands.

The ‘small seconds’ sub-dial at 9 o’clock shows you running seconds (this runs whether you’re using the chronograph or not) and the sub-dial at 3 o’clock is a 30-minute counter for the chronograph (it loops if you run the chronograph for more than 30 minutes).

At the top of the dial there’s an applied red star with a gold outline (there are also yellow star versions of these watches). Printed on the dial is the text “21 ZUAN” (21 jewels) and “中国制造” (Made in China).

The watch is powered by the ST1901 movement, which you can see in all its glory through the open case back. 

The ST1901 is a hand-wound, column-wheel chronograph movement with 21 jewels, shock protection, and a 40-hour power reserve.

To see just how cool this movement is, check out this video from Long Island Watch (the link will start the video from the 08:50 mark).

I really wanted to get this watch, not just because it’s gorgeous and has a fantastic chronograph movement, but also because so much history behind it.

History of the 1963 Airforce chronograph

The 1963 Airforce chronograph is historically important because it was the first chronograph built in China that was issued to air force personnel in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force.

There are two parts to this story of this watch, one set in Switzerland and one set in China.

In 1960s Switzerland there were three competing chronograph movement manufacturers: Lemania, Valjoux and Venus. Venus made the popular Calibre 175 column (or pillar) wheel chronograph movement that was used in several watches in the 1940s and 50s.

Competition in this space was fierce and Venus needed money to develop newer movements so they first tried to sell their existing Cal.175 machinery and designs to the Soviet Union. The Soviets, however, already had the Strela chronograph movement (a copy of Venus’ Cal.150) which meant they weren’t interested. But the Chinese were.

In the 1960s the Chinese were importing all their chronographs from Switzerland and the Soviet Union. They wanted to remove this dependency so the Ministry of Light Industry kicked-off several projects to develop Chinese-made clocks and watches. 304 was the code given to the project that would develop, test, and source a Chinese-built chronograph wristwatch for air force personnel. (100-series projects were for the navy, 200 for the army, 300 for the air force.)

In 1961 Project 304 assigned the task of developing and producing this air force chronograph to the Tianjin Watch Factory. This was partly because Tianjin had already created a popular watch movement of their own but also because Tianjin (the city) is physically closer to Beijing than, say, Shanghai (and, therefore, the Shanghai Watch Factory).

Tianjin bought the Cal.175 machinery and designs from Venus and then upgraded the original 17-jewel movement to their own 19-jewel ST19 movement. They completed their second round of prototypes in 1963 and, for whatever reason, this is the year that gets added to the watch’s name when collectors outside of China refer to it. Inside of China this watch is named after the project code and is called the ‘304 Airforce chronograph’.

By 1965 these watches had met all the requirements and passed all the Ministry’s tests so an order was placed. In 1966 Tianjin delivered 1,400 of these watches to the air force.

Jump forward to 1990 and the Tianjin Watch Factory was promoted to a national level enterprise. This was followed soon after by the creation of the Tianjin Seagull Corporation in 1992.

(‘Sea-Gull’ was the brand name given to the export version of the ‘DongFeng’, ie ‘East Wind’, watch that Tianjin made in 1965 and started exporting in 1973. This ran on the 100% Chinese designed and manufactured Calibre ST5 movement and was the first watch ever to be exported from China. So it made sense to add the most internationally well-known brand to the name of the new company.)

In 2003 Seagull resurrected Project 304’s movements and, by 2005, had reissued the first batch of commemorative aviation watches. The watch version I have is one of the newest models that runs on the further-upgraded, 21-jewel ST1901 movement and has a sapphire crystal.

Final thoughts

I’ve only had this watch for a couple of days (we celebrated my birthday on the weekend before the actual day) but I’ve worn it pretty much non-stop since then and I can safely say that I love it!

All my other watches have black dials so I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about a watch with a lighter dial. Fortunately, this watch is gorgeous and I think it looks nice on me. The awesome RIOS 1931 Bright Brown leather strap that came bundled with it from Poljot24.de adds a lot to its overall aesthetic, too.

Sure the watch doesn’t have a day-date complication or any lume anywhere (which makes it more like a dress watch, really). But the fact that I can instantly start the chronograph with a push of a single button more than makes up for anything that’s ‘missing’ from a near-authentic reissue of a 1960s watch.

I’m also loving wearing smaller watches for a change. I still love my 47mm dive watch, and have worn huge Casio G-Shocks and ProTreks for much of my life, but smaller watches work surprisingly well on my 7¾-inch wrist. I think my next watch will be a vintage watch from the 60s or 70s so this small-watch trend is probably going to continue for a while!

Let me end then by saying a HUGE thank-you to Nadia and all the awesome friends who contributed to this watch! Mechanical watches are very much a luxury item for me and it’s only (a) this year and (b) with your help that I can actually afford to own any of them. So thank you for indulging me and for not looking at me too side-eyed every time you hear I’ve bought yet another watch :)

Further reading

If you’re interested in buying this watch or want to find out (much) more about it – particularly its history and the history of its movement – here’s where you should go:

My third mechanical watch: Vostok K-65 Komandirskie

Four months ago I bought my third mechanical watch: a Vostok K-65 Komandirskie 1965 (K-65 2414A 680220).

I hadn’t expected to buy this watch because its silver-and-black version had been out of stock for several months – pretty much since it had gone on sale in August 2015, in fact.

But, as I was writing my roundup of affordable watches post back in March, I discovered – much to my delight – that Meranom had it back in stock! Not wanting to miss out, I ordered it immediately. Which was just as well! That batch was completely sold out three days later and this model hasn’t been available since. 

Shipping woes

Of course buying this watch was one thing; getting it shipped to Australia was something else entirely.

That’s because, for whatever reason, the express mail service EMS decided they didn’t want to deliver it from Russia to Australia. Of course it took them almost two weeks to figure that out. So, fifteen days after being shipped, my watch was returned to Meranom’s offices in Chistopol.

Fortunately, a few quick emails later, it was on its way to me via regular Russian Post and the awesome Rustem from Meranom was quick to refund the difference in shipping fee costs. Rustem also told me that this was the second watch EMS had refused to deliver to Australia. Strange. 

Because delivery via regular post takes time, all told, it took over a month and a half from purchase to final delivery in Melbourne. 

Now that I have this watch, though, it's quickly gone into rotation and I find myself wearing it regularly to work and on weekends. It's classy, unobtrusive, and I can wear it with a wide variety of outfits. Basically, I love it! 

So let's talk about the watch itself.

About the Vostok K-65 Komandirskie

This 2015 reissue of the K-65 Commander’s watch from 1965 celebrates 50 years since the Chistopol Watch Factory became the official supplier of watches to the Ministry of Defence of the USSR. (The Chistopol Watch Factory was founded in 1942 and renamed itself Vostok in the 1960s.)

The K-65 has a no-nonsense, clean and clear design aesthetic.

It has a 39mm round, stainless steel case with a domed acrylic crystal and open case-back.

The dial is black, with:

  • solid, white hour markers;
  • solid, sliver baton hands (filled with a bit of lume); and
  • solid, white Arabic numerals in a neo-grotesque 1960s Russian typeface (which I adore). 

The movement is a hand-wound Vostok 2414A with a date complication, 17 jewels, and a 36-hour power reserve. I wind it every night and it keeps good time.

Basically, this is a solid, dependable, good-looking, versatile military watch with a 1960s neo-grotesque design aesthetic. What’s not to love?!

(For more on this watch check out this review on Krishna’s Russian Watches.)

State of the watch collection

I now own three mechanical watches: a pilot watch (Techné Goshawk), a dive watch (Orient M-Force Beast), and now this military watch.

This means I’m halfway to completing my sub-$500 mechanical watch collection. To do that I need a dress watch (Orient Sun and Moon or Melbourne Watch Company Portsea), a sport watch (Seiko Alpinist), and a chronograph (Seagull 1963 Air Force Chronograph). If all goes well, I’ll have done that by the end of 2017 :)

Stay tuned!

A roundup of affordable watches I like

Watches: they’re expensive.

Fortunately, there are several that I really like and that I actually can afford – with prices ranging from $100 to $1,300. Here are the ones I like the most.

Dress watches

I’m mostly a fan of tool watches but let’s start with a couple of dress watches I really like.

Orient – Sun and Moon

The first is the white dial variant of the latest Orient Sun and Moon series (ET0T002S). 

The thing that makes this watch so cool is the depth and complexity of its multi-layered, multi-textured dial. That dial pattern is machine stamped and not hand-guillochéd, of course, but then this watch does cost $300, not $3,000. The photos above are screengrabs from Long Island Watch’s video overview of the Sun and Moon series; check that out to see how gorgeous these watches are.

Melbourne Watch Company – Portsea

More layered-dial gorgeousness can be found in the Melbourne Watch Company’s Portsea series. 

Source: Melbourne Watch Company

I love the colours, the contrast in layer textures, and the overall naval theme of these watches. And isn’t the ‘M’ counterweight on the seconds hand just fabulous? (About as cool as Christopher Ward’s trident seconds hand counterweight.) If I already owned a white dial Orient Sun and Moon, I’d probably get a blue dial Portsea; most likely the Portsea Blue. Costing almost $900 a piece, though, these watches are pricier than the Sun and Moon. But then they have better quality movements, higher quality leather straps, and they come with a two-year warranty – so you get what you pay for.

Military watches

I generally prefer pilot watches to military (or field) style watches but here are three military watches I like.

Vostok – Komandirskie 1965

The first is the 50th anniversary reissue of Vostok’s Komandirskie 1965 or K-65 (2414A 680220). 

Source: Meranom.com

What I love about this watch is its no-nonsense, clean and clear design aesthetic – it’s almost a military-themed dress watch. Which makes sense since it is, after all, a Commander’s watch and not an average soldier’s watch :)

For more on this watch check out this review on Krishna’s Russian Watches.

This is the only watch on my list that has an acrylic crystal instead of a sapphire one, by the way. Given that it costs less than a hundred dollars, though, I don’t mind waiving my sapphire crystal-only rule for it. Not that I have a choice with Vostok, of course, since they don’t make any watches with sapphire crystals, anyway.

Update: I bought this watch! I’ll blog about it once it arrives.

Marathon – General Purpose Mechanical

Given that I like Russian military watches from the 1960s, it’s not a surprise that I also like American military watches from the same era.

Unfortunately, the watch that I like the most – the Benrus 3061 black dial – is no longer being manufactured because the Benrus watch company no longer exists (though the brand does live on). So, until I jump in to buying second hand watches, I’m not going to get my hand on one of these beauties. 

Source: MWR, Second Time Around, Worn & Wound

Fortunately, a couple of years ago Marathon released their homage to this watch: the General Purpose Mechanical. 

Source: Marathon

They’ve toned the design down a bit (particularly the colours) but what they’ve created is a solidly-constructed, no-nonsense military watch that is cool in its own way. Also, it costs just $400, which his nice. Bonus: these watches use tritium tubes instead of lume.

Hamilton – Khaki Field

The third military watch I like is another American classic: the Hamilton Khaki Field series. 

Source: Hamilton

I really like the dials of these watches, particularly the inner 24-hour ring of numerals (that show military time) and the large day window in the Day Date Auto. The needle-tipped, tapered baton hands on these watches are cool, as are the seconds hands that reach all the way to the minute markers at the outermost edge of the dial. Those hands let you be more accurate with the time so, for example, you can coordinate military action (or, say, a surprise birthday party) down to the last second :) These watches are surprisingly affordable, too, costing around $400 to $600.

Pilot watches

Now we come to my favourite watch category: the pilot watch.

Laco – Fliegeruhren B (Pilot Watch Type B)

My favourite watches in this category are the 1940s German navigator watches – specifically the ones with the Type B dial. Several brands make this style of watch but my favourites are usually from Laco. 

Source: Laco

The most affordable of these is the Laco Aachen ($400). But, if I had a choice, I’d get the Laco Paderborn ($1,000). That’s a significant upgrade over the Aachen and, with a domed sapphire crystal and solid case back, is much closer to the original flieger watch. As a bonus, it also has thermally-blued steel hands. If I was going all-out, though, I’d get the Laco Friedrichshafen ($1,200). That’s basically a larger, and therefore even more authentic, version of the Paderborn (ie it has a 45mm case compared to the Paderborn’s 42mm).

For more on this series of watches check out this video overview from Long Island Watch.  

Hamilton – Khaki Aviation

The only other pilot watches I love as much as the Laco Type B fliegers are the Hamilton Khaki Aviation range. And that’s a big range so there are lots of models to choose from. 

Source: Hamilton

I think my favourites are the more straightforward ones like the Pilot Auto ($1,300) and the Pilot Day Date ($1,200). Both are gorgeous, with their large sword hands, long seconds hand, and day-date windows (particularly on the Pilot Day Date). I also love the more complicated Pilot GMT ($1,800) with its red, second-time-zone hand. And the limited edition Takeoff Air Zermatt ($1,600), built in partnership with the Air Zermatt Swiss mountain rescue service. 

Other pilot watches

There are many other pilot watches from several other watch brands that I like but the Laco and Hamilton ones are my favourites. However, for completeness’s sake, I should say that I love pilot watches from Alpina, Bell & Ross, Citizen, Damasko, Fortis, Garmin, Graf Zeppelin, Hanhart, Junkers, Sinn, and Techné. And, who knows, I might buy one (or several) of these in the future, too :)

Sport watches and chronographs

Seiko – Alpinist

I’ve been a long-time fan of Casio watches – having owned multiple G-Shocks and ProTreks – so I’ve never really paid much attention to non-Casio sport (or field) watches. However, the Seiko Alpinist (SARB017) is difficult to ignore. 

Source: Long Island Watch, SeiyaJapan.com

I mean, how cool is that green bezel; the applied gold numerals; those cathedral-shaped hands; and the inner, rotating compass ring (controlled by the second crown at the 4 o’clock position). Not to mention the higher-end Seiko movement with a 50-hour power reserve. Yes, this is a gorgeous, capable watch. Best of all: it costs less than $500.

For more on this watch check out the history of the Alpinist on Springbar and this video review on Urban Gentry.

Seagull – 1963 Chronograph

Not counting day/date, the complication I love most on a watch is a chronograph. Unfortunately, mechanical chronographs are the most expensive type of wristwatch out there. Fortunately, among the handful of affordable chronographs that are available, we have the fantastic Seagull 1963 Airforce Chronograph series. 

Source: Long Island Watch

These watches are a 50th anniversary reissue of the original chronograph that Seagull made for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force in 1963. The one I’d want to get is the smaller, more authentic 38mm one with the sapphire crystal (6345G-2901). I adore the overall design of this watch, with its cream dial; blue and red hands; and applied gold numerals and hour markers. What’s even cooler is the open case back that really shows off the ST19 column-wheel chronograph movement (which is based on the Swiss Venus 175 movement that Seagull bought from Venus in the 1960s). This 38mm model is surprisingly affordable, too, costing under $500.

Check out this video overview from Long Island Watch to see just how cool this series of watch is. 

I love this watch so much that, for my birthday this year, I’m thinking of asking my friends and family to pitch in and get one for me. Unless, of course, I find it on sale for a lot cheaper first :)

Other watches

There are several other watches I’d love to own, of course.

Many of these are quartz watches from the Seiko Giugiaro and Astron series; the Casio ProTrek and G-Shock series; the Bulova Accutron and Precisionist series; and the Citizen Promaster Air series.

From the mechanical watch side there are a handful of dive watches I’d like to own, plus several vintage watches I’d love to get my (second) hands on.

For now, though, I’m happy with my shortlist because I can turn this into a shopping list from which I can cross-off items over the next three to five years :)

Weekend project: Fire Safety Door album covers

The tram stopped at an intersection and my eyes focused on the side of a multi-storey office building. The plain, grey door blended in easily with the plain, grey wall. The door had no handle and was flush with the wall. If you weren’t looking carefully, you wouldn’t even notice it was there. 

The only thing mildly interesting about it was the black lettering about a third of the way down. Helvetica Condensed Bold. All-caps. Three lines. 

FIRE SAFETY DOOR
DO NOT OBSTRUCT
DO NOT KEEP OPEN

“Huh,” I thought to myself, “Fire Safety Door. That’d fun name for a band. Their first two albums could even be called ‘Do Not Obstruct’ and ‘Do Not Keep Open’”. 

This was on a Friday evening on my way home from work and I realized it’d been a while since I’d done something randomly creative like designing album covers for a fake band. So I was, like, “Why not?”

Thus I present to you the six-album discography of the alt-rock bank Fire Safety Door (click to see higher resolution versions of the album covers): 

The albums in chronological order are: 

  • Do Not Obstruct: Debut album. 
  • Do Not Keep Open: Difficult second album. 
  • Door Is Alarmed: Critically acclaimed third album. 
  • Woop Woop: Live tour album. 
  • Evacuation Assembly Point: Concept album. 
  • The Spaghetti Incident: Album of cover songs. (Yes, the original GnR album was correctly called “The Spaghetti Incident?” – complete with quotation marks. This album title is just an homage.) 

Ah, random creative outlets. They're so much fun :) 

 

We're finally connected to the NBN!

On 23 June 2014 I tweeted this:

But it wasn't till yesterday, 15 December 2015, that we finally got connected to Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN).

Yes, this took 1 year, 5 months and 22 days. 

What was particularly irritating was that our neighbours got connected several month ago. It took us this long because we're in an apartment building. Which meant that, first, our Body Corporate had to get their act together and network our building — which they finally did at the end of October.

We then had to wait till iiNet, our prefered ISP (who we've been with for over six years), released their Fibre to the Basement plans for selling NBN services to individual apartment building residents. 

Once all these pieces fell into place, though, things moved quickly. And, six days after the NBN became available to us, we were online:

We're now enjoying download speeds seven times faster than our old ADSL2+ connection (an average of 46.7Mbps with NBN versus 6.9MBps with ADSL2+) and upload speeds thirty-one times faster (27.6Mbps now vs 0.9Mbps previously). We're also connecting faster, with an average ping time of just 2.5ms with NBN vs 27ms with ADSL2+. 

It's awesome.

Of course these speeds aren't as fast as the NBN can theoretically reach ("up to 100Mbps") or as fast as my internet connection is at work (average downloads at 64.3Mbps and average uploads at 86.9Mbps) — but it still pretty darned good. And it's more than enough for any video streaming we want want to do.

So, yay! The NBN was a long time coming, but it was sure worth the wait.

My first dive watch: Orient M-Force Beast

It’s been only a few months since I got my first mechanical watch but I’ve already gone ahead and bought myself a second one :)

This is not another pilot watch, but a fantastic dive watch. Specifically, the Orient M-Force ‘Beast’ (ref. EL06001B0):

Why a dive watch?

They’re among the most affordable style of mechanical watch: Of the five major watch styles – field, chronograph, pilot, dress and dive – when it comes to mechanicals, dress watches and dive watches are generally the most affordable. 

I didn’t want to spend too much on another watch: I’ve only just started collecting watches in earnest so for my next watch I was looking to get an affordable vintage watch, some type of dress watch, or a dive watch.

They’re the only style of watch I don’t have: My current collection comprises two field watches (both Casio quartz digitals), one dress watch (a Casio quartz analogue), one chronometer (also a Casio quartz analogue), and one pilot watch (a Techné mechanical). So, to round things out, I was leaning towards getting a dive watch, anyway.

Why the Orient M-Force Beast?

There are lots of gorgeous dive watches out there but my favourites from the two ends of the price spectrum are probably the Orient Black Ray Raven and the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Automatique: 

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to afford a Fifty Fathoms – certainly not first-hand – but I could have easily bought myself a Black Ray Raven. (Note: This watch isn’t poorly named. The ‘black’ refers to its black dial and the ‘raven’ refers to its black case and bracelet. There’s also an Orient Blue Ray, for example.)

However, in exploring watches over the last few months I decided that, during this early watch collecting phase, I would only buy watches that had sapphire crystals. Why? Because I have a limited amount to spend on new watches so I want to make sure that the watches I do buy are worth it – and watches with sapphire crystals generally are.

Which basically meant I wasn’t going to be buying myself a Black Ray Raven, either,

Now, there are generally four levels of dive watches (that roughly correspond to their price category):

  • Basic: These are the most affordable, but almost all of them have mineral crystals and ‘workhorse’ movements – think the Orient Mako series, Seiko’s SKX007 (probably the most icon affordable dive watch), or the Vostok Amphibia collection
  • Mid-range: Many of these have sapphire crystals and better quality movements – the Orient M-Force Beast falls into this category, as do several professional dive watches (like those from Squale)
  • Professional: These tend to have higher depth ratings, helium release valves, and other features professional divers are interested in – pro watches from Edox, Citizen, Doxa, Marathon, Orient, Oris, Seiko, Squale, Tissot and Victorinox fall into this category
  • Luxury: These don’t necessarily have the features that professional dive watches do, but they do have high quality designs and movements; plus they’re made by luxury brands – think Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, Rolex Submariner, and Omega Seamaster (the James Bond watch)

Since I don’t need a professional dive watch, I can’t afford a luxury dive watch, and I don’t want a basic dive watch, I was looking to buy myself a mid-range diver. Specifically, something from Orient’s M-Force series, Squale’s 1521 collection or Glycine's Combat collection.

Of course, the problem with most mid-range divers is that they’re beyond my budget. So earlier this month I had decided that I was going to get a dress watch, instead. In fact, I’d even settled on the gorgeous Mondaine Simply Elegant (a quartz watch, I know, but I adore that Swiss railway clock design!): 

Fortunately, with Christmas fast approaching, several online watch stores had huge sales on Seiko and Orient dive watches so, suddenly, a whole range of mid-range divers became affordable.

So pouncing on the Beast when it was on sale at 40% of its original price was an easy decision to make :)

About the Orient M-Force ‘Beast’

Orient is one of Japan’s biggest watch brands (along with Seiko, Citizen and Casio). Its history dates back to 1901, though it was incorporated as Orient Watch Company in 1950 and became a subsidiary of Seiko Epson Corporation in 2001.

Orient’s M-Force series of dive watches has been around since 1997 and this M-Force EL06 line, nicknamed ‘The Beast’, was first released in 2012. The latest M-Force line, EL07 (nicknamed ‘Delta’), was released in 2014 but I actually prefer the older EL06s.

The watch I’ve bought is the M-Force EL06001B0, which is the black dial variant. This watch is large (47mm wide and 53mm tall) and chunky, but very nicely proportioned and very nicely designed:

It is powered by Orient’s 22-jewel, three-hand 40N5A movement – a movement that also provides date and power reserve complications.

Worn & Wound have a really nice review of this watch so I won’t write too much more about it here. Instead, check out their review video or Orient’s own product video.

Or, if all you want to do is see how gorgeous this watch is, check out this promo from Watch Tanaka:

Final thoughts

It’s been a few days since I got this watch and I’m super happy with it! 

It’s good looking, reliable, and its lume is bright and long-lasting. Also, its leftie-crown took surprisingly little time to adjust to.

Yes, its build is a little chunky and it is a little heavy. But, as someone who has owned multiple G-Shock and ProTrek watches over the years, it’s nice to be wearing their equivalent in the mechanical watch world!

Finally, it looks good on different coloured NATO straps (I’m not a huge fan of metal bracelets) and this versatility makes it even more fun to wear.

And all this means I now have two fantastic mechanical watches to choose from every day :)

Techné Goshawk: Attention to design detail

In my previous post I explained how the Techné Goshawk wristwatch has a ‘neo retro’ design that is based on two 1940s aircraft cockpit clocks made by the American watchmaker Elgin: 

Now I want to highlight four small, but important design decisions that Francis Jacquerye took when creating this watch. These decisions give an indication of how talented a designer he is. 

Before we do that, though, here’s a close-up of the Goshawk’s gorgeous watch face: 

Now, on to the design decisions…

24 hour dial is optically centred

If you look closely, you’ll notice that the 24-hour sub-dial in the 9 o’clock position isn’t in the exact horizontal centre of the main watch dial. Instead, it’s been ever so slightly raised. That’s because it’s been placed at the ‘optical centre’ (blue line) of the watch dial, not the ‘mathematical centre’ (red line):

There are two reasons for this. 

First, the shape of the Arabic numeral ‘9’, which is the most dominant element in that sub-dial, has more optical weight in the upper part of the glyph. Had Jacquerye placed the 9 right in the centre – like he has with the 3 (which is a horizontally symmetrical shape) – the 9 would have looked a little low. So, to make this look more balanced, he raised the whole dial ever so slightly from the mathematical centre to the optical centre. 

Second, there are three elements within the main dial: 

  1. the 24-hour sub-dial, 
  2. the Techné logo, and
  3. the date window. 

The ‘Techné’ line in the logo has its baseline set to the mathematical centre of the dial (the red line). But, because that logo has more weight above the line than below it, the 24-hour sub-dial needed to be moved up slightly to help balance those two elements with each other. 

Had the sub-dial been left at the mathematical centre, it would have looked out of alignment with the logo. So, instead of moving the logo lower – which would have made both elements appear a little below centre – Jacquerye moved the sub-dial up ever so slightly.  

Date window is balanced with other elements

Something similar has been done to the date window between the 4 and 5 o’clock positions, with the window having been nudged slightly closer to the 5 o’clock hash mark: 

The date window works better here because, in this position, it looks more balanced in relation to the sub-dial and logo. One way to think of this is that the weight of the sub-dial has pulled the date window a little more clockwise from where it may have otherwise been positioned. 

Had the date window been centre aligned between the 4 and 5 o’clock hash marks (as shown on the left, below), it would have looked a little out of place – and also a little boring. It looks much better slightly off centre (as shown on the right, below):

Date window has a white outline

In one of the reviews of this watch, the reviewer complained that he didn’t like the white outline around the date window. I actually think that’s a super important part of the design. 

Without that outline, the date window wouldn’t be prominent on the dial. And its importance as a design and information element would have been diminished. 

You can see this for yourself if you look at that window without the outline (as on the left) versus with the outline (as on the right):

The style of the crown is similar to the original

Finally, one of my favourite design details on this watch is its crown which, as you can see, follows the design of the original Elgin clock’s winding knob: 

There are a bunch of other things I love about this watch’s design, of course – everything from the typography, to the shape of the hash marks, to the 24-hour hand being half orange – but those elements are more obvious to everyone, I think.  

What I wanted to do here was highlight the smaller things – the attention to design detail – that so impressed me when I first saw this watch. So hats off to Jacquerye from making such an excellent and well-designed timepiece. 

 

My first pilot watch: Techné Goshawk

Thanks to Nadia and a bunch of awesome friends who chipped in, for my birthday this year I got my very first mechanical watch: a Techné Goshawk (ref. 411.152). And, yes, it’s a pilot watch :)

Why the Techné Goshawk?

After doing a great deal of research on pilot watches I decided that, given my budget, there were two fantastic watches I could start my mechanical watch collection with: the Laco Aachen B-Uhr style flieger or the Techné Goshawk pilot watch:

 

I would have been super happy to have either of these as my first mechanical watch but, in the end, the Goshawk won out. This was partly because, at the time of purchase, it was slightly cheaper than the Aachen. But, more importantly, because it was the more unique of the two. 

That second point was driven home by a recent Kickstarter campaign from a new watch brand called Air Blue. Air Blue is a spinoff of Deep Blue, a brand that makes affordable dive style watches. The Air Blue Kickstarter is for four lines of watches, and each of these lines borrows from (and, sadly, waters down) the design of a much more expensive pilot watch currently on the market: 

 

Their non-Kickstarter lines (which you can find in their brochure) also borrow design elements from much more expensive watches currently on the market:

But you know which watch design isn’t up there? That of the Techné Goshawk. Or of any of Techné’s aviation watches, for that matter.

Which means that, not only is the Goshawk a gorgeously designed watch in and of itself, because it’s a new-ish design from a boutique watchmaker, there aren’t many other watches out there that look like it.

There are, on the other hand, lots of B-Uhr style fliegers in the market. Because of this, watchmakers tend to go in one of four directions to differentiate their B-Uhr from everyone else’s: 

  • Authentic: They go super-authentic and make a B-Uhr replica that looks almost exactly like the original – like the Laco Aviation Observer Watch Replica. 
  • Up market: They borrow from the original concept and make a watch that is fabulously designed and beautifully constructed – like the Hamilton Pilot Auto or the IWC Big Pilot.
  • Enthusiast: They keep the watch design relatively similar to the original but add or remove components to cater to different price brackets – like the range of Laco Type B watches available.
  • Cheap: They stick mostly to the original design but they use cheaper components to drastically lower the price point – like the Tisell Type B Pilot.

Actually, there’s probably a fifth direction. In this, watchmakers change the design so much that you can’t seriously call their product a B-Uhr flieger anymore – though you can still tell that’s where the design originally came from (like the Orient Flight). 

So I had a choice between going with a design that lots of brands are covering or a design that’s unique and interesting, but still has plenty of history behind it. And, though I will eventually get a flieger for myself (next birthday, perhaps?), I figured the Goshawk would be a cooler pilot watch to start with. 

Now, onto the watch itself…

About the Techné Goshawk

The Techné brand

Techné Instruments is a boutique aviation watch brand created by Francis Jacquerye in 2007. Jacquerye was a senior designer and analyst at Longines before he went independent and became a horological product management consultant. 

Now he and his wife run VANTGARD, a company that consults with watch brands and start-ups. They also design and manufacture (through outsourcing) custom watches for clients and for themselves. So far Techné is VANTGARD’s only in-house brand. 

The Goshawk was Jacquerye’s second Techné watch and it was launched 2010. It has since been updated slightly from the original (e.g. the current model uses a sapphire crystal display while the original used mineral glass). 

Watch design

The Goshawk has what you would call a ‘neo retro’ design. 

Its design is based primarily on an aircraft mission timer built in the 1940s by two American watchmakers, Elgin and Waltham. These mission timers were installed in Grumman F9F Panther aircraft in the 1940s and F-9 Cougar aircraft in the 1950s and 60s. 

This is what those timers looked like:

 

(Source: Cockpit Clock)

This is what the Goshawk looks like next to the Elgin version of that mission timer:

(Source: Techné)

And when you throw a regular Elgin aircraft clock from the 1930s into the mix, you can see how those retro dial and hand designs were combined and modernized by Jacquerye to create the Goshawk:

(Source: Cockpit Clock)

There are a number of specific things I love about the Goshawk’s design but I’ll go over those in a separate post. (UPDATE: That post is now here: 'Techné Goshawk: Attention to design detail'.)

For now, you can read this review from Worn & Wound or just watch their review video (note: Blake pronounces “goshawk” as “g’SHAWK” when its actual pronunciation is “GOSS-hawk”):

Technical specifications

The Goshawk’s case is made from 316L stainless steel with a matte black PVD coating. It has a diameter of 41.1mm and a thickness of 13.5mm. So, while it’s not that big on my wrist (I have a 7.5 inch wrist), it is reasonably thick. 

The case has an anti-reflective sapphire crystal on the front and an exhibition window on the back. It has a matte black dial, silver minute marks, and its hands and hour marks are coated with C3 luminous material (one of the brightest available). The lume on the 24-hour hand is orange, which is a nice design detail.

 

(Source: Long Island Watch)

The watch uses on an automatic Japanese movement: the popular Miyota 8217 from Citizen. This is a non-hacking, self-winding plus hand-winding, 21 jewel movement. It has a 40+ hour power reserve and is accurate to -20/+40 seconds per day. It has three regular hands (hours, minutes, seconds); a quickset date; and a 24-hour hand. 

The Goshawk is also shock resistant; water resistant to 50 metres; and is ISO certified for anti-magnetism (useful for pilots). 

Final thoughts

I’ve only had this watch for about four hours but already I love it to bits. I love how clear its layout is and how quick and easy it is to read time from it – even from oblique angles. Its lume in spectacular, too. 

Mostly, though, it looks great and feels great on my wrist and I’m really enjoying wearing it :)

I’ll have more to say about the Goshawk’s design next time. But, for now, a big, heartfelt thanks to all my friends who contributed towards this watch and have helped me take off on my mechanical watch collecting journey. 

Communication clarity: switching to sentence case headings

It happened and I almost didn't notice. 

I switched writing my Level 1 and Level 2 headings from title case to sentence case: 

And, as you can see in the image above, it's not just the titles, it's also the captions! 

Why make the switch? Because title case headings were starting to look a little old fashioned to me. And, having learnt so much about typography over the last year or two, I now understand that title case is a crutch I no longer need to rely on. I can use good typography to help readers distinguish headings from body text. And good typography plus good design do a much more effective job that merely capitalizing the important words in a heading ever did. 

Actually, this passage from Wikipedia's entry for 'Letter case' sums this up nicely: 

“Although title case is still widely used in English-language publications, especially in the United States, it is widely understood that it is a design choice rather than a requirement of orthographic correctness. Sometimes users decide not to bother with its arbitrariness (or even feel that it looks old-fashioned). It does impose a cost to enforce the rules and exceptions of any particular house style that, because of its arbitrariness, does not add any inherent value to the text.”
— Wikipedia article: 'Letter case'

So there you go. 

Office kitchen theory: people from large families

I have a theory that you can tell which of your work colleagues grew up in large families – or lived in a hostel when they were in college – by the way in which they navigate the office kitchen or lunch room.

They are more aware of who is in the room with them

Several times at work I’ve walked into the kitchen and there’s been only one other person there. But, every time I try to do anything, they are magically in my way. And, if we don’t quickly settle on an unspoken protocol of how we’re going to successfully navigate around each other for the next two minutes, I can tell they come from a small family.

Sure people from large families get in each other’s way when they’re in the kitchen. But how quickly and automatically they adjust to the presence of others is what sets them apart from people like me: a person who grew up in a large family and, in my specific instance, also spent several years in a hostel and shared apartment while at university.

They are more comfortable working around a single sink

The kitchen in my corner of the office has just a single sink. This sink has two taps: one for washing dishes and one for getting boiling hot or refrigerated cold water. Some people are comfortable with this arrangement, some people aren't.

When I’m washing dishes, for example, I’m have no problem moving slightly to the right to give someone the space to squeeze in next to me and fill their water bottle from the other tap. That's because I come from a large family and sharing sinks is something you have to get used to pretty darned quickly. So, if I’ve finished stirring my cup of tea and just need to rinse my spoon, and the person doing their dishes pauses for two seconds so I can run my spoon under the water, I know they come from a large family.

The best are those moments in which one person is washing their dishes, another is filling their tea cup, a third has just rinsed their fork, a fourth is reaching for a plate from the dish rack, a fifth is wiping a spill on the counter next to you, and a sixth is waiting for the slightest opening to stick their hand in and drop their spoon into the sink. That’s when I want to burst into song with a heartfelt “We are family / I got all my sisters with me” :)

They adjust more quickly to new situations

All this doesn’t mean that people from small families don’t learn and adjust. They do, and they adjust quite well. But you can still tell which people have learnt these skills in the office and which of them have had a childhood in which they shared a kitchen with their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, older and younger siblings, older and younger cousins, friends and, sometimes, pets.

Like when there are suddenly ten people in the kitchen at 3pm trying to make themselves a cup of tea or use the coffee machine. Some people will adjust automatically to this new situation – seemingly without any additional effort. But a couple will always take a few extra seconds to pause, observe and figure out how things are working before they’ll correctly read and then join the traffic flow.

That’s my theory anyway.