Although unrelated to photography, after my last post (where I photographed myself and infused my photo into the James Bond Spectre movie poster), I felt I should continue posting about my other passion I have and hope to develop more as I get older - Watches/Timepieces.

Photo I took Outside the Brookfield Omega Boutique

In 6th grade, the allure of watches was superficial. I was barely 12 so to me it was a fancy piece of adult jewelry. First instance of this was when I saw the Omega Seamster Professional 300M Quartz watch in James Bond Goldeneye and playing (the awesome) Goldeneye game on Nintendo 64. I thought, wow, Pierce Brosnan is the man, that watch is so cool with a laser beam, grappling hook, and remote detonator.

Photos were taken from the Omega Website & are Trademarked/Copyright of Omega and James Bond.

In elementary school I took apart cheap/broken watches (that I never was able to put back together) my dad gave me since they were not working. Had no idea how clocks/watches worked. Still the delicate, tiny, almost microscopic pieces/gears fascinated me. I can at least say at that age I was very skilled at removing spring bars without even using a spring bar tool. The only thing I had at the time was a mini (eyeglasses) screwdriver that I used to pry apart pieces and remove spring bars with.

Photos were taken from the Omega Website & are Trademarked/Copyright of Omega and NASA

It was not until high school I really was absorbed with Omega, reading up on the history, their involvement with NASA/moon landings, timekeeping in the Olympics, military use, and strongly considered purchasing one when I was on a cruise to Bermuda. That planned failed when I realized I can’t afford a watch worth thousands of dollars and it was not sensible to be a 16 year old wearing a timepiece that expensive.

Photos were taken from the Omega Website & are Trademarked/Copyright of Omega and the Olympics. They have been timekeeping for the Olympics and sports since the 1930s.

Fast forward to college, many of my peers did not share the same interest to watches as I did. I understood completely and agreed with most college student's financial predicament but I still dreamt and aspired to one day have an Omega. Another failed attempt was on my 21st birthday. I contemplated purchasing the newer/updated Seamaster (now the Daniel Craig James Bond) which was the Planet Ocean 600M Co-Axial.

Most of the time when I spoke about luxury watches and how fascinated I was by them, people would ask me "Why?", "How much is that?", or "What does it do?" It reminds me perfectly of this scene involving Bond and Q in the new movie Spectre (as seen in the advertisement starting at the 17 second mark).

Paying back my (out-of-state) student debt was very important to me & I’m so happy with much dedication, I completed that in 3 years. For my 26th birthday I thought I’d celebrate and get the watch I desired for over a decade. Buying that watch then brought me another amazing opportunity, the ability to attend the New York James Bond Spectre Movie Premiere.

On October 27th, the Brookfield Omega Boutique hosted a cocktail hour to come enjoy some festivities, meet some of the other invitees, engage with sales associates, and eventually get our passes to view the new James Bond movie "Spectre" November 4th before it is released in theaters.

Unlike the 5th Ave Omega Boutique, the Brookfield Boutique has many vintage/museum pieces that I was fortunate to try on and examine. I learned a lot more about the history of these pieces from the associates and the piece that struck my eye the most was the old/original 1957 Omega Seamaster 300 (shown in the middle photo above). The new updated 2015 Seamaster 300 that Daniel Craig is wearing in the new movie Spectre is shown on the right (above). Impressive to see how they were able to re-vamp a great watch & work in their new in-house movement "Master Co-Axial" to the timepiece.

I've been visiting the Omega Boutique on 5th Avenue for many years. The sales associates and managers have been nothing less than hospitable, patient, knowledgable, and welcoming. (In fact, I feel really bad for all the times I've stopped by, chatted my mouth off, tried on a bunch of watches, and took up their precious time.) Luckily for the US Brand President of Omega, Brice Le Troadec had the opportunity to experience my "fan-boy" syndrome (as my sister calls it) that night. My sisters, brother-in-laws, and I spent well over an hour after closing because he was incredibly nice and let us talk to him. I can't thank him enough for his generosity to me and my family.

Carlos, Me (Albert), Ozzy, Chris, Pam, and Brice at the Omega Brookfield Boutique.

It was certainly a fun night. Now to wait anxiously for tomorrow night when they roll out the red carpet for the Omega Spectre Movie Premiere!

Also, here's a time-lapse of this Limited Edition Omega Speedmaster Apollo 13 Silver Snoopy Award watch that I created.

UPDATE - Here's a photo from the movie premiere!

(Based in NYC)

Omega Watches - Spectre Event at Brookfield Boutique