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New watch box and State of the Union

Discussion area for watch straps, boxes, winders and other accessories.
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baldrick
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New watch box and State of the Union

Post by baldrick »

I thought some of you might be interested in this.

TL;DR: tracked down a discontinued tool box to use as a watch box and here are some pictures of the current collection.

For a while now, I've been looking for a better way to store my watches. Previously, I had them in the safe, which is a bit of a pain to get to. As a result, there wasn't much rotation going on, with several watches sitting unworn for months at a time.

The other (first world) problem I have is that I don't sell my watches. Where I am, there isn't a particularly robust second-hand market for watches and shipping can be prohibitively expensive for potential international buyers. Once a watch is here, it's likely here to stay.

That of course means amassing more watches than I would like, but also means that any storage option would have to accommodate quite a few pieces and in a way that wasn't simply chucking them all in a box.

Finally, though we are fortunate to have low crime here, I wanted some level of robust security and protection.

Eventually, I settled on the idea of a lockable tool chest, which would offer a balance of accessibility, space and security.

The problem then became that I couldn't find the right one. Options are limited here - seriously, you guys in the US or even UK don't know how good you have it. Quality is generally poor (but still expensive) and anything of decent quality is likely to cost an arm and a leg.

Most tool chests I could find were made of thin, flimsy metal, looked crap and had drawers that were too shallow to hold watches other than laying flat (which doesn't work for some of mine).

Eventually, I stumbled on to a post by Tanker G1 over on WUS, showing what looked to be the *perfect* tool box for watch storage (which is what he has used it for). That box was the Seville Classics UltraHD 4-drawer tool chest UHD20255B. (Tanker G1 also very kindly answered all of my questions about the box, which was a great help.)

Image

It seemed to me that it ticked all the boxes:

- Looks stylish
- Good (if not top) quality and materials
- Lockable
- Easy access drawers
- Drawer dimensions suitable for watches and plenty of space to expand the collection and for accessories.

Only one problem: the blasted thing was discontinued.

Now, in this hobby, we know that "discontinued" really means "shopping in hard mode" and "challenge accepted", but this one was a real bear to track down, even second-hand (which I took as a good sign - people seemed to want to hang on to these boxes).

Fast forward a few weeks and I've exhausted every option in the first 20 pages of Google (after which, as we all know, is a barren and desolate wasteland devoid of all hope or assistance).

One option kept standing out though - a random online shop in Lebanon called Wesleys that had the box on their website. They didn't answer emails or the phone and I could find no information about them anywhere. I didn't know if they were still in business (Lebanon has, it's fair to say, been having some tough times of late).

Of course, that only made me more determined to see if they had it.

Eventually, through some contacts in Lebanon, I got the number of one of their employees, from whom I was able to get another contact number for their sales team.

Several WhatsApp chats later and stock was confirmed. Probably one of the last shops - if not the last - that has these new and in stock worldwide. So, like any sane person, I bought two. [emoji51]

Following the usual nonsense with DHL, they arrived, and are perfect. I plan to make some custom wooden dividers in due course but, for now, have used some cheapo plastic adjustable dividers that cost me 10 dollars, and some old watch "pillows" from some cheapo watch boxes.

So, here's the box and collection through the medium of crap phone pics.

I spread the watches across the drawers because (a) I wanted to set up the dividers for each drawer and (b) the pillows aren't snug, so the watches rattled against each other a bit and I didn't want them to be scratched.

Comments on the collection welcome - at some point I may do an "autobiography" of my watches in the style of another popular thread here, but we'll see.

In the meantime, the model number for anyone interested is 20255 or UHD20255B (it varies from seller to seller) and the Wesleys link is here: https://wesleysonline.com/products/sevi ... 66e5&_ss=r

I warn you, these are heavy boxes - about 20kg packaged - so shipping is NOT cheap. Also note: they appear to have revamped their site, which a good sign for them, but upped the price a fair amount, which is not good for everyone else (but makes me happy I bought two).ImageImageImageImageImage

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Re: New watch box and State of the Union

Post by recapt »

Awesome boxes! Thanks for sharing. I love a good determined underdog / internet sleuthing adventure story.

What watch is that on top of the box with the bracelet?
baldrick
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Re: New watch box and State of the Union

Post by baldrick »

Eterna Kontiki Diver (black). It's next to the Eterna Kontiki Diver (bronze) and you'll also see a blue one in one of the drawers.

It's fair to say things got a bit silly in one of the Ashford sales events...

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Re: New watch box and State of the Union

Post by watchpalooza »

Looks great!
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Re: New watch box and State of the Union

Post by TheJohnP »

That works great for a watch lock box.
Glad you were able to find what you were looking for and sharing a success story!
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Re: New watch box and State of the Union

Post by Rabirnie »

Dude, that thing is awesome! Had not crossed my mind to use a tool box/chest, but this is a great usage. Glad you were able to track one down. Definitely post pics of the finished product once you get the wood dividers in.
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Re: New watch box and State of the Union

Post by cortman »

Looks really good. I store mine kind of similarly- in a lockable metal briefcase type box. Makes it easy to keep out and accessible or tuck away and store as I need to.
The saga of finding and buying the box makes me wonder what part of the world you're in!
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Re: New watch box and State of the Union

Post by baldrick »

Cheers, fellas.

I'm in Dubai, which is something of a shopper's paradise so you can usually get most things. The exception seems to be tools and DIY stuff, simply because not a lot of people do that here. (Houses are mainly concrete and fairly new.)

There are a couple of big DIY stores but most of their stuff is homeware and fairly limited tools.

Thing is, if something can't be found here, one generally has to go much further afield - US, UK, Asia - to find it, which generally means high shipping costs if they'll ship at all.

I've also ordered some burlap watch pillows to try out, which will hopefully fit a bit more snugly in the temporary slots and, later, the wooden compartments that I'll build.

I think I'll also swap out or cover the top panel (which opens for another compartment) with a nicer pice of wood to give it a bit more style.

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Re: New watch box and State of the Union

Post by Stretch44 »

That looks awesome!!! I did my own build a few months back and have had a hell of a time finding pillows I like. Where did you get the burlap pillows?
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Re: New watch box and State of the Union

Post by baldrick »

Just off Amazon, but they haven't arrived yet. As soon as they do I will post pics.

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