The Brooks Review

I need to clear out a bunch of stuff from my home, and what better way than by giving it all away? There’s two lots I am going to be giving away, a non-member and member. Members are eligible for both, but must be an active member at time of drawing to be entered into the member drawing. All prizes are used, but working, they are items reviewed on this site. Shipping cost for all is covered for US addresses only. Drawing is Friday, November 15th, 2019 at 6am Central Time.

Continue reading: Fall Giveaway

This week: my plans for this writing month of November, billionaires subsidize us all, digital distractions, content blockers, VPNs, thinking, and of course a few notes about watches.

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If you frequent Drop.com, then Glycine is a brand which won’t need much introduction. They make aviator style watches in a wide variety — perhaps most famous for their watches which tracks 24 hours in one revolution of the hour hand. But the Combat 6 is a vintage inspired, modern made, standard watch — almost more dress watch than sport, but it can easily cross in to both realms.

I bought it for daily office wear, and while I like it, there are some downsides. But first…

Specs

This watch comes in two sizes 36 and 43mm, which I will talk more about later. I purchased the 43mm size. For that model you get an the GL224 25-jewel automatic movement with a 38-hour power reserve and hacking seconds. The crystal is thankfully sapphire with the entire package being waterproof to 50m. The watch also displays the date.

Perhaps the most impressive spec of this watch is the case thickness, at only 11.5mm this watch is very thin compared to many others in this category or that I own — certainly for a 43mm watch. That alone was the most appealing aspect for me (besides the looks) as the thinness makes the watch easy to slide under any shirt cuff.

Style

Clean, simple, and classic is how I would describe this. It’s not bland, but it will blend in well to any situation. There’s two things I really love about this watch from the style front:

1. The lume is both on the pips and the full indices bars.
2. The date wheel matches the dial, instead of being a contrasting background color.

Aside from those two items, this is a simple and well designed watch which should fit in everywhere you need it to. Not too flashy, but not sterile.

Wear and Comfort

I was worried about the size of the watch, at 43mm it is quite large, but the watch pulls that off well. This is helped greatly by the thinness of the watch, letting the big face easily slide under any shirt. The bracelet, as well, is slim keeping the profile down even further.

I easily wore this watch all day long. My only gripe would be the bracelet, as it lacks micro-adjustments for fine tuning the fit, and overall is an unimpressive bracelet. Put it on a leather strap, and you’ll likely have a far better experience. This is one instance where I regret not getting the watch on leather, luckily those are easily sourced via 3rd parties. I did put it on a black leather strap and found the watch still wear very well, while looking good.

Usability

I could actually call this section legibility, because with this watch that is the huge gain you get. It’s highly legible thanks to the contrast design between the hands and the face. That it is 43mm only helps with that.

I do have a few smaller issues:

1. The power reserve is too short, and really needs to be longer.
2. The crystal could really use some AR coating and anti-fingerprint coatings as it quickly smudges up. Keeping it clean is a pain. Actually I would say the fingerprints on this crystal wear a far bigger deal than reflections.

Overall, it tells time and does that well. The low water resistance could bother some, but for office use it is more than enough.

Overall

I picked the 43mm because I worried 36mm would be too small and not differentiate it enough from another 36mm watch I have. As it turns out, I probably would have liked the 36mm more and I would further advise getting the watch with the leather strap instead of the bracelet. I never advise that, but this bracelet is not worth it — you’ll be wanting a leather strap right off the bat.

As for the watch going forward? It’s in my sell pile, if I had a larger wrist I would keep it. If you want to buy mine, drop me a note. That and I bought it to wear almost daily, but another watch swooped in to take that crown.

Find it for the best price (new) here.

This week: warp speed in a big galaxy, sleeping office workers, my list of must see things in Japan, status and luxury goods, and my bad back.

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This week: luxury watch talk, military off-road vehicles make use of my travel kit, 11 Pro cameras, good shoe advice, iPad Pro keyboard Folio advice, cheap bourbon, and my personal blind spots. In other words, this might become a country song…

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Hi, and welcome to another week, and another round of things you scratch your head about, including but not limited to: being alone, making my life less easy, the weather, watches, and details on an upcoming giveaway.

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Recently, I picked up this watch to be my casual and weekend wear. I wanted something unique looking, with a tachymetre on it. Nezumi is a brand I have seen for a while and their designs are top notch, so I decided on the Loews model after a lot of back and forth.

Continue reading: Nezumi Loews

This week: a look at what is better about Apple Maps, and where it still falls down; Texas’ Postmates; small screen computing; Microsoft’s Duo; and sleep science.

Apple Maps Updates

Apple’s mapping software was been in the spotlight the last week, with updates to the NE section of the US following a series of updates to various other coastal areas of the US. Which brings us to two articles, the first:

Apple Maps is better than Google Maps? In this post Jason Aten argues that Apple is on the path to take down Google Maps. Aten concludes by saying Apple Maps is now a ‘worthy contender’ and in a lot of ways he is right. Which brings us to the next post:

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This week: $5 off, podcast ad blocker that all apps should use, where we are with iPhone, iPhone 11 Pro briefly, and iPadOS notes.

A Podcast and Radio Ad Blocker

Oh wow, this is great. It is an ad blocker for podcasts and radio, which uses some audio like matching stuff to snuff out ads in audio. That’s pretty amazing.

Now we will see who owns the podcasting apps. And I am not really joking, because this is a great feature and something every podcast app should implement, except if like the owners of the app make money from podcasting, right?

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We are coming up on the part of the year where things get a little hectic for me — I don’t know why, but this is the trend. And thus I tend to not really get a bunch of new stuff to review and test during the last few months of the year. Who knows if this year is different, but now seems like a good time to write this post.

It’s time to point out a few really good things I have come across in my time writing this site (9.5 years for those wondering). Things which you can spend your money on without worry, and know that it’s good, will last, and worth every penny.

These are the items I feel confident fully endorsing the ever loving crap out of.

Continue reading: A Few Really Good Things

This week: how I dealt with a natural disaster without social media; USB-C Pro; I comment on a few of anti-office and hipster articles; where to park; and Usain Bolt.

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This week: things about being back in an office, Dan Cooper, immortal savings, making $350k and middle class, and lastly what does it mean to have an MDM device.

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When I initially reviewed the Stuart & Lau Cary briefcase, I mentioned how it was, in a lot of ways, a modern take on the classic Filson Original Briefcase. Modern materials, layout and everything else.

As time has worn on I have come to the conclusion that the Cary is better, but the Filson has my heart.

Continue reading: Stuart & Lau Cary vs Filson Original Briefcase

This week: a smattering of thoughts on the parts of remote work no one talks about, screen time usefulness, iPadOS gestures, coincidences, and my pitch for you to wear better pants.

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I picked this watch up on Reddit for a really low price, and decided to give it a whirl as my go to weekend watch. I’ve had it I for about a month, and am moving on, but not because of any flaws with the watch itself. It’s pretty neat, and a heck of a deal.

Continue reading: Spinnaker Fleuss