My 2025 Watch Rotation: The Proton MB-1 and other frequent flyers
When I started collecting watches, my goal was to simply fill the spots in my collection for the common genres: diver, chronograph, digital, field, and dress. Little did I know, I would end up going through several variations of each type as I built up my collection. Some of them were "catch and release" where others I've had for years now. In my opinion, getting my hands on many different watches was a great way to help me figure out what exactly I like. Mind you, I rarely ever wear dress watches so you won't find one on this list.
My watch rotation in 2025 was small yet intentional, consisting of some really kick-ass pieces sans anything dressy (maybe next year), and I'll cover each of them below.
The Diver
The Citizen Pro Diver NY0040 is certainly an underdog in the world of dive watches, especially when other brands have absolutely dominated the market for entry-level divers. Citizen seems to be operating in the shadows of other more hyped up brands, but in reality, the Pro Diver line of watches is absolutely incredible and provides better bang for your buck. In particular, the old school NY0040 Pro Diver is a legit ISO-certified dive watch with 200 meters of water resistance, 60-click rotating bezel, and runs on a Miyota 8204 automatic movement. The watch has a Day/Date complication as well as hacking and hand-winding capability, making it the ultimate dive watch for the everyday wearer. I have mine fitted with a Jubilee-style stainless bracelet from Long Island Watch which makes it a bit more comfortable to wear compared to the stiff rubber strap it comes with from the factory. These are no longer produced so it is getting harder to find these on sites like Amazon and Jomashop.
The Chronograph
While there are plenty of great modern options on the market today, I've been stuck on the idea of selecting a vintage mechanical piece for this category. I've owned a multitude of quartz chronographs, but there is just something so pure about the complexity of their mechanical counterpart. With my everlasting obsession with all things space-related, there are few watches that could satisfy this obsession other than my 1973 Omega Speedmaster MkII (Ref 145.014). This is a special watch to me because it's my first high-end watch, and although it could probably use a service very soon, this Speedmaster is on my wrist very frequently. The case and crystal are a bit worse for wear, so I'm not concerned about putting it through the ringer of everyday activities. This watch has also been a great conversation piece due to its distinction from its predecessor, the original Moon Watch.
The Digital
This one may not come as much of a surprise to many due to its rabid popularity. This one is by far the most capable watch that exists on the face of the Earth. I'm only talking about the Casio G-Shock GWM5610. I don't even really know what else to say about this watch except that it does everything anyone would need a watch to do and then some. Not only does this watch have several alarms, stopwatch, countdown timer, and timezone tracking, it is also solar-powered and synchronizes itself to the atomic time by connecting to a radio signal. I've never once had to adjust the time on this watch since it adjusts itself to the second every night around midnight. It feels like cheating!
To top this all off, the water resistance of the GWM5610 is rated to 200 meters. Will I ever need that? No, I hope not. If I ever do, then I've made some seriously bad decisions to get myself into that situation. At least my GShock will still be keeping time while I'm "swimmin' with the fishes" (New York mobster accent). This GShock was the perfect grab-and-go watch since I always knew it showed exactly the correct time, all the time unlike my mechanicals. On days I didn't care to think about the accuracy of my other watches, the GShock was the primary pick.
The Field Watch
Field watches are easy to wear, easy to read, and have decent water resistance ratings, and are utilitarian in nature. Some legendary examples of field watches are the Hamilton Khaki Field, the CWC T20, the Tudor Ranger, the Marathon General Purpose, and the list goes on and on. While I would love to have each of these in my collection, my bank account is a little more focused on my mortgage and car payments, forcing me to settle on just one field watch for the year.
The Proton MB-1 was definitely my most worn watch this year. I wore this watch on the FKM rubber strap with deployant clasp (not pictured because it's on my Speedy), making it super easy to put it on in the dark in the morning before work -- no holes or keepers to deal with. The lume on this thing is insane! With well-adjusted eyes, I could easily read the time in complete darkness after the watch hadn't seen light for over 8 hours. In 2025, the MB-1 accompanied me in several situations including the ocean, hiking and camping on mountains, traveling to Copenhagen etc., and you can be that this watch will be just as important to my watch rotation in 2026.
Conclusion
2025 provided me with opportunities to handle several different watches of all styles, particularly several vintage pieces. While it seems I have a pretty obvious preference for tactical or utilitarian watches, maybe 2026 will allow me to collect a few more pieces and change up the rotation a bit. Happy New Year, everyone!