Through thunderous clouds they descend upon you: the gods of the watch-y-verse. With earthquake-inducing force, they slam into the ground producing a shockwave powerful enough to tear the watch off your wrist. Towering over you, armed with Breguet hand spears, clad in armor of sapphire and stainless steel, brandishing watch-dial-shields with complications only worthy of the masters of time, they announce their harsh demand: “Thou shalt only hath ONE watch!”

And as you fall to your knees in a desperate scream of anguish you wake up, sweaty and disoriented. Phew, just a nightmare! Too horrified to go back to sleep, you stumble out of bed, to your watch drawer where you cradle your darlings, whispering comforting words to them like the little babies they are to you. (While your partner is sitting straight up in bed, staring at you wide-eyed through the darkness, contemplating his/her choices in life.)

As watch enthusiasts, the idea of only having one watch is nothing short of nightmare fuel. But what if you had to only have one? Nightmares aside, it’s an interesting thought. It forces you to boil down exactly what you need from just one watch. And as soon as I saw the Seiko SPB243, I heard the faint thunder from the dark clouds gathering above. “Could this be it?” I thought. “The chosen one? The one watch to rule my wrist?”

Naturally, what one needs from a one-watch watch collection is subjective. Also dependent on budget. “Mid-range” doesn’t mean the same to everybody. There are multiple dimensions of the watch-y-verse and we don’t all live in the same one. Price point aside, the rest is purely up to the wearer. Or rather, the decider. The poor soul who must make the choice: one watch. In this case, me. So, what would I need from it? For me it would have to be a GADA watch. Go Anywhere, Do Anything. The Seiko SPB243 checked all the boxes.

Firstly, it’s gorgeous. The applied logo; the mountain-inspired indices; the dauphine hands, half brushed, half polished down the middle; the gilded seconds hand; the faux patina lume that works beautifully with the autumn brown sunburst dial; and a printed minute track running along the inside tips of the indices – all things that made my pulse rise. The case: a vintage design with those narrow lugs, beautifully polished and brushed, and a perfect size of 38x46mm. The domed AR-coated sapphire crystal, this too evoking a vintage feel as it distorts the dial from different angles, just like the old-timey acrylic ones.

The Seiko SPB243 is just as dress watch-y pretty as tool watch-y cool, with a 200 meters water resistance that encourages use in any situation and climate, and with Seiko’s Lumibrite guiding through the darkness. The reliable 6R35 movement wouldn’t give up on me easily, especially not with its 70h power reserve. The 21,600bph beat rate just adds to the tough tool-y feeling. And it looks great on a bracelet, leather band, or Nato strap.

So, what’s not to love here when imagining the Seiko SPB243 as a mid-range one-watch watch collection?

Well, I wasn’t all that thrilled about the Prospex logo on the dial. It disrupts the classic vintage style in favor of an extreme-sports vibe. Also, it’s thick, 13mm, much due to the unnecessary exhibition caseback. The screw-down crown isn’t signed, but resembles the one on the original Seiko Laurel. Lastly, the movement isn’t very accurate, +25 -15 seconds/day per Seiko’s specifications. But hey, I’ll just set it daily. I don’t mind an excuse to play with my watch.

And like predicted in the ancient times, the Seiko SPB243 was soon mine.

If I was forced to only have one watch, would this be the one? Well, I’ll say this, and I’ve chosen to end with this information to get a head start from the pitchfork-yielding purists out there (I hear that thunder rumbling again): I sold my SARB017 to buy the Seiko SPB243. K’bye!