The Atlanta WIS GTG was a huge success. We had over 20 WUS attendees as well as a few wives and kids this time around. Pappasito’s really stepped up their game and provided excellent food, adult beverages, and outstanding service. If you are ever in the Atlanta area, give them a try, you will not be disappointed.

The number of watches was staggering. We had watches from the following companies represented as well as some that I’ve surely left out…

Doxa, Aquadive, Lum-Tec, Rolex, Omega, Tudor, JLC, AP, Cartier, Brietling ,Blancpain, Oris, IWC, Helson, MKII, Crepas\Tactico, Sinn, Bulova, Seiko, TAG Heuer, Heuer, Casio, G-Shock, Mont Blanc, Fortis, Deep Blue…

Doxa and Lum-Tec provided hats for the attendees as well as some amazing demo models for us to check out in person. We also had Doxa patches to give out, Professional orange and Caribbean blue. Pictures on a website cannot properly convey the quality and attention to detail that both of these companies put into their watches. Rick Marei at Doxa also sent over his personal Aquadive Bathyscaphe 100 DLC which drew a lot of attention and deservedly so. It is a fine watch that can only be truly appreciated by seeing and feeling it in person. I intend to write up a more detailed review of both the Aquadive and Doxa SUB 4000T in the next few days.

As expected, Rolex and Omega seemed to be the dominate brands as far as numbers go. Submariners, PO’s, and Speedmasters were as abundant as one would expect in a group such as ours. Zidane brought one of my all time favorites, an Omega (WatchCo) Seamaster 300 with that awesome domed crystal. He said that he still needed to have it pressure tested but I’m pretty sure that it will pass because I drooled on it enough to ruin a non-water tight case, LOL.

I attended an Atlanta GTG a little over a year ago and was disappointed that there were no Doxa’s in attendance. I was hoping to see one in person prior to buying one but I ended up having to go on faith. I’m glad that I did as Doxa is now at the top of my list of favorite divers. This year’s attendees had a nice spread of Doxa’s to browse and I am confident that we pushed a few potential Doxaholics over the edge so I’d expect to see a few new faces around the Doxa forum. We had my 750T Pro, Gaopa’s new 1200T Pro, my (wife’s) vintage Doxa dress watch, Alex’s (AAWatches) PVD Aquaman, the 4000T Demo from Doxa, and last but not least, the orange Doxa my 6 year old made for me during the holidays last year. I had to bring that one as well.

Fr. John (JMSROLLS) was in attendance and apparent good health. He is an active member of the watch collecting scene in North Georgia and has been battling some serious health issues recently so we were fortunate to have him in attendance. He also gave many of the attendees their first look at the new 42mm Rolex Explorer. It is a stunner.

We are planning to get together again in the early fall and we hope to see everyone back again as well as some new faces. We’ll try to schedule it with as much advance notice as possible and hope to see you there. The more the merrier but the same rules will apply, Snobs will be flogged. Luckily, this year's group was incredibly cool. We really showed our southern hospitality in a way that credits us as individuals and WUS as a whole.

Here is Bill's (Gaopa) thread with some nice pics. We'll have more pics posted throughout the week.

Regards,

RS

PS, my wife followed through on her promise to attend so that she could make fun of us but she had to admit that we looked like we were really enjoying ourselves so she only called us “Watch Nerds” a few times, LOL.