Watches - another OCD problem
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I found a Zenith Defy El Primero 21 today. It's based on the movement that TAG Heuer developed for the Mikrograph, and runs at a split 5 Hz / 50 Hz frequency.
Other details include a titanium case, COSC certification, and I believe it's an anti-magnetic movement. That said, I'd be tempted by the non-skeletonised version, as it'd be easier to read.
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More Grand Tour watch spotting. This time Hodinkee are reporting on the damage that Richard Hammond's crash inflicted on his poor Sea Dweller.
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What's your motivation for collecting, gents?
Bragging rights (Rare, or expensive watches)?
Aesthetics?
Practicality (Easy access to the most accurate time possible)?
Appreciation of the engineering?I'm sure that for the four options I've listed, everyone has a bit of all for motivating them in their collection… But which one, singular point is your biggest motivator of the four?
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When I was actively acquiring, it was primarily due to curiosity and changing tastes. I liked chronographs, so I bought an automatic with a 7750 movement, then I bought a manual wind with a 3133, then I bought a quartz powered one. Then I started to like dive watches, so I got a couple of different ones in that style. Then I started to like flieger watches, so I picked up a couple of those. And of course, I needed a dress watch, or two, or three…
But everyone collects for different reasons, not just because they can't make a decision and stick with it.
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What's your motivation for collecting, gents?
Bragging rights (Rare, or expensive watches)?
Aesthetics?
Practicality (Easy access to the most accurate time possible)?
Appreciation of the engineering?I'm sure that for the four options I've listed, everyone has a bit of all for motivating them in their collection… But which one, singular point is your biggest motivator of the four?
Anthony, as we discussed over Christmas, I think it would be a good idea to start an "I think I'm interested in watches and want to put my toe into the water gingerly and am a little outfaced by all the super watch porn on the big watch boys" thread. Or something like that with a little more brevity…..
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What's your motivation for collecting, gents?
Bragging rights (Rare, or expensive watches)?
Aesthetics?
Practicality (Easy access to the most accurate time possible)?
Appreciation of the engineering?I'm sure that for the four options I've listed, everyone has a bit of all for motivating them in their collection… But which one, singular point is your biggest motivator of the four?
Anthony, as we discussed over Christmas, I think it would be a good idea to start an "I think I'm interested in watches and want to put my toe into the water gingerly and am a little outfaced by all the super watch porn on the big watch boys" thread. Or something like that with a little more brevity…..
I should have prefaced that this post was a quick bit of "research" to go towards that post we discussed.
Just a way to grab a bit of insight from some people with a bit of a collection, to kind of give some ideas on the different motivations for collections, and the different directions collections can go.
*I was actually going to ask "How much would you spend on a Submariner with a Seiko movement? And, how much would you spend on a Seiko with a Submariner movement?", lol!
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@UnTucked - I guess it's a mix of aesthetics & history for me - I fell in love with the big Panerai dials because they reminded me of the big clock faces that used to feature in railway stations, department stores and school rooms. Later I discovered the back story and history behind the watches relating to the Italian Navy Divers (http://www.thejewelleryeditor.com/watches/article/panerai-watches-history-luminescent-diving-watches/) - this added to the appeal. The final element that locked me in to this brand and model was seeing the 47mm model rocking a hand-made leather strap crafted from a vintage army ammo pouch, after this I was hooked!
For practicality reasons though my rough & tumble watch is an old Casio G-Shock - very durable and reliable.
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Did you work your way up to it, keep "collecting" after you got it, or did you dive in head first and stop?
Good question - Definitely a work up - I owned various other brands and built a collection along the way. Once I became aware of Panerai my other watches quickly lost their wear appeal and the collection got traded to fund my grail watch.
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I’m with @IH-GARY here.
I used to “collect” and had a few pieces in my collection. However, I would tend to get stressed about no wearing watches I owned enough and after a couple years ended up selling pretty much everything for my main piece, which is my grail Panerai.
I have one other to wear in circumstances where I don’t feel comfortable wearing my main watch for fear of damaging it.
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Though I already weighed in with why I bought all the watches I own, I will say that I, too, will eventually sell most of them to fund my dream/long term watch- an Omega Speedmaster Professional. It's a watch I've gradually come to love, and one that I never would have purchased when I first started getting interested in watches. It didn't appeal to me for years, but slowly became the one I compared all others to, i.e., "would I rather have that, or a Speedy Pro?" When the answer consistently became the Speedy Pro, I was done.
There are a couple that I will keep for non-financial reasons, though.
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Definitely not answering the question posed by @UnTucked but his question prompted me to think about my attitude on them.
I don't collect watches, I own three very pedestrian ones and I've lost another three along the way here. I've even stopped wearing them for the most part; I guess I don't like any of them enough to wear them constantly. But my desire is to one day find ONE watch that I like so much that I will want to wear it every day and I hope it becomes an integral part of my image/personality. So much so that my friends/children/grandchildren see that watch in their minds whenever they think of me.
That would be my grail watch. But I guess the road to finding and identifying it would be long and curvy, and expensive; so I haven't started on it yet. That is where I'm currently stuck.
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Took me almost three years to identify and then procure my “grail” timepiece…but it was totally worth it.
It’s weird because watches used to occupy a significant portion of real estate in my brain (thinking about them, researching, looking at pictures, videos, etc), but now I dont even look anymore because I’m so satisfied with what’s currently on my wrist.
...we will see how long that last though
