Friday 16 March 2018

When Your Hobby Is Collecting Watches...


I was out strolling with my parents-in-law earlier and my youngest son earlier, when my son remarked that he wanted to see the stars. So I walked towards a spotlight in the garden and charged up the legendary LumiBrite properties of Seiko SKX009J1.


Now, my father-in-law was not a watch person and his daily wear was a Rolex Datejust with diamonds, which was the most commonly-found accessory accompanying most businessmen. He was surprised to see the bright glow on the Seiko, which my son had referred to as stars; and was even more amazed when I told him the price of the watch.

"Get me a piece too!", he instructed; although I knew that this watch would not be befitting of his status.

Which got me thinking. I wrote about the one-watch-policy @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.my/2017/11/one-watch-policy.html, and I knew many business associates, relatives, and friends whom were plain practical when it came to watches so they had only 1 piece at any one point in time. Because of my love for the horology pieces, I sometimes passed over my watches for them to try on for a while, or gifted them pieces that helped them to kick-start their own horology journey.

And when I glanced back at the no. of watches that I had flipped over the years, most flipped at depreciated prices compared to my purchased prices, I realised why some people thought that the  watch-collecting hobby was pretty heavy on the finances.

To some of them whom might want to try it out, I would share on a tip that kept me along the path and enabled me to try out so many nice pieces. You could make sure that you kept the collection to a pre-determined no. such that any new addition would force you to flip off another piece in order to keep the no. This way, you would have sampled various brands and models over time; and then found  the pieces that you may want to be associated with.

I found that my consolidation of my collection over the years have slowly but surely brought out my real taste in certain brands and models. Mention diver and you must have a Rolex and Seiko on both ends of the spectrums, or mention space and you must know that an Omega Speedy as an absolute must, or mention tritium gas tubes and Ball was the only real answer.

The truth was, this journey has been an interesting one and I have made many WIS friends along the way, and I dare say that it has been an enriching experience.

No comments:

Post a Comment