No two people have exactly the same approach to watch collecting. The reviews and opinions I offer here have much less value if you don’t understand my own personal perspective and approach to watches. It’s not a matter of my approach being right or wrong, but for the information I present on this site to be the most useful, readers should know the perspective from which I’m speaking. The following is a summary of my watch collecting “philosophy.”
My Priorities in Watches
For me, the most important considerations in watches are the following:
- Design
- Value
- Serviceability
The proportion of these three attributes shifts from watch to watch in my collection, but all three can be found in any watch I own.
Design
I’ve found that I lean toward vintage-inspired designs, especially those from the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1960’s. Many of the watches that stay in my collection reflect design elements from these periods.
I also have a strong preference for strong geometric design, as exemplified by the shapes of the Tudor Black Bay 36 and the Omega Aqua Terra, or the sector-dial influences present in the Mido Patrimony and Hamilton Jazzmaster. While I have watches with numerical indices, the watches at the center of my collection show an awareness of the power of shapes in dial design.
I have a particular lean toward blue dials, although watches of various colors have been in my collection. Also a heavy preference for stainless steel. The case sweet-spot for me is 38 mm to 40 mm, although I’ve had and enjoyed everything from 34 mm to 44 mm.
Value
My collecting days started in the value-oriented sections of menswear forums and Watchuseek’s F71 Affordable Watches section. Value for price is a keen interest of mine in watches and influences my buys. Nearly all of my purchases are pre-owned. I’m willing to spend a fair amount on a single watch, but I have to be able to justify it to myself in terms of value.
Serviceability
It’s important to me that I can easily obtain service for the pieces in my collection that will require it. Unfortunately, I don’t live in an area with many local watchmaker options. So I find myself considering my ability to obtain service outside my local area as part of my purchases. This has led me to buy many watches from brands under the Swatch Group umbrella, which provides easily-found information regarding the cost of service and how to obtain it.
Favorite brands?
As mentioned above, I’ve had many Swatch Group brand watches (Hamilton, Mido, Longines, and Omega), with a particular emphasis on Hamilton. Hamilton, Mido, and Longines have done a nice job with designing and releasing very attractive watches that are vintage-influenced. I really like what Longines is doing, in particular, and feel like if I were to have a collection of multiple watches limited to only one brand, Longines might be the brand I would choose (even though there have been times, such as now, when I have no Longines in my collection). Omega is a nostalgic choice for me, as seeing Brosnan’s Bond Omega watches was my first awareness of high-quality watches as a teenager, and then earlier this year it came back onto my radar as I learned the history of the development of the co-axial movement by George Daniels and its continuation by Roger W. Smith, and then its adoption by Omega when other large brands passed it up.
Thanks to Instagram, the HSNY YouTube lectures, and the podcasts on Fifth Wrist Radio, I’ve also gained a new appreciation for high-quality independent watchmakers in 2020 — watchmakers like Habring2, Greubel-Forsey, MB&F, Sarpaneva, Joshua Shapiro, and Asaoka. While it’s unlikely I will ever be able to add one of those to my collection (except perhaps a Habring or a SUF), I’ve really enjoyed hearing others talk about their experience with these watchmakers and seeing the very interesting things they are doing.
What about vintage?
I’ve tried vintage a couple of times, including vintage Omega and a vintage Timex red dot diver. Vintage just takes so much time to research, and even then you never know for sure the condition you’ll receive, and so I’ve found it easier just to focus on contemporary pieces. There are so, so many lovely vintage pieces that I love to look at on Instagram and elsewhere, but it’s easier for me to spend my money on contemporary pieces with a vintage-influenced design, at this point.
What about Rolex?
Fine watches, but their status means you pay a premium right now for what you receive. I have a Tudor that I love, which will probably be my sole entry in the Rolex family for the foreseeable future.
What about Seiko?
Talk about choice paralysis. So many Seiko options, and their dive watches just don’t appeal to me aesthetically. I’ve had a Seiko 5 and a Seiko Alpinist and enjoyed both, but with the Alpinist it came down to a lack of viable local servicing options and slight quality aspects that didn’t compare favorably with other options I was considering. I really do love looking at Grand Seiko and Seiko Presage design, though, and it would be great to add a spring drive to my collection at some point in the future. While I’m enjoying the updated Seiko 5 releases over the past year, I have to wonder with their increased prices if they’re starting to fall in that no-man’s-land of not worth enough to service but a high price for a “disposable” automatic.
Published August 2020.