Horology mirroring my Hi Fi journey

so, many years ago I accidentally started accumulating watches, I had stopped wearing them in my teens, and probably went 20 years without having one.
fastforward to 2022 and I find myself having 12 watches of differing style and quality. A few I wear at work, and are showing their age. Two others I still own after over 20 and 30 years, both still work but were quite cheap.
more recently I’ve splashed the cash, the most I’ve spent on one watch, £660 for a Seiko. While waiting for it to be delivered I found myself looking at Rolex, and justifying spending £6k on an “investment “ piece.
going from the relatively cheap Accurist watches, then discovering Automatics, the fascination has taken me to a different place.
much like my interest in hifi, which started at the low end, where a cd/amp/speakers cost less than £100 all in.
im almost at 5 figures for the hifi now, and it looks like the obsession with watches is going to take a huge turn the same way.
i suppose the only difference is that I’d be buying watches as investments, whereas the hifi is constantly in use.
id love to hear from other watch collectors, to hear how they started, and the watches they have, and have owned before.
id Love to hear from people that have bought from Authorised Rolex dealers too, and what the experience was like. As I’ve read that this can be tricky.
let me know your thoughts.
 

Samd

Well-known member
Hardly a collection but when I returned from Aden in 1964, I did so in a pair of made to measure winklepickers each of which accommodated a watch, one, a Rolex and the other an Omega which when sold on arrival back in England paid for my 12 week holiday (accumulated whilst abroad). I am sorry I cannot remember the model names. I currently use a Raymond Weil (what a name) have a couple of Omega in drawers somewhere but not really a significant interest. Good luck with your venture.
 
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I've owned a few over the years, but got rid of quite a few too. I still have a TAG 'for best' - meaning hardly ever worn. I have a couple of Suunto ones which are 'outdoorsy' (compass etc) and a couple from a US start-up called LIV - not to everyone's taste, but they're the ones I love most.
 

Tinman1952

Well-known member
Well that's interesting... I rekindled my interest in watches at the beginning of 2022! My father trained as a watchmaker and he was always up late at night repairing watches when I was a child. I even bought watches for a large retail chain for a short time about 30 years ago.
I owned a few 'inexpensive' watches already (Tissot, Rotary, Seiko and a 1970s Casio...🙂) and partly through lockdown boredom I started buying various styles of watches as a little collection. Nothing above £300 though as I set myself a limit per watch. I have ended up with 12 quartz watches and 10 mechanical watches and the research and watching reviews have given me a lot of pleasure at comparatively little expense.
I would not countenance Rolex (ridiculous prices and very suspect authorised dealer practices if you believe some professional dealers) or Omega .. even as an investment. I am more interested in the design and quality for everyday wear. Some of the chinese manufacturers selling through AliExpress are offering extremely well made products too, often with quality Japanese movements from Seiko, Miyota etc, and with sometimes better specs than mainstream brands like Seiko (e.g. sapphire crystal or ceramic bezel).
Much better than some so called 'designer' watches from micro brands.... 👍
 
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I’ve been on YouTube too, watching videos about collecting high end watches, I don’t think I’d ever own more than one at a time. It’s a lot of money to invest, and comes with the similar Risk of stocks and shares. My own humble collection is a mix of all sorts. automatic divers, chronograph sports, and a few TW Steel, which are more of a fashion watch.
im probably going to stick to automatics from now on, I like the ones where you can see the movement through the back of the case.
i saw some of the homage watches on Amazon a few weeks ago, I watched a load of YouTube videos singing their praises saying good value for money so I bought one. its a Rolex GMT Batman model made by pagani design. i paid £90 for it, and for the money, it’s alright.
anyway, I’m glad there are a few others with an interest in watches, it’s always nice to share experiences.
 
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Tinman1952

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I’ve been on YouTube too, watching videos about collecting high end watches, I don’t think I’d ever own more than one at a time. It’s a lot of money to invest, and comes with the similar Risk of stocks and shares. My own humble collection is a mix of all sorts. automatic divers, chronograph sports, and a few TW Steel, which are more of a fashion watch.
im probably going to stick to automatics from now on, I like the ones where you can see the movement through the back of the case.
i saw some of the homage watches on Amazon a few weeks ago, I watched a load of YouTube videos singing their praises saying good value for money so I bought one. its a Rolex GMT Batman model made by pagani design. i paid £90 for it, and for the money, it’s alright.
anyway, I’m glad there are a few others with an interest in watches, it’s always nice to share experiences.
Yes I like the 'exhibition' case backs, especially if the movement has a bit of decoration.
I have a couple of Pagani Design including a nice Omega Seamaster 300 'homage'.
On Amazon I bought an Orient Bambino and also an Orient Mako 2 which are very nicely made. The Orient Kamasu gets a lot of love on YouTube too...👍
 

MrSinghsStereo

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Feb 22, 2022
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The first “hifi” I bought myself was around £200 for a panasonic ghetto blaster mid 90s when I started uni. Fast forward to today and my main rig costs in excess of £100k. But thankfully my watch purchases haven’t followed this trajectory !
The first watch given to me was a Timex , but the first I bought was a Glasshutte , followed by a few Tags, Carl F Bucherer, a few Rolexes etc all my watches were bought brand new and from Authorised dealers but today it’s nigh impossible to get a brand new Rolex at list price . The best investment piece I have is a submariner purchased 10 years ago for £5k which is now valued at £25k. But it’s my daily piece so I won’t sell it. I have downsized my collection considerably as at the end of the day I only have one wrist . I have a friend with a collection of over 100 watches including 4 patek pieces purchased for around £25k list price but today valued at £125k a piece . All are unworn and sealed . Watch investing is a tricky game unless you know dealers .
 
I managed to persuade my mrs to order me the Orient kano for my birthday as a gift from her family. It arrived yesterday so I had a sneak peek.
lovely watch for around £135. It’s the one with the red bezel. 😊 now I’ve stopped drinking I was dreading what they would buy me 🤣🤣
 
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Gray

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An old work colleague proudly told me about a Tag Heuer he was getting for his birthday.
I remember thinking that it was a stupid price, but then I owned a £7.99 Casio.

(Always amused me how co-workers marvelled at how I clocked in every morning dead on time. No secret of course, the Casio when (regularly) set to the pips was accurate to the second - no radio controlled watches back then).
 
Expensive watches are jewellery - they tend to perform less well than basic ones because of the snobbery that goes with a non-quartz mechanism. I've only got one like that, and if I hadn't fallen for it in advance, I'm not sure I'd have bought it. One example of being suckered by marketing - I thought TAG was impossibly exotic when plastered over F1 cars in the 70s/80s.

People dress it up as investment (as they do with silly number plates), but it most often boils down to jewellery in both cases.
 
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Tinman1952

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An old work colleague proudly told me about a Tag Heuer he was getting for his birthday.
I remember thinking that it was a stupid price, but then I owned a £7.99 Casio.

(Always amused me how co-workers marvelled at how I clocked in every morning dead on time. No secret of course, the Casio when (regularly) set to the pips was accurate to the second - no radio controlled watches back then).
That made me smile...how many youngsters (below 40...) would know what 'set to the pips...' meant? 😀
 
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I love the amazing engineering of automatic, self winding watches. I have 5 of them from a few different makers. Some are incredibly accurate, while others need adjustments every 4 days or so. I still have several quartz watches, my two pulsar chronograph are very accurate and barely ever need adjustments. I enjoy collecting them, as I do enjoy collecting music, and high top basketball shoes which can get a bit expensive, but it’s a passion I’ve had since in my teens and buying my first pair of “Jordan VI’s” .
I would collect cars if I had the space, but that’s another story.
 
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Gray

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I love the amazing engineering of automatic, self winding watches.
I think it's a Timex one of those that I've still got somewhere - remember opening it and seeing the half-circular rotating wider.

Once went for a job interview at a place that repaired the Rotary watch brand - taking me round they opened drawers to show me the spare parts, that were so small I could barely see them.
Not sorry I didn't get that job (maybe they heard me swear when I saw the parts, probably not the ideal watch mechanic 😆).
 

Tinman1952

Well-known member
I think it's a Timex one of those that I've still got somewhere - remember opening it and seeing the half-circular rotating wider.

Once went for a job interview at a place that repaired the Rotary watch brand - taking me round they opened drawers to show me the spare parts, that were so small I could barely see them.
Not sorry I didn't get that job (maybe they heard me swear when I saw the parts, probably not the ideal watch mechanic 😆).
Yes the parts are tiny and the manufacturing tolerances are microscopic...often to one ten thousandth of an inch.
It always amazed me when my Dad would bring home a work friends's old watch to repair....and go to a little shop near the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham that looked as if it had been there in the time of Dickens. The shop assistant would go up a little wooden stepladder and bring down one of the hundreds of little cardboard boxes which had been there since the turn of the century....take out a tiny wheel or balance staff, and it would drop in to the watch and work perfectly! 😀
 
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