WatchUSeek Watch Forums banner

High-End Watch Collecting: Evolving Thoughts and Values

7K views 68 replies 28 participants last post by  clintfca 
#1 ·
I have participated in the high-end watch collecting hobby for a relatively short period of time; about 10-years now. My collection over the last decade has been comprised of both "sports" watches by Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, IWC, Rolex and Sinn and "dress" watches (not in the strictest sense) by Breguet, Chronoswiss, Glashutte Original, Jacquet Droz, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Patek Philippe. My interest was driven by mechanical fascination of the movements, beautiful hand finishing, complications and the elegant aesthetics. I went through the normal route of adding new brands and complications (e.g. dual time, flyback chronograph, large date, moonphase, power reserve and regulator etc.). I at one point as many as 16-watches at some points in time. This should sound familiar because it is a very typical progression into the world of WIS as a collector.

Over the last decade, my work environment has moved from a formal dress environment (e.g. suit, sports jacket, shirt and tie) to a business casual dress environment. My outside work dress is predominantly casual and involves outdoor and water based activities. I also have had time to experience what I actually wear vs. what I am interested in. concurrently, I have also have experienced the ongoing cost of ownership (e.g. insurance costs, safety deposit box costs and manufacturer's service costs). As a result, I have found that my dressier, more horologically interesting pieces simply don't get worn with any regularity. I have expressed this phenomenon in a few posts over the years. I am not sure whether this phenomenon is unique to me, but I suspect not.

I am very happy with my current trio of sports watches (Audemars Piguet APRO 15400, Blancpain FF Bathyscaphe Chronograph and a Rolex Submariner Date). The attributes in common to all three of these pieces that support their getting worn are: 1) they are somewhat rugged for everyday wear to differing degrees, 2) are water resistant enough to allow for a swim in the summer or when traveling, and 3) have dial lume to tell what time it is in a movie or dark cabin of an airplane and 4) if they contain a complication it needs to be of practical importance. This appears to be a base-line requirement for a watch that gets wrist time. Any new watch that I buy needs to meet these basic requirements

My attitudes in this hobby were (note the past tense..:)) very much influenced by an admiration of haute d'horlogerie (high watchmaking) with a some disdain focused on the haute de gamme (high end) brands/watches. Being a WIS watch collector, I understood the difference between the two and placed value on the former and not the later. The later in my mind at the time was fashion or marketing driven and was focused on the uninformed customer. As a result, brands such as Rolex (and others) were never really of interest to me. I viewed Rolex as a monolithic force of high volume manufacturing and masters of consumer marketing with a controlled distribution channel. About two plus years ago when looking for a new, smaller sized dive watch (I had owned an IWC Aquatimer and a Sinn U1 T) I came to the conclusion that a Rolex Submariner Date was a good candidate, so I bought one. Two-years later, to my surprise and delight, I have found it to be a great watch in every respect. I wear it regularly in everyday life as well as scuba!

So with the departure of my Breguet 5177 and Patek 5124, I no longer own a noble metal watch or one that I consider to be a haute d'horlogerie watch. Perhaps the APRO and Blancpain FF border on this in terms of their movements and overall fit and finish. I have been now thinking again about adding a noble metal watch to my stainless steel/ceramic trio that stands a better chance of actually being worn. Again to my surprise, my attention has returned to the haute de gamme giant: Rolex. Five years ago, I suspect this thought would have been heresy to my way of high watchmaking way of thinking.

The new (e.g. last year's Baselworld) Rolex Day-Date 40mm has caught my interest and attention. It has novel, albeit industrially finished movement, is robust enough for daily wear, water resistant to support a swim, and has dial lume to see in dark places. I am strongly thinking of buying a white gold model with either a black, dark rhodium stripe or silver stripe dial. The caliber 3255 really is quite a feat of engineering if you read about it; particularly because it has been reduced to practice in scale of tens of thousands per year. It's funny; 5 years ago this was a watch in my mind for the uninformed watch buyer seeking brand status who did not appreciate high watchmaking. When in the end, I now know it's a fine watch likely more in tune with the practical aspects of my life. I wanted to share my evolving WIS thoughts with the forum.

P.S. I hope I don't get kicked out of this forum for thinking and saying such heretical thoughts…:)



P.P.S. Sorry for writing such a long post. I did not have the time to write a short one!
 
See less See more
1
#36 ·
Another vote for the dark grey <3
 
#40 ·
I see I'm too late to the party to do anything but offer congratulations. :)

The Day Date model has never been a favorite for me (although I do own a Hulk and a YM). My first choice would have been the dark rhodium, but if it was not legible enough, the one you're getting would have been my choice as well. What I would really have liked best was the blue dial with stick indices, but of course they don't make it that way. The roman numeral design mixed with indices strikes me as confusing and not attractive.
 
#42 ·
I used to own this grey dial that was quite legible (vs. Rolex dark rhodium stripe). In this case, the the hands had great legibility. Grey can look fantastic sometimes!

l
 
#43 ·
Congrats on the silver dial! It would almost certainly be a question of which of the pinstripes I preferred in the metal, its a very distinctive and nice new addition to the Rolex lineup. Looking forward to seeing these myself and of course, your incoming arrival wristshots.
 
#44 ·
Order Placed...

I placed my order last Saturday. The watch will take about a month to deliver. Rolex US did not have this reference in stock so it will need to come from Rolex SA in Geneva. It will likely arrive simultanious to Baselworld.



I think the silver stripe dial should work nicely together with other three watches.



Here are the four movements: Rolex Calibre 3255, Blancpain Calibre F385, Rolex Calibre 3135 and Audemars Piguet Calibre 3120. The differences between the two factory movements is striking.

 
#47 ·
Though I am completely with you on most of what you said as I posted here earlier but one thing I cannot help but wonder is that why a WG Day-Date? I mean, it looks like a steel, many will mistake it for a steel and most importantly you're gonna wear it like it's a steel(no?). Is the sole point of it to have a noble metal watch in your collection?
 
#51 ·
I would tend to agree with your choice. Platinum is expensive and, while it might make sense for a super HE piece like a Lange or a Patek, it makes less sense (in my mind) for a more utilitarian watch such as a Rolex.

And while I would not go for any rhodium-plated white gold watches, I don't like the idea of a plating wearing off or, worse, scaling off, from a company such as Lange or Rolex that mixes its own white gold with pure white metals like palladium and platinum, I would have no reservations. Seems like a great choice.

I just wonder how resistant a WG watch is in real life? My platinum wedding ring is so battered and bruised that one could never tell it ever had a polished finish...
 
#52 ·
I would tend to agree with your choice. Platinum is expensive and, while it might make sense for a super HE piece like a Lange or a Patek, it makes less sense (in my mind) for a more utilitarian watch such as a Rolex.

And while I would not go for any rhodium-plated white gold watches, I don't like the idea of a plating wearing off or, worse, scaling off, from a company such as Lange or Rolex that mixes its own white gold with pure white metals like palladium and platinum, I would have no reservations. Seems like a great choice.

I just wonder how resistant a WG watch is in real life? My platinum wedding ring is so battered and bruised that one could never tell it ever had a polished finish...
In fairness, a ring, being that it's worn on one's hand, surely encounters vastly more "stuff/action" than does a watch. The treatments and fabrication methods are much the same for the metal used in either application, but the "life events" that the two objects encounter aren't....at least for most folks.

All the best.
 
#57 ·
I am late to the party, I just came upon this thread and find the initial premise very interesting. I am glad that you settled in on the DD40 and hope you will enjoy in the very best of health.

I too felt at one time that I was above Rolex. I appreciated it for a robust every day watch but didn't really have the love for the Brand. Years ago I bought a GMT2 in Black and a DSSD but neither watch received a lot of wrist time. Last Fall my company awarded me a watch for 20 years of partnership and the watch they typically give to the franchisees is a steel and gold two tone Datejust, his and hers for me and my wife. Didn't really want the Datejust and my wife already has a ladies Datejust two tone so I made a deal with the Authorized dealer that supplies them to get my wife a white gold and myself a GMT2 white gold Pepsi, I would pay the difference in price between what the company pays for. The Pepsi has been on my wrist for more time than any other piece since picking it up. After wearing it daily for 2 weeks straight I decided I wanted to switch things up, I went to the GMT2-C and found new love for the piece.

I have sent a couple of higher end watches in for service lately, a Lange, a Patek and an IWC....I also sent my wife's 15 year old Datejust in to Rolex. The price of the Rolex service was a tiny fraction of any of the other pieces, but what surprised me most was that the quality of the service from Rolex was head and shoulders above that of the other big names. Communication from Rolex was much better than the others, the watch was completed on time and just a much more enjoyable experience.

The service experience and my new found love for my Pepsi and my existing Rolex pieces helped me to decide to get a DD40 in Platinum....what a phenomenal piece to hold and wear. I have also ordered a DD40 in WG with the dark blue dial and Romans.

Congrats on the 40, hope you love it.


Cheers,
Rob
 
#58 ·
Thanks Rob for sharing your experience. Yes, Secaucus and Henry Stern could definitely learn a thing or two about service from them. Congrats on the new pieces...:-!

I am late to the party, I just came upon this thread and find the initial premise very interesting. I am glad that you settled in on the DD40 and hope you will enjoy in the very best of health.

I too felt at one time that I was above Rolex. I appreciated it for a robust every day watch but didn't really have the love for the Brand. Years ago I bought a GMT2 in Black and a DSSD but neither watch received a lot of wrist time. Last Fall my company awarded me a watch for 20 years of partnership and the watch they typically give to the franchisees is a steel and gold two tone Datejust, his and hers for me and my wife. Didn't really want the Datejust and my wife already has a ladies Datejust two tone so I made a deal with the Authorized dealer that supplies them to get my wife a white gold and myself a GMT2 white gold Pepsi, I would pay the difference in price between what the company pays for. The Pepsi has been on my wrist for more time than any other piece since picking it up. After wearing it daily for 2 weeks straight I decided I wanted to switch things up, I went to the GMT2-C and found new love for the piece.

I have sent a couple of higher end watches in for service lately, a Lange, a Patek and an IWC....I also sent my wife's 15 year old Datejust in to Rolex. The price of the Rolex service was a tiny fraction of any of the other pieces, but what surprised me most was that the quality of the service from Rolex was head and shoulders above that of the other big names. Communication from Rolex was much better than the others, the watch was completed on time and just a much more enjoyable experience.

The service experience and my new found love for my Pepsi and my existing Rolex pieces helped me to decide to get a DD40 in Platinum....what a phenomenal piece to hold and wear. I have also ordered a DD40 in WG with the dark blue dial and Romans.

Congrats on the 40, hope you love it.

Cheers,
Rob
 
#65 ·
Interesting evolution.
I am commenting because perhaps I have not evolved and I still find myself Rolex-less. My wife has 3 (2 Daytonas and a blinged out Datejust).

I'm not sure why but perhaps one principle in my watch collecting is I want my watches to be unique, and I honestly have not seen others wear a piece I own in the wild.
Where I am in SoCal, everyone has a Rolex and a 911. I hate 911's but own a CGT.
The 2 Rolexes I would consider is a 6263 Big Red (PN too expensive) or a Platona.
Btw, congrats on the new addition!


Sent from my 16M
 
#66 · (Edited)
Interesting thread. I don't know why, but Rolex is an enigma among WIS. If not so, then it may be a puzzle that's shrouded in mystery. It appears to be quite simple; very easy to eulogise or criticise, depending upon the position you look at it from. It slips the grip comfortably if you try to explain the exact phenomenon why it's either hated or worshipped by WIS. Therefore, it's very common for people to change extreme position so easily and eloquently explain the shift to others. I too am a party to this tectonic shift recently.
 
#69 ·
Some part of me keeps saying I need to have at least one Rolex in my collection simply because they're known to be well-built and dependable. But nothing (and I literally mean nothing) in their modern collection spoke out to me. I started to look at vintage but then the Daytona C was unveiled this year and I knew that that was the one. It spoke to me instantly even though I have yet to see it in the metal. I'm currently waiting for the hype to die down and am thankful it's not a limited edition.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top