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!
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!