Catching the collecting bug
As far as I can remember, I have always liked wristwatches. Then at 18, I spent most on my savings on a Breitling Old Navitimer, what I saw at the time as the ultimate pilot watch. I wore my Breitling for years, happy in the knowledge that I had a classic on my left wrist. It occasionally got replaced by a Longines Hour Angle Watch (a high school graduation gift), or a Breitling Aerospace (a business school graduation gift), but I always kept coming back to my Navitimer.
Then, in the summer of last year, I lost my hero and role model: my dad died after a gallant fight against his weak heart. He probably was partly responsible for my love of fine watches, though we did not always share the same tastes in timepieces. I nevertheless found myself inheriting his small collection, and rediscovering the joys of owning "new" wristwatches. Honestly, most of his watches are only mildly interesting, the exception being a Breitling Cosmonaute. Three other Breitling are Quartz-powered, and one of them is dead according to the company's service center. The same thing was said by Tag-Heuer about a chronograph of theirs, except that a local watchmaker managed to have it work after a thorough cleaning. To me, this illustrated how flawed quartz technology could be for an expensive watch. What good is there in spending thousands in a timepiece which movement will die after a couple of decades? What's more, what poetry is there in an electronic assemblage such as a quartz watch?
That's how I decided to get reacquainted with mechanical and automatic wristwatches. No battery to change, a movement which can last decades if properly taken care of, and a soul that only fine mechanical machines can have. This was more like it!
For a few months now, I have been buying watches, mostly chronographs from the 60's, 70's and 80's, on eBay. I got slightly burnt a few times, but overall I've done pretty well. I am actually amazed it took me this long to realize that I was a collector. But now that I am aware of that, there is no turning back...
Then, in the summer of last year, I lost my hero and role model: my dad died after a gallant fight against his weak heart. He probably was partly responsible for my love of fine watches, though we did not always share the same tastes in timepieces. I nevertheless found myself inheriting his small collection, and rediscovering the joys of owning "new" wristwatches. Honestly, most of his watches are only mildly interesting, the exception being a Breitling Cosmonaute. Three other Breitling are Quartz-powered, and one of them is dead according to the company's service center. The same thing was said by Tag-Heuer about a chronograph of theirs, except that a local watchmaker managed to have it work after a thorough cleaning. To me, this illustrated how flawed quartz technology could be for an expensive watch. What good is there in spending thousands in a timepiece which movement will die after a couple of decades? What's more, what poetry is there in an electronic assemblage such as a quartz watch?
That's how I decided to get reacquainted with mechanical and automatic wristwatches. No battery to change, a movement which can last decades if properly taken care of, and a soul that only fine mechanical machines can have. This was more like it!
For a few months now, I have been buying watches, mostly chronographs from the 60's, 70's and 80's, on eBay. I got slightly burnt a few times, but overall I've done pretty well. I am actually amazed it took me this long to realize that I was a collector. But now that I am aware of that, there is no turning back...
posted by Pascal S at 12:25 AM
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