Lately, I’ve been appreciating OF as a resource, as a tool and as a community.

For example, I find myself impressed at how amazing OF is as a source of information. I learn stuff every day here. And, if I made a serious effort, I could learn a real lot here.

All these newbies flock to the forum, day after day, breathless with their recent acquisitions. (I’ll be careful here, I was one, once. And not that long ago either.) Some are fools, many have been fooled and a handful have been lucky.

Free of charge, we tell them what we know.

In almost all instances, someone here steps up with specialized information in response to their questions. It seems like a natural rotation amongst us. We take turns on duty, to some extent, with our differing degrees of expertise.

This participation impresses me. I’m on other watch forums, as are most of you. To paraphrase Dorothy, There’s no place like Omega Forum.

Some forums:



And the sad results for another unprepared newbie:



Of course, most of those newbies disappear after they have their answers, but we don’t care. We go on, patiently trying to help each new arrival anyway.

I think you guys are great. (You know who you are out there. I can cover a little of the incoming, but some of you, valuable members, have an amazing depth of knowledge to match your patience.)

The other thing I really care for is the banter and the left field nature of what might come up.



No doubt, COVID-19 has given many of us more time to be here, but still.

Anyway, I was just appreciating what a valuable, enjoyable resource this is.

So, a toast.

Glasses high, Ladies and Gentlemen!

To both the graceful platform and the nuanced, global membership, GOOD JOB and thank you, on my behalf and on behalf of all the other newbies, whether we stayed to play or not.

Two of the watches I got here (because I won’t start a thread without a watch photo).

 

Well said, couldn’t agree more. I’ve only been here a short while but the forum has become a daily must read.

This is a special place indeed.

 

Dead right, sir. But you just forgot to mention all the enjoyment you get out of continually agreeing with @janiceandfred

 

I know it has been said before, but the people running the forum deserve a lot of credit. Technically, OF is head and shoulders above any other forum I belong to, which makes it much easier and more efficient to contribute useful content. Spending less time uploading photos to an image-hosting site and pasting links leaves more time to actually participate in the forum, not to mention how much more pleasant and less frustrating it is. There are many times where I contribute something here because the site makes it easy to do so, while the barrier to doing it would just be too great on other sites.

And the mods do an admirable job of applying a relatively light touch, while still trying to keep things from spinning totally out of control. Yes, it would be easier to have strict rules and enforce them ruthlessly, but then I think we wouldn't really get nuanced pictures of members' personalities, which makes OF more of a community than other sites, where everyone is pretty much a stereotype. Even the same people I know from OF.

 

Thank you, Thank you. I am proud to receive this recognition and I would like to also thank all the little people I had to step on to get where I am today.

 

This was one of the first things I noticed after coming here. I was given a suspension years ago on TZ for asking something that I don't even remember that gave some mod the vapors, and I never came back after it was lifted. I didn't care anymore to participate. I've mentioned this before, but took about a decade away from watch forums, came back to WUS after COVID lockdown gave me more time on the computer, which of course led to looking for watches on eBay, so I wanted info on some pieces. Once there, I found that forums had "modernized" to match the comments section of your preferred news source, and pulled back a bit. Finally realized I would probably be a better match at OF, given my obsession with the brand since owning my first as a child (literally), and one of the first posts I saw while doing recon on your asses was the one about "any members own firearms?" and I was like a kid in a vintage watch shop. "These people get me." I don't mean you have to be into guns for us to relate, not at all, but the fact that there's an unspoken trust agreement between the mods and the members here means only big boys and girls who can play nice get to go out to recess together.

So for me, it an intangible vibe this place has that just works for me. Then you begin to understand that this atmosphere attracts other like-minded folks, and it only gets better and better the more time I spend here. I participate on car forums too, and I can say without a doubt that OF is one of the best out there, of any genre, because of the way it's managed.

 

Agree with all of the above. The other great thing about OF is that dibs are respected and treated as a matter of honour. Those that don’t are quite rightly shunned/cast into the outer darkness. So dibs on that Camaro...

 

Completely agree. I have learned a great deal here from more experienced members and my contributions, however inconsequential, are always respectfully received. Thanks to the good advice received from other OF members, I bought these two vintage Constellations. No regrets!

 

I’m a fairly new member... just over one year. I love the site, it’s simplicity and the wealth of knowledge and just down to earth conversations.

Also, it’s not just the watches - it’s people sharing pictures of where they live all over the world.

 

I want that stainless one on the BOR. Do you understand? I said I want it.

 

Ok, either you work for the Mafia (bad) or the IRS (worse). In either case, you now have official OF “dibs” status if I sell it.

 

Ah I'm just small potatoes talking like a big shot. It's easy to do on the internet

 

Your post made my morning. Gave me a good laugh.