I was thinking that, during our collecting life, our taste, budget and luster shift. I'm not sure if they shift a lot for everybody, or if some people find their path right from the start, but I thought it would be fun to post a picture of your collection vs what it looked like x, y or z years ago. I'll start: I have very eclectic taste. I do. I love everything from Seiko to Patek, from 1970's yellow-dialed Chronographs to 1940's dressy gold chronographs to any vintage dive watch. The funny thing is, though, that I only own vintage Speedmasters and a modern Kermit Submariner... I still love the Seiko Pogue as much as I did a year ago, in the meantime I just realized that the Speedmaster is my favorite watch, and I still think they're undervalued (don't roast me, maybe we'll keep this one for another thread ?), so I thought why not put your money where your mouth is ? Now, I have an addiction problem Here are some pictures in chronological order, beginning and ending in my 6-spot watchbox ! The first pic is from one year and a half ago... This one was taken one year ago... This one was last September And now, this is today's watch collection! Ps: Rolex, Dan Henry and Hamilton are still here and will forever. And now, a couple of my favorites! That's my collecting evolution (very big picture). WHATS YOURS ??
Well I started with two Omegas - a gold Geneve I inherited from my father, and a vintage birth year Speedy he bought for my university graduation present. Through my 20’s and 30’s I added to them, and a couple of years ago when I joined OF, I had a nice collection of around 70 plus Omegas, some rare, some collectible, and some both. I had decided I was going to focus my collection to around 30 (one a day!) and planned to use OF to help me decide which to keep. Interestingly, whilst OF increased my knowledge of Omegas (I spotted a couple of Frankens, yes SM300s and a Connie) it hugely increased my awareness of brands I hadn’t known (Zodiac, Pre-TAG Heuer) or thought were not for me, such as a Rolex (for the ostentatious/investment bankers/criminals). Whilst the core is still Omegas, thanks to OF, my collection now includes (after much trading), vintage: Zodiac Seawolf;Bulova 666; Autavia Viceroy; Seiko Pogue; Seiko 6105 8110; Yema Rallygraf; Tissot Seastar; Croton Chronomaster; Zenith G381; Zenith De Luca; Rolex Submariner and a Rolex Turnograph. Additional Omegas include Gemini and Apollo 11 Panda LEs, a non-Franken SM300 and an Ed White. The journey continues, this year and next I hope to acquire vintage: Rolex 5513 and 1675 Pepsi; UG Nina; UG gold tricompax; Gallet Chrono; Wakmann chrono; Heuer Bundeswehr; Heuer 2447; JLC Memovox; Tudor MonteCarlo, Tudor Snowflake; Breitling Cosmonaute; Zenith A386 (WTBs in due course!); and one day a 2998....then I’ll declare “mission accomplished” and find another crazy cash guzzling hobby... Will post a photo when I’m back home.
Thankyou @MaiLollo. Speedmaster Number 1 came into the family at some point before 1968, Number 2 may be along soon in 2018, at this rate Number 3 should arrive in 2068. I am still, very much, a horological novice.
Hey, you never know how these things go ! When I got my first in 2015, I would never have thought I'd own 7 vintage ones one day...
Started with and still have the Invicta! I bought the Invicta as I was entering my "I want to wear a nice watch" era. Just over 6 years ago. About 5+ years ago I bought my first "luxury" watch, it was a 3572.50 (I still own it). About 2 months ago I picked up the skeleton. The pic below is the first watch I bought and the last watch I bought. I do prefer the Speedmaster over the Invicta.
My collection was at its apex around then. No group shots though. You'd have to go back 30 years to see my small group of quartz watches that were more fashion accessories that displayed the time than actual timepieces. A decade+ later I started into inexpensive mechanicals when I inherited my grandfather's rose gold early 40's Bulova, and then went into overdrive just over 10 years ago with the purchase of a Rolex DateJust. Here's a couple links to my End-of-Year SOTC posts several Decembers ago: https://omegaforums.net/threads/the-year-in-review-2012.2951/#post-33547 https://omegaforums.net/threads/eoy-sotc.296/
Very cool, thanks for sharing the links. I feel that for most of us we ended up in this hobby in the same way. Someone we cared about gave us a watch, liked it but for some reason wasn't given the time of day... and then, one day you end up with more watches than pair of socks thinking "when did I get this mad?"
Yes it would be quite something. @shishy . With arm hair like that, I would have joined a Circus by now .... Alas it's only a 'furry thing' that adorns my chair.
First two were “pre-OF” (we’ll pretend the Invicta submariner clone that’s in a junk drawer somewhere never happened). The Seiko was great, wore it on military deployment in Afghanistan, didn’t keep great time after that but I just got a demagnetizer and now it’s actually not bad. Good swimming pool/outdoor activity watch. The Oak and Oscar is a microbrand that I liked the style. Had to be serviced under warranty, came back running significantly fast but also seems much better after demagnetizing. The birth year speedy 145.022-78 and and the (J)LC Memovox are both OF acquisitions. Omega alligator band and deployant on the speedy, Hirsch alligator on the Memovox. I guess I’m ramping up in the “dressy” levels of watches. Having been horribly bitten by the watch bug I think I’ll focus on the Omega/JLC side of things. Would love to get my hands on a Reverso, ideally the tribute to 1931 to cap out the high end of formality (in my eyes, I know that’s subjective). Seamaster PO in one of the orange flavors would be a great daily wear for me as well and I’ve loved the DSOTM since it was introduced... That being said I’m recently intrigued by moonphase triples. I think I’ll have a hard time justifying the cost of JLC ultra thin perpetual anytime soon, but the UG TriCompax is looking pretty amazing. Sorry, long rambling post, just nice to have a community of like-minded nut jobs to feed an obsession.
My collecting evolution is so well known [and awesome] that the ridiculously hot Dodge Demon girl asked for my autograph [and phone number] at the Detroit auto show.
