I went 10+ years without a watch. In 2012 I bought the first of many.

I actually went to mall and bought an awesome blue face watch on stainless steel. I was excited to get this watch and at a huge discount. 50% off retail, so not only did I get an awesome watch I got it at a steal! Seriously, I got a $400 (MSRP) watch for $83 with 3 yr warranty.

I have sold that watch for $40, despite it having a 3 year extended warranty that cost an extra $29.

Proud owner of this lovely blue faced dial. I have many pics, so I can share more!

Please don't judge.

I have since discovered a few things, one being I like Omega better!

How did your madness start?

 

An Invicter? Well, at least you came to your senses.

 

A blue I. Mmmm. Better redeem yourself quick, with an 'after' photo. As in after you came to your senses!!

Think I got started, really, with a coach watch way back when. Don't ask cuz there are no photos. So that's wot I can recall but maybe not, as there are no photos.

 

Started with this when I was 10yrs old…. Found it in a desk drawer at my parents house about a year ago.. Threw a battery in it not expecting much and what do you know, works fine.. Alarm even sounds! I wouldn't ever wear it but, definitely brought back memories.

 

For me it started with this one bought NOS in the early 80s:

 

I had various 'battery inside' watch since elementary school. First one was Sandoz brand. I think it only last 2 or 3 months before I lost it.
My next upgrade was a gold plated black dial Raymond Weil on high school. I still keep it until now. In college my Dad bought me a Citizen digital watch that last almost 10 years before I bought Banana Republic chronograph quartz and then Zodiac chronograph quartz.

The true madness started 2 years ago when I bought this Constellation second hand, then finding this forum. So yes, I blame this forum for my watch collection madness .

 

I had several unmemorable watches growing up. However, as a kid I saw an advertisement for the Speedmaster Professional and dreamed about owning one for probably 20 years. I was lucky enough to receive one as an engagement gift a few years back. I was happy with that (and still am!), but for a recent birthday I decided to treat myself with a watch, discovered the vintage watch world and was hooked instantly.

 

I got "sucked in" when my uncle passed away and left me his 67 Speedie. I didn't think much of it, but wore it around and always thought of my uncle. Until the day it stopped working, and I began researching where/how to get it fixed, which is when I stumbled across the OmegaForums. Boy, what a blessing and a curse! No more do I have "free time", "productivity", or much of a retirement fund, but I am loving every minute of it!

Here's the one that started it for me:

 

The main difference: you can not sell cocaine or crystal meth that you have used .

 

We call that safe queen and NOS in here.......

 

It started in 1985 with this.



And I went down-hill from there.

 

There is some serious cases of addiction here and you Dennisthemenace, you need to take up a drug addiction, that watch collection is far more costly and addictive than any drugs I've seen.

 

Here is the watch that started it all for me. I bought one of these (this isn't mine) online after I graduated from law school. Traded it away a couple of years later to get a Rolex Explorer, and so on and so on and so on to today where I've gone from 1 watch to 15.

 

Oh my, is there such a thing as an intervention for watch collectors?

 

Not exactly a watch....

I did probably in excess of 3000 dives with this puppy. I'm disorganised and this was the best way of making sure I did not leave my dive computer behind. You can see the clear evidence of a lot of penetration wreck dives and a particularly hairy slip on a rocky shore. After my son was born, I found it harder and harder to justify wearing a dive computer when my diving had come screeching to a halt (lack of time). Hey presto, trip to an AD, brand new Speedmaster broad arrow. Thanks to this thread, its off for a new battery tomorrow....

 

Great topic idea within this thread!

Here's the watch that truly started it all for me.


Still have my first watch, a mid-1960s Caravelle I got when I was a kid. Hasn’t run in 40-something years. Still have the second watch, a West German Helbros automatic with really dated early 1970s styling. It’ll still run.

I’ve always felt the need to have a watch on the wrist but didn’t consider watches as an interesting hobby until some years after this watch came along to eventually fire my interest in vintage time pieces. I’ve had it since the early 1980s and it was found inside a World War II .50 ammo can stuffed full of handloading tools, bullet casting equipment, and supplies for shooting sports that was given to me. An 18-jewel Glycine featuring a solid 18kt gold case, it was stuffed in the ammo can with the jumble of other items. The ammo can had remained undisturbed since the early 1950s when its original owner, an Air Force test pilot was killed in a crash.

Not familiar with the brand nor realizing the watch’s case was solid gold, I didn’t even take proper care of it for the first few years, leaving it to rattle around in the ammo can in which I’d occasionally dig through for other stuff. Later I re-discovered it, remembered that it had run when I’d once wound it so wiped it off, bought a cheap strap to replace the dried out remains of strap that was on it, and began wearing it. In ignorance, I occasionally wore it over about a 20-year period without thinking to service it. It finally seized up, one assumes out of self-defense, after all the years of abuse and neglect and so it sat for a few years. I finally got around to taking it to a watch maker who went through it and pronounced it sound except for a badly needed cleaning and lubrication. It is now in regular rotation for office wear or formal occasions. The water snake strap is a more recent addition. It elicits more positive comments from folks who notice watches than any other watch I have. The watch’s 37mm case has a curious green-gold hue that really doesn’t show up in the photo so well but is very appealing when viewed in person. It’s one of my sentimental favorites and an example of a watch that successfully struggled to serve despite gross neglect. Now I’m very picky about watch maintenance and most enthused about oldie watches.

 

My grandfather left me a gold Hamilton that was given to him after 25 years with the Chicago Sun-Times. My mom lost it while I was at college. She left it in a tanning booth. When she went back to retrieve it, the clerk was wearing it. She claimed it was HER family heirloom.

I replaced it last year with a vintage Hamilton Brock. But it was way too small. I thought about getting a two tone Submariner but couldn't decide if it was too flashy. I bought an Invicta ripoff (shame) and immediately decided I didn't like it. Gave it to a charity auction.

I stumbled into OF, and in a couple of weeks, Kyle sold me a gold Connie DeLuxe. Hooked!