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Is the Watch Collecting Community an Iceberg? Talkin' Off the Grid Collectors.

dx009
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As far as OP's question goes I actually wonder how good/knowledgeable are actually some of these "offline" collectors ? I do wonder whether they know as much, or maybe even more than some of the people on the forums and on the internet ? Or is it that people here are, sometimes, just good google searchers ?

I'm sure there are plenty of hidden treasures out there, and some, no one will ever get to see but, how much information can one (that does not work in the field) amass about watches, especially since the more you delve into this world, the more questions you start to have, such as the fact that a company can manufacture a watch in so many potential combinations (hands, lugs, movement, markers) and the only way to be able to tell them apart is by knowing plenty of history about said watch model and/or company such as periods of manufacture and various other variables.
 
STANDY
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dx009 dx009
Or is it that people here are, sometimes, just good google searchers ?
.

Some of the experts here have bookshelves full of books collected through the years. Information and pictures you won't find on google 🤦
 
LouS
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dx009 dx009
how much information can one (that does not work in the field) amass about watches, especially since the more you delve into this world, the more questions you start to have, such as the fact that a company can manufacture a watch in so many potential combinations (hands, lugs, movement, markers) and the only way to be able to tell them apart is by knowing plenty of history about said watch model and/or company such as periods of manufacture and various other variables.

Have you looked around this forum? Do you not see how information is exchanged, filtered, critiqued, accumulated and disseminated?

Does your question "how much information can one amass about watches?" not answer itself before your post is even over?

dx009 dx009
...the only way to be able to tell them apart is by knowing plenty of history about said watch model and/or company such as periods of manufacture and various other variables.
 
MSNWatch
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No doubt there are many "old school" collectors who are off the grid who have managed to accumulate impressive collections - particularly those who have collections of the more established brands such as patek and rolex. However the age of the internet has changed everything - you suddenly have access to many more watches than you previously did - probably 100x more - and you have access to a huge knowledge base which was previously not available or simply not known.

Regarding vintage omegas (and likely vintage zeniths also) - the most knowledgeable and learned experts are online and are members of this forum. Some are more active than others but they are all here - reading, looking and learning every single day!
 
Foo2rama
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ReturnOfUltraman Livesimply11
That is absolutely painful for Orlando.
Basically best of the best in Rolex tool watches. It reads like a dream list.
 
U
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dx009 dx009
As far as OP's question goes I actually wonder how good/knowledgeable are actually some of these "offline" collectors ? I do wonder whether they know as much, or maybe even more than some of the people on the forums and on the internet ? Or is it that people here are, sometimes, just good google searchers ?

I'm sure there are plenty of hidden treasures out there, and some, no one will ever get to see but, how much information can one (that does not work in the field) amass about watches, especially since the more you delve into this world, the more questions you start to have, such as the fact that a company can manufacture a watch in so many potential combinations (hands, lugs, movement, markers) and the only way to be able to tell them apart is by knowing plenty of history about said watch model and/or company such as periods of manufacture and various other variables.

🤦 I have finally figured out what's wrong with dx009 - my diagnosis is he has a form of foot-in-mouth disease that has mutated to his fingers whenever he touches a keyboard.

You know, of the thousands of vintage watches I've handled, particularly Longines and Omega, none of them ever came out of my printer as a result of a Google search.

😒 🙄
 
U
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Mr Bing Mr Bing
I read somewhere that 24% of Catholics attend church. Read into that what you like. 😀

The other 76% are in recovery.

JimInOz JimInOz
Actual real face to face dialogue?

Be careful what you type - Big Brother might see that kind of wild theory and dub you a conspiracy nut.

Hey, who is the Big Brother of the Internet anyway.... Al Gore? 😜
 
meganfox17
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Hi Guys !

I've something to share with the guys in the forum from my side of the World
I'm sure lots of you would probably heard about Dr Bernard Cheong , a Malaysian born Singaporean , a world renowned Horologist & watch collector.
I got an interesting article of an interview with Dr Bernard
You can google the rest

http://www.hnworth.com/article/2015/04/16/conversations-with-dr-bernard-cheong-ceo-lifeline
da75b7e33229ff1df929563a339df2a5.jpg 1c053ef0f22742efe52513db1e3b20da.jpg e39da9fdaf837a46b7f4865667966139.jpg
He has a Very Rare Omega Timepiece
352fe6747c8c9c2db1c402de86107349.jpg df015c762144f62812b1a430d9f5ee9c.jpg 9807e842ddafea08bd64b7148094d1e9.jpg bcf1dfb5092befac55814009b59a60c4.jpg
-Dr Bernard Cheong -
 
micampe
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Is he trying to convince us or himself the Apollo 17 is cool?
 
abrod520
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Hey man if he likes the XVII that's fine, but I'd love to see his reaction when he tries to sell his "unusual" and "rare" (they are always for sale on eBay / C24 etc) Speedmaster on.... Especially if he thinks it'll be as easy as with an Explorer!
 
MSNWatch
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Personally I prefer to be a bit more under the radar than Dr. Cheong. All of those watches pictured are just a bit too showy for me.
 
STANDY
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MSNWatch MSNWatch
Personally I prefer to be a bit more under the radar than Dr. Cheong. All of those watches pictured are just a bit too showy for me.

Was only thinking how many cool watches you could have if you sold just 3 or 4 of them.
 
ConElPueblo
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MSNWatch MSNWatch
Personally I prefer to be a bit more under the radar than Dr. Cheong. All of those watches pictured are just a bit too showy for me.

Not as much watches that are hard to find, more watches that are expensive to buy... Not really interesting, a lot like those "Talking Watches" on Hodinkee with celebrities who have spent a lot of money on new, expensive watches. Utterly boring.
 
Jonatan
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Apart from this community And even from what I can see in the limited time that I've been here, a lot of the newcomers (yes I know that I'm one of those) are collecting in the aim to show off there wealth (not my case)!
 
Jonatan
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Dr. Bernards recommendations for collecting watches, doesn't really fit with vintage watch collecting.

WY-LENE: If I were to invest in my first timepiece, what would your recommendation be?

BERNARD: You should try to push the limit in terms of how much you can afford. Try to avoid timepieces without diamonds (you tend to pay quite a high premium for it) and pay extra attention to the quality of diamonds. Try to purchase something simple and popular, yet rare. You need to search in the catalogues for watches that were made in the 1990s (from 1991-1998).
 
styggpyggeno1
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Some of the finest vintage collections I know of here in Sweden are not published on the web.

With one of the collectors I had to get rough 😉 just to get this photo (and I managed to have the watch on my wrist for the better part of an evening). And he has stuff.

OmegaCronometre_zps6186d6be.jpg

With him and the others - I have tried with money, I have tried with threats but usually I just try to get them drunk enough to loosen their grip...

IMAG5710_zps23403eae.jpg

No luck as of yet.
 
kov
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I assume a lot of old collectors don't even know or want to learn about Instagram. A lot are readers but don't share much, also, very often because of (a lack of) foreign language skills IMHO.
 
Ray916MN
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kov kov
I assume a lot of old collectors don't even know or want to learn about Instagram. A lot are readers but don't share much, also, very often because of (a lack of) foreign language skills IMHO.

Personally I don't get Instagram. I got an account because the newer collectors seem to be centered on it. Is there some kind of significance to social media and especially Instagram which transcends look at me (or what I own)?
 
Thomas P.
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Jonatan Jonatan
Apart from this community And even from what I can see in the limited time that I've been here, a lot of the newcomers (yes I know that I'm one of those) are collecting in the aim to show off there wealth (not my case)!
I couldn't agree more. I just buy what I like and that I can afford.
 
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