Knowing what you know now if you were to go back to your first ever watch purchase, what watch would you invest in and why? (For everyday wear at a "this is my first watch price")

 

You might want to exclude ed whites starting 4 years ago.

 

I'd have bought a vintage Heuer Monaco 1133B instead of a brand-new TAG Monaco at full-price since they were the same price when I bought it.

The TAG did what TAGs do (depreciated like Easter candy on the Monday afterward) and the 1133Bs are trading at about 2x what they were then.

 

Or basically any Speedmaster 4 years ago.

 

I would have bought my birth year watch first.

 

Is that a thing? Also, what watch would that have been for you?

 

I think I would still buy my first vintage watch at the price.


My second watch however is too embarrassing to show here. Total noob tax deal.

I still bottom feed a bit much. No discipline, you know. Now I'm rooting around in pocket watches...

 

Oh, yeah. I fell for that too. I was born in 1953 so I bought this Seamaster. Of course if I was born in 1993 I would have bought it:

 

From a pure financial standpoint? In my case it would be the MOD Rolex Milsub I was offered in the early 90's for IIRC 800 pounds at the time. I thought that daft money. And TBH "Rolex", again at the time, conjured up an image of dodgy used car salesmen(Arthur Daley watches, for our UK/Irish brethren). Looking back? -->

1980's local auctions where shoeboxes full of steel cased Omega and Rolex went for buttons. The value was in the gold cased examples, regardless of maker. I turned down an IWC in steel with black dial, maybe a military issued one, because I'd not heard of them then. -->

Patek's were reasonable enough back in the 80's. I had a chance to buy a few, including a couple of steel cased examples. TBH I have no idea of model, but given they were steel cased likely a good investment. I didn't, because a) I was in my late teens, early twenties, so utterly daft as a given b) pre interwebs I didn't really know the brand and c) my dad had a Patek and so I thought of them as "old man watches".
Yep. Where's that smiley again? Oh yeah, here... enbiggened for effect. Oh oh, sorry, this turned out to be a confessional.

 

First watch purchase was a 3572.50, just over 5 years ago.

Had I known then about the Gemini 4, I would have purchased the Gemini 4. It took me a year or so to learn they made one in blue. Found mine on eBay. Buy it now price of $3900. Back then it was priced way too high. Seriously, I could have posted it in the thread that list crazy prices people are asking for watches.

Needless to say, I picked it up after some negotiating.

 

This is a tough question. Going through all those purchases had to have shaped my taste today (and I'd like to hope refined it!!)
My first purchase would now have been a vintage seamaster 300 165.014 or ck 2913. Back in 2000s I probably could've got one after a few summers of saving up.
Anyway I'd like to think I've come a long way from the days of fake tag heuers on streets of chinatown.

 

1964 Speedmaster, either pre-pro or pro. Back in 2000 these were much cheaper than they are today.

Edit: ...and yes, that's a thing.

 

A dealer I know picked up some auction catalogues from the 1980s a few weeks ago. There are three handed Pateks in there at £250; 5512's were less. These weren't even provincial auctions, they were from Christies. To put that into perspective, my first "real" job in 1993 paid me £32000 a year plus bonus, shares and car.

I'd still have bought the same first watch I did, because I was a poor student and bought this (that I still have and always will):

but I would have a collection that Patek's own museum would kill for if I knew as much about auctions then as I do now.

 

Yep. "Old watches" had little enough value back then, outside of complete insaniacs like me. That black dialled IWC I turned down? One major influence was because I had my heart set on a new Seiko digital that had all sorts of cool functions and buttons and it was a little more expensive and I was saving up to buy it.

At about the same time, my dad, who was a lifeline Longines man(4 of them, plus his Patek. Rare to be a watch nut at that time) decided to buy the then new VHP Longines quartz. He thought it the bees knees and TBH it was. At the time(still have it). It was slightly discounted but close to 8-900 quid new. I remember thinking that was crazy money, as did my mum(he didn't; end up in the spare room, but I reckon it was a close run thing ). And it was crazy money. But 900 quid would have bought at auction a couple of Pateks and assorted steel Omega/Rolex/IWC(who they?) etc.

Mad how things have changed. And how value itself changes over time, sometimes radically.

Love your Cyma BTW. Very nice watch you have there.

 

Thanks ... from memory it's around 1937 ... goes like a ... tank.

 

My first "real watch" purchase was an Omega Seamaster co-axial. It suited me perfectly for many years. However, I would have given Speedmasters a look back then. I ruled them out straight away because I was laboring under the delusion that I needed a diving watch even though serious diving was far in my past. I only discovered Speedmasters in the last six months, having rediscovered my fascination with the Space Program and NASA. I'd have been enjoying Speedmasters for a long time if I wasn't blinded by a silly idea that only Seamasters were for me.

I also wouldn't have waited for more than 30 years to get my Rolex GMT Master II "Pepsi." I wanted that one since the 1980's but always found a reason to not buy it. "Oh, just 40 millimeters is too small. I'll never be able to read it." That was a big one for me. And I never even bothered to try one on. Silly, and it cost me decades of enjoyment. Plus the prices have skyrocketed over the last 5 years so I ended up paying way more than I would have. See? There is a price for stupidity and it's quantifiable.

 

This is probably blasphemy on here, but this is my first "real" watch. I purchased it when I graduated high school in 08' as a gift to myself. It's been my daily since, but now I'm looking to buy a REAL watch. I've been actively searching for a vintage Seamaster or a Connie for the past few months, but nothing yet! I'd love a Speedmaster, but I'll save that for my next life event when it's justifiable to buy another watch. So hopefully before this decade is out
See what I did there^

 

I bought an EZM 1 3H for a couple thousand because I liked the titanium and 5100 movement. It hasn't appreciated as much I thought it would but I still have it and still see at as the threshold into my habit, and it makes me happy.
One watch leads to the next lesson or desire, and regrets are like assholes... or something like that

 

Ash helped me vet my Gemini 4. I reached out years ago because I knew he owned one.

Thanks for helping me out.