Approaching my 2 month mark (and close to 200 posts) as a member OF has me pondering my journey (and many hours) here thus far. What started as an online investigation of an old Omega Seamaster I inherited led me quickly to this place and I jumped in with both feet. Completely and quickly immersed, here’s what I’ve learned: 1. This place is full of great people who are more than willing to provide information and help. That some responses can be skeptical and downright blunt is just icing on the cake. @Dan S gets the "Spot-on but Blunt Award" and @Duracuir1 is a real cop that deserves the "I call BS" Award. Alternatively, he receives the "I Make Nice Leather Stuff" Award. The collective wealth of knowledge and people here is outstanding. 2. I have learned much about the world of Omegas and other brands discussed on this forum. I've also learned enough to realize that I still don't know squat yet. 3. In my newness, I was too hasty to purchase and focused on lesser pieces. Nothing wrong with lower priced watches but I have realized my impulsive tendencies has lead to the imposition of the newb tax on a couple of occasions. I could have bought a Speedy by now (and some of you have an inordinate obsession with those ) 4. My first Omega led to the purchase of two more Omegas, a vintage, recently serviced Lucerne pin lever, a vintage Bucherer, a new Lorier, a new Baltic, and a new Seiko (and boy have I posted/questioned about Seikos in general...did I mention my impulsive tendencies?). 5. I knew nothing about automatic watches and know little more given my lack of understanding of the previously mentioned Seiko and my posts about it. Damn thing works fine, looks great and I'm pleased with it. To quote @Canuck "Just wear the thing for 24 hours..." He gets the "Let Me Point Out the Obvious" Award, although it wasn’t obvious to me at the time. I needed his correction. 6. I was able to find a reputable watchmaker to service my Omegas with the direction of some members here. 7. I want to learn to service my own watches...and that is a proposition that is likely going to lead to massive frustration and an understanding that I could have bought a nice watch or a few services and not wasted my time. But I'm probably gonna try anyway. 8. I spend way too much time on eBay these days. 9. I had no idea that Chrono24 had a sales database that I could search instead of asking countless "Is this watch worth X" questions...probably padded my near 200 posts for sure. 10. @dsio and @Trev run a great ship. There are others behind the scenes I'm sure. Hat-tip to you all. So there's my two month run-down. Fun times and I'm glad to be here. Thanks for allowing me to ride along. -Rick
Don’t buy anymore till you have worn what you have for a while. Strap changes are another way to refresh your inventory. If you find yourself out shopping. Pull out the old watch box and reintroduce yourself.
The two vintage Omega starter pieces and the new Baltic and Lorier watches are gifts to my two grown sons for Christmas…one vintage and one new for each. It’ll start them well on a journey of autos that I wish I had been able to afford at their age. My collection consists of a broken citizen eco drive that stopped working years ago, an inherited Omega bumper that is being serviced, a starter Bucherer that needs a service, a cheap Lucerne, and that new Seiko that cost me $86 plus postage. I’ll build my collection now that I have my sons good and well started.
That's really cool. It will be a fun hobby for you to share if they get on board with it. Just a tip though, hand winders if you want to be really cool. I prefer them. Winding them is a good morning ritual, and they are thinner. The rest of your post was entertaining BTW. Glad to have you in the club. Have you learned the handshake yet?
For me: astonishing ranking : are these models for investors?? Or a reflection of the Far Eastern market? 1st OMEGA in 25th place
Welcome to OF, Rick. Your addiction is developing very nicely. Glad that we could help! Seriously, you've received some good advice here. Slow down a bit and recognize that at every level of this hobby, you can never have it all - but you can still try.
