Seeking Advice of the Wiser - Recently Purchased My First Watch

F franklyfresh

1.) If you could provide any guidance to your younger & uninitiated self, at the time you received your very first watch, what would it be?

F franklyfresh

Hello! A little over two weeks ago, I took delivery of my very first watch. Prior to that, I have never owned, worn, or even meaningfully researched watches. All this is to say I am very inexperienced in this new hobby and would like to solicit advice from this eminent group of connoisseurs. I do not have very specific questions but general ones that I hope will help avoid mistakes that I would undoubtedly make if left to my own proclivities. Any and all guidance you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

1.) If you could provide any guidance to your younger & uninitiated self, at the time you received your very first watch, what would it be?

F franklyfresh

Hello! A little over two weeks ago, I took delivery of my very first watch. Prior to that, I have never owned, worn, or even meaningfully researched watches. All this is to say I am very inexperienced in this new hobby and would like to solicit advice from this eminent group of connoisseurs. I do not have very specific questions but general ones that I hope will help avoid mistakes that I would undoubtedly make if left to my own proclivities. Any and all guidance you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

1.) If you could provide any guidance to your younger & uninitiated self, at the time you received your very first watch, what would it be?

2.) What are your personal "best practices" regarding the care and maintenance of your collection?

3.) How should I approach considering my next purchase? There are so many brands, styles, and categories of watches out there, it is a bit overwhelming. What is your personal philosophy on what you purchase & keep in your collection?

4.) Are there any useful websites, communities, or YouTube channels you would recommend? I recently learned about WatchPatrol/WatchRecon and those two are great!

5.) Is there anything else you would be so kind to share with someone only beginning to embark on this journey?


Couple images of my very first watch!

F franklyfresh

1.) If you could provide any guidance to your younger & uninitiated self, at the time you received your very first watch, what would it be?

Barking mad

Best advice is stop now. The rabbit hole is deep and expensive😁
Cancel you internet subscription immediately

STANDY

Allow yourself a $500 beater watch

janice&fred

I would advise myself that if home computers were invented along with a medium created that connected them together in a way that people could discuss topics in real time, to not allow my own preferences in regard to my watch collecting hobby be unnecessarily influenced by others, and to buy what I like.

Looks like you are off to a swell start with your Omega and keep up the good work! 😁

airansun

Explore this website. A lot of your questions are answered herein.

Collect what you like, what you’re drawn to.

DaveK

A) Get your jewellers loupe out, and chuck it into the back of a moving truck. We drive ourselves crazy discovering imperfections

B) check the timing of your watch just for fun for a few weeks. Write it on a calendar when you will stop doing this - two weeks from today. Then, only check the timing of your watch when you think it might be off, or every four months. If it is inexplicably off, it might need demagnetizing or an early service. This protocol will keep you from driving yourself insane. You can ignore this if you want to play around with storage positions that will keep your watch on better time

enjoy it 👍

OmegaRody

I will answer #3.

I will describe how I think towards buying a new watch, collection in general etc. It depends on how sized you want your collection to be but I try
to have dressy, sporty and casual watches. This mostly have to do with materials. Usually leather strap watches are the most dressy but there are some stainless steel too. Rubber strap watches go as sporty or casual and in very limited ocassions can be dressy. Stainless steel are the most flexible material as it has its fair share of dressy, sporty and casual watches. But the main point of this is to have at least one for every ocassion or situation.
In terms of brands I try to find the watches that can retain most of it value after purchase. I prefer expending $500 more for a brand I know its on higher ranking and therefore higher price retation expectative. Of course it will depend on budget you have.
The page watchrankings have all watch brands organized per category and I think is the best I have come across.
BTW nice buy enjoy!

mr_smith

Congrats on your first watch!

Guidance to my younger and uninitiated self...

-Read the instructions more carefully on when to change the date (luckily I didn't break anything)... I feel like this when I think back to those days: 🤦

-When it's time for a service, know that you can ask for "no refinish"... I now have a watch I want to get refinished (to fix the first refinish) but am afraid to have it done. Again: 🤦

-Don't try to fool yourself into thinking you're a one-watch guy. 😀

Barking mad

Best advice is stop now. The rabbit hole is deep and expensive😁
Cancel you internet subscription immediately

noelekal

OmegaForums is great! Much learning and watch appreciation many be gleaned right here. Find out for yourself what a resource the Forum can be. Learn who the "franklyseasoned" are here (not yours truly) and listen to them. You'll come to recognize who they are soon enough. There is a wealth of good information to be gleaned from older pages here in addition to the fresh new data presented daily (almost hourly).

Learn from posers how not to be a pretender. The Forum will thank you for it.

Study watch photos here, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Especially for the learning so as to recognize the worn out, the abused, the altered, the mongrel, the redial, the re-do, the polished-to-death and the fake. Gain an an appreciation of and and eye for patina on a vintage watch as well as developing discernment between what is attractive patina as you define the term and what should more appropriately have been described as a "clean up needed on aisle seven." Don't allow yourself to naively participate in a variation on the theme of the "Emperor's New Clothes". Be willing to admit to yourself: "OOoo ... I don't like that!"

There can be fads develop in styles of watches desired by the market, both new and vintage. Don't chase the fads unless the currently hot and desireable watch truly appeals to you.

Your tastes in watches will change and develop to some extent. Know what you like, but don't be guilty of rigidity in your tastes. I only learned this after joining OmegaForums. Developing tastes is an especially rewarding aspect of the watch hobby.

Wear the watches. Don't save 'em for a rainy day. Don't be guilty of denying an esteemed watch its due "wrist time" for fears of messing it up. Own watches and don't allow watches to own you for they will you know, if you let 'em. Don't abuse watches if you have respect for them and don't neglect their proper maintenance.

Don't find yourself consumed by acquisitions to the point of financial folly. The kids need to eat and the dog and the cat need food in their bowls. Don't resort to credit for watch purchases, but rather prudently purchase from available funds in hand.

Knowledge and an eye for appreciation enriches a rewarding hobby. Be aware that the hobby is what is rewarding and not the return on the investment in watches. Dab a toe in the hobby for the love of watches and resist the siren call of watches as "investments." Buy what you like and enjoy each one whether it be that first one you've just graciously presented in this thread or that 50th watch acquisition you just chased down. Don't necessarily open a home for wayward watches as I have.

Dan S

Don't drop it onto a hard surface.

p4ul

Question 4 - Speedmaster101 - https://speedmaster101.com/ .

Congratulations on your purchase, and welcome.

F franklyfresh

...On your second point, how do you know if a watch needs demagnetization vs. the movement is working within spec?

queriver

Congratulations on buying your 1st watch and an Omega at that. 👍 I'll have a go answering some of these questions:

1.) If you could provide any guidance to your younger & uninitiated self, at the time you received your very first watch, what would it be?

>> Enjoy your 1st watch and take your time (no pun intended) exploring and deciding where your interests lie and what your next step will be - priorities change, personal interests grow and may wane, be patient not impulsive. It sounds like you've got lots of time in front of you.

2.) What are your personal "best practices" regarding the care and maintenance of your collection?

>> Wear an appropriate watch to suit the conditions but also don't become so obsessive about a watch that you end up worrying about accidentally hitting it against a door jamb, for example. Watches get knocks, that's part of the journey. It's like obsessing about avoiding the first scratch on a new car only to eventually no longer bother.

3.) How should I approach considering my next purchase? There are so many brands, styles, and categories of watches out there, it is a bit overwhelming. What is your personal philosophy on what you purchase & keep in your collection?

>> Refer to 1) and decide whether you're initially setting out to be a collector of watches or a wearer of different types of watches for different occasions. These are not the same thing. As you've just got your first watch, I'd suggest you start off on the latter track and buy what interests you for a 2nd watch. In time you might also become a collector but I think it's hard to just decide to be a collector at this stage, if being a collector is defined as collecting watches of a specific type.

STANDY

Three bits of advice from me.

1) Buy what you like not what some YouTube guy likes. Buy what suits your lifestyle

2) Save for your next watch and double that price. I guarantee your taste will change in that time and having double the money your options are quadrupled

3) Allow yourself a $500 beater watch. ie; Seiko diver for Rough stuff