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Watch collecting vs wife/girlfriend

BartH
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styggpyggeno1 styggpyggeno1
Watches are a part of my retirement planning. You cannot take anything with you in the end. When retireing (early) in about ten years time it is my plan to start selling the collection bit by bit (dibs are accepted and noted from now on...) funding nice vacations in warmer places for me and the wife. As I have written elswhere on this site - funding getting silly drunk on grappa and eating fine ten course dinners in northern Italy is my plan for my watches in the end. Wearing a wrinkled up white linen suit and a Panama hat, smoking a fine cigar and pestering the young Italian guys with my anecdotes of what a Lemania Viggen costed in the beginning of the century.

Allow me to fund your future pasta tartufo accompanied by a nice Brunello from a stellar vintage.

Dibs on your 18k 168.005 please. 😁
 
marturx
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@styggpyggeno1 that GL Connie of yours has my name written all over it, since you snagged it right under my nose! 😁

So DIBS on that one, even if I have the same retirement plan as you (won´t go to Italy though), I can always make that Connie my everyday beater. At least until I´m mugged by a fellow southern EU citizen 😁
 
Jonatan
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styggpyggeno1 styggpyggeno1
funding getting silly drunk on grappa and eating fine ten course dinners in northern Italy is my plan for my watches in the end. Wearing a wrinkled up white linen suit and a Panama hat, smoking a fine cigar and pestering the young Italian guys with my anecdotes of what a Lemania Viggen costed in the beginning of the century.

@styggpyggeno1 If you're driving through Switzerland to get to Italy, stop by and have a little Grappa. Then we can talk about your watches.😉
 
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STANDY
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My girl thought it was cool she just bought a pair of antique earrings worth more than any of my watches. ( I paid the duty for her to make her get them)
No drama with 20 or 30 watches just annoying I leave them around a bit much.
Shows me watches whilst she is looking at other stuff. Even asked why I didn't get a watch on holidays in Europe like I intended ( engagement ring blew that budget) and said I should as I didn't get a ring.
So I just bought something new, on its way 😗

Secret, taught her that quality in everything you buy is worth the wait and expense. Whatever we buy we chat about and both do a bit of research. Doesn't have to be brand name to be good for most kitchen home things. We went through 3 salt grinders in one year due to humidity now we have had one for 5 years. Funny watching us shop for cloths and home stuff but it has worked for us
 
Archer
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Well, I respect my wife and our relationship enough not have to do any of these "strategies" to hide things, so I'll tell her about a watch I intend to buy, and if we agree it's a good time, I buy it. No drama required. In the end we want each other to be happy, and if that means me getting a watch I want, she is fine with that. In fact while in Germany a couple of years ago it was her idea that we both pick up a Nomos...if she was offering I wasn't going to say no!
 
Geo!
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Archer Archer
it was her idea that we both pick up a Nomos...if she was offering I wasn't going to say no!

Does that make it a Yesmos? 😉
 
kleungsf
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repoman repoman
yeah, I'm still scratching my head on that one... selling a watch to buy a car... wtf?

p.s. Taddy will understand this, he sees what I drive everyday... a 1986 truck, and a 1999 kiddie van with 285,000miles on it. I keep buying watches, guns, and motorcycles instead of a new car.

Wearing a vintage watch and taking the bus isn't fun, sometimes you have to sell a watch to get wheels. Question is what watch did he sell and what car did it buy? [emoji16]
 
1685
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I know or think the majority of this may or may not be jest, but random thought; buy your girlfriend/wife a nice vintage watch or two to include her in the hobby. Now dont get me wrong I'm not talking an Ed White or anything but alot of the mid 50s 60s Omega or other offer great options at good price points and size for a ladies wrist. Ive done this on some special occasions for us and its been greatly received.
 
squarelug
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Well, my ex was fully on board because her father used to collect bubble backs in the 80s. Though, I don't think she realized how that ended.

Then again, I find things much easier now sans girlfriend, ha.
 
p4ul
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chunkythebulldog chunkythebulldog
Definitely a bad thing if she leaves you as she'll take half the collection in the divorce.

Quick, buy duplicates of all.
 
p4ul
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Severin Severin
A great yarn. There is, of course, the "open marriage" arrangement as in "don't ask, don't tell" re: watches, purses or shoes. Have never tried this, but hear it exists.

Either way, for me the awkward moment occurs when, during dinner, the inevitable words are uttered: "oh, hmmm, is that a new watch honey"? I've struggled with the semantics of the definition of "new" (does it apply to vintage?) but cannot stretch too far. Rathern that denial, my tactic has been prevention/security through obscurity: as in it helps to have long sleeves and/or, as in my situation, watches that all look alike...


According to my wife, if I have not noticed it’s arrival and she has had it overnight it is no longer ‘new’..... this seems to apply to bags, shoes and anything silk or cashmere.

Might be worth a try.
 
gbesq
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Plan B: Buy your SO a nice Omega as a gift to grease the skids. Worked for me.

Plan C: Stay single and get a cat. Prior to meeting my SO, my cat never once complained about me spending money on watches (or anything else). He was always happy to see me when I got home and had no problem with me going to Vegas on short notice as long as I topped up his food and water. Life was good. 😀
Edited:
 
Canuck
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Perhaps one of the very earliest watch collectors was a French fellow by the name of Florimond Robertet. He was the treasurer to three French kings. He passed away in 1532. Over his years of collecting watches, he acquired 12 of them, some with strike mechanisms (Brittens Clock & Watchmakers, 9th edition, page 22). History doesn’t seem to report on how pleased Madamoiselle Robertet was with her husband’s passion for collecting while he was alive. However, one might assume that she was not too pleased with his collection after his demise as she was obliged to spend the rest of her years winding up the estate.😀
 
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