What kind of collector are you?

The hands are very important to me. Can put me off any watch and attract me to any watch. I also want platinum cases

Already wearing a Seiko 7A38 chronograph my Dad had bought me in 1983 in my teenage years, I became a fan of pilot watches, having made my first solo flight at age 15. This was the late 1980s, so marketing drove me in the direction of Breitling, which already was a brand my dad had a few watches from. After I reached 18, I bought myself an Old Navitimer (ref. 81610) which became my main watch for many years. I also received as a gift a Longines Hour Angle Watch (a.k.a. the Lindbergh) and a first generation Breitling Aerospace. I was perfectly happy with this selection, and only bought a few Swatch models that I used as beaters in the following years.

In the early 2000, I inherited my Dad's collection, and it triggered my rampant interest for timepieces. I suddenly realized that there were many more pilot watches around, some even more legitimate that the blingy Breitling that was adorning my wrist. It's during that period that I discovered the Lemania 5100 chronograph movement. I bought myself a Sinn 157, and I quickly fell down that rabbit hole, becoming rather obsessed.


This didn't end there, as some models were more elusive than others. I had started a regular correspondence with some fellow collectors around the world, one of them being the late Chuck Maddox. So I dug even deeper, trying to find more unusual and rare models. So my Lemania 5100 collection at its peak looked like this.


In parallel, I had also started acquiring other Lemania watches, after realizing that the brand's connection to military aviation was one that the likes of Breitling could only dream of. Once in a while I would sell a watch I didn't like as much as the others, but mostly I bought things that I wanted to keep for the long haul.

Unfortunately, a series of professional setbacks put the financial health of my household in peril. So more watches had to go. In the end, things got so bad that almost all the watches you see in that last pictures ended up being sold. That included two that I had initially promised myself never to sell. That hit me really hard. So hard in fact that I swore I would never expose myself again to this sort of disappointment. I stopped browsing the forums I had been a regular of, and I made tremendous efforts to pretend that I was done with watches. I was broke and bitter, convinced that one slip could reopen that wound.

That horological "exile" lasted almost a decade. But in the wake of Covid and repeated lockdowns, I realized that my financial situation was stable enough to allow myself some indulgences. I could, as long as I was reasonable, build myself a watch budget. So I did. And with the benefit of hindsight, I realized that I really missed only a select few of the watches I was forced to unload. But those that I missed, I really did. So I embarked on a crazy project to reacquire not just similar watches, but actually the ones I had sold. I got lucky twice: the first time with my birth year Speedmaster Professional, and a year later with my Dad's Breitling Cosmonaute. This past Spring, I bought myself an example of a watch I had previously owned, a Tutima Flieger F3, but not mine since its current owner showed no desire to part with it. And now I am saving for the next watch, which may be the first one that I have never owned previously. Still a Lemania 5100 chronograph though, so I guess my old collection theme is still as valid as before.

I... have a ways to go!
Right now I am enjoying 60s watches and warm tritium.

The Bond and Transporter franchise lead me to the watch world. Further, I’m a technical guy, thus I also love watches with cool technology behind them.

Today, what living with me are 2 Bond watches and 3 Speedmaster, and I’m not a collector at all, just a guy who love to wear and learn what story/technology behind a mechanical watch.

I've always liked watches, in an attempt to fool people into thinking i'm sophisticated haha. Classic, simple, time only watches are generally my preference and this aesthetic has stayed the same since my humble beginnings.

My first and second watches were 'armani' and looking back I really did think they were the bees knees. The second one in particular was quite special with a nice brown leather strap, and champagne dial. My next one however was particularly special for me and was a 'hugo boss' that my grandmother bought me for my 21st birthday. I was so impressed as I felt as if I would have picked the exact same one had I been in the shop, a simple silver dial, with rose gold plaque case and a tan croc strap. It certainly was more elegant than it sounds haha.

I unfortunately lost this watch on a night out, which understandably was quite devastating - but the silver lining was that it led me to delve deeper into watches. I couldn't justify buying another fashion watch that had no meaning, and didn't like the idea of a watch instantly losing its value after it was purchased - the Hugo Boss one had sentimental value that no other watch could replace.

I happened upon vintage Omega and I found that I could buy a 1960s Omega geneve for a similar price to a fashion watch, but unlike a fashion watch it was a fancy brand and wouldn't lose it's value! This is where it all began. It was gold plaque like my hugo boss and I found a similar brown croc strap for it on ebay and I was very very happy. So happy in fact, that I bought another, and then a little while later another and then another, and a few more since.

I didn't stay within the 1960s though, that quickly felt too modern for my tastes, and I looked into 1950s examples and 1940s and finally 1930s examples. These days, I pretty much exclusively collect 1940s Omegas, although I have a couple of others dotted around the 1930-60s. I feel as if this era represents me best. I don't wear gold plaque anymore, and rarely do I wear gold actually (despite my profile pic suggesting otherwise). Nowadays I am still impressed with clean simple and classic designs and I although it's hard to find 'clean' examples, the 1940s certainly have that bauhaus utilitarian simplicity down to a T. When you find a good one, it is very rewarding.

I guess I have recently become a collector, but there are a finite number of watches I want.

The watches that find their way into my collection are the ones that were popular/innovative when I was growing up (pre digital), and I can afford them now. Very few watches that have come out recently appeal to me.

Watches that have had a consistent design language (like Rolex DD/DJ/GMT, Omega Moonwatches/Carter Tank Louis/JLC Reverso etc) history appeal to me the most. I have preferred to buy newer versions of the watches I have loved, but will buy discontinued models when necessary

I find some watches, like the Omega Seamaster (where the design of the hands has been changed over the years) leave me uninspired

While there are some modern watches that appeal to me (like the GS Spring Drive), most of my collecting interest is in models that have been around for a while.

My interest in owning watches reignited after becoming an emptynester in 2020, when all the hysteria stated. As a consequences, I have grown very negative on Rolex ADs. The upside of this is that other brands get more attention as well as discontinued models.

Some of the remaining watches I am looking for are:
Ebel 1911 Chrono 8134901 (the Miami Vice watch)
Omega 321 Ed White
Rolex 11 series TT DJ/DD40 platinum

Not all new, but would complete my Odyssey.

Hmmm not sure I can make sense of my collection and I'm definitely not very good at this. Definitely Omega led. Bond almost certainly had something to do with that 20 odd years ago, plus an aversion to Rolex, for no good reason other than it's too obvious and I don't like the cyclops thing.

Started with a Planet Ocean 20 years back. I told myself that I don't like chronographs but I now have three Speedies. Also includes a NTTD Seamaster and a Globemaster. I also like things in Sedna / rose gold.

Go figure. I should just not think about it and enjoy whatever is on my wrist at any given point.