I should be dancing on air right now.
I have two watches coming back from two separate watch makers this week. I haven't been able to wear either since I bought them as both needed work. They are both at different extremes of watch collecting.
The first, which should be with me on Thursday, is a wonderful 2998. One owner from new sold it to the chap I bought it from in the mid 90's. He kept it in a drawer when the hour recorder stopped working shortly after he bought it. The venerable (no, he's too young to be venerable and that adjective should only be used for Mr. Maddox) Simon Freese has giving this watch his attention and it should be all correct bar the later bezel. A conversation with our very own
@Spacefruit convinced me to keep the replacement bezel, at least for now, as it is part of the watch's story. I should be bursting with anticipation of wearing this for the first time ... but I'm not. I can't understand why not. Am I worried that it's too valuable to wear in the real world? That it might be damaged? I have other rare and valuable watches that I give no thought to wearing every single day ... so why am I so un-excited about what should be a true grail? Here's what she looked like when she left me:
The second is something that should be pure unadulterated fun. A Sorna World Timer from the early 70s that I've had for over two years. That has been through the workshops of three watchmakers and always been returned as "not repairable". I was talking to a retired watchmaker a couple of weeks ago who asked if I would let him "have a go" at it. He called me to say it took him 15 minutes to repair as someone had put the click spring in the wrong way round. When I bought this as a non-working piece, I had a strap made for it. It was going to be my "Summer Soldier", inspired by the Marvel film "The Winter Soldier". This is what the Sorna was like the last time I photographed her:
and these are her new shoes ...
So, is this my first time experiencing "buyer's remorse" or have I just reached the point where I genuinely have too many watches?
