Latest Review
My year in watches this year has been…unique in the time since I started collecting watches oh so many years ago. What’s different this year? I didn’t purchase a single watch! For the first time in over 20 years I went the whole year without adding any watches to my collection. For over two decades I’ve always bought some, sold some, or traded some so that I end up at the end of each year with a more refined collection that is usually in the plus column. I have to say that I didn’t even realize this year was different until our illustrious editor Zach gave us this assignment. I’m still always looking at and for watches though, especially for a few specific models. My bi-weekly eBay Finds column keeps me poring through the eBay listings on a regular basis, and I do still see lots of great pieces on Instagram. But how did I end up in this rarest of predicaments, finishing the year without any new additions to the collection?
Like most things in life, the reasons are myriad. I would have to say the biggest factors would be that I’m pretty darn happy with the state of my collection as it currently stands, and there are few watches (that I can afford to buy) that I’m still searching for. I mean, I’m always on the lookout for a nice vintage Squale, and there are some pieces that I would still love to add to the Seiko stable, but the models I’m looking for are quite hard to find for sale in the condition I desire. So it’s not that I didn’t want to add any watches this year, it just worked out that I didn’t find anything that fit my collection right now. In fact, one of my New Years watch resolutions at the beginning of this year was to actually sell off several and consolidate by purchasing one major piece, like a vintage chronograph (Omega, Universal Geneve, etc) or new Grand Seiko. Sadly that did not come to pass either, but that is mostly due to me being lazy and not wanting to take the time to figure out which pieces would go. Maybe next year…
While I did stay somewhat in tune with the watch world this year, mostly through Instagram and writing the eBay Finds columns, I spent most of my “free” hobby time concentrating on my first collecting love, vintage comic books. I won’t bore you with all the details, but I am trying to complete a run of Fantastic Four (1-200), which is a daunting task nearly 30 years in the making. That said, I did make some time this summer to check out some high end watch boutiques in Beverly Hills while in Los Angeles for a wedding. I went to IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Westime. Westime carries some heavy hitters like MB&F, Urwerk, and Richard Mille among others. I have to admit, it was pretty amazing to see and handle some of the most incredible watches available. While I’m a vintage guy at heart, seeing these ultra-modern masterpieces in the metal was very inspiring. Not that I can afford any of them, but it did reignite the watch flame a bit. My favorite though was the Grand Seiko section they had. I have several vintage Seikos, and their quality takes a back seat to no brand. And I have to say that the same can be said for the modern iteration of the brand. I truly enjoyed getting to handle some of the beautiful Grand Seikos, especially the new SLGW003. The finishing and attention to detail on this (and their other offerings) is simply exquisite. Not to mention the buttery smooth motion of the second hand ticking along with the hi-beat manual wind work-of-art movement.
So despite the fact that I didn’t add any vintage watches this year, or pull the trigger on a new Grand Seiko, I was definitely inspired to keep looking and to maybe, actually, realize my goal of consolidating a large number of my collection to one or two big boys.
