Kaysia:
So I recently wrote elsewhere about various watches I have been eyeing for some time and finally decided to admit that I’m just never going to actually reach the point of clicking the ‘Buy it now’ button.
One watch I mentioned that I am very torn about is this lovely Tara vintage skin diver.
I know nothing about Tara and I don’t particularly have a thing for skin divers, but for some reason this watch has its claws in my brain and I’m compelled to keep checking out the eBay listing… but not quite convinced enough to add it to the collection.
Part of me worries it’s a rebound watch after missing out on the Mirexal a month or so ago.
Part of me worries it’s going to be yet another litteral vintage ticking time bomb that I’m going to have to stump up servicing costs for.
What watches are you guys currently tormented by? (Or just ‘considering’, if you’re not feeling as dramatic as I am).
Erik:
I purchased a Seiko Presage SRPG09, hated it, returned it, but kept looking at different variations.
Honestly, it’s not an impressive watch, but I just WANT to find a version that’s for me. Also, I’m going through this thing where I want Seiko watches that are unavailable in the United States. Not sure what that’s about, but it’s happening.
Greg:
I may have bought a skin diver due to the zeitgeist of the blog. It may have been in the air.
I am not frenetically adding watches to watchlists as I have in the past. I still hunt for the bargains and forgotten watches of the past, but with slightly less urgency. I still buy things because I don’t have one and I think that I should. I am tracking a pretty little Germinal Voltaire now.
But, you asked about torment. I have a few watches that I keep looking at and that have cycled through many watch lists. They are all mid-50’s Eterna.
I watched one on Watches83 until it was sold. I regretted not buying it. I have narrowed my Eterna down the first few years of the Eternamatic movement and with a hidden crown. I have bid and missed on at least four. I am too cheap apparently. Eterna must be the unluckiest major Swiss watch manufacturer. They limped through the Quartz Crisis only to have Swatch Group take the movement side of the business (ETA) and discard the brand. They were bought by a Hong Kong consortium. When Ball was bought by a Hong Kong consortium, they developed a signature feature (tritium tubes) and their own design language. They are not for me, but I think that Ball watches are the best that they have ever been. This is their Golden Age. Eterna just makes imitations of their greatest hits. They are a zombie brand.
In the 1950’s though, ooh….
Chris:
What don’t I want… I have very little control. In the last week and half alone, which has been particularly sh*t from a personal perspective, I have bought a Lip Himalaya, a Vostok (I know! Radio Room if you must know), yet another 40s/50s military field jobber (a Jenco that’s had some work done, but it’s a Jenny), and yet another Panerai homage (Baltany Green Cali dial, for half of RRP).
I often have a “virtual” wishlist, it’s just how I roll. It’s pretty small at present, but it is what it is: Montblanc Timewalker Southern Hemispheres, 1960s Mulco Escafandre Super Compressor, Citizen Parawater Kuroshio ‘64, Vostok Neptune “Green Hulk”, Rolex Speedking Oyster Precision, Vertex WWW, Gasworks’s latest Seiko donkey (I know, I’m lusting after a Seiko), 2x W.M.T homages, and an M.W.C. WWW homage. On top of this, I also would like the new CWC 1980s diver, a Vertex MP45 Arctic dial, the Timor WWW reissue hand-wind, and a real Panerai. I will probably not pick any of these up any time soon, but it’s good to have dreams.
That Tara will be pin-pallet… please don’t. There are some nice French skin divers on the ‘bay right now for decent money, and with better movements.
Kaysia:
Also, I’m going through this thing where I want Seiko watches that are unavailable in the United States. Not sure what that’s about, but it’s happening.” – Erik
Ah yes, I know that feeling. Not specifically Seikos’ for me, but there have been various other JDM watches that I’ve lusted for. In the end I’ve come to the conclusion it’s just the desire for something I can’t have and have generally gotten over it… However it is a feeling that’s raising its head currently, in the form of an Omega only for sale in France. A limited Olympic special edition Seamaster.
Undoubtedly would be a monster on my wrist (42mm), and if I was sensible I’d just go for the Certina DS action diver, which is a great watch, gives similar vibes with the dial, is 1/10th of the cost and I wouldn’t have to hop on a ferry to get one…. But it wouldn’t be the watch I wanted…
….see… and then when I come away from looking at a £8k Omega and back to the £120 Tara (the seller sent me an offer, damn it!), I think to myself “What are you messing about at?! It’s just the cost of a weekly Aldi shop!!”.
Watch collecting is hard.
Erik:
Kaysia, yeah, it’s a strange hobby for sure. I talked myself out of buying an X-Wind for years. I absolutely love the design, color variations, and obviously the brand, but when I finally said “fuck it” and picked one up, it was too big, had unnecessary functions, no real tie to the military, and it was a thick boy.
I got a really good deal on it, so I didn’t feel bad when I had to get rid of it, but I honestly don’t think that there’s a more handsome, modern, aviation watch on the market. No one needs it ever… legitimately ever, but that watch is sharp. The moral of the story is definitely listen to your gut. We know, even if we don’t know that we know.
That being said, and this isn’t really relevant to the conversation, but I also resisted the urge to put my Murph on nylon for the first eight months of ownership, because why cheapen it right? But I finally did it this morning before I left for the office, and I absolutely love it. So… maybe we don’t know anything. Life is unfair and any time we get is luck.
Greg:
So, I am going on a short trip and there are some online auctions that I am following. I have used a sniping tool to time bids for the final seconds because I will not be online. What a passive way of buying. I set the bids low enough so that if I win, I will win at my price, what I consider a bargain. I set the prices knowing that I may not win any of them. If I am “lucky” I will feel like a found a $20 dollar bill on the sidewalk. If I don’t win, I can tell myself that some fool out there paid too much. In the past I have set snipes pre-set with prices where I am the fool who overpays. I wanted that particular watch that much.
So, the list includes an early 1960’s Germinal Voltaire, a Bulova from about 1950, and an early 1960’s Leica. Leica will now sell you a watch for $15,000.00. They will never admit that 60 years ago they licensed the name to a Chinese business in Singapore. It is a standard 12, 3, 6, 9 configuration that should contain a sort of common A.S. Schild. I am actually more fixated on the Germinal Voltaire. They were considered really nice watches in their time. I have been researching the company for a few weeks and I can’t figure out the “Voltaire” part of the name. The “Germinal” is a location. Perhaps the Voltaire sounded classy and easier to say than Pangloss. I think that it was another brand name chosen to hide the “Jewishness” of the company. That happened also in the United States and Canada, not just Europe. It is like my recent UTI purchase. That company chose an acronym when the name “Meyer” was held in disfavor. Sad times.
Chris:
I took the Speedking off the list, someone bought it… I’m ok, there will be others. I’m partial to a sub 34m Rolex, so we will see.
It’s a never ending cycle – you all have my sympathies. I’m just getting to grips with my “new” Vostok. It’s been a weird week.
The Escapement Room 