The Supreme Power of Context and How ‘The Grail’ is Not What You Think (and Perhaps Not Even What You Want).

I went out for a meal for a friend’s birthday recently to a posh restaurant in the next city. It was the sort of place where you get the bill and feel kinda sad that you could have bought a pretty nice watch for that kind of money.

As we were all chatting we got onto the conversation of other great meals we’d eaten, and it quickly became clear that even when we had eaten at the nicest of restaurants for birthdays, honeymoons or anniversaries, it was very rarely the actual food we remembered, regardless of how much we’d paid.

We would perhaps recall a particularly funny waiter, or the view from the rooftop restaurant, but not so much the food. We were sure it must have been great, but obviously not great enough for it to actually be worth remembering (maybe this is just a sign I need to choose better places to eat out).

Anyway, it turned out the meals that actually did stick in our minds were not the best, or the most expensive, but those which were surrounded by the context to make them the most memorable.

Eating chips on Blackpool beach with the kids, the pizza we had in Rome or that hotwing eating contest we had with friends in college. When we thought back to these meals we could almost taste the food again.

This rule of context applies to watched also. So much so that I feel brave enough to say that when it comes to ‘keeper’ watches context is the single most important factor.

Undoubtedly there are the pretty, useful and hard to replace watches that we feel we could never part from, and which we feel will be part of our collections long term, but the power of context will trump all of these factors.

It will almost certainly be those watches given to us by loved ones, handed down by family or wrapped up in other stories and events that will be those which are safe from collection exile when the siren song of the next new purchase can be heard as you scroll through the feed of latest horological offerings.

And we collectors know this fact. We understand well the power of a storied watch, even if only subconsciously.

All the talk about people trying to bond with a watch, or make sweet scratches together doing cool things. When folks choose a special time piece for a wedding or an important occasion. This is all just trying to create enough context and stories around a watch so that we feel connected enough to resist flipping it like we have so many before.

Although most of us will admit to enjoying the thrill of the watch hunt and the excitement of the unboxing, I think there are few who relish the relentless buying and selling merry-go-round we can end up on and many see the Grail watch as a way out.

But The Grail isn’t what we’ve been told.

The Grail isn’t actually some elite, expensive or rare watch that will bring us supreme joy as we all seem to have been conditioned to believe it is.

The Grail is something much more difficult for enthusiasts to obtain.

The Grail is a watch collection that we don’t feel the need to add to, or subtract from and that still brings us joy.

Peace with the collection.

If you can manage that, then you have reached your watch Nirvana in my opinion, but getting there as a watch enthusiast… Is that even possible?

Would we even want it? A collection that ends the chase?

Or do we perhaps understand that ‘The Context’ of watch collecting… the people, communities and brands we connect to while enjoying this ridiculous hobby… can bring as much joy as the watches in our boxes and are a part of what keep us in the game?


Kaysia.