Born to lose

This year I am batting .181, which makes me the Dal Maxvill of online bidding watch idiots. I have only won 18% of the online auctions where I have participated. I lost one this weekend that was deeply frustrating to me and Chris because we discussed that I had found the perfect 1940’s military watch, only to come up $2.24 short.

On average I underbid by an average of $10.50. That average contains a watch that went for $58.10 more than my final bid and four where I was off by just $0.50.  These numbers come with the caveat that the winning bidder may have had much more bid than the final margin. When I have won, I overbid by an average of $5.25. I don’t keep these stats, but they are available to me. I think that after years of doing this I have a good feel for what a watch should cost in the secondary market. I am missing, but not by much.

I also think that I am missing on purpose, either consciously or subconsciously. My stubbornness in not overpaying (in my mind, at least) keeps me from having all of these wonderful vintage watches. But, looking back on what I have missed, none of them really would have added to what I have. The 1950’s Tel Aviv with Hebrew numerals would have been a gift to a friend. The Germinal Voltaire was a lazy bid because the item hadn’t attracted any attention. I don’t need another middling quality gold plated three-hander. The gold Elgin with the unusual dial pattern, oh I could have used that. I noticed that it was a 14k case in the picture, apparently so did the eventual winner. The rest are not even memorable.

The watches that I have won are not ones that I have craved or especially sought after, except one which is a novelty. I am mostly sated now. I am slowly repairing those watches that have developed “issues” as vintage watches do. I have spent more on repair than purchasing this year. I have years like this. It is part of playing the vintage game. My drawer of shame is slowly filling up again.

This isn’t a journey of self-discovery. There are certain truths that I know about why I collect these old watches. They are forgotten, rare, and often unique. They are totems of the past, usually not mine. Their relative rarity does not make them expensive. I really don’t care much for “specs” and that is why events like the new Erebus coming out at 38mm rather than 41mm make no difference to me. That watch is all that bores me with watches. It is pretty, well made, well suited for its intended purpose, and bland as hell. In an attempt to please everyone, it will necessarily not please me. But it is the quirky unusualness of certain vintage watches that makes me keep trolling the online websites. It is this “having what you cannot” that makes them attractive to me. Most people would not spend more money to fix something than its purchase price.

So, what did I miss (that Chris would have overpaid for)? A watch that I had never heard of: a Pir-a-Tak-ic:

Clarence M. Bradbury owned a jewelry store in Brooklyn, N.Y.

He had opinions that he expressed in letters to the editor. He imported a Felsa 415 movement and housed it in a military style watch. He added a parachutist on the dial. I shall never see its kind again. My self-sabotage worked against me this time. Yesterday was not the day to be parsimonious.

(Mr. Bradbury would have loved the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics, although to be fair, I’ve Got A Secret was really racy.)

*Now go listen to The Genius. It is the best album of covers ever released, ever.