you are trapped in here with us
I'm on record as saying I don't believe in saving for watches. I've written about this exhaustively in various online fora. But as this is relevant to this post, I'll sum it up really quickly here. How I determine whether or not I can afford a watch is by looking at my overall economic health.… Continue reading Impulsivity and Carpe Diem as Strategy
Here's the thing: This week saw me taking my only child to her new home at university. I note that she wasn't wearing the watch I gave her and I didn't ask if she brought it with her. I doubt it. She just doesn't care about watches. I've already written at length about accepting this… Continue reading Onward and Upward
I don't have a Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse. I want one. But I don't have the money for something like that. Nor, unless I win the lottery (and what's the probability of that ever happening?), I probably never will. It retails for above 62,000 USD, which is considerably more than what I earn in a… Continue reading Perfect is the Enemy of the Good, Or Compromise is not a Dirty Word
Upon reflection I realize that I know nothing. What little knowledge I had gleaned from the world of vintage watches could not fill a Chinese teacup. Whatever rules established by voracious consumption and vicarious living through enthused enthusiasts sharing their watch lives do not always translate to confident experience. Sizes. Goddamn sizes. Why are they… Continue reading Matters of Size and Size Mattering
What you see here is a 1920s (I wanna say 1926 but I could be mistaken, this could a model from a later year, maybe 1928) Rolex Oyster. It has a "3-piece cushion case" and is 32mm. Supposedly it's the one of the first, if not the first "waterproof" watch. I have an opportunity to… Continue reading Peak Vintage Rolex
Before watches, there were comicbooks. Thus, much of my collecting behavior is informed by the lessons I learned collecting comics in the past. Of course, everything is different. But everything is the same. Neil Gaiman: “Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit. 'Everything changes, but nothing is truly lost.” It may come as a shock to watch collectors… Continue reading Ya Basic!
I've been stalling. I honestly don't know how I'm going to do it. But I continue to dream of owning just one watch. It's not exactly as easy as getting rid of all the watches, either by selling them or giving them away. The challenge is more nuanced than that. What do I do with… Continue reading I Dream of a One-Watch Collection, Part Two: The How
I sometimes worry that I’m no longer living. I’m alive, yes, but in a zombie-state wherein I walk around, breathing, eating but not really living. I want to be in the moment. But that is so much harder than it purports to be. I walk around, in the middle of the day, going through moments… Continue reading I Dream of Having Only One Watch, Interlude: Trudging Slowly
The one-watch collection—as contradictory as it sounds—is a dream I’ve been nurturing in my head over the past couple of months. It's a lofty dream. Those in the watch community might even call it an impossibility, again given the oxymoronic concept of having just one thing in a collection. To those who’ve already forgotten their… Continue reading I Dream of a One-Watch Collection, Part One: The Why
Those who know me know that I used to be a Batman fanboy. Used to be? Still am, I suppose. Anything Batman-related on Youtube still makes me stop to pay attention. But that passion has petered out quite dramatically over the past couple of years. I used to be quite obsessive. I knew everything about… Continue reading On Finding my Batman Watch
The Escapement Room 