you are trapped in here with us
Back in the 1980’s, bon vivuer and jet-setter Lazlo Delgrande convinced me that quartz was elegant and timeless, and more importantly, that it was the future of watches. As a “Friend of Lazlo Delgrande” (the FLD is a rag-tag collective of quartz watch wearers spread across six continents mostly clustered around cities with an opera… Continue reading Quartz Tribulations
Obviously not, that would be stupid. That's like saying I'm done with breathing or drinking beer. It won't happen. That being said, I can't help but notice a pattern in my buying and interests. I'm diversifying, not in watch type or function, because dress watches and old everyday watches (watches that did everything, like my… Continue reading Am I done with watches?
This isn't my first rodeo. I've worked on other people's watches before, namely two Citizens among others from a professor at North-West University, a Tissot Navigator dive watch and a Tissot PR 516 with an ESA electronic movement from my watchmaker. I've spoken about all of those with varying degrees of detail. Some projects just… Continue reading On the workbench part one: Zenith Stellina service watch
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,… Continue reading Born to lose
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
STOP CALLING ANYTHING MORE THAN $1000 ENTRY-LEVEL YOU ELITIST SNOBS! You know who you are. Anyone can put a watch on their wrist, you do not require an ‘ology to do so. If you can afford it, you can roll into a high-end boutique, put your name on a list, and maybe in a decent… Continue reading “Entry-level!?”
For those of us fortunate enough to have met our grandparents, we know that as one ages, one becomes more like a child: more fragile and more dependent. Our track and field grandfathers struggled to get to the post box. Our yoga instructor grandmothers couldn't bend down anymore. Most things deteriorate with age. Cars are… Continue reading They don’t make ’em like they used to…
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
There's an antiques market on the first Sunday of every month at the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton. The stars finally aligned and I got the chance to go. This was my experience: I felt small. There were quite a few stalls, maybe twenty or so, selling everything from teaspoons to clothes, with a good… Continue reading Antiques hunting
Many watch collectors and enthusiasts use the term “strap monster” unironically and frequently as if it describes an actual attribute of a particular watch. For this bit of inanity, we can blame YouTube sensation and weak mustache aficionado TGV. He claims to have coined it and I for one, will gladly let him take it.… Continue reading Towards a theory of watch strap aesthetics
The Escapement Room 