Watches you have had for 2+ years - inspired by Random Rob
Random Rob released a video today talking about watches he has had for at least 2 years. I figured that would be an interesting discussion topic. So tell me, what watches have you had for at least 2 years, and how does that compare to how many watches you have total.
I’ll go first, I have 8 watches total, these 4 have been with me for at least that 2 year mark (and in fact they have all crossed 3 years). In chronological order:
1) skeleton watch bought on my honeymoon (Jan 2018). I almost never wear this anymore, but it is the watch that kicked it all off. It will never get sold partially for sentimental reasons, partially because my wife loves it, and partially because it really isn’t worth anything
2) G-Shock square (Aug 2019). I bought this to wear on a trip to hike the Inca Trail in Peru and it remains my go to hiking/exercise/beater watch
3) Ginault Ocean Rover (ordered Sep 2019, arrived Feb 2020) - I custom ordered this with the red and gold bezel and that is probably why it has stayed so long and will continue to stay. I love the red on the bezel and second hand, I love the gold speckled beige lume with matching beige date, and I absolutely love the way the light catches the 12-6-9 markers and the hands at the right angle. It’s an homage with dubious history, but I love it.
4) Baby-G Pokémon limited edition (April 2020). The strap isn’t super comfortable and I am always between holes which limits its wrist time, but as a Pokémon fan I absolutely love this watch. Plus the smaller size and thinner profile compared to the regular square G makes it wear great. If it had a better band it probably could have replaced my G altogether.
That is it for me, how about you? How many watches have stayed with you over the long-ish term?
Current Collection: Cartier Santos (medium) Ginault Ocean Rover Omega Speedmaster Rolex Explorer Seiko SLA049 And a pair of G-Shock’s
The majority of my watches I've had for 2+ years. Many 10+ and some for over 20 years. Oldest I've had for 46 years.
out of the 17 total watches that inhabit my modest collection, the oldest are my two 90's era Vostoks which were purchased sometime in the very early 2000's ... one of which I gave to my father back in the day as a Father's Day prezzie and which my mom gave back to me after he passed in 2016. The most recent is a Pagani Design PD1701v3 (Speedster) that I bought off of Aliexpresso in February of this year. All of the rest fall somewhere in between, with a couple of them having been acquired over the past couple of years.
I lost my 1st ever watch I bought back in 1994, it was some quartz off-brand, the lugs disintegrated while I was riding my motorcycle and fell off my wrist. 2nd one was an Orient which I bought in 1999 and in 2007 I gave it to someone while I was traveling in Vietnam. 3rd watch was a Movado which I bought in 2003, I let my BIL borrow for his wedding in 2006 and he never bothered to return and I never bothered to ask for it back. My 4th watch was a Zenith El Primero Chronomaster T moon phase bought in 2006. I have added a few watches a year since then and totaling around 25 at the moment.
I'm north of twenty watches total, and all but one of them has been with me for more than two years.
I enjoy collecting both new and vintage watches. Out of the 20 pieces I currently have, 8 are under 2 years and the rest over 4 years. The oldest (my favorite) is a 60 yr old Rolex 6694 and latest Grand Seiko SBGE285.
The majority of my watches I've had for 2+ years. Many 10+ and some for over 20 years. Oldest I've had for 46 years.
Hello Foghorn. What is your 46-year watch?
I lost my 1st ever watch I bought back in 1994, it was some quartz off-brand, the lugs disintegrated while I was riding my motorcycle and fell off my wrist. 2nd one was an Orient which I bought in 1999 and in 2007 I gave it to someone while I was traveling in Vietnam. 3rd watch was a Movado which I bought in 2003, I let my BIL borrow for his wedding in 2006 and he never bothered to return and I never bothered to ask for it back. My 4th watch was a Zenith El Primero Chronomaster T moon phase bought in 2006. I have added a few watches a year since then and totaling around 25 at the moment.
I've heard of that company, Quartz Off-Brand. Their watches were notorious for their disintegrating lugs.
Seriously, can you follow up on that? How fast were you going? Did your bike need new shocks? How did the lugs disintegrate? You have an interesting story here.
Hello Foghorn. What is your 46-year watch?
A Zodiac Seawolf purchased at the Dedham,Mass. mall in 1976 , on sale for 100 dollars plus 5 bucks tax.
A Zodiac Seawolf purchased at the Dedham,Mass. mall in 1976 , on sale for 100 dollars plus 5 bucks tax.
Thank you so much, that's great. I'm glad Zodiac is coming back. I wish they still had that $100 price. That's the one detail reissues never get right. Also, there should be no tax on watches, because there is no tax on food. So there should be no tax on watches because you can eat, sleep and dream them.
Have really wanted to Pokémon G-Shock! Does it work on an average adult male wrist or is it too small? I know you said the strap holes don’t work, but other than that?
12 watches total, 8 for 2+ years. Only one watch purchased in the last 12 months. Oldest watch has been in the family since 1956, my personally bought watches range from 2012-2023.
There are a number of watches I've had for over 2 years, and I now realise most of them are quartz:
Two automatics gifted to me for my birthday from my then-girlfriend-now-wife (Sturmaskie Garagin 40mm black dial & Steinhart Ocean One Vintage).
G7900 black/red G-shock from 2012 - my "first watch bought by myself". Used primarily when I'm going for a run / cycle; replaced straps as they crumbled back in 2016.
Casio Pro-trek gifted by my (now) mother-in-law back in 2016. She saw my G7900 was crapping out and she found this in a charity shop. Mainly backup for my G7900.
Bulova Lunar Pilot PVD - pre-covid ebay purchase, one battery change so far.
Swatch Black Rebel (totally blacked out) which is now hiding in my office desk drawer as a "spare watch".
I guess my takeaway is that since I truly started getting into the hobby (since 2017) I've gone through a significant number of automatics, while most of my quartz watches continue to play a useful role in my life as back-ups and alternatives should I get bored of my autos.
bought this guy in around year 2000..
My high school watch, a Seiko chrono, (40 year old) is in my desk... in pieces. So the monster is the winner here!
The collection started to take off in early 2020 so there are a fair few that would fit in this category, particularly as I don't flip watches (though I give the odd one away). The question gets interesting for me at the 4 year mark that predates the 'collector' phase of my collection. See the relevant thread
Over 2 years two seikos turtle and mini turtle. A nivada from the 60s and two vostok.