I Came Here for a Watches in the Wild and All I got Was Some NYE Navel Gazing
I was at a Christmas party about a week ago and, as is my wont, I was attempting to spot watches on wrists for upcoming additions of #watchesinthewild . It was slim pickings.
Indeed I did not come across a mechanical, automatic, or quartz watch the entire evening until at the cocktail bar, I accidentally bumped into a gentleman and his Rolex GMT Master II pre-ceramic and my parmigani Fleurier accidentally knocked heads. It could have been a bad moment but he was a mensch and I'm pretty calm about such things and so we got to chatting and found a bit of common interest in the collection and veneration of tiny wristborn Rube Goldberg machines.
Like me, he had been on the hunt looking for interesting watches on interesting wrists and was coming up very short. I can't blame him. By any measure this collection of bankers and hedge fund managers and attorneys and startup executives at a tony-for-the-Bay-Area holiday shindig should have produced some interesting spotting. But it wasn't the night for it.
But in that one conversation, I found a micro cosm of a year plus of watch conversations, ranging from the decay of online watch communities to collecting goals for 2024 to how the slowdown in luxury is going to produce a lot of countercyclical purchasing opportunities to what constitutes an appropriate occasion to mark with a watch purchase (work anniversary is yes but getting through tax filing season is no. Birth of a child is yes but definitely buy your wife something first).
It was a lovely way to end 2023 and a wonderful microcosm of 50 plus weeks of chronicling the watches I've seen on people's wrists and conversations around them. It spurred a couple of reflections on this day before the New Year.
1. You don't need mine (or anyone else's) approval to buy a watch. Not one of the weird and wonderful stories I've heard over the past year or two I've spent chronicling #watchesinthewild started with " I put a poll up on a forum.".
2. Critique is overrated among strangers (though not among friends). I have never had a great first watch conversation when the other person was on the defensive. Leave that sort of stuff to clickbait YouTube videos or forum posts. If you want to have meaningful and interesting conversations off the bat, you gotta be the type of person who other folks want to hang out with. Be kind and generous, particularly with knowledge. Be curious around the stories of why a watch came to be in someone's collection.
3. Besides, the stories are really the only thing that are worth anything. I (and most others) couldn't care less about how much you paid for your watch. Tell me a cool story about how you bought a chronograph and didn't realize it was quartz until it ran out if battery or your weakness for non-G shock Casio or how you love that the GO Sixties looks like the Eye of Sauron. The best stories have meaning attached to them that are above and beyond the watch itself.
4. Even the bad experiences end up being good stories. If you can't laugh at yourself over the mistakes, what are you doing anyway?
Happy last hours of 2023 everyone! I hope you are spending it with people you love.
I'll see you in 2024!
By day, investor and father. By night, Seiko nut. #justgooutsideandtouchgrass
Best to you as well!
Best to you as well!
Happy New Year!
Not too much watch spotting at Great America but having fun with the kids during the last hours of 2023. Happy New Years to you and your fam.
Not too much watch spotting at Great America but having fun with the kids during the last hours of 2023. Happy New Years to you and your fam.
NYE with the kiddos is de rigeur until they're old enough to not burn the house down when left alone 😉
Happy New year!
NYE with the kiddos is de rigeur until they're old enough to not burn the house down when left alone 😉
Happy New year!
Happy new year my friend!
Tonight is a our big soba dinner, as is tradition in my Japan - Canada hybrid family.
Cheers to us only having wise acquisitions in 2024 😉🥂🍾!
I work at the Will/Call office of a construction supplier. Most of the guys that come in are very blue collar. They're fond of Casio. But every now and then a home owner, a salesman, or an executive will stop in to pick up and will almost always comment on my watch. And the conversations never mention a price.
Once I noticed a guy was wearing a Santos. He never once mentioned what he paid for it. But he was excited to talk about how easy the bracelet is to adjust and how he panicked his wedding day because he couldn't find it that morning and wanted to get married in it. He also lit up, as he told me about how he bought his wife a matching Tank that he stumbled across in an Airbnb lost and found.
A salesmen stepped in and noticed my Omega 120 and struck up a conversation. He was wearing a BB Pro but only really wanted to talk about the Vintage Bulova that his dad gave him before he passed. He had pictures on his phone like a proud parent.
The only Rolex I've seen is the wild was on a young guy who was embarrassed I noticed. He generally wore a Tissot but it was being serviced. It was a graduation gift from his father. He could never afford such an extravagance. But he beamed with pride as he talked about his graduation night and how his dad presented him with the watch at his party afterwards.
I agree, who wants to talk to a someone who owns the watch just to flex. The stories are the interesting part.
Happy New Year's
Happy new year my friend!
Tonight is a our big soba dinner, as is tradition in my Japan - Canada hybrid family.
Cheers to us only having wise acquisitions in 2024 😉🥂🍾!
Pish, if you only bought watches that were perfect for you, where would the good stories come from?
Toshikoshi soba sounds pretty amazing right now!
Happy New Years!
I work at the Will/Call office of a construction supplier. Most of the guys that come in are very blue collar. They're fond of Casio. But every now and then a home owner, a salesman, or an executive will stop in to pick up and will almost always comment on my watch. And the conversations never mention a price.
Once I noticed a guy was wearing a Santos. He never once mentioned what he paid for it. But he was excited to talk about how easy the bracelet is to adjust and how he panicked his wedding day because he couldn't find it that morning and wanted to get married in it. He also lit up, as he told me about how he bought his wife a matching Tank that he stumbled across in an Airbnb lost and found.
A salesmen stepped in and noticed my Omega 120 and struck up a conversation. He was wearing a BB Pro but only really wanted to talk about the Vintage Bulova that his dad gave him before he passed. He had pictures on his phone like a proud parent.
The only Rolex I've seen is the wild was on a young guy who was embarrassed I noticed. He generally wore a Tissot but it was being serviced. It was a graduation gift from his father. He could never afford such an extravagance. But he beamed with pride as he talked about his graduation night and how his dad presented him with the watch at his party afterwards.
I agree, who wants to talk to a someone who owns the watch just to flex. The stories are the interesting part.
Happy New Year's
Amazing stories! That's what I'm talking about!
I acknowledge that flexers are a natural part of the hobby but I will never get over just how reductionist it feels. Like, sure you might have a pricey watch but there's always a John Goldberger or Sandro Fratini who has a watch that just blows yours out of the water. So why compete in that way? It feels like a surefire way to end up being ultimately unhappy.
Happy New Year!
💯💯💯💯 to everything (except I’d caveat the first - you might need spousal approval, depending on cost and situation 😉)
One of the best pieces of advice that I’ve heard recently is “Don’t be a s****y Wikipedia” (video below if anyone’s interested), something I’ve certainly been guilty of in the past. Basically - don’t just recount facts that you can find online; instead try to tell a good story if you’re going to talk. Don’t fill a conversation with information, try to make others feel something.
So here’s to 2024 hopefully being full of good stories and even better people.
https://youtu.be/mRJkrFfulZs?si=arWefMg1wyJeGA_r
Happy New Year, mate! 🥂
💯💯💯💯 to everything (except I’d caveat the first - you might need spousal approval, depending on cost and situation 😉)
One of the best pieces of advice that I’ve heard recently is “Don’t be a s****y Wikipedia” (video below if anyone’s interested), something I’ve certainly been guilty of in the past. Basically - don’t just recount facts that you can find online; instead try to tell a good story if you’re going to talk. Don’t fill a conversation with information, try to make others feel something.
So here’s to 2024 hopefully being full of good stories and even better people.
https://youtu.be/mRJkrFfulZs?si=arWefMg1wyJeGA_r
I am only an occasional whiskey drinker (though I tend to have a fair amount on store at any given time) but Whiskey Vault is a guilty pleasure channel of mine and this is one of the very best videos they've ever put out.
I am shitty Wikipedia entirely too often but stories are what animate me.
Happy New Year, mate! 🥂
One more hour for me but Happy New Year! I hope it's a great one for you, friend!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
A boring old couple now, spent the last hours with the Mrs while she was doing her routine stretching exercises while I watched the Packers destroy the Vikings, 2 NFL teams that I have been interested in since my high school days.
Earlier in the day we were looking for a special lunch only to find all the hip places slammed with young customers looking to get ready for the evening. After marching for an hour the Mrs made an executive decision to return to our neighbourhood dim sum place which had a queue an hour long, lol. We ended up back at a Vietnamese Pho eatery that we have dined at for almost 40 years where there was a long queue but the octogenarian owner seated us immediately apologizing to other waiting diners that we had a reservation pissing off a middle aged couple both wearing Apple Watches with a son wearing a Moonswatch! I actually felt a little guilty accepting a table that can seat more than 2 and a little disloyal that we did not think of a bowl of pho earlier. After our late lunch the owner wanted to chat,my wife is not a watch enthusiast but likes good people who are industrious, succeed, our friend wears a lovely gold Rolex Day/Date even as he wipes down tables, complimented me on my OMEGA DSOM, a little insincerely, haha. I was thinking that my ceramic watch actually cost me more than his gold Rolex since he bought his ages ago. He is proud of his life here in Canada with 5 adult progeny and a horde of giant grandsons. He approached me to discuss a project to build a boutique condo project but that is topic for another day.
I am and have been a fan of PF for years but cannot pull the trigger always recalling when the Canadian agent offered me models that he could not get ads interested in for 40- 50% off the MSRP. Good old days, now I pay list for everything. Have a great day, a great year.
Thank you for making your posts. They are a joy to read and you approach each story with humility, honesty and joy.
Best wishes for an amazing 2024 to you and yours and to all the people who enjoy your posts.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
A boring old couple now, spent the last hours with the Mrs while she was doing her routine stretching exercises while I watched the Packers destroy the Vikings, 2 NFL teams that I have been interested in since my high school days.
Earlier in the day we were looking for a special lunch only to find all the hip places slammed with young customers looking to get ready for the evening. After marching for an hour the Mrs made an executive decision to return to our neighbourhood dim sum place which had a queue an hour long, lol. We ended up back at a Vietnamese Pho eatery that we have dined at for almost 40 years where there was a long queue but the octogenarian owner seated us immediately apologizing to other waiting diners that we had a reservation pissing off a middle aged couple both wearing Apple Watches with a son wearing a Moonswatch! I actually felt a little guilty accepting a table that can seat more than 2 and a little disloyal that we did not think of a bowl of pho earlier. After our late lunch the owner wanted to chat,my wife is not a watch enthusiast but likes good people who are industrious, succeed, our friend wears a lovely gold Rolex Day/Date even as he wipes down tables, complimented me on my OMEGA DSOM, a little insincerely, haha. I was thinking that my ceramic watch actually cost me more than his gold Rolex since he bought his ages ago. He is proud of his life here in Canada with 5 adult progeny and a horde of giant grandsons. He approached me to discuss a project to build a boutique condo project but that is topic for another day.
I am and have been a fan of PF for years but cannot pull the trigger always recalling when the Canadian agent offered me models that he could not get ads interested in for 40- 50% off the MSRP. Good old days, now I pay list for everything. Have a great day, a great year.
This exact thing happened to me as well, except it was a woman who owned the restaurant (an old family friend) and it was a cha chaan teng. I and my brood definitely cut in front of some pregamers on the strength of a 40 year relationship. The tropes are sometimes hilariously on the nose.
I have long admired PF as well but generally felt that they lacked something visually... something which has changed. Their recent collection is quite beautiful and so I ended up with a Tondagraph GT Panda.
Happy New Year to you and yours! Gong hey fat choy!
Thank you for making your posts. They are a joy to read and you approach each story with humility, honesty and joy.
Best wishes for an amazing 2024 to you and yours and to all the people who enjoy your posts.
Happy New Year and thank you!
I have many more stories to come.
This exact thing happened to me as well, except it was a woman who owned the restaurant (an old family friend) and it was a cha chaan teng. I and my brood definitely cut in front of some pregamers on the strength of a 40 year relationship. The tropes are sometimes hilariously on the nose.
I have long admired PF as well but generally felt that they lacked something visually... something which has changed. Their recent collection is quite beautiful and so I ended up with a Tondagraph GT Panda.
Happy New Year to you and yours! Gong hey fat choy!
Thank you! PF is a little less in your face now but I like to buy from an ad prices are wicked! My ad said that he can try to not sell me too many watches so that I can save, haha. The nice thing about being Chinese is that we have our own lunar New Year celebrations after all the other celebrations. All my best to you and your family! Looking forward to the next post. ❤️
Somehow missed this originally but great summary as always.
Somehow missed this originally but great summary as always.
Happy New Year buddy!
Just one of those random fever dreams of writing I have every so often.
I missed this because everyone in my house was sick when it was posted. I found it because I searched the five or so people here who post interesting things (the main feed is mostly "here is a picture of a watch that I own" type posts). Two of my favorites have been inactive for more than a week. That's a bad sign.
The stories are very important. I don't have many, or any, really. I may just have to make some up in the New Year. My real life watch interactions are only about 50% successful. I helped a friend become an Omega enthusiast after being a Shinola enthusiast, without ever denigrating Shinola (for whom I have a soft spot). I learned of another's love of Panerai, he must own six of them. I have been generally disappointed when Rolex is the entry point of the conversation. Usually, there isn't much else to discuss. It is a Rolex. In my profession it seems as though they get their "reach" luxury watch, and then stand pat after that. And no one does what I do. I am more of an outlier IRL than I am here.
I hope that some of our old favorites come back, and that I still get to read about awkward watch interactions by the best watch spotter on the West Coast.
I missed this because everyone in my house was sick when it was posted. I found it because I searched the five or so people here who post interesting things (the main feed is mostly "here is a picture of a watch that I own" type posts). Two of my favorites have been inactive for more than a week. That's a bad sign.
The stories are very important. I don't have many, or any, really. I may just have to make some up in the New Year. My real life watch interactions are only about 50% successful. I helped a friend become an Omega enthusiast after being a Shinola enthusiast, without ever denigrating Shinola (for whom I have a soft spot). I learned of another's love of Panerai, he must own six of them. I have been generally disappointed when Rolex is the entry point of the conversation. Usually, there isn't much else to discuss. It is a Rolex. In my profession it seems as though they get their "reach" luxury watch, and then stand pat after that. And no one does what I do. I am more of an outlier IRL than I am here.
I hope that some of our old favorites come back, and that I still get to read about awkward watch interactions by the best watch spotter on the West Coast.
Hope you and the family are on the mend.
I have a couple of amusing interactions from post holiday travels to relate as well as a feature from an in flight magazine. We are still fighting for regularity but that will improve with some time