The Exit Watch Talk.

Everyone collects for different reasons and everyone has a story. In the beginning all I wanted was a tool watch. I ended up with five and I was content. Then my wife suprised me with my grail and now I don't wear anything else.  I'm still very much into Watches, Horology and the Watch Community but now I'm done searching out the "next one". My fifteen year watch journey is over after acquiring "the one".

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Must be nice.

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That is a cool watch, congrats. The Daytona was my ”exit watch” until I bought the next watch. Then the next. 

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If someone bought me a mint, pre-ceramic, no-date Sub tomorrow, I might say I’m done. Chances of that happening are well zero, so I don’t know! 🤣

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I don't think I could do it.  Once upon a time, no issues at all.  But, there are lots of things we used to do that we find absolutely ridiculous when we think back on them today, no?  

For example, in college and throughout my twenties, my buddies and I would go out on weeklong backpacking trips up in truly remote mountain ranges.  There were a number of times when things really did get a bit dicey.  I look back on all that, and can't believe that we're all still alive.

One of our group, Robert, really didn't like the idea of digging a 6-inch deep hole, and then squatting over it, to relieve himself.  So, on our very first weeklong backpacking trip, he held his poop in THE ENTIRE WEEK and only evacuated his system once we'd returned to civilization and he could sit on a porcelain toilet - I sh*t you not!  (Yes, pun intended.)

Nowadays, I'm certain that if push came to shove, Robert could force himself to hold in his feces for an entire week.  However, I suspect he'd not want to do so willingly.

I feel the same way about wearing only one watch.

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Unless I was gifted the watch, I am starting to have doubts I will ever achieve my grail watch. 

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UnholiestJedi

Unless I was gifted the watch, I am starting to have doubts I will ever achieve my grail watch. 

Same bro. 😩

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I think a platinum Daytona is my exit watch.  I’ll never own one.

Yet if I had that Platona, I’d probably go deep into micro brands to maintain the desire for shiny new things. As it stands now with my budget constraints, I try very hard not to buy mid-range or affordable watches.  They cut too deeply into my budget for my next achievable semi-grail.  The list of watches I want is long and my budget is easily squashed. 

So I guess my answer is no, I don’t have an exit watch.  I’ll always be looking for something different, shiny or new.  

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I can relate more with the idea of "Exit SOTC", meaning when the entire SOTC brings a feeling of fulfillment.

I am living in this situation for a while and it feels oddly good. I still follow the new releases, sales, reviews, etc, I even stops by a dealer just to try a few pieces and chat with the salesperson,  but I don't want to change any watch I have or add a new one because every new watch results in less wrist-time with the watches I already have....

Buy I BB Pro? - Nah, if I buy this one, when can I use my BB58?

Look at this new Seiko Presage with a porcelain dial! - Beautiful but my SARX055 will be jealous...

OMG Look at this [fill the watch here]!! - Can I use the money to take a trip with my CW C63 instead?

I am having conversations like this with myself for a while.... Weird right?

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This is where I’ve been for a while but I really want to save for those higher end models.  It takes years though, and the $1500-2000 models set me back a long way. 

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I don't have an "exit watch", even if I bought my dream watch, I'd still be keeping an eye out for interesting watches. 

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I think I am on NY exit watch every time I buy a new piece LOL! I was happy for about a decade at one point of my life - Enjoy! If it's the Omega in the pic you have an awesome watch. Wear the hell oit of that. To @HotWatchChick69 I never knew someone who could hold it for a week . Your story did remind me of things I don't do any more in a related sense/topic. I knew a guy who would drag mud, snow, sand etc. Into a 2 man tent I was assigned to share with him. This habit annoyed me. I left some gear on a trail one evening,  dug my hole in the middle of that trail, and asked that guy to fetch the gear the next morning. I had the tent packed by the time he returned.  I guess he unloaded those boots . My little trap worked.  This guy got the message about tracking crap where we slept. I guess both of us in my story don't do things we used to do. 

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I do often think about a watch to celebrate my retirement. There are two or three watches in the running.  Whether or not I actually get any one of those is hard to say.  I can say that once I retire from working, I'll definitely be done actually collecting.

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The moment I can afford my grail watch I will have so much money that it doesn’t matter if I stop or not. 
Rolex Daytona Rainbow in Rose. 
 

Until then I’ll convince myself that the next one will be the last one. 

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Not ready yet to go full Astron. Although the new model ticks quite many boxes - if only it didn’t have an offset date..

So to me an exit watch has to be a perfect as watch. Accurate, reliable, wearable. Well it also has to be pretty.

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Am I the only one who finds the idea of an exit watch quite sad? The fun for me is keeping up with the hobby, retaining the passion (regardless of my financial ability to actually own my ever expanding grail list), and always being on the lookout for the next piece to drool over and potentially add to the collection. 

I equate it to my granddad's old hobby of collecting cigarette cards. That was his main hobby for 50+ years, and all through my childhood he would go to auctions to pick up sets or individual cards that he didn't have. Then one day he pretty much said he finally had everything he wanted and he was done. Although nobody else in the family had any particular interest in his hobby, we were all so sad when he made that decision. Like something that had been a huge part of his life had died. 

Point being, I hope I never reach the point of having an exit watch!