Grail watch

I felt that way after I got my first BiDen

“It’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.”

I don’t know how this pertains to watch collecting but it sounds good.

One watch collection?

It’s all about the hunt. And as the song goes : “the hunter gets captured by the game”

Everytime I got my grail, I moved onto a new grail.

If I owned my grail I'm sure I wouldn't be wearing it every day, and I'd still buy other watches.

And then? What it happened to you?

I own my grail. I wear it every day and I feel happy and lost.

Had mine for 3 years, hard not to wear it every day. 😁

Certainly changes perspective, as additional watches will be stealing wrist time from it , so purchases are more considered. 🤔

Plus I'm quite a strap collector now, which in the long term is far cheaper 🤑

Love it more every time I wear it.

I don't feel the need to own everything anymore, it's actually quite liberating.

Everyone is different tho 😉

After the Holy Grail? Don’t you go on a quest for aliens and a Crystal Skull and then time travel to visit Archimedes?

That thing happened to me, and is currently my situation.I got my grail watch, the Black Bay 54, a watch that I absolutely love and think of it as an End Game watch.

Is my collection complete? No, I still have some pieces in mind, but this Tudor really nailed every box I needed checked.

I think that to each their own, but in my case, I think once I complete my 12 watch collection, I will still be buying and selling some not high End pieces, just to sayisfy this addiction 😂😂

Getting a grail doesn't mean you stop especially if you like heritage/history.

The way I see it:

This is just a bit of example. I got my first pilot's watch flighty fell in love and started to get different aviation pieces that led me to my Grail Hanhart 417 as you keep learning more about watches and aviation I started to add a wish list. Just because I got my grail doesn't mean the journey stops I still have IWC, Longines, Breitling, Cartier. There's vintage watches. For me is not just get a grail game over.

In the words of the immortal Mr. Spock: “after a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true".

I would posit the fact that by definition the "grail" or "search of" is by classical definition, unobtainable.

Which I always find odd amongst watch enthusiasts, because after a "grail" is acquired one moves on to the next. Making the first "grail" not a "grail", which dilutes the meaning to just simply a higher priced watch you have to save/wait for. YMMV.

Not a huge fan of the Biden but to each is own

Now we know why he hates snakes 💪

I think this is probably a good visual representation of what happens when someone has a "Grail" and they obtain it and feel complete...

For me it was clearly the best decision i ve ever made in watch collecting to get my grail (even though its just a seiko 2nd ed. Monster)- still glancing it every day even though i do not wear it much for the fear of damaging it in the process

I don't own my grail watch, and probably never will (Credor Eichi II), but if I did I am worried I would get grail inflation.

I’d still have, regularly wear, and maybe, MAYBE, buy other watches - but the hunt would essentially end. Daytona town is were you plant roots 😉

Show a guy married to a super model and I’ll show you a guy tired of … looking at . a supermodel. (paraphrasing here)

My grails might keep changing … but I’ve got a happy marriage vibe with a few of my watches.

I mix up what I wear constantly, but a few get much more wear than others.

(Crazy pink leather strap for this guy is incoming! 🥰)

For me, as for others too, the grail is a concept and means something that you search for but will never be able to get as it doesn't really exist for one or more reasons. Still, the simple concept of search keeps you advancing, like wanting to reach the horizon. Each step you take, the horizon is one step further.

I've come to settle to the idea of making the trip more relevant than the destination.

@Inquieto mate if you be drinking from that grail you will end up KIA, this the grail you need

I don't completely agree. My grail watch has always been the Rolex GMT. Initially, it seemed entirely out of reach for me, but over the years (decades) and with promotions, it became attainable. I believe a grail watch can become a reality with the passage of time, unless you choose a Patek Tiffany...

Yes, I mean, the definition of grail when talking about watches differs from person to person. I personally adhere to the romantic interpretation of a unreachable and of incalculable value goal that keep us pushing our limits to allow us to grow to be better people and appreciate the adventure of enlightenment. But for others is, as I seem to understand from what you're saying, a watch that is very expensive or difficult to attain but exists nevertheless. Who am I to blame for what their interpretation of grail means if we are talking about feelings...? For me, but again not for everybody, the grail is an ideal. If for some magic Rolex would make a faithful reissue of the 1016 with the only change of using chromalight lume instead of tritium, then I would reconsider it all and then that would not be my grail, but a very hard and expensive watch to get. If able to get it then would be too expensive to own and wear in any situation for fear of losing or damaging it. And to be honest, I feel that in my case the best is the enemy of the good enough and maybe, just maybe, that is the reason the watch that really makes me happy is a very much humble one that I really do take to explore and is not the Explorer I own.

Always better to desire. The fun is in the chase.

You get the grail and, if you're honest with yourself, it's just another watch. Maybe a very nice watch. Usually one you can flex online with and make people say, "Wow!"

But still just a watch, all the same.

I found that after buying my grail I moved into a different phase of the hobby with a calmer and more considered approach. I know that I now have the one watch I could happily wear every day for the rest of my life. I will still buy other watches (indeed I bought one two months after my grail) but I will be more selective. I will still wear other watches because sometimes it's just nice to look at something different on my wrist.

While I have dream watches and long term goal watches the only grail I had was this omega deville

I bought this model in 1987 when I finished my apprenticeship and it was my pride and joy for 15 years. In 2002 my daughter was playing with it and threw it out the window and my wife ran it over with a lawnmower 🤬

Anyway I spent over 20years looking everywhere to replace it I spent a few hours every week looking for an exact replacement. Last year while looking at a motorbike on eBay I came across it for sale in Japan. A grail to me isn’t about how much it costs or if I can afford it. It’s about the journey you go through to get to your goal with the possibility you will never get there but you keep on trying anyway. I’ve now given the watch to my wife to enjoy and she wears it daily as it deserves. I no longer have a grail and I’m proud I kept on going to eventually arrive at the end of my journey. Perhaps I will get one of my dream watches in the future but it won’t be a grail as other than raising the money I won’t have been through an epic journey to get it

"In 2002 my daughter was playing with it and threw it out the window and my wife ran it over with a lawnmower 🤬" I was not expecting that! That is one of the most startling statements I have ever read on WC. It's like a line out of The Naked Gun (try imagining Leslie Nilsen saying it), except not at all funny for you... my commiserations 😭

Honestly I could have cried

She did replace it with a speedmaster so not all bad 😂