Not your’s, but at least you got to handle it!
We may never be able to buy a grand complication. We may never find that one vintage piece we always had our eyes on. We may never get that limited edition that perfectly suits our tastes. But we may be able to handle a few of them.
So I ask you WC, even if you were not able to buy it, whats the most interesting or rare watch you have been able to handle? Maybe an AD or a friend had something interesting and you get to try it on.
I used to work at a pretty fancy cafe with a lot of interesting people coming in so I got to handle these bad boys. These pictures were all pulled from the internet, would have been sort of odd to take a picture with my phone of someones watch when I was supposed to be making someones latte…
Collector of fine and affordable timekeeping devices.
Buddy's watch...
Buddy's watch...
The finishing on that movement is incredible! Got to love a handwound watch
When you say "handle it" do you mean getting to first base, second base, or third base?
Got my hands on one of these back in January on a cruise. $85K was a bit too rich for my blood, however.
DISCLAIMER: Picture sourced.
Got my hands on one of these back in January on a cruise. $85K was a bit too rich for my blood, however.
DISCLAIMER: Picture sourced.
Watchfinder did a video on this one! Very cool!
The highlight of my watch handling was a buddy of mine who has a yellow gold royal oak... the feeling that I got from handling that was indescribable.
I would love to get a Grand Seiko Spring Drive, But I could not afford it and the Divorce Attorney.
My late father-in-law was a Vacheron collector and had acquired this impossibly-thin skeleton in the early 1990s. I don't know much about it or how he came to own it. A few years after this purchase, he also bought one of the first Overseas editions as well.
What I really wonder is whether the diamond bezel is factory, and, if so, what made him choose such a loud complement to an otherwise understatedly elegant watch. In all of the similar pictures I've seen online, none have the diamond bezel. But the movement is so so stunning - It's so delicately designed, thin, and so graceful. What a treat to wear it once before going back into my MIL's safe!
(The president next to it wasn't too bad either!)
When you say "handle it" do you mean getting to first base, second base, or third base?
First Base in Watch Collecting: Stepping into the AD after lurking outside on previous visits
Second Base of Watch Collecting: Trying on watches that you definitely aren't buying at the AD
Third Base of Watch Collecting: Borrowing a new watch from a friends collection or Buying a pre-owned gray market piece.
Home Run: Getting that fateful call from the AD that your order is in!
Just yesterday, CVS drug store, young man in the photo department allowed me to wear his Todor Pelagos Titanium. Beautiful. Thanks Rick.
A friend of mine in Rotary has this one on his wrist. He is not really a collector, but he really likes this watch and has let me handle it.
Got my hands on one of these back in January on a cruise. $85K was a bit too rich for my blood, however.
DISCLAIMER: Picture sourced.
OMG, a Zenith Academy Georges Favre-Jacot Chain Fusee Limited Edition 182210481001C713 in the flesh! Thank God that ship got back to port without sinking. My Holy Grail watch was aboard. What were your impressions?
These two at the same time. My eyes hurt that day from all the shine