What was/is your grail, do you have multiple, and how long did it take you to save for them?

I wanted a Moonwatch Speedy, but the more I looked at other Speedy references, the more the 3594.50 spoke to me.

Still working on acquiring one

I want the VC 1921 Historique American:

How did I come to it? Loved the design and story. Love the quirkiness and understated nature of this holy trinity model. Why is it a grail rather than an aspirational next piece? It’s out of my budget and seems to be an obscene amount of money to spend.

It is a grail quest that I have not yet decided to undertake.

My Grail would be a ALS Lange 1. I could save and purchase a used one if I wanted to. But I don’t know if that watch is me, if I’d be comfortable in it. I’ve also put a cap on what I’ll spend on a watch and definitely more than the cap.

So my grail is probably a Rolex sprite. It’s attainable if you can find it new. That one will be the chase. It’s made to wear on your right wrist which is perfect for me being I’m a lefty.

A Grail should be hard, take effort and time, years even. Sacrifice should be in order.

I have a couple of other watches that are reachable so I don’t consider those grails.

I have watches I intend to buy that are on my list for milestones, but I don't consider them "grails" per se . . . I guess for me a grail is something borderline unobtainable. I suppose if any watch that I kind of want falls under the grail category for me it would be another Vacheron . . . but the historiques 1942. It's not that I can't save for that esp. for a retirement watch or something, but I'm uncertain if it's responsible or even comfortable for my lifestyle to buy a watch beyond the $15k mark.

3 Omegas, Seamaster 300 Heritage, Aqua Terra, and Speedy.

It may take an eternity for me to save that.

I have answered this many times on WatchCrunch but I 'll be glad to do it again. My grail does not yet exist. It would look like a somewhat smaller version of a Seiko Arnie. Wouldn't necessarily need the digi part. Very rugged. It would have sapphire, at least 100M WR and a bi-directional friction bezel for timing things. Rubber strap. And it would be powered by a solar mecaquartz movement. The price would be $195.

Saving is better than buying a substitute, because most people seem to end up dissatisfied with the substitute watch and end up buying the watch they wanted originally. So generally, I see substitutions as a dead end in collecting.

As far as a ‘grail’ I suppose the Glashutte Original PanoMatic Lunar was until I bought it. I got lucky on that, kept waiting and watching until I found a very good deal on one pre owned. I don’t wear it much, because I don’t have need of a dress watch often. But lack of wrist time doesn’t abate my love and enjoyment of the watch.

I have two of my three… the Rolex DJ 41 & Omega Speedmaster Professional. I’m still deciding on the third… either a Seamaster Pro 300 or Panerai Luminor… or Blanc Pain 50 fathoms. We’ll see which one wins.

As far as “grail” watch the 40mm explorer has taken that spot away from the polar explorer 2…

What I’m likely to purchase next is a day/date Aqua Terra in black.

There are several very expensive and hard to come by watches I would love to own but those have passed into some other realm of unobtainable. They are Unobtanium or Excalibur level now.

My grail is the Moser Vantablack in White Gold. I wouldn't say specifically that I'm saving for it. My life or income would need to change to really justify wearing $25K on my wrist

I have been messing with timepieces since forever, can honestly say that there has never been some single watch that would or could be a final acquisition. My wife is a director in the company that still wants her around, our two daughters are independent young adults, I am just admitting that it would not be a financial hardship for me to buy some special watch as long as the cost is not some amount that is beyond all reason. It is certainly not a Grail but a huge error in judgement. My youngest nephew wanted to buy his first serious watch, some Rolex like his two older brothers and a future brother in law but something more interesting. I introduced him to a man who sold grey market goods back in the late 80s had some new old watches from various brands including the Rolex Sea Dweller that my nephew chose. There were at least 5-6 watches from interesting brands including Rolex, Omega, Heurer etcetera that would be the star of any collection today. I lacked the wisdom then have not gained even today. I guess I am lucky that my modest investigation continues awhile longer.

I managed to acquire one of my grail pieces - Breitling Chronomat B01 42 - late last year. I always had savings and had allocated a budget of USD5-6K for a second-hand piece.

After about 1-2 year’s of scoping on C24, I managed to find one for just over USD5K before shipping and taxes, so I went for it.

For me, the process was about saving up while scoping things out. I tend to be drawn towards the underdog pieces that offer good bang for buck, rather than chasing trends or the next hype watch. Of course, the design and proportions also have to appeal to my particularly picky eye.

My next grail is a Zenith Chronomaster Original, and I foresee myself saving up a good 2-3 years before I am comfortable getting a second hand example.

I have been truly blessed in the past couple of years and have landed several of the watches on my dream wall (call them grail watches, if you will).

So I shouldn't really be aggressively pursuing any more for a while, but if I got the call for this one, I'd be all over it like an expensive suit...

A. Lange & Söhne

LANGEMATIK PERPETUAL

A goal of mine was always to get three luxury level watches. I can’t own the holy trinity but I’d like to own the three horsemen I got an omega seamaster like yourself, a Panerai luminor Marina 8 day, and a Rolex OP 41. Started collecting when I was 17-18 and just finished this goal now. I bought the seamaster after finishing graduate school, bought the Rolex because it was at retail so it would have been less finically responsible to not buy it, and just bought the Panerai preowned for a good price. 7,900 msrp and I got it for 4200. I own 13 watches total but alot of them are alot cheaper I’ll probably sell most of and keep my big three and add in a breitling, Tudor, or grand seiko

I would think a lot of people would. A solar mecaquartz movement would solve the two "problems" with quartz watches - battery changes and the ticking second hand. This seems so obvious. There's been cheap reliable solar and cheap reliable mecaquartz for years, but for whatever reason, they aren't put together.

There may already be such a watch. But I've never seen it.

In eternity, you won't need a watch.

Well said. The only thing wrong with this is that I wish I'd said it.

But can I add this? I always wonder how many saved and sacrificed for years, acquired their "grail" only to find it really wasn't all that.

The true "grail" is something unattainable, just like Christ's cup or Cross, never found and never will. It is better left that way..

I have a few at different price points. On the lower end I’ve got the Hanhart 417 ES (I wanna be Steve McQueen) and the Tudor Heritage Advisor (something about a mechanical alarm that I just find cool). On the higher end I want a Rolex GMT Pepsi.

The Rolex will likely never happen but I could swing the other two someday. What I really want is to visit the Hanhart factory in Germany and pick up a 417 directly from them…kind of a grail watch and vacation rolled into one!

I have two grails.

The first is the watch I will buy when I make partner (or an equivalent job outside of law in the industries I serve), a grail, but to commerate a professional achievement: a 2 tone Datejust on a jubilee bracelet, just like the watches all my successful “uncles” wore in the 80’s.

The second is a collection grail: Some kind of Vacheron with a complication. I inherited a VC from my dad, it would be nice if I could pass 2 VCs on to my kids.

My grail is the SPB383. Yes, "only" a 1700€ watch.

There is no offering in the upper luxury market that checks as many boxes for me as this mid-tier Seiko GMT diver when it comes to design and aesthetic.

My grail is a seamaster 300m and an Explorer 36 or 39mm

Yes it is.

What a dream that would be.

Very true,hopefully a smart engineer will design one.

Sharp, sharp, especially the Seiko (admitted Seiko bias).

Since I bought my Hamilton Khaki Titanium a few months ago, I've started saving for another Nomos, this time, a Metro. Should be getting it within the year.

Nice collection! Will you add a 3rd omega to it?

Yes, that's the plan.....then a 4th,5th....😂😂