My Humble Collection

Hello Crunchers! I have been a long time lurker here and figured I should finally introduce myself to the community. I have been into watches since a young age, but never deep into the watch community until a few years ago. I wanted to share what watches are in my collection, and why they are special to me. I hope you enjoy walking through my collection with me!

We'll dive right in, in chronological order, with this Swatch La Tour Eiffel GK276. This watch was a gift to me from my Uncle who had just returned from a business trip in Paris. I was very young at the time, and loved this watch to death. It was a fun watch to wear as a kid, and I still have fun wearing it a few times a year now. I especially love the strap, which is printed with a map of the area surrounding the Eiffel Tower.

Next up, a Casio GW-9010-1. A solar powered, tough as nails Casio that was a Christmas gift from my grandmother when I was in 7th grade. I remember a classmate of mine had this watch and how cool I thought it was. When I opened this watch on Christmas day, I played with it all day - testing out alarms and functions. As a 7th-grader, I loved the black and red color scheme and the almost futuristic look of the exposed solar panel. This watch doesn't get much wrist time anymore, but I still love it nonetheless.

The third watch that I added to my budding collection was a black PVD stainless steel diver from Capri Watch. This watch has since been discontinued so I cannot find the exact reference, but it is similar to their 5292. I was fortunate enough to go on my high school's Europe trip in the summer of 2016. We had a half day stop at the island of Capri in Italy. My friend and I stumbled across a small boutique appropriately named "Capri Watch" during our free exploration time. We both walked in, and walked out with two brand new watches to sport for the rest of the trip. This was, to me, my first 'adult' watch. I wore it proudly throughout my early college (university) years.

Moving forward a few years, I became more and more into watches. I was also studying french, and becoming obsessed with anything to do with France. This led me to search for a watch that was "fabriqué en France". That is how I stumbled upon Gustave et Cie. I was drawn to the style of their pieces and their philosophy behind offering 12 or 24 hour watches that use a single hand to display minutes and hours simultaneously. Time should not be overcomplicated; seconds are not important. I picked their Georges 12H Moon phase in blue and steel. This watch has probably seen the least wrist time out of anything in my collection. Not at the fault of the watch - I still think it's brilliant - but at the fault of the owner. I moved on too quickly to something else.

That something else would be my LMM-01 from Merci Paris. I purchased this watch in 2022, when I traveled to Paris with my childhood best friend. We had a wonderful trip and I knew I wanted to commemorate it with something special that would remind me of it everyday. The LMM-01 was just that. I love the simplicity and wearability of this watch. This felt like my first 'real' watch, as silly as that sounds. It was my first mechanical watch and it introduced me to NATO straps! Every time I wear this piece, it does its job. It reminds me of a great trip with a great friend.

Lastly, my most recent purchase was my Cartier Tank Must, which I bought in May of this year. I traveled back to Paris with my girlfriend to show her around my favorite city. On the first day, we went to the original Cartier boutique where I purchased this piece. I slipped it on and it didn't leave my wrist for the rest of the trip. I still wear it daily now. The history behind this watch and iconic Cartier design really drew me to this piece.

Reflecting back on my collecting over the years, I think it is pretty clear what influences my watch buying decisions and how my tastes have evolved as I have grown older. Perhaps it is no coincidence that my first and latest watches were from Paris. I'm not sure what my next piece will be, but I do know this. It will be something meaningful to me, and probably also French 😂

If you made it this far, bravo! And thank you for reading.