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Q: How did you get into watch collecting?
I fell into it accidentally. I've always had watches, from a very young age but even into my university years it was always one-in, one-out. I'd wear a watch until it blew up, or was too beat up, or I just didn't like it any more, then I'd get a new one. I wasn't sentimental about them. Making a collection didn't interest me until I was a lot older and started buying watches 'for fun' and then realised I had, for better or worse, 'a collection'. Several culls later, where I'd go back to almost no watches and then rebuild my collection, I'm slowly getting close to a small, but meaningful collection of watches I absolutely adore, and nothing else.
Q: What was the first watch you ever owned?
The first watch I truly remember was a Mickey Mouse watch my Dad brought back from a trip to Hong Kong. The one where Mickey's arms are the handset. It had a bright yellow leather (probably vinyl!) strap.
Q: Do you have a watch with a particularly interesting story behind it?
Personally, no. I haven't owned any of my current crop of watches for so long that one of them has been on my wrist when I did something genuinely amazing. But in terms of the watches themselves, the Bulova Lunar Pilot is always a good story to tell people. Of course there's a sprinkle of 'fairy dust' in the mix from Bulova but, at the end of the day, an astronaut did indeed wear a watch that looked 90% like the current 43mm Lunar Pilot to make it good enough for me to be 'the second moon watch' even if the watches internals were actually quite different.
Q: What is one piece of advice you have for someone just getting into watches?
Everyone is different, but if I can give broad advice it's to buy what interests you and actually wear it. See if you like looking at a diver, or a flieger, on your wrist every day, or whatever floats your boat. Actually wear the stuff. Don't just accumulate watch after watch after so you have a box you can make a "State of the Collection" post about because - I guarantee it - what you're into a year or two or three from today will probably be different, so trying to compete with everyone else in the hobby when you're brand new is just crazy. So buy a piece or two and wear them. See where it takes you. Read posts, watch videos, and learn what's out there. Learn the history of the big brands. Take it slow. It's not a race. Over time you will make mistakes and buy the wrong thing. You will sell pieces you wish you hadn't and keep pieces you wonder why you're keeping. It's a fun hobby at all levels of monetary investment.
Q: What brands have been getting your attention lately?
Smaller brands with genuine heritage and which are flying under the radar a little. For example, Hanhart. It's been going for such a long time and isn't one of these 'zombie companies' which were big 50-100 years ago, then disappeared for decades before returning with all new owners, an all new outlook, etc, and the only thing that connects them to their past is the name. Such companies I have little time for (see: Smiths). I think brands that have endured over time - like Hanhart - and which produce excellent watches at competitive prices, are really interesting.
Q: What is your grail watch and why?
Presently, I don't have one. For a long time it was the Pierce Brosnan-era Omega Seamaster Ref. 2531.80 - so basically the automatic he wore in three of his James Bond films, rather than Ref. 2541.80, the quartz that he wore in his first. I eventually got one - a really nice one, actually - and it's still in my collection, as of writing this. Fully serviced. Looks a million dollars. But weirdly I find I hardly wear it, so it may get sold sometime.
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