What Makes a Watch a "Forever" One?
And which ones in your collection are they?
For all intents, I do buy watches hoping that they'd be "forever pieces" but of course I do recognize there are no perfect watches.
I thought for me, the watches with memories attached would be ones with me forever. That certainly is true for my Cartier, it was the wedding gift from my wife and in-laws, it's been through a lot with me, and I feel that it resonates well with who I am.
My other watches? They certainly do have their share of memories attached to them, and are special in their own right too.
The Hamilton I got not long after my son was born, it's been with me on many trips. However the wearing itself has been sub-optimal mostly due to the weight and size of the watch. It's still a beautiful watch, I do enjoy wearing it despite the sub-optimal size/weight, I don't think it will go anywhere any time.
The Orient Mako II probably has the most memories attached with it for the past few years. It's been there for the countless diaper changes, it's been there on several trips, it was the first watch I took swimming/beach, etc. However now that I know how great dive watches can be, it's actually the first watch I want to replace with a "better watch". Honesty the watch has a few issues yes (small crown, jangly bracelet, mineral crystal, less desirable precision), but I feel like a few mods can fix most of these issues.
Getting back to the questions, what are some of your forever watches? What makes them forever watches to you?
Any watch I receive as a gift become a forever watch since they’re given to commemorate a milestone in my life. They’re not high horology by any means, but I can look at them and fondly remember the people that helped me become the person I am today.
It's that watch that lives in your head Rent free. Memories, life, good times and bad, it was always there. Timex or Rolex, no difference. JMHO.
That timepiece that has that emotional attachment. My wife gifted me a Tudor GMT snd I will never part with that watch. I plan on handing it down to my son after I'm long gone. I have given him the edict that of all the watches he will get from me he can never sell that one.
My Seamaster 300 bought with money I inherited from my lovely Mum. My Aqua Terra quartz I bought for my Dad, but he didn't wear it much because it was too expensive so I ended up buying it back from him (!!), My Green Willard from my much better half, my black Willard just because I love it. That's just for starters 🤣🤣
Inherited, gifted and grail.
Inherited, gifted and grail.
Yes spot on. All keepers full stop.
Any watch I receive as a gift become a forever watch since they’re given to commemorate a milestone in my life. They’re not high horology by any means, but I can look at them and fondly remember the people that helped me become the person I am today.
Definitely, I think the watches I got as gifts have more sentimental value than the ones I bought myself.
I can't see selling or gifting my Tudor North Flag. First 'proper' watch I acquired after ~18m of research and circling, circling, circling. Finally bought it to commemorate a great year (promotion, birth of my first son). Still love it years later and given its discontinued I feel like it's a little more objectively precious than most watches I own where I could just buy a replacement easily.
It's that watch that lives in your head Rent free. Memories, life, good times and bad, it was always there. Timex or Rolex, no difference. JMHO.
Agreed. I'm wondering though for myself, if I'm just desiring an expensive piece for showing off, I mean the Mako II is a great watch despite some flaws.
That timepiece that has that emotional attachment. My wife gifted me a Tudor GMT snd I will never part with that watch. I plan on handing it down to my son after I'm long gone. I have given him the edict that of all the watches he will get from me he can never sell that one.
👏 That sounds like a special watch! Hope your son also sees it the same way. Honestly I would on the will, leave the Cartier to my wife and other watches to my child(ren).
My Seamaster 300 bought with money I inherited from my lovely Mum. My Aqua Terra quartz I bought for my Dad, but he didn't wear it much because it was too expensive so I ended up buying it back from him (!!), My Green Willard from my much better half, my black Willard just because I love it. That's just for starters 🤣🤣
Very nice! I assume having memories related to your family is a big factor in your forever watches.
Inherited, gifted and grail.
Which watch is your grail? 😊
I can't see selling or gifting my Tudor North Flag. First 'proper' watch I acquired after ~18m of research and circling, circling, circling. Finally bought it to commemorate a great year (promotion, birth of my first son). Still love it years later and given its discontinued I feel like it's a little more objectively precious than most watches I own where I could just buy a replacement easily.
That's an awesome first choice for a "proper" watch, and I agree in that discontinuation does make watches feel a little more special- it's the same case with my Cartier!
Agreed. I'm wondering though for myself, if I'm just desiring an expensive piece for showing off, I mean the Mako II is a great watch despite some flaws.
My expensive watches sit in the safe. I receive most joy from the more affordable pieces that I wear in rotation. No need to show off if your most dear watch is of passable quality. My favorite....
My expensive watches sit in the safe. I receive most joy from the more affordable pieces that I wear in rotation. No need to show off if your most dear watch is of passable quality. My favorite....
What should one do if they suck? 😂 Back to the discussion, are the watches in the safe because they still hold sentimental value for you, or do they get wrist time occassionally? There's a definite ease and comfort in wearing less expensive pieces, I'm just wondering if I'll be impressing myself more with another expensive piece.
Apart from inherited and gifted, JLC Master Control Geographic is the only one. It’s been with me for 23 years through good and bad times and it will stay.
I hope some of the watches I have become “forever” watches but I will only know after spending 5 or more years with them.
Admittedly since I've been in the hobby for about 6 or so years now, my oldest watch is 6 years old 😂 Nice to hear your watch has been with you for 23 years!
While I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve worn it over the past decade, the G-Shock I wore while deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan will forever have a place in my watch box.
I can't even imagine what you and the watch must have went through. Thank you for your service.
I think than a specific memory, it's the emotions I feel when I look at a watch? For example the Cartier will always remind me of my wife, and the Mako will remind me of my baby when he was a baby.
That’s great. I just don’t have a great memory.
Admittedly since I've been in the hobby for about 6 or so years now, my oldest watch is 6 years old 😂 Nice to hear your watch has been with you for 23 years!
Until about 4 years ago when I got into watches as a hobby, I only had 3-4 watches, and JLC was the only one for business situations.
That’s probably the main reason it stood the test of time😊
Any watch I add to my collection is a forever one. As such, I spend a lot of time really researching a watch before making a purchase. I'll try it on my wrist multiple times over a long period as well. This has allowed me to keep my collection down to a small number of watches. But in general design/looks is what gets me interested in a watch. How comfortable it wears is what keeps it on my wrist.
Weight is a huge factor in how comfortable it wears, at least for me. Which is probably why I'll never own a precious metal watch.
A forever watch should have the quality to last that long. Needless to say, thats not something a cheap chinese knock off or dollar store watch could do including expensive fashion watches...
Any watch I add to my collection is a forever one. As such, I spend a lot of time really researching a watch before making a purchase. I'll try it on my wrist multiple times over a long period as well. This has allowed me to keep my collection down to a small number of watches. But in general design/looks is what gets me interested in a watch. How comfortable it wears is what keeps it on my wrist.
Weight is a huge factor in how comfortable it wears, at least for me. Which is probably why I'll never own a precious metal watch.
I am trying my best to do this too, and hopefully my collection won't exceed ~15 in total including my older fashion watches. Hoping to keep the main rotation at 3~5.
A forever watch should have the quality to last that long. Needless to say, thats not something a cheap chinese knock off or dollar store watch could do including expensive fashion watches...
Mostly agree with the sentiment, though I think the bigger issue with those watches would be servicing them. I have a few fashion watches that have run well for a decade (quartz movements FTW in this case), save the few battery changes.
I was very hog washed snobbish at first since it’s a gift from a close friend I keep it forever.
I was very hog washed snobbish at first since it’s a gift from a close friend I keep it forever.
If that was a Lange it would be 20,000 bucks.
I've reset my collection for the 4th time and essentially started from 0 every time.
I have my grandpa's omega geneve linnen dial which was gifted to me by grandma while still alive, my fathers roamer searock gold plated which was the watch he wore on his and mom's wedding day. And other grandpas Stowa.
Everything else from grails and extremely hyped watches came and went and will probably happen again... No sense in staying tied down to one thing if there are other things you wish to experience and getting rid of the old facilitates the acquisition of new 🤷🏻♂️.
I've reset my collection for the 4th time and essentially started from 0 every time.
I have my grandpa's omega geneve linnen dial which was gifted to me by grandma while still alive, my fathers roamer searock gold plated which was the watch he wore on his and mom's wedding day. And other grandpas Stowa.
Everything else from grails and extremely hyped watches came and went and will probably happen again... No sense in staying tied down to one thing if there are other things you wish to experience and getting rid of the old facilitates the acquisition of new 🤷🏻♂️.
Definitely. I think gifts definitely make it a lot more difficult to sell/trade, and I'm also of the camp that watches can go to make room for new watches. I'm just scared of selling and regretting right now though 😂
Definitely. I think gifts definitely make it a lot more difficult to sell/trade, and I'm also of the camp that watches can go to make room for new watches. I'm just scared of selling and regretting right now though 😂
Isn't that the 3rd part of watch collecting... The accumulation of buyers guilt and sellers remorse 😂
Isn't that the 3rd part of watch collecting... The accumulation of buyers guilt and sellers remorse 😂
Right next to explainin the purchase to SO, yes.