State of my watch collection – August 2023

I've always liked watches and 30 years on from receiving my first I still have all but one of the watches I've ever owned. The photo above is my collection arranged in chronological order.

My received my first watch as a teenager – maybe for my sixteenth birthday? I grew up in a country town a little inland from the coast but surfing culture was a big deal at my school and despite the fact that I was more of a gamer than a surfer, the big surf brands were considered high fashion. I remember that I was able to choose the watch and went for a surf watch from classic surf brand Rip Curl.

Rip Curl do still make surf watches (https://www.ripcurl.com/au/mens/watches.html),,) although they're mostly digital these days. The DVR Classic Rubber Watch (https://www.ripcurl.com/au/mens/watches/surf-tide/dvr-classic-rubber-watch.html#754=1435)) is probably the closest to my model from their current range. I really liked the look of my first watch with its organic curves and teal blue highlights. I also liked the uni-directional timing bezel and 100m water resistance. But unfortunately the case wasn't made of the best materials (only the back is stainless steel!) and started to degrade badly around the edges, which ended up marking up the cuffs of some of my dress shirts so I stopped wearing it.

I acquired my second watch in university in the late nineties when being an Apple fanboy was a pretty tough gig. It was the height of the "Apple is doomed" era when they were trying to fight back with their original iMac and the iconic Think Different ad campaign.

My first Apple Watch was a quartz with the cheap rubber strap and aluminium bezel. But it ran anti-clockwise! At the time this was a great talking piece with my university friends and once I got used to it I actually found it hard to read regular clocks for a while. This led to a degree of anxiety around taking uni exams where if my watch stopped working I thought I'd get stuffed up trying to read the clocks on the wall of the exam room. Eventually I stopped wearing it when the bezel got scratched up and I guess once the novelty wore off.

Following university I had a period in my early career where I made two trips to China, which had a significant impact on my life's trajectory – namely meeting my future wife on the second trip. On the first trip I bought a fake Rolex for about $100, which eventually wore out and died. Knowing more about the industry now I'm not proud of that excursion into counterfeit goods but I'll mention it for completeness.

After a long period not wearing a watch at all I was reinvigorated by the release of the true Apple Watch. My model is now referred to as the Series Zero and I've replaced the battery on it once when it swelled up.

For a period I bought a number of different straps for it and would really enjoy swapping them out on a regular basis – Apple's approach to watch straps remains one of their best ideas with the watch.

These days the life of its second battery means it isn't suitable to wear but it's found a second life as my night bedside clock where it lives permanently. The great thing about it is that the screen is completely off until I bump it a bit (even a small vibration works) and then it lights up for a short time to show the time in a night friendly green and goes back to sleep. I highly recommend this as a night clock and literally any Apple Watch model is suitable for the purpose.

In early 2022 my love of watches was reinvigorated by the excitement around the Moon Swatch launch. Initially I was interested in buying one myself but as I started watching some watch Youtube channels I ended up deciding to buy a new Seiko Presage Style60's (https://www.seikowatches.com/au-en/products/presage/srpg09j1)) around May 2022. It ships on a black nato strap, which I've subsequently swapped out for a Bond nato.

There is so much to admire about this watch – the classic styling with a thin, aluminium bezel; facetted, applied hour markers; exhibition case back; and lumed sword hour and minute hands – while still being cost effective. Purchasing this watch has taught me a lot about what I currently like and dislike. The key points I'm critical about are the mineral crystal and lack of anti-reflective coating, which means that the photo on the Seiko website is actually quite misleading. It is not possible to see the dial as clearly as shown on the website due to excessive reflections. The mechanism is also quite inaccurate and the 40 hour power reserve is somewhat annoying. But I love this watch and consider it the true start of my watch collecting journey.

Late in 2022 I bought a G-Shock so that I've had a beater for yard work and the like. Simple, rugged, dependable. What's not to like?!

My last watch was a birthday gift this year. The Mido Ocean Star GMT (https://www.midowatches.com/au/ocean-star-gmt-m0266291705100.html)) is my first luxury watch and combines a beautiful case and 80 hour power reserve with a ceramic timing bezel, sapphire crystal and traveller GMT function.

The crystal has an anti-reflective coating, so unlike the Seiko it's possible to clearly see the matt black dial and simple Ocean Star branding about the 6 o'clock marker.

The lume is great, the inner 24 hour markings for the GMT hand are restrained but practical and the brushed and polished case is gorgeous.

With this watch I feel like I really get luxury watch collecting. The sail cloth strap is really nice but it has a leather backing so it's not suitable for getting wet.

Considering the watch had a 200m water resistance rating and other key dive watch features I'm now planning on replacing the strap for one that will allow me to take it into the water (maybe this one? https://www.zuludiver.com/products/zuludiver-endurance-extreme-rubber-watch-strap-nautilus?variant=43563822022868 ).

So where to from here? I do plan to expand my collection further with perhaps three more pieces. I'm squarely in the affordable/value end of the market so brands of interest to me include Seiko, Hamilton, Mido, Longines, Doxa and Christopher Ward. My stretch brands include Ball, Sinn and Omega but I'm not sure I could justify buying a watch more expensive than my Ocean Star GMT. Currently I'm looking at the Christopher Ward C60 Trident Pro 300 (https://www.christopherward.com/int/watches/C60-Trident-Pro-300/C60-40ADA31S0KW0-HKO.html)) and the Doxa Sub 200 Aquamarine (https://au.doxawatches.com/collections/sub-200/products/sub-200-aquamarine?variant=32131468984401)..) Conceptually I'm interested in having a variety of different watch styles and colours. I'm using a mental loop hole to put the Ocean Star in the GMT category, which still allows me to buy a dive watch ;)

I also like this Seiko Speedtimer (https://seikoboutique.com.au/product/SSC913P)) as a chronological option, which ticks the solar, quartz and steel bracelet boxes. Another watch I'm interested in is this Adamascus model from Wise (https://wisetimepiece.com/products/adamascus-ad773-damascus-stainless-steel)..)

Overall I'm pleased to be actually collecting watches now instead of just owning watches. Thanks for reading!