Q: How did you get into watch collecting?
My brother gifted me a Fossil a long time ago — I wore it six times and decided dead watches weren’t for me. Not a fan of how it felt on my wrist. Fast forward. 2016. My father in law gifted me a series one Apple Watch as a graduation present. I wasn’t a fan of it on the wrist, but wore it faithfully as it was an extravagant gift. Three months later, it was at home on my wrist, no problem. I started taking note of other watches, but kinda wrote them off either because I couldn’t afford them, or because I was settled on enjoy the gift I’d been given. Fast forward. 2022. Being over burdened and anxious about the prevalence of technology and digital connection in my life, I abandoned my Apple Watch and social media in general. I wore nothing in the wrist for 9 months. Then a couple good friends were bonding over their shared watch enthusiasm and showed me a couple of their watches. That quickly re-kindled my interest from the early Apple Watch days, and I decided to take the plunge and buy a watch. Being somewhat OCD, nominal interest turned to obsession fairly quickly. I’ve been collecting since February 2023. I discovered WatchCrunch via the Mad Watch Collector on YouTube, and stalked it for a couple months before deciding it was the only social network I was interested in joining 🤫.
Q: What was the first watch you ever owned?
First owned: Fossil Twist, hybrid quartz with automatic seconds hand. A little blingy for me, but as a gift from my brother it will always be a part of my collection. First Purchase: Casio GA-B2100 — Bluetooth Casioak. I never use the Bluetooth features, as I don’t want anything resembling a smart watch anymore. But I wanted something near indestructible while still being a little classy.
Q: Do you have a watch with a particularly interesting story behind it?
I’m a guitar player before I’m a Watch collector. I’m an all things NASA nerd before I’m a guitar player. As soon as I started collecting, I knew I wanted some kinda space watch — my first purchase was actually a franken Raketa Kopernik (but since it took 2.5 months to arrive stateside from Ukraine, I don’t count it as my first watch). As I researched, I immediately added a couple Speedys to my “someday” list, but also learned about the Lunar Pilot from Bulova. It ticked all the right boxes. I started to scour the internet for the best possible price for one. In my search I discovered that in the fall of 2022 Bulova made a limited edition of the Lunar Pilot to celebrate Nile Rogers 70th birthday — if you know, you know. I’ve got a fender Stratocaster that I heavily modified many years back to sound like him, so this watch piqued my interest. On the case back, instead of the tradition EVA info that you typically find on a LP, here you find an engraving of a Stratocaster with “Happy 70th Nile!” in big bold type. These watches were limited to a run of 70 pieces — I haven’t been collecting too long, but from what I can see, that’s a pretty small batch. I couldn’t resist. I decided to ask my wife, to gut check my desire to purchase. I would say she tolerates my new found obsession for watches (because she loves me, sure, but also because watches take up a lot less space than guitars). Once I gave her all the details she emphatically declared that I needed that watch — and insisted I buy it immediately. She gets me. As a new collector, I’ve now got a piece that ticks a lot of boxes (first space watch, first limited edition, has explicit connection to my other passions) and has sentiment built in. I love it … but I will also say that having a 7.5” wrist helps for such a large time piece.
Q: What is one piece of advice you have for someone just getting into watches?
You gotta go try stuff on. Pictures tell you very little about how a watch looks on YOU.
Q: What brands have been getting your attention lately?
I feel like I’m a horological squirrel at the moment. I’m new enough to the hobby that I just scroll feeds looking for anything that catches my eye. Seiko, Casio, Raketa, Hamilton, Victorinox (slightly obsessed with SAK’s too), Laco, Stowa, Sinn, Zodiac, Halios, Tudor, Omega. I didn’t understand watches over 400$ until I tried on a friends Hamilton Khaki. I didn’t understand watches over 1K$ until I tried on a Tudor Ranger. I didn’t understand watches over or near 10K$ until I tried on a friends Rolex Explorer II. I might have a problem.
Q: What is your grail watch and why?
Omega Seasmaster Aqua Terra Automatic 42mm. NZL-32. I saw it in a shop and had the quintessential Wayne’s World moment. She will be mine …
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