Which brand got you started?

I was a poor airman. I bought what I could afford. I started wearing Timex. Funny thing was Timex was what I could afford for watches, but somehow I could also afford 3 game systems and lots of games. Young and stupid.

This Citizen was my first Grail or dream watch, but I got stupid and sold it after I bought my second Grail - which was the Casio Oceanus 200m chronograf below, that I still enjoy...

Actually it was possibly the first high class Casio ever made... They didn't even write Oceanus on this first top of the line watch, only in the advertising...

For me it was Stauer.

I first took interest with watches as a teenager when my dad got a new Seiko. Later on I worked at a classic car dealership and my boss was into watches. He gave me a Jacques Lemans. But then my dad bought me a Stauer and I went out and bought a few more shortly after.

Stauer was my gateway drug.

Like a lot of people I had Swatches and Casios galour growing up, but it was my Certina that I got for my 30th that really got me started.

The Casio DW-5600E G-Shock is the one that pulled me out of smartwatch notification hell. But I always wore watches, mostly Casio or Citizen.

Timex

Orient. The Bambino small seconds.

Bulova quartz gild tone with a leather strap

For some reason, it was Rotary.

Mechanical: Hamilton Khaki King silver. My style has changed but I’ll never get rid of it.

Quartz: The ubiquitous Fossil Grant chronograph. Tried to buy one the other day for the nostalgia, but it is way too big for my new preference in watches.

The Lorus fieldwatch.

I had worn/bought watches before, and it didn't quite get me collecting, but...

When I bought this watch I was pretty certain that for my budget that was the best watch in the shop, and it didn't even stretch my budget. First time I had this first impression of a watch, and later impressions confirmed that this was excellent. After that, this watch served as my only watch for years. So it did not start me collecting, but it instilled an appreciation of watches I had not felt before.

Quartz, Swatch. Automatic, Seiko.

Started with one of those early 90s metal Swatch with the Speidel strap. Love the watch, hate that strap.

After losing the Swatch and...the Tag Heuer Professional(that still gave me anxiety) my dad bought me my first automatic, a Seiko 5.

In the 90's I always aspired to own a Tag Heuer, I just loved the connection with its racing heritage etc and thought the watches looked really cool. I now own 5!

But my serious collecting started with Citizen, Tissot, Raymond Weil and Seiko, all of which I have now sold. My collection now consists of Omega, Tag, Tudor and Grand Seiko.

Timex Ironman when I was a kid (1980s)

Grew up with pulsar, seiko and fashion brand watches. Got a tag heuer professional quartz for my 21st that became my special occasion watch rather than a daily because it cost more than my car at the time. It was a zelos I bought to commemorate my daughter’s birth in 2018 that sent me down the rabbit hole.

My first proper watch was a vintage Omega Seamaster... but it was my Seiko SKX that made me appreciate value for money and realise what kind of watches I wanted to collect.

Awesome watch, I did the same, it was my first automatic watch 🎯

A Citizen quartz that was my daily for years. One day the crown pulled right out of the case. So I needed a new watch. I didn’t want to wear my gshock every day, so to the interwebs I went I to shop for a new watch. And discovered theses things called “automatic” watches that I’d never heard of, or at least never paid any mind too before.

And that’s how I fell down the watch rabbit hole.

When I was a kid I had a cheap K-mart digital which I constantly destroyed by being a rough & tumble boy. But it was just a watch, a tool. No romance to it. Which was odd, because I loved video games & the burgeoning computer field was an interest. But how could something as small as a quartz watch do as much as well as a computer? It couldn't & still can't, just due to the size limitation. So a watch just told time to me.

I always saw the Timex "Takes a licking & keeps on ticking" ads, but a watch just told time. Spending more than $10 seemed folly.

Then G-Shock showed up. It was the first time I wanted a specific watch, but I was a teen and I only wanted it because all my friends did also. I wasn't smitten with watches or horology, just a fad. And sure, it had extra features, but it still mostly just told the time & was more expensive than other watches that basically did the same thing.

I always have been a fan of the quirky or whimsical, so I had some cheap novelty watches from pop-up mall kiosks, but nothing from a known brand. Did always see the displays for Eco-Drive or Automatic movements and thought "How cool!".

Then I got married & for Father's Day one year, I got a two-tone Citizen quartz 3-hander. Nice watch, but again, no spark. It still just told time. Then it broke & cell phones were a thing, so no watch for awhile.

Got divorced, then met the current wife and I mentioned that I liked watches. For my birthday 11-12 years ago, she got me this watch, and I've been kind of in the tractor beam since; though the bug didn't really bite hard until last year.

So on-brand for me to get pulled into the hobby by an off-brand. Lol

I believe my first watch in the mid-70s was a Timex mechanical. I was a kid so I didn't realize that it needed to be taken care of or how to take care of it. In the late '70s for Christmas I got an armitron digital. I had that for several years and I don't ever recall having to change the battery. I suppose if I hadn't lost it, I might still have it today and wear it. I think that, more than the timex, is what sparked my interest.

As far back as I can remember, I’ve always worn a watch. The one that started the obsession

a Rodania watch....in the mid 90ies......I grew up in Belgium and Rodania was market leader back then in Belgium.....although Swiss made I think they still have today their headquarters in Belgium.

Didn´t know anything about watches, there was no internet for doing research, and going to the library for a book about watchses? haha, no no.....I didn´t even know there were mechanical watches and quartz watches, I just liked the look of it and bought it.

It was pretty expensive for me at that time, I think it was around 8.000 Belgian Francs, so around 200 euros, that was, 30 years ago with a modest income, a big amount of money for me.

I still got it in a drawer, the bracelet got lost....today I find it really ugly......I´ve put a new battery in it a few years ago to check if it would still work....and yes, after an inactivity of around 25 years it started ticking away immediatly

The first watch brand that I had multiples of was Fossil. That was over 2 decades ago, and I wasn't collecting, just acquiring a piece now and then. Citizen was the brand that got me into watches, learning about movements, learning about history, and appreciating different elements (in addition to design).

An Orient blue ray. It was a gift from my Brother-in-law. I love it and wear it often.

Alba Spoon by Seiko 😎👍

For me it was Citizen's baby - Q&Q. Afterwards went towards some Casio watches, especially the Edifice line. My latest watch is a Citizen again.

Nice, started with Citizen, we seem to be in the minority. Which one did you get recently?

Wow, great brand to restart with. Curious, what lessons learned are you bring into this go around?

Swatch watches... 80s baby

Nice, everyone had one back then.