Q: How did you get into watch collecting?
I was still wee when my mum gifted me a FlikFlak watch, my very first timepiece! It was football-themed, which was funny, as I was as athletic as a bag of rice. My first "adult" watch was a Swatch chrono. I couldn't possibly recall the model but it had a black dial and black plastic centre links on an otherwise steel band. Those plastic links were its achilles heel.
Q: What was the first watch you ever owned?
The football themed FlikFlak. I shall try finding a photo of it.
Q: What is one piece of advice you have for someone just getting into watches?
Find a watch you like and like the hell out of it. In my early collecting days, I'm a little shamed to admit, I bought by brand, or tried to anyway. The most prestigious, and such. I'm currently wearing a Casio, my GADA are Seiko... they bring me more joy than any of the prior ones. TL;DR - buy for you.
Q: What brands have been getting your attention lately?
I've come to greatly appreciate Japanese offerings these days. I've had many Swiss watches, but it's the innovation the Japanese brands have brought forth that impresses me.
Q: What is your grail watch and why?
Holy grail in general, since I don't own anything I'd consider special enough for the title. Grand Seiko's SBGC230, the rose gold chrono with spring drive. To me, the spring drive movement is unsurpassed. At one time, handwound was surpassed by automatics, automatics suffered heavily from the rise of quartz, and then spring drive came. There is nothing that tops it, in my opinion. The accuracy, the elegance of a truly sweeping second hand, the essentially infinite running time. Now, pair this movement with the beauty of the zaratsu-polished rose gold case of the SBGC230, the classic chrono dial, matching the deep red leather band in colour... I mean, come on!