Reply With QuoteI would agree Steve, it does sort of become addictive and yes the help and support and advice is great and well received. It is also good if we can share our often limited experiences with others when the opportunity arises.
You're all here for just about the same reason. You love watches.
But why? Was it a certain watch that did it? A relative that used to have an interesting watch that made you curious?
For me it was joining this forum. I joined to ask for advice on buying my first decent watch. I had, in TZ terms, the most modest of budgets, £250. People with watches worth more than I earn in a year were giving advice, never condescending or sneering at what little I could afford. It made me realise it's a special community on here and watches can be appreciated no matter what they cost. This enthusiasm rubbed off on me and I can't go a day without visiting here!
I would agree Steve, it does sort of become addictive and yes the help and support and advice is great and well received. It is also good if we can share our often limited experiences with others when the opportunity arises.
Always had an interest in watches really, but just high st fashion brands as that was what i looked at. Then i started seeing big different watches around, mainly on Ebay, bought a few, then the conversations started with people i came into contact with.
Discovered WUS and moved into micro brands, then along came TZUK, now I'm broke
Snap.Originally Posted by SteveR
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
I was never a huge fan of watches there were far more important things in life, cars,women and booze being up there. Over a twenty year period I had two watches, both Omega Seamasters and they were excellent for telling me the time which is all I wanted, then one day I decided I must have a Rolex, not a clue why but nevertheless it had to be a Rolex. Went out and bought two modern ones, a ceramic sub and a GMTc, after a week or so the novelty had worn off and couldn't really understand all the hoohaa, didn't like the sub but the GMT wasn't too bad at least it was comfortable. By then I had started reading up on the forums and decided that vintage looked more appealing, purchased my first vintage seadweller and I was hooked, the two comedy Rolexes have long gone and many thousands of pounds later I have a little vintage collection which I thoroughly enjoy. Still enjoy the important things in life but vintage Rolex is now firmly part of it.
My dad got me into watches, he always had a decent collection although ironically since I joined the forum his collection has expanded far more than mine...but then he has deeper pockets...he's even met a few members now. Obviously I have an ulterior motive in that I get to enjoy watches I couldn't otherwise justify 😊
My first lusted after watch was predictably a Tag F1. I bought it with my first full time pay packet. It was reduced from £250 to £175 as the model was on the way out. I still have it though at 34mm I don't wear it any more.
I'm not sure what led me to TZ...it seems such a long time ago, but I've learnt a lot and spent a lot since. I've gone off buying of late, probably as I've got other focuses right now. I also visit most days not just for the watch stuff but I also enjoy the broader discussions on politics etc. It's good to debate with a range of people with different experiences/backgrounds.
Last edited by dougair; 22nd July 2017 at 12:39.
I was gifted a Tag F1 for my 21st birthday and it sparked an interest. Owned a few interesting watches since then, but of course a mortgage, children etc come around and now I'm down to the same Tag and my everyday SRP777.
I do know that my better half is gifting me a vintage oyster-cased Tudor for our upcoming wedding!
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I was struck by how gorgeous the SMPc was. It was for sale on another forum I frequent a few months ago, not watch based.
I missed out on that but joined here and bought a 9 month old one at a good price.
Unfortunately I keep looking at more and more expensive watches I also adore. I must resist and be grateful for the one I've got... Hopefully
😂😂 yeah, good luck with that 😉
What makes things worse I've recently sold my motorbike so have a few quid doing nothingHelp.
I was gifted a DJ for my 21st and it has been an expensive 6 years since !
My dad had a ten-year-old Smiths, which fascinated me; as a child I could not imagine any watch being that old. Then, at eighteen, I managed to buy an Omega Seamaster, £36-15shillings in 1968. I earned £6-15s a week. Kept that 2o years, and followed it with cheap Seikos. Which were great.
Somewhere, in the back of my mind, the fascination still lurked.....and then, as I got a bit better off. Well, you know what happens next.
I was always interested in watches, but really had a lot of other things to occupy my time that were higher priority. Then someone on a cycling forum started a "what watch do you ride with" thread, and I saw a couple on there that got me hooked again. From there I took to spending some time on WUS, but the posing and pissing contests were too awful to bear for long. Then someone posted the Everest on WUS/f71 and I liked it, so I started exploring Timefactors (bought the Everest too, which is a shame because I've hardly ever worn it) and then joined the forum here and abandoned WUS. The posing and pissing contests are just as horrendous here, but they are somehow funnier, mostly because y'all are kinda weird.
I had an interest in clocks and watches from about the age of 11 or so, but it waned gradually over the next few years as other interests and hobbies competed. It never went away, and I still bought clocks and watches from time to time. Then, back in 2009 I bought a little silver Zenith trench watch from my local flea market for the princely sum of £10. I joined another similarly named watch forum to find out some more information about it. I got involved there over the next few years or so, but I went on a rather boring thirteen week training course which blocked that forum, so I gradually stopped visiting and started visiting this one, because it wasn't blocked. I joined, and I've stayed here, on an on-and-off basis ever since. Unfortunately I can't post the watch because of Photofu*kup's new policy. I will when I can get a new photo hosting account.
Not quite sure why, but about six years ago I found a couple of websites that sold 30s Rolex. The painted dials captivated me, and as I read more about Wilsdorf, Mercedes Gleitze, the bubbleback and all those PoW-supplied watches in WW2 I got hooked.
I've learned the hard way that 80-year old watches can be a tricky ownership proposition, when parts need replacing. And of course most of the pre-1950s Rolex are small by modern standards.
The oldest watch I now have is a Tudor 7809, the reference supplied to the British North Greenland expedition, though I think mine was produced later. The rest are 60s or later, including a Moonwatch. I dabble with 'modern', but whether it's a 116520 Daytona, a 116200 datejust or the 16610 LV, they don't seem to stick.
I rotate more than is sensible and invariably lose money along the way.
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Saw an ad for the Omega Planet Ocean and it all went downhill (?) from there. Always liked watches but had odd Russian things and obscure/odd stuff. The PO started the expensive itch.
Someone doing a sbdx001 review on a knife forum got me interested
I came here because i had an interest in a Bremont.
Never had a real interest in watches until work gave me a Rolex Batman...(actually I had a choice) and it's been downhill all the way. Previous was happy for 20 years with my trusty Tag
I was looking for a Speedmaster.
Googled it and came across TZ.
I didn't know how deep the rabbit hole went...
My uncle got me into watches .He had a gold omega, no idea what model but am sure the bracelet was gold mesh or probably beads of rice.Anyway, he gave me a divers watch for my 9th birthday. The moving bezel fascinated me for some reason , and I remember it was a Sicura. Kept it for years,loved watches ever since.
I was never into watches as a youngster, classic cars were my main interest. I was given a gold plated Rotary quartz for my 21st but sadly it ended up in a washing machine a couple of years later. I replaced it with a gold plated Pulsar quartz which I wore for years. In 1994 I started thinking about buying a nice gold watch and stumbled across a 1946 14ct rose gold Helvetia in an antiques shop in Portugal . I bought it, had it serviced for £20, and wore it as a 'going out ' watch. I started scouring antiques fairs and eventually picked up a gold watches at around £80-£100 each. No internet in those days, it was much harder to learn about anything.........how things have changed!
Paul
Interesting to hear how you got into watches. What was it that made you get really into watches, as in, right inside them?
Also be interested to see pics of the Helvetica if you have any.
Loved watches as a kid in the playground, and had one of those Bond digital watches that played the Bond theme. After that wore a Swatch and then a G Shock for years, before finally splashing money on an Omega Seamaster back in 2000. Wore it for 14 years and love(d) it, but made the mistake of buying my wife a Rolex Oyster Perpetual for her birthday, and the rot set in.... the thing is, when I bought the Seamaster (over in Interlaken) I don't remember any Subs or GMTs in the boutique, just an Airking which honestly just felt rattly and light for double the money.
Then the BLNR came out and turned me into Gollum. Had to have it. Joined the forum on outatime's advice. And now without BLNR which I flipped for a black 16570, and wearing the Seamaster while I await its return from Rolex.
Well and truly hooked. On a bad day, I can make a decent case (to myself) that I actually need 4 or 5 other Rolexes....
I was 18 and started working In a shopping centre. I walked past a jewellers (Goldsmiths I think) and saw a Rado ceramica diastar. A few years a went by and I kept thinking how distinctive the watch was and bought one. I then went a couple of years before getting the itch to buy more watches.
In the mid-late noughties I graduated to buying and selling on ebay.......this was in the days of $2:£1 and a far more relaxed import tax situation. I bought watches from US ebay and either kept them or sold them on at a profit. Anything needing work went to my friendly local repairer who usually did a half-decent job for modest rates. However, I'm the sort who likes to take things apart himself and the urge to learn how to fix watches became too strong to resist; at the age of 52 I took redundancy/early retirement and managed to get some training at the BHI paid for from my employer's redeployment budget. My plan was to become a fully-fledged dealer and I reasoned that I needed to be able to work on the watches myself to add value. I went off this plan for several reasons but stuck with the repair work, wifey was still working so I had plenty of spare time (without distractions) to teach myself and building on what I'd learned.
I'm still primarily a collector, my enthusiasm for collecting/owning watches outweighs my interest in repair/service work thesedays. New watches don't interest me much, with the exception of a couple of Rolex models I wouldn't mind owning. I get far more pleasure from the old Omegas I own and I do regret letting a couple of nice ones go a few years back.
Paul
I came on here looking for Yamaha racing motorcycles.
God knows why I'm still here!
You are here to source me rare bracelets
I bought a Cartier Santos twenty years ago and lived with that one watch for what now seems like ages.
Then one day I was on holiday and went into a Rolex AD with my wife 'just for a look' and wanted everything in there. I mentioned part exchange and the basically laughed, so I left with nothing. When I got home I sold the Cartier to a work colleague and put enough extra together and bought a 16610. I then went about buying as many models as I could and built up a really nice collection, most of which I no longer have (silly me). Then, when cash flow was tight I'd buy all sorts - I was hooked.
I did re-buy the Cartier a few years ago and it's still one of my form favourites.
Don't forget the end links!You are here to source me rare bracelets
6 is my lucky number and of course the number of the beast. By strange coincidence my date of birth is 16 6 61Don't forget the end links!
Spooky...
I think I saw a film about you!
Best not get on your wrong side!
I have been sick with this bug since I was 5 years old, when I got my first watch (a Timex) in my Christmas stocking.
Still not cured (if I had all the money I have spent and wasted on watches, I would still buy another one)
Lots of similarities in my route into this madness with others that have been posted. I started on a Timex. It was the lume that fascinated me then but when cheap quartz came along, I lusted after a Texas Instruments. I did get it, for Christmas I think. I was really careful to only activate it 4 times a day (it was the red LED one) to extend the battery life. I then went through loads of Casios (calculators, etc). Then my first serious girlfriend bought me a Rotary for my 18th. Loved it and wore it even after she dumped me all through university and into my PhD. Then a mate, who left after his first degree, offered me a Tag when he was buying a Breitling. You can see the slippery slope starting! Next came the SMP, which I wore for 15 years, I then found this forum. Bugger!!!!
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The one that got me going was a digital. It was a Texas Instruments watch with a racecar on it and with a red digital display. It was 1977 and I felt like the coolest kid in the world to be wearing this thing. Over the next few years I always had a watch on my wrist, always with a button that you could press which would light the piece up at night - which for some reason it was always a thrilling feature to me. To this day I love charging lume!
They were always digital watches for me back then and got more complex over the years until I graduated to a calculator watch. Then in around 1984 my much older, wealthier brother bought me a swatch which was an extremely cool purchase at the time. I had that feeling where glancing at my wrist felt character defining all over again. Then when I was 21 he gave me his Rolex air king date and the rest is history.
So I blame Texas Instruments and my brother.
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As has been stated many times previously
You can check out any time you like........
I've always been interested in watches but race cars and racing have always consumed my somewhat limited disposable at an astonishing rate.
How do you earn a small fortune from car racing.... Start with a big one!
I did have a nice, albeit small collection of vintage Heuers but have sold most of them to 'invest' in my Lola T202 historic Formula Ford. I now have a couple of lovely vintage Seiko's and my SMP 300 wedding present watch. That'll have to do for now until I'm back on the grid or my lottery numbers come up of course!
I'm surprised that I'm the first one here to blame Eddie - in my case it's all his fault...
In 2004 I owned an Armani tank watch that I was given as a present, a cheap quartz thing called a 25 Hours (?!) and a truly ghastly fake Breitling bought on the beach in Penang (oh, the shame of it). I think it's fair to say that I was not an enthusiast.
Then while browsing one day I found Timefactors, that led me to TZ-UK. I joined this forum in early December 2004 and by the end of January 2005 I'd already bought a new PRS-10 on a NATO from Eddie, swiftly followed by a blue Seiko Flightmaster sourced through Sales Corner.
The start of a long and slippery slope, albeit an immensely satisfying one!
Simon
I blame two of my friends for the whole thing. I bought a Tag in about 93, was frustrated by a failed bracelet and long repair, and wasn't that upset when an ex-girlfriend stole it in 99. At that point I viewed the whole luxury watch thing as a rip off, an was happy with my anti-luxury Swatch Irony.
In 2003 I moved jobs and was mentored by a colleague who was just a big watch enthusiast. Sadly he is no longer with us, but I marvelled at his explanation of the Rolex oyster case and crown, lusted after his Hanhart pilot chrono, was shocked at the price of Lange, and felt his pain when he didn't bond with his New Breguet. He definitely sowed the seed. My other watch nerd friend was a big Omega fan, and I definitely coveted his Bond Seamaster. Omega lust became Rolex Sub lust, and a 16610 kick started it all. I joined TZ about 2 months after picking it up just to get some understanding of watches, and have been here since.
Dave
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I started with Gshocks. From there, I looked at JDM models and eventually citizen and Seiko.
downwards spiral since.
Always loved watches although it was quite some time before I could afford a proper watch. If anything my interest has grown as I have collected watches never quite scratching the itch for another. I passed on the opportunity to buy many watches over the years because I considered them to be expensive at the time and now regret all the "bargains" I let slip.
The rest of the family simply humour me but probably consider this hobby very odd.
Emulating my grandfather and the jewellery he adorned I guess harboured my interest .
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I stopped wearing a watch when I bought my first mobile phone. At that time it was an extremely modest digital watch but it did have quite a few useful functions. However, all of those functions (and more) were available in my phone so being practical, I stopped wearing the watch.
Fast forward 12 years and I had to buy a watch as a wedding gift for someone, nothing too fancy, only had a 3-digit budget. I started exploring and by the time I had bought the gift, I had developed an interest in watches again. Explored more and more and after considering a few, I decided on a BLNR within a year or so. Even in late 2014/early 2015, I was struggling to buy one off the shelf at an AD (TBH now I believe I wasn't trying too hard) so bought the LN version instead when I found it with a good discount at a European AD. I thought I would be content as it is the same watch and only differs cosmetically. I was wrong and as great and super-accurate as the watch was, I sold it last year to get a BLNR instead as my heart was still set on it. Initially I thought that was it, I am not a collector. Now want to add a Daytona C when I can get one. More recently I have found myself looking at Omega and Grand Seiko as well. Blue face Nautilus is the holy grail though.
I haven't contributed much but over the last 3 or so years, hardly any week goes by without me visiting this or another watch forum.
Not as as much as 6. 6. 66
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Is that yours or are you just trying to find a date with more 6s in it.
My tipping point came very early, I was in infant school, aged between 5 and 8, and I started there in 1971. My late Grandmother surprised me with a princely birthday present of a Timex divers watch, similar to this, but probably much smaller.
It was amazing for me at the time. I don't think I was the only kid with a watch at school, but it was certainly the only one you could put under a running tap! Heady days indeed.
Some years later we were on holidays in Hallsands, South Devon, and some divers were staying in the hotel on the cliffs. Lunchtime, and I saw one of them had a red section on the bezel of a Seiko divers watch, I was gobsmacked! A red bit! Everyone still thinks of the '70's as being all bright colours, but most clothes, furnishings, and cars were beige, brown, or at best burnt orange. A bloody red bit!
I had to have one, but it was about another twenty years full of digital and the like before I had my first skx009 with my very own red bit.
Since that first Timex, I have never felt right without a watch on my wrist. And now, the burning urge to go out and buy a Timex has come upon me for some strange reason.
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Last edited by Evanssprky; 25th July 2017 at 23:59.
I'd Googled some motorcycle boots I was after and ended up here....
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