Do you like your watches to tell a story, or do you like them to tell your story?

[Rocket Man]

I have a very small collection including a couple of vintage watches that I enjoy because of their age and history. Recently I've bought two new watches from an AD (there's a first time for everything!) and I'm enjoying the fact that I have owned them from new. The vintage watches tell a story but the new ones will eventually tell my story.

This has got me wondering what to make of the recent heritage/anniversary re-editions. Where do they fit in and what story do they tell? Does their faithfulness to the original watches make them retro-cool or will they never be as cool as the originals?

I recently read this review of the Speedmaster 60th anniversary edition that made me smile:

"Vintage watch guys say they like patina on watches because it shows the watch has had a life. That it's been through some stuff and would have stories to tell if only we could listen. That's mostly a lie. We like stories, but with few exceptions we don't want the submariner that was dragged against rocks at the bottom of the ocean every weekend since 1960. We want the one that sat in a safe and was worn on special occasions, with nice matching creamy markers, a crisp unpolished case, etc. We tend to value condition over all else. We want new-old-stock. This looks like a NOS 2915. And that's incredible."