An Overdue Thank You

The need for a solid, reliable, and rugged watch made itself clear to me in 1976 when I enlisted in the service. My first effort was a (very) used Rolex that I found in a pawnshop for $150 (about one month’s after tax pay as a PFC). Later, after attending dive school, I added a Seiko 6159-7010 ‘Tuna’ to copy what my instructor wore. Those two watches then kept me in good stead for the next 25 years. In 2000 I got an Omega SeaMaster, and sold off the Seiko. Although I wore a watch 24x7 all that time, I wasn’t a “watch guy”.

But then in 2004, I stumbled upon a PRS-2 Dreadnought. Holy Sh!t! I had to have one, and luckily found #199. Then I bought a second, #116 just to be sure of having one. And suddenly I was learning all about things undreamt of. I discovered who Fricker was, who Dornbluth was, why they were ‘ploprof’ hands, and what TZ-UK was. A whole new world that was all around me but whose existence was previously unknown was now revealed. The very idea of a micro watch manufacturer seemed otherworldly to my novice mind. Over the intervening years I’ve learned a ton about watches, purchased at least five other TimeFactors watches, meet some delightful and interesting people, and come to enjoy and appreciate the small but very complex niche of watches and their rich diversity.

I mention this here because I lay the ‘blame’ for this transformation and awakening at Eddie’s feet. There were other visionary types making small batches of high quality watches (Ken Sato comes to mind), but none to my knowledge impacted the industry as he did. The Dreadnought was Sui Generis, and it achieved a level of commercial success that has never been seen before or since. Think about it – if there hadn’t been a limited edition watch that sold immediately at a multiple of its list price, would the micro movement taken hold quite so strongly? Similarly, has any one sole practitioner ever made a watch that spawned at least two near-exact duplicates by large brands hoping to capture some of the demand? Not to mention the legions of newbies such as myself who were drawn into the world of WIS by the existence of TimeFactors and its watches.

Altogether, this is a long winded way of pointing out that Eddie Platts, self-effacing and quietly humorous though he seems to be, has really made an enormous and positive impact on both the watch industry itself, and the lives of a great many people, myself included. And for that, I say “Thanks!”.

Seconded.


Tempus non expectat virum et aestus.

Well said.....thanks for sharing

Sent from my SM-G960U using TZ-UK mobile app

Absolutely agree.

Dave

That's cool dude. Hang around. There is always more to learn. And the more you learn the more you can enjoy. These days the Timefactors watches are better than ever. In a weird way I am saddened to see that the case-making coming out of Hong Kong is *actually* better than what was coming out of Germany.

Anyway, what watch are you wearing?