Reply With QuoteWhat is the grail watch thing i sometimes read of? Good health and a happy life is my ultimate grail, not a bloody watch!
Inspired by reading this thread
Sub ND 7 months on, living the dream ;-)
I wonder what is it exactly that makes a watch a keeper for you?
Is it the ultimate grail? A watch that makes you smile every time you look at it? Or just one that fits well on your wrist?
So go on tell us your reason and why.
What is the grail watch thing i sometimes read of? Good health and a happy life is my ultimate grail, not a bloody watch!
For me it's aobut the emotion/memories that the watch brings.
My Tag F1 will never be sold - not the most high-end of watches, but was my first 'big purchase' and I bought it as a reward for finishing my apprenticeship (along with my TVR which was sold to fund a recent house move.....). It's a reminder that 4 years of college, hardwork and crap pay were worth it!
Will also never sell my first watch that my parent got me - a hand wind Services which I recently had overhauled/restored so I can pass it to my daughter in a couple of years.
Tag heuer McQueen Monaco, for I know they will never again be "affordable"
I bought a used one off SC to £1400 (I consider that a GOOD price for the condition of it whilst it had a non gen strap nor original box but was supplied with a Tag box and deployant) and the price at the time (newer calibre 12) was £3895. The watch is a 2006 model and list price then was £2495!
New list is now a faintly ridiculous £4595!
Values are only going to climb and I am buying up all the Watches I want as quick as I can because I'm not going to be able to afford it soon....
Sooner than I think...
I was going to say the price and difficulty involved in selling, but in thinking about it the cheapest watches seem to be the hardest to sell anymore. My last sale was a Citizen diver for less than $100 and it took something on the order of a dozen PMs back and forth with the buyer to placate his questions and concerns. Conversely, a $1000+ watch can often be sold with a minimum of communication, simply because the buyers at that level are more sophisticated, well-known and well seasoned in the watch buying game. But I tend to move more expensive watches less often anyway, the upshot being that virtually all my watches - cheap to expensive - have become keepers lately!
You're in the wrong place for sense!Originally Posted by learningtofly
Well, that's about the most sensible thing I've ever read on here
M.
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
I think most of use here just like watches. In 1966/7 I bought a Breitling Navitimer. This I wore virtually without break until 1999. Actually it was once sent back for servicing but that's all. Then in 1999 my wife bought me a GMT Mater. Until fortnight ago this was my everyday wear, actually in all truth an IWC Mk XI did make an appearance somewhere along the line. Then a fortnight ago I bought an IWC Spitfire Chrono, fabulous going to wear it for years.
Then last week a Steinhart Ocean appeared in the wretched SC den. Wearing it now, fantastic watch but why do I keep looking at the SC section. I am perfectly happy with my lot, but on the other hand......................
And this wretched forum has a lot to answer for. I'm go to re-name this place The House of the Rising Sun.
Same for me. There are watches I will keep for sentimental reasons but any of the others would be sold without a thought should the need arise.
..when nobody wants to buy it of me ...it becomes a keeper.
(+ I've got a a couple of watches with sentimental value, so I couldn't bring myself to flipping them)
my 3 keepers are keepers for sentimental reasons
ecozilla went to afghanistan with me
tissot racing was a 30th gift
rolex was bought after a safe return from afghanistan
i have come close to putting the rolex up for selling or trading, it sometimes feels too small but then i think about what buying my first rolex meant to me (and it was all very materialistic i dont mind admitting) and i realise anything i replaced it with wouldnt feel as special.
other than that, i'm not sentimental about any of the others: i reckon everything has its price but unfortunately, that price would be too high* for someone to want to pay!
*but that isnt because im sentimental about my other watches, and it definately isnt because i wouldnt want to offend** any of them by putting them on the block
** i know my watches dont have feelings but i dont want to risk hurting them anyway just in case.
For me, the design has to sing. I'll look at a watch and immediately know if I want it. Most of my buyers are keepers so far but I buy pretty infrequently anyway.
Seiko, esp vintage, is the one of the very few brands that I'm attracted to. I'm not into the swiss watch thing, and most current Swiss brands and micros I find utterly boring.
Ever rising prices
This does seem to be the case, which seems odd because we're in a recession. I'm planning to sell a couple of watches in the autumn; my only hesitation was this: they may be unaffordable again.
How is it that new watch prices can increase 8-10% per year in some cases?We're supposed to be in an economic downturn!
Some watches are just a watch, some are your watch. Some you wear, while some feel a part of you, expressing who you are - or can be. Fitting like a glove is a given. And it helps if they're unique, not so common or easily replaced - you may be able to replace a vintage piece, but it will probably look slightly different, like it has a different story. Or perhaps you've worn it from new, for long enough that it's really yours, not just 'one of those'. I have a birth year watch I can't see myself parting with - I feel as if it was made just for me when I was born, even though it took a while to find me. I suppose a keeper could also be a new watch, but it would probably have to mean a lot to you, a statement of intent, something you've long hoped to for, a well earned reward, or a perfect statement of your aesthetic.
All illogical and sentimental things perhaps, but what else would make you carry a lump of metal around for a lifetime?
For me, if a watch looks good, goes with most outfits, and isn't overly sensitive to scuffs and day-to-day life, its a "go-to" timepiece. And solid go-to watches are near impossible to give up!
Case in point: I've worn my Planet Ocean with shorts, swim trunks, jeans, suits, and tuxes. Design is a solid classic (IMHO), its survived everything I've thrown at it, its so easy to pick up and run with without a second thought (because it fits with everything), and it'll never ever leave my collection. I'll always love you PO :)
They're all keepers at some point, but that quickly changes.
For me, the watches I'd never sell are ones I could never replace, simples
A keeper to me is a watch I think about when I'm not wearing it. After a lot of buying and selling I've got 5 of them and they all came from here.
That little thing on the strap to hold the end in place!
Im not by nature a "flipper", so every watch I own was bought with the intention that it be kept forever.
My mindset is generally such that I don't like to surrender something I worked hard for and love - even if it means it helps me acquire something else. Id rather keep the something AND have the next thing that takes my fancy - even if it takes me a little longer.
In the case of my watches, this mindset is reinforced by the fact that each watch was either a present from my wife, represents an achievement in my life, or has a memory attached to it.
I also hold a, quite possibly vain, hope that one day I will pass on my watches to my son and he will appreciate them for what they represent - rather than what, financially, they are "worth".
More likely he will, given technological advancements, have some device beaming the exact time directly into his retina by then and be totally underwhelmed by his old mans' crappy old watch collection!
Hope Im wrong about that last bit! :)
A keeper is when I don't go on watch forums and get ideas of new watches.
Keepers for me are watches with some sentimental value.
No intention of flipping the others but I can't completely rule it out.
This too. My grandads '65 Piepan connie, '71 Bell-matic, '69 Citizen, '77 Seiko calculator watch and a couple of others. Keepers without question.
Definite +1 for me
I've had watches that I've thought keeper only to sell them a week later!
Sentimental value is the only real thing that makes a keeper. Others which are almost keepers are ones you never find anything to dislike. Ever.
Never had a keeper.
Sentimental value certainly (gift/inherited from family, friend, etc.); story behind it (great deal, great history, cool circumstance) and just plain like it. It's the watch that you keep putting on although there's a dozen others in the box.
A keeper is one that puts a smile on your face, makes you feel good and think that actually things are not SO bad.
I was sure that I would never sell my Breitling, I bought it when I started flying training and its done 3 tours of Afghan with me and I thought I would always keep it, recently decided that its going but part of me wants to keep it!
A keeper for me is something that holds the tail of my strap from flapping around when it's buckled...
(Actually my 214270 is a firm keeper as it was bought new for my 40th - I hope my recent Seamaster 300 will become a keeper also, but only time will tell. I sold all my other keepers.)
Rob
I only have a small collection, dress, diver and GMT, which brings variety so I don't get bored having similar looking watches and have a collection that can fit most scenarios.The longer I have owned the watches the more I have come to appreciate them.
When I think I want another watch I give it a few months and usually the feeling has worn off and I have lost interest in that particular model. I know I would regret flipping any of my watches and do not have the courage to do so as I'm happy with the ones I have got. Anyway I'm far too conservative in my outlook to be a flipper as I'm sure it would set me on a treadmill that would give me unnecessary stress which I'd rather avoid.
A keeper for me is anything that my wife or children together have brought for me or like. As there there is some sentiment and story behind it. Anything else is fair game for the chopping board:-)
Had my 806 Breitling Navitimer since 1966, just about decided, it might be a keeper.
Either sentimental (my first proper watch, a Tag Heuer 1000, and my first proper proper watch, a 2531.80), ones I had restored and will not get my money back on but are also grossly undervalued and I like too much (Seiko UFO and Bullhead), ones I know I can never afford to buy or justify buying (Heuer Autavia 2446c), something I bought for a special reason (Rolex Explorer 2 for my birthday) or just because I like the watch too much.
"A man of little significance"
I have 20 watches and they're all keepers. Rarely have I bought watches and ended up not keeping them; it's usually happened when I end up with 2 that are similar.
Paul
A watch you've been looking for years!
The act of buying a watch has so far made a so called keeper for me. It seems (after some 25 years of a watch affliction) the way I tend to choose and then appreciate a watch means that's likely to continue (unless my world ends up going a bit pear-shaped of course).
I have yet to sell a watch.
I've 4 now and when I think I may get rid of one to fund a new purchase I just can't bring myself to do it. I wear them all so that is certainly a factor.
I even bought a Gucci G Chrono black watch (which I regretted a few months later) that is worth only 30% of it's value in resale so I just decided to give it to my brother instead.
Sentimental watches would probably be kept, but I have none.
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