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Thread: Hiding watches

  1. #1
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    Hiding watches

    I’ve hidden a watch in the house and now I can’t find it . Five months so far , that’s beaten my previous record ...... !


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  2. #2
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    May sound like a silly question, but why hide it?

  3. #3
    Grand Master Wallasey Runner's Avatar
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    From the wife?

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wallasey Runner View Post
    From the wife?
    Keeping the marriage intact

  5. #5
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    I recently bought a steel Daytona 16520 that wasn't hidden, but placed on top of a wardrobe while decorating.

    It was then thought lost until found there ten years later.

  6. #6
    Master blackal's Avatar
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    Won’t help with your current situation, but whenever I stash anything now- I take a photo of the location.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Haywood_Milton View Post
    I recently bought a steel Daytona 16520 that wasn't hidden, but placed on top of a wardrobe while decorating.

    It was then thought lost until found there ten years later.
    Wow - I bet finding that was a Champagne moment!

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  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by blackal View Post
    Won’t help with your current situation, but whenever I stash anything now- I take a photo of the location.
    That is a great idea ! Would have saved me a lot of time looking for my passport!

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Haywood_Milton View Post
    I recently bought a steel Daytona 16520 that wasn't hidden, but placed on top of a wardrobe while decorating.

    It was then thought lost until found there ten years later.
    I read that story-can’t remember where though
    Was it on here?
    People hide watches for security purposes if broken into
    I had misplaced one for a day once but came to me eventually

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Haywood_Milton View Post
    I recently bought a steel Daytona 16520 that wasn't hidden, but placed on top of a wardrobe while decorating.

    It was then thought lost until found there ten years later.

    I love it!

    I remembered last night during a conversation with some friends that I was going through my watch boxes (I keep all the boxes separate to the watches themselves; the watches being in larger storage/display boxes or in the safe etc.) to check the paperwork/dates/serials etc. and came across a Submariner 14060 that I must have bought a few years earlier that had been put along with all the other boxes and been forgotten all about - it was a very nice surprise.
    It's just a matter of time...

  11. #11
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Omegamanic View Post
    I love it!

    I remembered last night during a conversation with some friends that I was going through my watch boxes (I keep all the boxes separate to the watches themselves; the watches being in larger storage/display boxes or in the safe etc.) to check the paperwork/dates/serials etc. and came across a Submariner 14060 that I must have bought a few years earlier that had been put along with all the other boxes and been forgotten all about - it was a very nice surprise.
    Ha! Was it a lovely 4 line M model?

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by wileeeeeey View Post
    Ha! Was it a lovely 4 line M model?
    It was indeed - I had quite a few assorted 14060's at the time, so that's my excuse for not being on top of things. Around the same period I lent my 14060 Swiss only dial to a work colleague who was thinking about buying a Rolex, and had forgotten about that for a while until he kindly wore it into work one day and advised that he had just ordered a new Blue Steel/Gold Sub.

    An old hazy pic of the 2 liners at that time that I've just found, now all long gone - I think I maybe had three of the 4 liners too at the time, and still have a couple of them and my ex has one :( ;)

    Last edited by Omegamanic; 4th February 2021 at 16:19.
    It's just a matter of time...

  13. #13
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    I had builders in , quite reputable but I was taking no chances ..I was burgled
    30 years ago and have still not got over it ...!


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  14. #14
    Craftsman Fender's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Omegamanic View Post
    I love it!

    I remembered last night during a conversation with some friends that I was going through my watch boxes (I keep all the boxes separate to the watches themselves; the watches being in larger storage/display boxes or in the safe etc.) to check the paperwork/dates/serials etc. and came across a Submariner 14060 that I must have bought a few years earlier that had been put along with all the other boxes and been forgotten all about - it was a very nice surprise.


    Sorry

  15. #15
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    I forgot I'd hidden my Explorer a while ago ... so when I went to put it on my first thought was we'd been robbed but obviously no sign of any break in then I start suspecting other people who'd been in the house ... until finally I realised what I'd done; I'd stashed it at the back of a shelf as a short term hide as we had tradesmen in the house ... wasn't a fun 60 minutes ...

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tony E View Post
    May sound like a silly question, but why hide it?
    All except the few I wear on rotation are well hidden.

    Why........If We were to be burgled Id rather still have them.


  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by P9CLY View Post
    All except the few I wear on rotation are well hidden.

    Why........If We were to be burgled Id rather still have them.
    That is why I installed a small safe in a hidden location to save the hiding game ...

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Haywood_Milton View Post
    I recently bought a steel Daytona 16520 that wasn't hidden, but placed on top of a wardrobe while decorating.

    It was then thought lost until found there ten years later.
    That sure beats finding a tenner in your jeans pocket!
    I'm off to check the top of my wardrobe....

  19. #19
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Omegamanic View Post
    It was indeed - I had quite a few assorted 14060's at the time, so that's my excuse for not being on top of things. Around the same period I lent my 14060 Swiss only dial to a work colleague who was thinking about buying a Rolex, and had forgotten about that for a while until he kindly wore it into work one day and advised that he had just ordered a new Blue Steel/Gold Sub.

    An old hazy pic of the 2 liners at that time that I've just found, now all long gone - I think I maybe had three of the 4 liners too at the time, and still have a couple of them and my ex has one :( ;)
    Back in school people had multiples of premier League stickers and a few decades later it's the same but with 5 and 10 grand watches!

    A nice full set 4 line 14060M is on the list for me at some point.

  20. #20
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    Is it safer to have several watches in one hitting spot or one in each of several?

  21. #21
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    You could bury them in random spots in the garden. And have cryptic clues to the hiding places like treasure island. What fun that would be.



    I prefer a decent safe myself - drilled and tapped into cement floor, from the inside.

    Martyn

  22. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Omegamanic View Post
    I love it!

    I remembered last night during a conversation with some friends that I was going through my watch boxes (I keep all the boxes separate to the watches themselves; the watches being in larger storage/display boxes or in the safe etc.) to check the paperwork/dates/serials etc. and came across a Submariner 14060 that I must have bought a few years earlier that had been put along with all the other boxes and been forgotten all about - it was a very nice surprise.
    sounds like a lovely surprise indeed...

    Re. OP - hopefully it's not been thrown out with some old clothing etc by your other half..? Either way hope you will find it soon..

  23. #23
    Master reggie747's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Montello View Post
    That is why I installed a small safe in a hidden location to save the hiding game ...
    What if you can't remember where the hidden location that the safe is in ? Then you're ****ed !

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by reggie747 View Post
    What if you can't remember where the hidden location that the safe is in ? Then you're ****ed !
    I had this exact thought but I have this solution, a discreetly installed safe, which replaced my less elegant ‘hidden gun cupboard’ in the loft


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  25. #25
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MartynJC (UK) View Post
    You could bury them in random spots in the garden. And have cryptic clues to the hiding places like treasure island. What fun that would be.

    I prefer a decent safe myself - drilled and tapped into cement floor, from the inside.

    Martyn
    Someone I know has £30k buried in their back garden garden. Not a criminal and not dodgy money, just quite backwards in his thinking, doesn't trust banks and is scared in case he ever gets divorced one day. Insanity.

  26. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by wileeeeeey View Post
    Someone I know has £30k buried in their back garden garden. Not a criminal and not dodgy money, just quite backwards in his thinking, doesn't trust banks and is scared in case he ever gets divorced one day. Insanity.
    That’s a great idea, break in case of divorce, wish I’d thought of that when I got divorced


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  27. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by wileeeeeey View Post
    Someone I know has £30k buried in their back garden garden. Not a criminal and not dodgy money, just quite backwards in his thinking, doesn't trust banks and is scared in case he ever gets divorced one day. Insanity.
    My brother in law in Perth had $30K (legit savings) in ozzy dollars in a safe sunk in the floor in a friends garage last year and thieves broke in the garage while his friend was on a fishing trip and dug the safe up and had the money away, strange inside knowledge perhaps, never found out who or got it back.

  28. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Montello View Post
    That is why I installed a small safe in a hidden location to save the hiding game ...
    They are all in one place and not randomly strewn around the house!,and no need for a safe where mine are hidden.
    And more importantly our Children are well aware of the hiding place just in case we never arrive back home God forbid!.
    Last edited by P9CLY; 4th February 2021 at 20:33.


  29. #29
    Master senraw's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by P9CLY View Post
    All except the few I wear on rotation are well hidden.

    Why........If We were to be burgled Id rather still have them.
    If you haven't changed your hiding place in the last 5 years Paul.. I know exactly where your stash is!! :D

  30. #30
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    Gosh .. memories, my uncle long since passed buried 5 k in his garage then had a stroke , thought he was going to die but had massive communication with his children .. they found the money , he recovered .. then he had another stroke ... same problem .. he died they dug up the garden without a result ...


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  31. #31
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    Missed out .. problems ...


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  32. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by TheTigerUK View Post
    My brother in law in Perth had $30K (legit savings) in ozzy dollars in a safe sunk in the floor in a friends garage last year and thieves broke in the garage while his friend was on a fishing trip and dug the safe up and had the money away, strange inside knowledge perhaps, never found out who or got it back.
    I guess if you get a few tradies involved in the digging out, and then others involved in the installation, and maybe someone let slip at some point what was going to be stored, then there are quite a few opportunities for a lot of people finding out.
    It's just a matter of time...

  33. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by wileeeeeey View Post
    Someone I know has £30k buried in their back garden garden. Not a criminal and not dodgy money, just quite backwards in his thinking, doesn't trust banks and is scared in case he ever gets divorced one day. Insanity.
    If I had gold think I'd do the same.

  34. #34
    I always thought that Watchfinder ad with the Submariner sat in the shed/garage was a bit rediculous but maybe it wasn't so far fetched.

  35. #35
    Craftsman levkov's Avatar
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    I used to hide my collection before going on holidays, but the hassle of spending precious hours on it - instead of packing holiday stuff - eventually made me hire a safety deposit box in a nearby bank instead.
    Now i can't find a Phillips auction catalogue - i believe the latest, with McQueen's Heuer Monaco in it - which i do recollect receiving, and now annoyingly i just can't find it! Can't even recall hiding it from the wife, it was only £30ish..arrrggghh

  36. #36
    Quote Originally Posted by Haywood_Milton View Post
    I recently bought a steel Daytona 16520 that wasn't hidden, but placed on top of a wardrobe while decorating.

    It was then thought lost until found there ten years later.
    It took 10 years before you looked on top of a wardrobe?

  37. #37
    Master sish101's Avatar
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    There is a historical precedent with stashing your valuables...

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  38. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by reggie747 View Post
    What if you can't remember where the hidden location that the safe is in ? Then you're ****ed !

    I have told my wife the location of the safe and she has a good memory for such matters so I'm OK.

  39. #39
    Grand Master jwg663's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by stevecross View Post
    It took 10 years before you looked on top of a wardrobe?
    No, he bought the watch from someone who had misplaced it for ten years.
    ______

    ​Jim.

  40. #40
    Master earlofsodbury's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kitz View Post
    I had builders in , quite reputable but I was taking no chances ..I was burgled
    30 years ago and have still not got over it ...!
    Is it not possible that it was not in fact so well hidden as you thought? Builders more than most are likely to be ferreting around in obscure parts of your home after-all, and IME can be trusted roughly as far as they can be thrown...

  41. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by senraw View Post
    If you haven't changed your hiding place in the last 5 years Paul.. I know exactly where your stash is!! :D
    Actually a very different place now Karl,had a fair bit of building work done so incorporated into that whilst that was done,and so very very well hidden.


  42. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by P9CLY View Post
    They are all in one place and not randomly strewn around the house!,and no need for a safe where mine are hidden.
    And more importantly our Children are well aware of the hiding place just in case we never arrive back home God forbid!.
    Last year I was in the airport on the way to Barbados and had that thought that what if we didn't come home.
    Where the watches were hidden likely wouldn't be found so I text my sister from the airport giving their whereabouts.
    It only confirmed her suspicions that I was nuts.

  43. #43
    Quote Originally Posted by Hood View Post
    It only confirmed her suspicions that I was nuts.
    We need no such confirmations:-)

  44. #44
    Master sish101's Avatar
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    One for the detectorists on here:

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  45. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hood View Post
    Last year I was in the airport on the way to Barbados and had that thought that what if we didn't come home.
    Where the watches were hidden likely wouldn't be found so I text my sister from the airport giving their whereabouts.
    It only confirmed her suspicions that I was nuts.
    Well it had gone thru my head thinking had I not told them & the house is sold for their inheritance,the new owner would effectively have a house 50k below what they paid for the house.

    So not "nuts" really is it,why is it nuts to hide an expensive collection of watches and not let someone know!.If they knew you were into watches and never discussed the selling of them,maybe they would wonder just where they are,and save a lot of ripping up floorboards or calling all the local banks to hopefully find anything.

    I read recently that an "hoarder" had died,the house sold & over 300k of items found!.

    Nuts he didnt tell anyone is what it is.


  46. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kitz View Post
    I’ve hidden a watch in the house and now I can’t find it . Five months so far , that’s beaten my previous record ...... !


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  47. #47
    Craftsman Megatron's Avatar
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    Hiding watches

    I “lost” my first mechanical watch, an Oris TT1, and only found it again after 3 years when I rediscovered it in my secret hiding place that I’d created in a gap under a built in wardrobe.

    It was so secret I forgot I’d even created it


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  48. #48
    Master mycroft's Avatar
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    My wife regularly puts things away in odd places for safekeeping (her words not mine) and then forgets where she has put them.

    At various times these have included her purse, my wallet (why?), several items of jewellery (one of which was worth quite a bit), cash, odd credit cards and assorted paperwork.

    The subsequent search and rescue operations have occasionally become somewhat tiresome .

    I am surprised I have never posted this in the Dear Wife thread in BP, now I think about it.

    Simon

  49. #49
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    I have a safe securely bolted to both the wall and the floor.
    But.
    Many years ago i sold a car for cash on a sat morning. I didn't have a safe at that time, and banks not open until Monday, so I decided to pop it into the roof void as a hiding place. Up the step ladder, lifted the hatch, and dropped the wad of cash down the middle of a stud wall .
    Lucky it landed on top of an electrical socket box so was able to remove the box and retrieve the notes. I had visions of having to break into the wall.

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  50. #50
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    Squirrels propagate oak trees by forgetting where they buried acorns .. random fact .


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