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Thread: An introduction...

  1. #1
    Journeyman the_gazelle's Avatar
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    An introduction...

    Hi all,

    After recently dipping into the forum for the first time I thought that it would be polite to introduce myself properly.

    I started having a proper interest in watches after my wife’s Nan pulled a very battered Speedmaster MKii from the back of a drawer and thrust it in my hand about ten years ago. It looked like it had literally been run over. It had stone shaped dents in the case! It had the remnants of a bracelet hanging from the watch head and the cracked and scratched sapphire wasn’t pretty!



    But I had a local watchmaker take a look at it and he did a pretty good job of restoring it. Admittedly there was no lapping facility for the case but it was now wearable. He found a suitable replacement bracelet, new crystal and did some polishing.



    This watch had sparked the interest and I then learnt about the speedmaster etc generally.

    My 40th birthday approached and I convinced my lovely wife that spending thousands of pounds on a watch was a reasonable thing to do and she agreed to contribute towards me buying a Rolex. I didn’t want a large watch and at that time the OP wasn’t an option (it just didn’t exist at that point which seems odd now) so I went with a lovely sunburst blue dialled Airking from Iconic (back when they could get some great watches at brilliant prices!).



    I’ve loved wearing this watch for years and still think that it works as an understated piece. I’ve never had anyone notice that it’s a Rolex, which I like, as for me it was about marking the occasion between my wife and I. It’s great for swimming, etc too.

    Around this time I sold the mkii for a Moonwatch speedie as I just got fed up with the hair-plucking, top heavy nature of it and figured that I would wear a moonwatch much more enjoyably and it would still be an homage to the watch that started it all! That was definitely the correct decision for me. I really enjoy the flexibility of the moonwatch on straps, nato, etc. And the bracelet is comfy too.




    I went on to acquire a couple of C Ward’s over the years, which were both very nice watches and very good vfm but I honestly just couldn’t bond with them. The first was the orange bezelled diver;


    And the second was the bronze chronometer C65 diver;


    Both great, but not the sum of the parts as listed in some way for me? Maybe I just found them slightly too large for my wrist?

    I sadly lost my father about two and a half years ago and inherited his old automatic Omega. Nothing fancy at all but lovely to have of course. It wasn’t running very well and needed some long overdue TLC so I asked Brendan (webwatchmaker) to look at it for me.



    And it came back like a new watch! He did a fantastic job.





    I had a very good year at work in 2016 so treated myself to a lovely little JLC ultra-thin that I saw in the window of Goldsmiths. It had been fully serviced by JLC and was basically a brand new watch at a great price. I even haggled a further £400 off the price too. It is a model that has the highly regarded cal 849 hand wound movement. Which I would love to pretend I knew when I bought it but only really found out after researching it later. It was even loved by the dear old Watch Snob on AskMen dot com! What ever happened to him? He was great.



    Having worn and enjoyed it for some years, mainly on special occasions, I recently decided to sell this to make room for my recent purchase, the blue dialled JLC Polaris. I figured that again, why have so much money tied up in a watch that only get worn at special occasions. I don’t regret the move and love the Polaris. It is very comfortable and is everything I hoped that it would be.




    So for those that have lost track, I currently have the Speedie Moonwatch, the Airking, the Polaris, my fathers Omega and a nice Oris that my wife bought me for a wedding anniversary two years ago.



    So thanks for reading this far if you have, and I hope to contribute going forward instead of just reading! I’ve learnt a lot on here and in some ways it’s helped me shape my collection by understanding what is out there and learning from others mistakes or knowledge.

    Cheers

    Rich (the_gazelle on account of my long legs apparently!)

  2. #2
    Master
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    Nice collection; welcome.

  3. #3
    Master Maysie's Avatar
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    ...If Carlsberg did intros.....

    Nice work. Welcome!

  4. #4
    Welcome... Love the air king - I had the salmon dial one and it's great looking

  5. #5
    Journeyman the_gazelle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maysie View Post
    ...If Carlsberg did intros.....

    Nice work. Welcome!
    Aww shucks... thanks!

  6. #6
    Craftsman
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    Welcome! Nice collection!

  7. #7
    Master sish101's Avatar
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    A lovely selection there. And welcome.

    Sent through the ether by diddling with radio waves

  8. #8
    Craftsman
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maysie View Post
    ...If Carlsberg did intros.....

    Nice work. Welcome!
    Indeed.

    OP nice watches, all of which I would be proud to own.

    Which one do you wear the most?

    The Polaris is a lovely design. How do you find using the bezel?

  9. #9
    Craftsman
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maysie View Post
    ...If Carlsberg did intros.....

    Nice work. Welcome!
    Talking of Carlsberg, me and the kids watched Ice Cold in Alex last night (well I had to bribe them to do it) and I paused the scene at the end to explain the significance of it and the ad decades later

  10. #10
    Master Yorkshiremadmick's Avatar
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    Welcome, some nice watches a couple I’d like, that Airking and that JLC.
    Great introduction too.



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  11. #11
    Craftsman NCC66's Avatar
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    Nicely done sir! Nice collection too.


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  12. #12
    Welcome. Nice intro.

  13. #13
    Journeyman the_gazelle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2012 View Post
    Indeed.

    OP nice watches, all of which I would be proud to own.

    Which one do you wear the most?

    The Polaris is a lovely design. How do you find using the bezel?
    Hmm, good question. I would say that the Airking has had the most daily use overall. It’s very flexible in that sense.

    Although having said that, I’ve only had the Polaris since Monday actually so it’s not left my wrist! I’ve had no trouble with the bezel though. I had read that some found that it moves about a bit as it doesn’t screw lock but I’ve not had that happen. It’s very smooth and good for timing things. Even my teenage daughter thought that it was cool and she’s doesn’t usually (with watch stuff!). Or she was just placating me..... that couldn’t be the case though surely?!

    Thanks for the welcome and kind comments everyone.

  14. #14
    Master Halitosis's Avatar
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    Impressive introduction and some lovely watches sir - great pedigree that gives shade (as my own teenagers would say) to my own humble collection. Welcome!

  15. #15
    Craftsman aamaci's Avatar
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    Welcome! A Fantastic intro, the way it should be done in my opinion, and lovely collection with meaningful back stories Well done, a really nicely balanced set of watches. Not too slanted to one niche or another. A collection to be proud of and a great basis to work on....just be careful, you may end up, like me, with 30+ without noticing the growth!

    A

  16. #16
    Welcome
    Andy

    Wanted - Damasko DC57

  17. #17
    Craftsman FellBasher's Avatar
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    Enjoyed the read, great intro OP! Nice collection. Welcome to the forum.

  18. #18
    Welcome to the forum, that speedy looks great! And nice story behind it too

  19. #19
    Welcome. Really good to see a proper intro and a nice collection with a story behind it.

    Sent from my SM-N986B using Tapatalk

  20. #20
    Journeyman the_gazelle's Avatar
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    Thanks for all the lovely comments guys and gals.

    Ive been meaning to do it for some time but wanted to have the time do it properly and write something that I would’ve enjoyed reading myself. I always think our stories that bring us here are all so very different and interesting.

  21. #21
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
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    What an intro. Love the Polaris.

  22. #22
    Journeyman
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    Great intro and some great watches. An interesting read. Welcome Sir!


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  23. #23
    Craftsman TonyAFC8's Avatar
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    Welcome to the forum Great read and intro, like a few others that polaris would look good in my collection


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  24. #24
    Welcome along. Many thanks for taking the time and courtesy to introduce yourself and your collection.

  25. #25
    Master
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    Welcome - some very nice watches and a very thoughtful introduction.

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  26. #26
    Craftsman
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    Welcome, that’s a great collection.

  27. #27
    Lovely collection. I really like the Oris with the date at 6. I prefer watches without dates as I can no longer read them without my glasses and hate cyclops. It seems to really restrict choice if looking for watches without dates (I have some of the usual suspects), but a date at 6 seems more balanced and easier to ignore.

  28. #28
    Master Jon Kenney's Avatar
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    Welcome, and nice intro.


    Sent using Tapatalk. Excuse the lack of apostrophes.

  29. #29
    Journeyman the_gazelle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shrek View Post
    Lovely collection. I really like the Oris with the date at 6. I prefer watches without dates as I can no longer read them without my glasses and hate cyclops. It seems to really restrict choice if looking for watches without dates (I have some of the usual suspects), but a date at 6 seems more balanced and easier to ignore.
    Thanks. Yes I do like and respect Oris. They seem to be pretty brave in their design approach these days and have some lovely watches. A great independent brand.

    This one is simple and clean and my wife chose it knowing that I liked the Polaris when it came out several years ago. Most of my watches are dateless but this one is really useful to wear.

  30. #30
    Journeyman the_gazelle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Kenney View Post
    Sent using Tapatalk. Excuse the lack of apostrophes.
    Aah, I’m glad you have that signature! I couldn’t understand why my posts made me look slightly illiterate!


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  31. #31
    Journeyman
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    Fantastic story and great collection! Welcome to the forum!

    Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

  32. #32
    Really great intro and collection. Welcome to the forum!

  33. #33
    Brilliant that there is a story or occasion for each watch you own and what a great collection you have.

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