1000 posts, a SOTC and possible consolidation?

[goregasm]

Hello TZ-UK,

I've been here a while, member since 2012 but lurking for longer. I'm more of a reader than a writer (typist?) and I only usually comment on the Friday threads or on topics I feel I can add to, so that's why it's taken me so long to get to 1000 posts!

I love seeing other peoples collections on here, there's wide and varied tastes and the regular SOTC's are fantastic to read through as well as giving inspiration for some purchases of my own. So now i've hit my first big milestone on TZ, here is my SOTC. Please forgive the images, I'm no photographer at all so these will have glare, reflections and fingerprints a-plenty

Here goes;

Omega - The SpeedyPro was bought for me by my Wife in December of 2020 as a 40th Birthday gift, it was a complete surprise to me as I had no idea she'd been saving the money for it for a number of months. I'd always wanted one and kept promising myself one when funds would allow. I love this watch, It is of course the pre-update model and the model which I now prefer as i'm not keen on the looks of the new bracelet. The Seamaster and Triple-Date are both JDM limited editions (un-numbered), I acquired both of these from Jmryshi on eBay (anyone else remember him?). They are both from the early 2000's and have production numbers of around 1000 each




Seiko - who doesn't love a Seiko? 3x 7548 Divers, all from my birth year and month. It took me ages to find these, both at the right price AND condition. The standard Monster (Gen.1), had one of these ages ago and stupidly sold it just before they were discontinued. The one on rubber is an SKX399, they were produced for the Philippine market. its very similar to the US market SKX173 but there are subtle variations on the dial. the plots have metal surrounds and the 12 marker is shorter

The second pic has the SRP234 'baby' Tuna Limited edition, one of 1300 made. Seiko also released a chocolate brown version, and another with red accents rather than gold. There is also my SMBC023 Perpetual Calendar, great little thing which is similar in size to the SKX013 at 38mm but has a wonderful quartz perpetual calendar movement inside (said to be accurate to 20s/year). With that is my battered 6309 which is in dire need of a service, as you can see the seconds hand is floating so I need to get that reattached so it's at least wearable. Finally there's the first Seiko I ever bought, it's from 2002-ish? I've no idea of the model number but it's a kinetic movement and has a full-lume dial. I wasn't even into watches back then but it looked cool.





Rolex - all 3 of these I bought from Watchfinder. I know they are the marmite of watch dealers but i've not had terrible experiences with them. The Datejust was a treat to myself when I landed my current job. The Exp2 was bought with some inheritance I was left by a grandparent. With that inheritance I also bought a lovely 14060 Sub which I wore for about a year and then P/X'd for the Daytona. I managed to get all these before Rolex prices started going crazy so I feel really lucky to have these 3 in my collection




Cartier - I've always had a soft spot for Cartier, The Roadster I purchased in NYC in 2004, I had a lot of disposable income at the time and really wanted a nice watch. I wore it to death after that for about 5 years and after it's last service it's now become my 'dressy' watch. Its the one I wore on my wedding day and now it doesn’t come out of the box very often. The Must21 Chronoscaph is one of those watches that doesn't really get noticed, but I enjoy wearing it whether its in the office or out in town on a weekend. I suppose you could call it a 'smart-beater'




Mil-Watches - The first thing I ever read on TZ was about the CWC G10, I didn't know anything about military issued watches until I came here and the G10 was my first 'forum-inspired' watch. Back in the day you could by a CWC G10 for less than £100 and if you didn't get on with it you could chop it in for another without losing too much money. Within about 2 months of being a member here i'd bought a FatBoy from 1980 along with a handful of nato straps, that watch is now long gone but i've always liked mil-watches since, I've had loads of G10's from different years but now I am left just the '81 FatNav which I absolutely love for its uniqueness and relative rarity, plus 2 Precistas, an '82 and an '84. The '95 Diver is the perfect beater/knockabout/casual watch which just looks great on any strap you throw it on. The Chrono is a weird one, I spotted this on eBay way back in 2014 I think, you'll note that it doesn't have a Pheon on the dial. This is because the markings on the back suggest it being issued to the BBC, CWC say it was a 'correspondent's watch' so it would've been issued to a producer or similar so they can time segments and interchanges, that sort of thing





Digitals - The thing about G-shocks is, you can't just have one..




My Suunto for running and Cycling, plus a cheap Casio for DIY/garden




Steinhart - I've always liked Steinhart, I did own one of the original Ocean One Vintage they made with their so-called 'inhouse movement', the ST.1 but I just couldn't get on with it for the size. It had such a long case lug to lug that just didn't fit right no matter what strap I put it on. Now this one, the JG74 limited edition, has the same case diameter at 42mm but it's a lot shorter. I think this is the biggest case size I can manage, anything bigger would look like a dinner plate on my wrist. I remember seeing the JG74 advertised on the Steinberg site, I was looking for a Flieger at the time and this fit the bill perfectly for me. I prefer the arabic markers and the logo at 6 o'clock, plus it was limited to 333 pieces.




The rest - I loved the Timex re-issue when it was announced, never managed to get one on release as they sold out almost immediately but after some searching I got one at a good price from SC, it sit in my usual rotation for work and always draws comments. I'm not as keen on the other re-issue colours, and the Hodinkee white version? No thank you.. The Vostok I hardly wear, it's the last in a long line of Amphibia's and Komandirskies i've owned over the years. Vostok is another brand I was introduced to through this forum, i've had new ones from Meranom and plenty of older ones sourced from eBay and elsewhere but now I think i've fell out love with them. Don't get me wrong I really enjoy them, the different dials, case shapes. Their almost basic 'elemental' watchmaking is a big draw for some collectors but I think i've just got past that and now I'm just not feeling it with them anymore.. The Sofraf was a £15 eBay buy, early on in my collecting I wanted something retro-looking and it was the first thing in the list I liked and subsequently purchased. Its a fantastic little thing with an ETA movement inside (I only found that out when it was last serviced by Steven at RyteTime) I've only ever seen 1 other for sale and I know nothing about it apart from Sofraf are a company that make safety gloves and goggles (who knew?)

The MDC I got for free, less said about that the better I think.. It has a newman-esque look with a quartz-chrono movement inside, I don't think i've ever worn it haha




And last but nowhere near least, Timefactors - Every member here knows bout Eddies fantastic watches, and he's made some greats over the years. Here are my current 3. The PRS-82 is one of the first batch with the NOS ETA 2783 movement, fantastic looking, great size. I really love this watch, it was the first TF watch I bought and it really paved the way for the other 2. The PRS-18 was a gift, again from my Wife. I don't wear it as much as the 82 but when I do i'm always surprised by the quality. The PRS-25 was purchased from eBay, these were long sold out when I discovered them and I'd always wanted one. This one was advertised on eBay as unworn with a selection of SteveO straps, even the bracelet was still wrapped in the protective plastic (and still is!). It was an auction but I contacted the seller for a BiN price which we could agree on, after some negotiating it was mine. This is another watch of Eddies which has far surpassed expectations, it looks great on a nato, on leather, its just a fantastic watch. Other than these I've also had a PRS-3 LE in yellow, and original issue PRS-29 and PRS-10



As you can see I have a lot of watches, not as many as others here but still a lot for me. I'm beginning to think there's too many so I really do need to get rid of some. I'd love to get down to a core collection but I just can't make a decision as to which i'd let go. I'd definitely keep these, without question;

3 Rolex
Cartier Roadster
SpeedyPro
CWC Chrono, FatNav and Diver
PRS82 and PRS18
Steinhart
ONE of the 7548's
G-shock either one 5610 or the Riseman

That would be 12 in the box and 1 on the wrist - but I'd love to see other suggestions for slimming down, maybe you can change my mind!

If you've got this far, thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your Sunday

- Ian

[TonyAFC8]

Good read (with a costa as the mrs is shopping) and a great collection


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[valleywatch]

Nice write up.

Some lovely watches there..

I really like that Cartier .

(the Roadster).

The most watches I've ever had at any one time, was probably about 15....I'm down to about 9 or 10 now...So, at least I'm going in the right direction!

The list of the watches of the ones you will keep....I fully agree with you!

[Wallasey Runner]

Lovely collection Ian, but I agree far too many watches, no one needs that many. Get shut of a few and do a bit of consolidation, that’s the way to go

I notice that the ‘84 Precista isn’t on the list of keepers and if that’s for the chop, let me know.

The grail in your collection for me is the ‘81 Fat Nav and if that ever gets considered for release (for good behaviour ) I would willingly give you absolute top dollar for it.

Seriously though, nice collection and what would be the consolidation aim be out of interest, the usual PP, VC or AP?

Ken

[Topcat30093]

That is a good looking all round collection.
What a fantastic gift from your wife :-)
I love to see Military timepieces, it lets my imagination run away, with thoughts of each watches adventure :-)
Thanks for posting them.

[Linc]

Nice collection.


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[Tetlee]

Hellava collection there. The absolute highlight being the BBC CWC Chrono, would kill for one of those, such a cool history.

[tommyzzj]

Really enjoyed this, the birth year Seikos are awesome


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[MFB Scotland]

Great collection and a really enjoyable read OP

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[97BlackC5]

A very nice collection you have there sir, for me the picks are the Omega Speedmaster's especially the triple date (I prefer the size) & you don't see as many of them in the wild. Also the Cartier Roadster is a thing of beauty I have been looking at them recently as you can pick them up 2nd hand for around the £2500 mark (that is about my max on a single watch spend). That £2500 would buy you a lot of class! The baby Tuna & the full lume Seiko are also very nice.

Concerning the potential consolidation of the collection you obviously like them all as you wouldn't have bought them if you didn't, sounds obvious but keep the favorites, the sentimental ones & the ones you won't be able to buy again if you decide at a later date that you perhaps should not have got ride of them.

Either way good luck with what you decide to do.

[Sinnlover]

Thank you for sharing.
The BBC CWC is a rare one from around 1982.

[goregasm]

Thanks all for the positive comments.

The list of the watches of the ones you will keep....I fully agree with you!

Thank you - I think I will stick with that list, it covers the 'keepers' and the ones I love to wear

I notice that the ‘84 Precista isn’t on the list of keepers and if that’s for the chop, let me know.

The grail in your collection for me is the ‘81 Fat Nav and if that ever gets considered for release (for good behaviour ) I would willingly give you absolute top dollar for it.


Seriously though, nice collection and what would be the consolidation aim be out of interest, the usual PP, VC or AP?

Ken

Noted Ken, you're on my list for when I decide to move some on. Not the FatNav unfortunately, as per our conversation over PM it took me too long to obtain so it'll more than likely stay with me (unless I seriously need the cash).

Consolidation-wise.. I'm nowhere in the ballpark for a PP, AP or VC. I do have a hankering for a Zenith El Primero however, I also would love another Sub at some point, either Rolex or Tudor so I have a couple of options.

~ Ian

[westberks]

a lovely collection and good story behind the watches; I really need to do one of these!

nice mix of styles too

haha, just hit 1,000 posts!! spooky!!

[Mitch]

Really enjoyed that read.

That is a great collection, one of a real watch enthusiast.




Mitch

[Fraz01]

Great thread. Those Cartiers are lovely