Welcome to our new community members. It’s been exciting to see how much the club has grown in the past few months. We’ve now held over 100 events, written hundreds of articles, and reached tens of thousands of readers.
I thought it was time to reflect on my own collecting journey. For those of you who know me well, hopefully you’ll hear the story of some old favourites. For those of you who I’ve not met yet, I’m Ed, co-founder of The Watch Collectors’ Club, and this is my story.
Where It Started
I am a collector. Not just of watches, but of lots of things. Guitars. Shoes. Books. You name it, I’ve thought about collecting it. Watches are the thing I collect most seriously.
I have liked watches for as long as I can remember. As a young boy I used to ask for watches for most birthdays. My love of watches turned into an obsession during a trip to Geneva with my parents. Wandering around the city, I was looking into every shop window when I saw the price-tag of what turned out to be a Patek Philippe. I couldn’t get my head around how expensive they were. What could justify the price? So when I got home, I got to researching the history of high-end watches. I was hooked by the technological achievements of making tiny machines that were self-powered and could accurately tell the time.
My First Watch
My first Swiss watch was not a Patek Philippe. It was an Omega Seamaster from 1967, which I bought from eBay. I chose it because it was affordable for me at the time (£197), the brand that James Bond wore, and was very pretty. You’ll see the sun-damaged dial is now orange. It will have been silver when it was manufactured.
Feeding the Habit
During my late teens and early twenties, I bought and sold watches very regularly – feeding the habit. I specialised in time-only watches from the 1960’s-70s, my favourite brands were Omega and Girard-Perregaux. I’d buy watches from the USA and South America, where small vintages watches weren’t popular, and you needed to manually translate Spanish and Portugese eBay listings, and after a month or wear, I’d sell the watch to a European buyer.
Neovintage (Before It Was Cool)
Over the years, I’ve realised that the watches I love the most, are the ones I lusted after when I started to get really interested in Swiss Luxury watches in the early noughties. Relatively small cases, complications, yellow gold, cheaper than the modern equivalents. I love what dealers like Ben at Watchbrothers LDN are doing by highlighting the relatively good value that can be had by digging a little deeper and further back through history. We interviewed Ben, which you can also watch on youtube here.
My favourite watch, and the only real grail that I’ve had is my Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Dual Time. I’ve owned it for nearly 10 years, and it’s still my favourite watch. Ironically it was and still is cheaper than the steel-only version, despite the addition of gold and much lower production numbers.
Other neovintage watches that I’ve bought over the previous 15 years include this JLC Perpetual Calendar (only 34mm diameter), and a gold Zenith El Primero Chronograph.
How I Feel About Modern Watches
We’ve run over 100 watch events, which means I see a lot of watches. This means that if I don’t buy a watch as soon as I see it, then I will probably get distracted by something else at the next event and not end up buying anything.
The modern watches I have bought exclusively to celebrate big events.
The first to highlight is my Fears Brunswick Aurora. The Fears team hosted our members in their Bristol HQ, and we were joined by members of the Fears Owners and Enthusiasts club. Daniel, the Head of Commercial at Fears pulled me aside and said: “We are about to release your first Fears Watch”. And he was right! I bought the watch to take on my honeymoon, and as is their way, the Fears team went above and beyond with their customer service. They sent me a watch with a serial number that matched my wedding date.
The second modern watch I wear a lot is a Tudor Pelagos LHD. This was a present form my wife (also a watch collector), who realised that I didn’t have a really robust modern tool-watch, that could go anywhere with me. The Tudor LHD was a no-brainer. Overly engineered, with the best bracelet clasp of any watch, and with a crown at the 9 o’clock position. Ideal for someone like me who wears their watches on their right-wrist.
I bought the third modern watch as a treat, just for me. We held a small event for our Gold Members in the Piaget boutique on New Bond Street and I fell in-love with every watch that I tried on, including the not-yet-released 150th Anniversary. I bought one as soon as they became available, and wear it almost every day now.
The Watch I Will Never Sell
A Collection Is Never Finished
I’ll never stop collecting watches. Some years I’ll buy lots, others none. But I’ll be doing so whilst having a great time with my friends at The Watch Collectors Club.
We founded The Watch Collectors Club to help people get out from behind screens and start getting hands on with watches. Our weekly events are designed to help you explore your curiosity in real life. You can find out more about all of the benefits membership gives you here. I hope to see you at an event soon.
Ed, Co-Founder of The Watch Collectors’ Club