Sometimes I wish I wasn’t a watch guy. That’s right, I just said that. Not five years ago, I was a junior officer in the Air Force – quite content with my PVD-coated Luminox. Of course, I knew of Rolex, Omega, Breitling, and Tag Heuer. And I guess I had heard of Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. However, I was completely oblivious to the world of split-second chronographs, annual versus perpetual calendars, and things like pallet forks and going trains. Fast forward to now, and my life almost entirely revolves around watches, and I can never go back to how things were. As they say, you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.
Why do I wish I wasn’t a watch guy? I don’t know; I guess life was simpler. Gone are the days where I could walk down the street and not try to identify just about every watch that passes. I use to attend social functions without being the weirdo that strikes up a conversation with the person wearing a vintage watch. Hell, I use to walk out of my house without a watch on! Now, it takes me longer to pick out what watch(es) and straps I’m taking with me for a long weekend getaway than it does to pack my clothes. If I even smell a mall, I have to go into whatever authorized dealer is there, even though I know they don’t have anything I haven’t seen before. An addiction, I tell you! An addiction!
Just the other day, I saw a well-dressed gentleman walking down Newbury Street wearing what looked to be a 38.5mm Omega Aqua Terra. It’s an absolutely fine timepiece, and one worthy of everyday wear. Two thoughts immediately came to me. The first was that it was a nice watch, but one that I probably wouldn’t wear much with my current collection. Then my next thought was that I wished I wasn’t a watch guy. For a moment, I was jealous of this guy who was wearing a really nice watch, and likely 100% content with it. In fact, he’s probably proud of it, and as well he should be. From judging to jealousy in a matter of moments. But of course, the red pill has been swallowed, and I’m forever a watch guy.
Oh, and then there’s the money! Straps, rolls, loupes, pouches, display cases, tools, cloths, camera equipment for those important wrist shots, and the list goes on. You can forget about the rising prices of both vintage and modern watches, because that’s almost an entirely different topic. Finally having disposable income definitely played a part in this new hobby for me, and it turned out to be one of the most efficient ways to make it disappear.
There’s no real point to this article other than to get some recent thoughts off my chest. When it comes down to it, my “problem” is about as “first world” as it gets. I’m truly grateful for my ability to even be a watch addict. It’s only that sometimes I look back and remember thinking Pierce Brosnan’s Seamaster was the holy grail of watches for me. Times have certainly changed.
Eh, who am I kidding? I fucking love watches. Time to go find picks for this week’s Market Watch(ing).
by 
Webcalm
Hmmm. That’s odd. I don’t ever remember writing this piece of text… Yet every single word written is straight out of my head! Verbatim. 🙂
pinkdela
We should make an AAA for watch addicts.i know a few of guys with the same thing in mind. Fun post Shane, sames thoughts have crossed my head. This one makes you smile and then then frown over your almost empty bank account.
John Baker
Shane:
You are not alone; there are many of us out here with the same affliction!
As a former junior officer in the USCG, I feel your pain….
What makes it worse is all the watches that I passed on at the military PX’s back in the mid 70’s….I’m glad I don’t dwell on THAT too often!
Cheers!
Laz Mesa
There’s something rather disturbing yet fasinating about this piece.
This longing to amass materialistic things is an insight into the world we live in and how it affects us all. We understand that it is a problem, but we can’t control it.
“Knowing that you’re on the conveyor belt is better than not knowing because we can actually do something about it.”
I say we cut the toothpaste tube and shove the paste back in there. The material things serve as a distraction from what’s really going on in this world.
Thanks for posting this article, S.