Hi All,
I've got a rare free day today. No work, no chores, no gardening, no DIY, no nieces or nephews to look after and I'm not looking after my Dad today. Let me also take this opportunity to thank every one who has offered their thoughts and best wishes for my Dad. He is doing remarkably well and continues to be an inspiration for me. I take him to the gym once a week. We had a brilliant and poignant Father's day celebration with him and the rest of the family yesterday.
So, I thought I'd take this opportunity to update you on the direction my collection has taken in the last 6 months or so.
As some of you may recall at the beginning of last December my collection looked like this:
Panerai 112
Rolex Sub C
Rolex Milgauss
Omega Plo Prof
Breitling Montbrillant Olympus
Tissot Racing Touch
Vintage Zenith Classic
Graham Chronofighter Oversize GMT
Unlike others on here I do not intend to hold onto any of my watches forever. I regret a few of the 40-odd high end watches I've traded/sold in the past but not many.
All of these have now gone!
My current collection now consists of the following:
The already announced Paneria 275. I appreciate Paneria is not to every one's taste but I love them and, in my opinion, this is the one to have (other than the ludicrously priced tourbillon models, of course). I absolutely adore this watch. It is stunning to look at, comfy to wear and has an amazing in-house 8-days, GMT, Monopulsante movement. What more could you ask for?
The next oldest addition to my collection is the utterly stupendous, exquisite and covetable Zenith El Primero Flying 10th Limited Edition (1969 made). I wanted one of these as soon I saw them. I loved the unique movement which made full use of the famous El Primero movement. I also liked the fact that it looked almost identical to the original 1969 El Primero (one of the most historically signifacant watches ever). I thought I had no chance of owning one but I was lucky enough to find one brand new at an AD. They took the Plo Prof as trade in (for what I originally paid for it) and offered a decent discount. I may contradict myself here because I hope to own this for ever. I love it and cannot think of any other watch as desirable for the money. The striking 10th chronograph movement is unique and fascinating to view when running.
Finally I was offered two exceptional Japanese watches recently at incredible prices. The Seiko Spring Drive Chronograph Limited Edition (300 made), which contains the same movement as the one that went to space in the Seiko Space Walk, and the Seiko Spring Drive Moon Phase Limited Edition (200 made), which won design awards upon its release. As you all know from my extensive reviews I absoloutely love the Spring Drive movement. Sure it has a quartz regulator but the chronograph GMT version in the watch below has 50 jewels and over 400 components. This makes it a mechanical watch in my view. Add to this the fact they are completely in-house, they both run at about +/- 1 second per week and the flawlessly smooth gliding seconds hand is mezmerising to behold and I am super happy with both of these.
In addition I have added a Seiko Velatura Direct Drive as a beater. This is a very great looking and clever watch. And all in-house again.
Some may question me selling some of the watches I quoted above but I have done the whole Rolex thing, The Plo Prof was never comfortable, I was offered more for my Monty Olly than I paid for it and the uniqueness of the Graham trigger had worn out.
Who knows where I'll be with my collection in a years time. However, for now I am delighted with every one of these exceptional, in-house and interesting timepieces.
As always your comments and personal perspectives are always welcome.
They ae still fairly misunderstood in the UK. Most people think they only offer £100 to £500 quartz models. I love seeing the look on customers faces when I show them the £20000 Seiko Space Walk, which I love talking about.