Our fascination with watches...why?

[rolley7]

I have been fascinated with watches since I was 8 or 9 years old. I often think about why? One thing for me is that they tell time.....and this very moment of time is all we really have. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come......right now......this moment of time is a gift from God. So we must cherish it. I also admire the craftsmanship it takes to produce a beautiful well made timepiece. What are your thoughts?

[kilyung]

I like the ticking and moving gears.

[floater156]

I'm speaking on behalf of the silent majority here, we want others to think we're successful and we consider a Rolex a status symbol. I think a lot of people here would publicly disagree with this sentitment, but I believe if they're truly honest with themselves they will agree. Maybe they don't feel this way anymore, but I'd bet this is one of the reasons they, myself included, became interested in Rolex.

[Cru Jones]

Originally Posted by floater156

I'm speaking on behalf of the silent majority here, we want others to think we're successful and we consider a Rolex a status symbol. I think a lot of people here would publicly disagree with this sentitment, but I believe if they're truly honest with themselves they will agree. Maybe they don't feel this way anymore, but I'd bet this is one of the reasons they became interested in Rolex.

oh, i don't think that's the majority of people here. not even close. or, at least, not the majority of regular posters.

[Spunga]

I bought one if these many years ago, a Carl F.Bucherer Archimedes, a mechanical movement that needs adjusting by one day every 144 years.

It just blew my mind. I literally had a mental breakdown getting my head around it.


(Not my image)

I've still got it, I look at it every day and it keeps PERFECT time.

Simply amazing piece.

[mike@ec]

I was also fascinated by the watch at a young age, and the interest grew as I grew..I remember when I was young, I loved looking at the cheap skeleton watches and loved how the parts all moved in harmony

[Swift_Movement]

Originally Posted by floater156

i'm speaking on behalf of the silent majority here, we want others to think we're successful and we consider a rolex a status symbol. I think a lot of people here would publicly disagree with this sentitment, but i believe if they're truly honest with themselves they will agree. Maybe they don't feel this way anymore, but i'd bet this is one of the reasons they, myself included, became interested in rolex.

+1

[richardlo]

I like the components that make up a nice watch compared to something with a circuit board and battery.
I know a few friends that collect and understand watches inside and out and can explain the movements, the models, the years. And I know others that own them solely because they are expensive and impress others.

[kryten2001]

Originally Posted by rolley7

I have been fascinated with watches since I was 8 or 9 years old. I often think about why? One thing for me is that they tell time.....and this very moment of time is all we really have. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come......right now......this moment of time is a gift from God. So we must cherish it. I also admire the craftsmanship it takes to produce a beautiful well made timepiece. What are your thoughts?

Well I think we have more than time. I for example, have a lot of cans of baby corn.

[bridgs]

Originally Posted by floater156

I'm speaking on behalf of the silent majority here, we want others to think we're successful and we consider a Rolex a status symbol. I think a lot of people here would publicly disagree with this sentitment, but I believe if they're truly honest with themselves they will agree. Maybe they don't feel this way anymore, but I'd bet this is one of the reasons they, myself included, became interested in Rolex.

Since I was a kid I loved the GMT's that all of the fighter pilots wore in my neighborhood. Even though they are status symbols I suppose I have never wanted my sub or dj to reflect something that I am not. I am economically on the lower side of middle class I suppose, maybe even a little lower. I wear my watch hidden usually under my wrist or under a shirt cuff as I do not want to seem pretentious when the watch is combined with my old jeans, shirts and actual income level which I am sure does not even come close to the incomes of others on this forum.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by rolley7

I have been fascinated with watches since I was 8 or 9 years old. I often think about why? One thing for me is that they tell time.....and this very moment of time is all we really have. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come......right now......this moment of time is a gift from God. So we must cherish it. I also admire the craftsmanship it takes to produce a beautiful well made timepiece. What are your thoughts?

Well mine all started when my uncle gave me a Swiss Lucerne mechanical watch think I was around 11 or 12 at the time.Then through the following years the bug got stronger and stronger,but today as much as I still love all watches mechanical, all brands even the so called low end watches.But now material things come second for me, after all they are just watches no matter what the brand.And now there are many far more important things in my life today like wishing for better health which is the most important and your close friends and family.

[polarinda]

It's just a phase for me. I don't wear most of what i have anyways. Trading and hunting gives the adrenaline rush. Hence im never attached to any of them. I can wear a citizen or seiko right now if i have to.

Few years ago i was wearing a seiko my wife gave me and i never thought much of. It was so part of me i really only used it to tell time and date.

Now with the rolexes, i stare at them every few.minutes not really to look at the time....

[Sous]

My father gave me his old Timex handwind when I was 8 years old. It wasn't working, (claimed to be water proof--it was not!) so he let me have it. I wore it even though it wasn't working.

For me it was the fascination with timekeeping, yes, but also the feeling that adults wear watches. And wearing that non-running Timex made me feel grown-up.

I didn't get my first functioning mechanical watch for another 7 years, but when I did, winding up that vintage Bulova everyday gave me a great deal of joy. The idea that someone built this watch by hand; someone else wore it; and decades later I was wearing it, gave me an incredible feeling of time, and timelessness.

[joe100]

There are much better status symbols if that's what you're into. I jua like watches. My other favorite brand is Omega. Pretty hard to consider a 1970s quartz Deville a status symbol but I still like mine.

The simple fact is, no one notices your watch, let alone that it's a Rolex.

[Daytona-Dan]

I got my first watch when I was about 9 and it lasted a total of about 3 days because I had a fascination with the whole underwater watch idea... Unfortunately it wasn't water proof.

I had various other budget quartz watches that typically lasted no longer than a year until my older sister got me a quartz Sekonda chronograph. It lasted about 4 years before needing a new battery and the water resistance after that was never the same and it fogged up quite often. One of the small chronograph hands stopped working at some point too.

I remember looking at it before binning it after the 6th year (sort of wish I hadn't now), it had dents and scrapes everywhere and it wasn't SS so the plating was coming off to show what looked like brass/copper underneath. It had several deep chips in the glass and a super stretched bracelet. RIP.

I didn't get another watch for 8 years (about 4 years ago) when the bug hit me in the form of a Rolex Explorer 114270 followed by a 116520 Daytona and now the YG Daytona. I tend to look after my watches a little better these days but I think that's the price tag talking. Having said that, I still don't exactly baby them..

[Ray T]

i like my rolex watches because i appreciate the style and finish rolex and tudor have over my other watches

[WyoWatch]

Originally Posted by kilyung

I like the ticking and moving gears.

This.

[singe89]

I like them for their innovation of mechanical design and attention to detail. Seeing the work that goes into the design and execution of something like a grand comp is truly amazing.

Probably the same reason I like formula one cars and trophy trucks. I really appreciate the creative power and hard work it takes to produce something that is at the pinnacle of mechancial engineering.

[T. Ferguson]

Certainly there are many, many reasons people are fascinated with watches.

One that hits me is that they are timeless - kind of ironic for something that tells time, huh? What I mean is they are both very old and very modern at the same time. Because of this and that many of the companies have been around for so long they hark back to our childhood and often have good feelings and associations attached to them. Like sitting on dad's lap when he first taught you how to tell time on his Longines or as a kid seeing that Sub on James Bond's wrist. Most people also admire & enjoy things of quality. And a quality watch is something you can have with you & enjoy all day long, unlike say a nice car. And it is meaningful quality - it performs a useful function. They are both high art and engineering at the same time.

[DCheeta]

First, I disagree that a majority of us on this forum like them because they're status symbols. Probably a majority of Rolex owners feel that way, but I suspect those of us on this forum are different. I have two Rolexes, and I have no status to speak of. Mostly I'm glad people don't recognize my watches, they'd probably think I am, as somebody else on this forum put it, a tool.

As for me, I absolutely fell in love with watches when the first clear Swatch (I think it was called the Jellyfish or something like that) came out in the mid-80's. I was about 11 years old at the time and I begged like an idiot, and finally got it for Christmas. Looking at the gears working fascinated me, the precision of the tiny mechanics was amazing - and that was quartz. By the time I discovered mechanical watches, there was no turning back. To wear something so beautifully crafted and so precisely machined still astonishes me to this day.

[wantonebad]

I like to cover the freckles on my wrist

[steveclocks]

I became fascinated by watches since I got my first Casio calculator in black plastic when I was about 11/12 years old. And wristwatches haven't been out of my mind ever since!
As most of us here, I slowly climbed upmarket and learned about them.
My first really good and also first mecanical watch was my TT rolex daytona, which I received as a gift from my uncle (godfather). He was the only one in the family who loved watches just like I do! I often think I got the disease from him.
He didn't push me into anything, so the daytona was completely my choice. That was 1999 and my uncle died in that same year, he was only 53.
You do understand that watch is definitely a keeper for as long as I live. And the daytona is still a stunning watch I think. Only thing is... I couldn't go back. I love the mecanical works of a wristwatch. Maybe it had to do with my studies of mechanical engineering, I don't know but I just admire how small and technical these things are made.
Ofcourse I also look at the outside and design of a watch. I love a watch which is well made with attention for detail. Sadly such watches have their price. But I think a nice piece is worth some money.
In the end...it's the combination of all these things which I like.
I also always notice a good watch on a mans' wrist. Sometimes I would like to compliment people on their watches, but I never do it. I probably don't because watches also have a private part to them and I always think people aren't waiting for me to comment. Or maybe I am just affraid of the reaction!
This has been rather a long answer to this post I better stop right now

[steveclocks]

Originally Posted by DCheeta

First, I disagree that a majority of us on this forum like them because they're status symbols. Probably a majority of Rolex owners feel that way, but I suspect those of us on this forum are different. I have two Rolexes, and I have no status to speak of. Mostly I'm glad people don't recognize my watches, they'd probably think I am, as somebody else on this forum put it, a tool.

As for me, I absolutely fell in love with watches when the first clear Swatch (I think it was called the Jellyfish or something like that) came out in the mid-80's. I was about 11 years old at the time and I begged like an idiot, and finally got it for Christmas. Looking at the gears working fascinated me, the precision of the tiny mechanics was amazing - and that was quartz. By the time I discovered mechanical watches, there was no turning back. To wear something so beautifully crafted and so precisely machined still astonishes me to this day.

[Ken B]

When I was 12 I stayed at my uncles ranch. He wore a mechanical self winding watch with a clear back. I was facinated by this time piece. I have always been a person who want's to know how things operate.. What makes it Tick? I opened up many a watch since then to see the working parts (not expensive ones). Not to mention many other items have been opened up by me as well. Now I am many years past that phase and I am still in awe of these time pieces today. I look at them in Robbe Report and drool.

But I now must live within my budget and admire from a distance the time pieces that truly are works of art. I do wear some of the nice under 10K pieces.. But the true art pieces are in the 100K to 1M range IMHO

[Angrypuppy]

For me the history of the GMT is what drew me to Rolex. The longer I've had it though the more fascinated i am by the way it operates mechanically.

But for me it's the history and connection with the past.

[Eulogy]

I have always been intrigued by well designed precision machines. Automatic watches are probably just the most practical example.

[handsfull]

An automatic watch is one of the pinnacles of man made engineering and TRUE craftsmanship. There is really no point in the manufacture of an accurate wristwatch movement where sloppiness is allowed and accuracy would prevail. I love precision. It's something that requires actual 'work' to attain....GENUINE effort.

There's also something about the idea of when one stops moving (die), that the auto watch on their wrist follows suit and stops ticking. I find that moving.

[darwin1992]

I think a lot of us got the bug when we were young. I know myself, I was obsessed with time. I mean all that time itself means. How the laws that govern us change time itself and just how human the concept of time is.
That a few great people are able to put such a thing into a beautiful object that we can all put on our wrist just makes it more special.

I remember a line form a 'Star Trek' movie where Pickard is talking about his age. he said

"Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives, but I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment because they'll never come again"

[JJL]

Originally Posted by floater156

Maybe they don't feel this way anymore, but I'd bet this is one of the reasons they, myself included, became interested in Rolex.

I certainly agree with this last statement I bolded. It's probably the original reason I got into watches / Rolex as a kid.

I personally was never a fan of necklaces, rings, bracelets, earings, or any other jewelry but I always felt a watch was the one true piece a man should express himself.

As time went on, I hit my early 30's and had a son. I was able to comfortably afford a Rolex and I bought it for myself, to someday pass onto my son. I've had it for 2.5 years now and never told a single person about it outside of my wife. I keep it fairly concealed and only speak of it when asked.

I may have sparked an interest in Rolex as a kid for the wrong reasons, but now that I finally own one, I wear it for all the right reasons. Myself.

[jshepard]

I started liking watches in college when I read in either GQ or askmen that every man needs a watch (I fell right into that marketing ploy). Started of with fossils, I wanted a luxury watch so I bought a Movado (which I learned later on wasn't really luxury). I started reading into different brands, history, types (auto, manual, complications) and I was fascinated by the micro engineering that went into a mechanical watch vs digital/quartz. The same fascination I have with vinyl records vs CDs.

That's when I realized I wanted a respectable watch, one with history and it had to be mechanical.