A journey of watches (possibly long and dull)

[bardm]

It's a slow sunday here in Oslo, so I thought I would share the history of my watches.

I got a few watches before the one below, but it was the first one I bought my self. I was 14 yo and had worked three months to pay for it (wich is a very long time at that age). I even got a discount from the seller as I ran out of bills and started putting coins on the desk. He was embarressed to take every penny from a child I guess

Its' nothing special about this Seiko today and it certainly don't belong in a forum like this, but it was kind of new and trendy with digital LCD displays back then and I was incredibly proud wearing it.

Some years later I did my mandatory military service and the first time laying down on the shooting field it got all scratched up (as you can see).




Later I bougt a lot of different low priced watches. All picked becourse of their looks. When I was getting married I bought a heavy gold bracelet for my wife and she bought this for me:




I had wanted a "real watch" with some quality for some time and I thought this would be the one to keep for life. It has a quarts movement, but that meant quality and precision to me at that time. (The trend back to mechanical movements startet later.)

Getting divorced the watch didn't appeal to me so much anymore as it was a gift from my ex. Again I went out bying different watched based more on looks than on quality, mostly divers watches this time.

After working a lot of overtime and paying down debt accumulated after my devorce I decided to buy something special. I payed about the double I did for the Omega above, but I was going to indulge myself so I got a Raymond Weil Don Giovany:




Especially the large curved saphire crystal with it's pinkish glow appealed to me. I was extremely proud of this watch until I tried playing tennis with it one time and it stopped working.

When I bought it the dealer had praised the quality of Raymond Weil and the service they provided. But it took six months and numerous visites to the dealer to fix it. When I got it back the date wheel was misplaced so that it showed half of two dates at any time. It went back to Raymond Weil and this time it only took a month to fix it. But the glamour of the watch was gone for me.

I started serious research to find something of real quality and not just high price. Rolex I thought was above my price range, but after a while it started to change. Why not pay a little more and get something that really last and that holds it's value over time? I read forums like this on the Internet and studied all the different models. Than I decided for this one:




I have to say I have never been more pleased with a watch! It's been almost three yars now, but it's still growing on me. Sometimes I browse through the Rolex web site to find another Rolex to add, and there is many I would like to get! But than I find one that stands out among the others and then I realise it's the one I got already

I don't now what will be my next watch, but I think it will be one of these:


(I really love the structure and glow of the green dial. It's like the old blue sub just green)



(I love the red gold and the green sub-dials)



(What can I say. Who would't like one of these?)



(Love the stealthiness of this one)



(I didn't like this at first - too busy dial. But it's grown on me and now I think it lokks very special.)



(Can it bee any more retro?)


Hope you enjoyed reading my experiences.

Take care!

[dddrees]

Great story, Beautiful pics, Congrats on the Rolex.

[ersnyder]

Nice story, good luck on getting the LVC Sub!!

[mike]

Great story. The GMT is such a perfect reference.

[bardm]

Thank you for your nice comments all

[EchoBlueUK]

Nice steep purchasing curve you got there. RG Daytona next i reckon

[xjeeunitx]

Very nice story, my friend. I still want the GMT II C but it's on hold for about five years. I promised my wife that I wouldn't sell/buy any more watches PERIOD. Thanks for the nice read.

[nauticajoe]

Great story....beautiful pics!

[GradyPhilpott]

The 5124G is a genuine classic.

Among the ones you posted that's the one that I find most attractive.

Art-Deco at it's best.

Nice journey, by the way.

[TSW]

Great story Bård!
I also remember my first watch and how long it took to save the cash for it!!

[PHDX2]

Fantastic story. Watch collectors always have something to appreciate from the past, enjoy in the present, and look forward to in the future. Thanks for sharing.

[bardm]

Thanks again everyone. I'm glad you liked it