Did you become a WIS before of after you bought your first Rolex?

[alphamale2012]

Never liked rolex watches till I joined this forum. Now I cant get enough

[zak98]

before actually. the few books i purchased on rolex, sold me on them.

[chenx15]

seiko did it for me and that was 20 years ago. it amazed me how a watch with no battery can work! then the fever started

[ocwatching]

while researching my wife's Patek...I got hooked on all the details of watchmaking...then I started to research about all the other watches that we had...and fell into Rolex's history...I would not say I am a WIS

[Flaxmoore]

Guess I'm weird, as usual.

I don't own a Rolex. I had a string of Casio calculator watches as a little kid (imagine my shock when I saw that old friend at K-Mart for $20 a few months ago ! ), and then an unbroken chain of steel Timexes and Citizens ever since. They key was always durability, and an SS watch holds up better in my working environment.

I almost got a Citizen Eco-Drive as a Christmas present a couple years back, but the bracelet fit my wrist so poorly that I could barely wear it (). Thankfully, the jeweler did a swap around with a Citizen that looks oddly like a Datejust. Picked up $100 cash in the deal, too. I now wonder if I could have swapped bracelets.

Yet, I've always liked quality mechanical devices, be they cars, guns, fine pocketknives or watches. I saw the Bond Submariner in Goldfinger as a kid, and that was always kicking around in the back of my head. Then I finally saw one, and I''m hooked.

I can't decide to go with black dial and SS or blue TT, but a Sub must be mine. It'll be a few years- I graduate medical school in 2011, and internship doesn't pay great, but circa 2013 I'll get the Sub. Finally.

[Connoisseur]

I have always loved watches but didn't get my first nice one until December 1999 right after graduating college, a quartz Tag Heuer. I wore this and a few seikos for work for years until 2007, when I added a dressy Raymond Weil. But I didn't really start thinking about buying myself an expensive watch until last June when I had my biggest month ever in sales. Shortly after, my wife and I went on a vacation and I came down with the bug bad. When I returned home, I started joining watch sites and the search intensified. In July, I purchased my first mechanical watch, a Breitling Bentley GT... and I've since gone a little nuts...

[acce1999]

Originally Posted by mretzloff

Did you become a WIS before of after you bought your first Rolex?

I started getting into watches (not just Rolex) and then thought I'd start off my collection with a Rolex.

I was a WIS at age 6, already keeping an eye on others' watches. My first was a Timex, and I vividly remember the ads in National Geographic and Reader's Digest from age 10. At that time I was completely convinced that life would not be fulfilled unless I had a GMT (1675 then).

I had to earn my own money to get my first Rolex, so it took some years. I still do not have a 1675... but life is pretty good anyway ;-)

In addition: My life as a WIS really kicked off just before the invention of the web browser - there were watch related news groups then... if someone more than me remembers. In the early web browser days it was really something special to see pictures . I will never have the highest count on number of postings, but I have been hanging around forums like this for many years now. On and off. The last year very much on

Best,

A

[rickyslam]

I was on this forum before I even got my watch so to answer the question, YES. I was able to get my first Rolex from a member on this forum!

[bradg]

Absolutely I became a WIS after my first Rolex..My first..what I thought was a good watch..Wittnauer....got me started...then a Sub, and I was crazy...then an Omega...it never ends. But....we are all having fun arent we?? Gotta love it. I am completely hooked and too many isnt enough

[haakon59]

Before, when I got my first Omega. Fortunately for all of us mechanical watch fans there are a great many nice brands at this time. I will say that being a part of this forum has increased my appreciation of the Rolex name. It is also nice to find things which people have passionate loyalty about.

[Lion]

I've enjoyed and owned (and still have)many watches through the years and have always wanted THE HOLY GRAIL of watches a 'Rolex'. Mind you any Rolex was going to be perfectly okay with me. I also enjoy and own many old manual wind pocket watches, collecting Hamilton and Illinois brands. But what I'm still trying to figure out is where you can go to school and take a course(s) on how to become a WIS!!!

[Taffi Abernathy]

Perhaps this is indefensible, but after 5 Rolex purchases, and at the risk of being pummelled with ripened melons or flogged unmercifully, I must say I am not now, nor have I ever been, a WIS. "WIS" connotes a certain level of expertise which I do not possess. I know what I like but have a deficit of technical information regarding these watches. In fact, I can't even tell you the serial numbers of any of any model. I am, nonetheless, now knowledgeable regarding every AD within a 50-mile radius. Hopefully, this is worth a modicum of redemption. Is this so wrong?

[yannis]

Originally Posted by Connoisseur

I have always loved watches but didn't get my first nice one until December 1999 right after graduating college, a quartz Tag Heuer. I wore this and a few seikos for work for years until 2007, when I added a dressy Raymond Weil. But I didn't really start thinking about buying myself an expensive watch until last June when I had my biggest month ever in sales. Shortly after, my wife and I went on a vacation and I came down with the bug bad. When I returned home, I started joining watch sites and the search intensified. In July, I purchased my first mechanical watch, a Breitling Bentley GT... and I've since gone a little nuts...

Great collection Chris!!

[vh_bu98]

I was interested in watches in middle school when I got my Casio, but I was never a collector. I would just replace one with some thing better.

[Andad]

I owned Omega, Roamer, Tissot, Tag, Longines, etc long before I bought my first Rolex - and I still have them all.

120 + of them.

Pre-Rolex wis - not me.

My 21st birthday present from mum and dad.

1968 Roamer Mustang. Still runs well and has never been polished or brushed.

[magnet_UK]

Definitely after. Ordered my GMTIIc after seeing an ad in a car mag, then joined a watch forum and ended up searching for my next one before the first one had arrived

[hflee55]

i'm a pre-rolex WIS. Have many other brands in my collection b4 concentrating my collection on some of the rolex models. Once the roles wishlist has been fulfilled, I think I'll move on to more Panerais.

[Overkill]

I knew nothing about mechanical watches, and all I ever knew about Rolex watches was that they were very expensive. The extent of my knowledge and interest in watches was Casio G-Shocks, until one day I expressed my interest in buying a Tissot to my dad.

He laughed at me and did something that would have never crossed my mind, right on the spot, he took off his Submariner and handed it to me and said "it's yours".

I couldn't just wear a Rolex, I had to know everything about it! And that's how I found TRF

[DSJ]

I just realized this is an old thread, and that I already responded back in October. :banghhead:

Ignore me please!

[stusrt]

always been a WIS - but within my budget. had lots of timex/citizen/etc... in the Marines and college.
wasn't until about 5 years I could afford nice watches. Started with TAG, and the sickness grew from there.
never thought I would buy a rolex because there are so many of them. But got my first one last month, and now LOVE 'em. Don't care how many others own them.

[2th Dr]

I was a WIS long before I purchased my first Rolex. Since then I have become a RIS!

[Rolexitis]

Been a WIS since I was a young boy.... The Rolex only made me a chronic WIS..

[Overkill]

Originally Posted by Overkill

I knew nothing about mechanical watches, and all I ever knew about Rolex watches was that they were very expensive. The extent of my knowledge and interest in watches was Casio G-Shocks, until one day I expressed my interest in buying a Tissot to my dad.

He laughed at me and did something that would have never crossed my mind, right on the spot, he took off his Submariner and handed it to me and said "it's yours".

I couldn't just wear a Rolex, I had to know everything about it! And that's how I found TRF

And now I got a list for the future!