What started you on the WIS road ?

[Tools]

All of us must have a passion for a good quality timepiece.

Otherwise we wouldn't have found our way here.

So, what started you down the road to WISdom. Is it status, engineering marvel, family pressure, peer pressure, mechanical studies...or something else ??

Why do you consider yourself a WIS or a WIS wannabee. ??

(or do you ?)

[SPACE-DWELLER]

I just like quality watches in general, but what made me "discover" Rolex watches in the first place, I cannot remember.

I have had many cheap watches before Rolex, and while I have had Rolex, I have also owned an IWC Doppelchronograph and a Zenith El Primero, but somehow the ONLY watch brand that has given me this magical feeling of TOP QUALITY and DESIGN has always been Rolex

[Dan Pierce]

It started for me when I recieved a vintage Patek after the death of a distant uncle. At the time I had a few friends that wore Rolex watches and new they were high end timepieces. Not till I recieved my first Rolex, a ss DateJust on jubilee, did I get Rolex fever. My name is Dan and I'm a WIS.
dP

[mike]

My 1675. My first and my sentamental favorite.

[Chris B]

My heads-up was this Red Adair ad from the seventies, it really grabbed me & gave me something to aspire to. It was quite a few years along the Seiko / Tudor road before I bought my first Rolex, but man was it sweet.

[Paulie]

This forum.

[Bama]

It's funny how certain things grab your attention and stand out when you are a child. The two things that did this for me were college class rings and nice watches. I'm not sure why. As a child I was in the Boy Scouts (proud Eagle Scout) and often worked for my Scout Master to make some extra money. Once we were working on his son's home doing some landscaping and I vividly remember the Rolex he was wearing. I didn't know it at the time, but I now know it was a DateJust. I was too young to know much about the history of Rolex, but I recognized the name and knew that it meant quality and that it was expensive. I was also confused as to why this man would be doing yard work while wearing an expensive watch. Something about it bit me and from then on I was interested in nice watches and even as a child I would try to spot watches and collect what my minimal finances would allow. My parents or friends were not into watches so it just became my thing. Took me a while, but I finally got the Rolex and college ring I wanted.

[blackeagle]

For a number of years I have bought and sold military antiques and a few guns. In the 70's I noticed some Rolex Subs mixed in with guns at a few gun shows. A gun dealer explained what the watch was and how he takes them in trade and also trades them for weapons same as cash. I later became friends with a German Luger dealer and over the years he convinced me that Rolex was the only watch to have. You have a good time piece and instant trade and cash value around the world. Of course those were the days before all of the fakes.

[redshirt1957]

I give. What does WIS stand for? Laugh all you want! You should hear the stupied questions I ask my engineers and IT employees!

[ohsixx]

To be completely honest, I have always had naturally good taste in watches, automobiles, and women!

[Downing]

Originally Posted by redshirt1957

I give. What does WIS stand for? Laugh all you want! You should hear the stupied questions I ask my engineers and IT employees!

Joe, look in the mirror. Watch Idiot Savant. As in a person who spends 10 minutes looking at his watch without ever once noticing what time it is.

For me, Rolex was like scuba diving. One of those things I kept meaning to get into but somehow never got around to doing it.

I'm a late bloomer.

Sky diving is next on the agenda.

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Originally Posted by redshirt1957

I give. What does WIS stand for? Laugh all you want! You should hear the stupied questions I ask my engineers and IT employees!

Wis = Watch Idiot Savant.



1.A person self trained to sleep in 5 positions while wearing his/her COSC certified chronometer in bed.

2.A person who opens the back of a new Patek on the first day of acquisition and hand winds the rotor to tighten up the main spring.

3. A person who takes his 2000 meter water proof Rolex SD off from the wrist. And puts it into the deepest pocket,and three plastic bags before walking into a rain storm without any rain gear on.

4.A person who waits every 5 minute in front of his radio controlled clock in order to adjust all his/her 14 mechanical watches to the accuracy within -2/+2 seconds per 24 hours.


5. A person who can memorises all serial numbers of the Rolex watches made in the past 60 years but keeps forgetting the wifes wedding anniversary.

6. A person who washes his/her watch in luxury shampoo,polishes with specially bought cloth.Then rests it on another specially bought cloth just encase they scratch the stainless steel.

[Antonio]

It may looks weird and crazy, but...

Radiation, Radiation Safety, Radioisotopes and Nuclear Science is what started me in the watch's world ;)

[JJ Irani]

Plenty of ads in TIME and National Geographic + some window shopping in the very early '70s set me on the road to Rolexdom!!

[karmatp]

I've been into watches for years, mainly vintage British military pieces. I have bought and sold many keeping only certain prized ones, one of my last to sell was a old Royal Navy diver. I found myself really liking the vintage divers, Blancpain, Omega and of course the Sub. I am to afraid to wear some of my vintage mil. watches (some are perfect and I'm not gonna be the one to put a scratch or ding in the case), so I found myself looking for the perfect daily watch. I have bought and sold a couple of new divers still looking for the perfect fit for me, that's when I decided to hit some Rolex AD's and a Panerai AD. I just fell in love with the Rolex Sub. and the SD, that's my story. I wear a Marathon Diver as my beater and a Sub. everywere else. I recently sold my Sinn U1 because it will never see wrist time now that I own a sub......

[roadcarver]

After my buddy bought his SMP Bond.

[f16570]

If I knew I'd do best to get rid of it The love of finely produced mechanical watches? The exclusivity? The Appeal? Who knows?

f

[BLSampson]

I didn't know I was a WIS until I joined this forum. And then I got worse....lusting pictures of jubilee bracelets and bezels. My name is Bryan and I too am a WIS.

[Mennald]

National Geographic advertisements I saw as a youth got me started.

[ttannert]

Originally Posted by Spacedweller

Wis = Watch Idiot Savant.

6. A person who washes his/her watch in luxury shampoo,polishes with specially bought cloth.Then rests it on another specially bought cloth just encase they scratch the stainless steel.

Spacedwellers only need for luxury shampoo is for his watch!

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Originally Posted by ttannert

Spacedwellers only need for luxury shampoo is for his watch!

And for your mouth!

[SLR]

I was so paranoid that I would get sold a fake, that I started reading this forum. That's when I realized that I loved reading practically every post. So I guess the interest was always there, but sort of undiscovered until I got to this site.

[Rawhyde]

I am a mechanical engineer, a pretty good mechanic, and I'm absolutely fascinated with objects that exhibit fine craftsmanship. I've always been a gun collector, shooter, and reloader. A little over 20 years ago, I was fed up with disposable watches and a buddy's dad sat me down and told me about Rolex. Since I was a poor starving college student at the time, it took me 4 years to acquire my first Rolex. (It's still running just fine, and it still looks new)

My philosophy on Rolexes mirrors my philosophy on fine guns....all I need is just one more!

Rawhyde

[Tools]

Originally Posted by SLR

I was so paranoid that I would get sold a fake, that I started reading this forum. That's when I realized that I loved reading practically every post. So I guess the interest was always there, but sort of undiscovered until I got to this site.

Well, the information available on this forum, and it's addiction....not to mention the "I need an/another Rolex" fever that is in direct proportion to the amount of time spent here, is a topic for a whole new thread...

[SLR]

Originally Posted by Tools

Well, the information available on this forum, and it's addiction....not to mention the "I need an/another Rolex" fever that is in direct proportion to the amount of time spent here, is a topic for a whole new thread...

Too true. Until I started reading this forum, I never really considered buying more than one for myself, let alone three! this site has made me a collector!

[Alcan]

Originally Posted by Spacedweller

Wis = Watch Idiot Savant.

Bo, would you like to post the credit for that or should I?

[cbird]

I've just always liked fine watches and pens. I've owned a few fine Swiss watches (Omega Speedmaster, Lecoultre Master Mariner and Master Geographic, UN vintage dress watch, Longines Hour Angle (ca. 1942)) and looked on Rolex as a cliche. Then I had possession of one while babysitting it and was very impressed with how accurate, reliable, and robust it was, so ultimately got an Explorer and now wear it more than the others combined. I think Rolex really has achieved a combination of precision and durability that goes beyond other makers - it allows me to have the satisfaction of wearing a fine, real Swiss Manufacture watch regardless of circumstances.