I just posted a thread of my collection to date and I realized that it was my father's gold Omega Seamster that I inherited that started my interest in watches. What got you started and what was your first ever watch?
liked watches for as long as i can remember but the watch that kicked it all off for me was a gorgeously simple little rolex 5500 air king, creamy/silver dial and 36mm of loveliness. from that point forward it was all madness for a few years, should never have let it go but another will come along at some point.
Last edited by deerworrier; 4th February 2015 at 05:54.
My first " proper" watch was a tag F1, but the watch that kicked off the mechanical interest and the accumulation was a marathon gsar
Sadly I have to omit that it was a Gucci.Way back in 1989 that started the addiction. Gucci 9000M to be precise.
Always fond of jewellery generally (that sounds a bit 'Elton John') and watches came to the fore when I was given a nice Seiko for my 18th from my aunt & uncle.
Stepped up to a Tag around 21, rest is an expensive 25 years and counting history.
I recalled the day when I saw the pic of this and couldn't believe that Seiko could have made thing like this..a diver, it's big, made of ti and costs $500? $500 for a Seiko?
My father
Bought me Seikos each Christmas from around the age of 10..
Then in late 94 early 95 he bought me this
The first Bond film had come out featuring it and he heard me say how much I liked them
its a watch I will never part with and has never been serviced in the 20 years and worn in all conditions
From then on it was all downhill
In 1969, the year I turned 12, my dad bought a couple of Timex Skindivers for my brother and me. I guess he was tired of us always being late for dinner. I thought that watch was about the neatest thing I had ever owned. I took it along on our next vacation and tested the "Waterproof" claim by swimming with it in the Gulf of Mexico.
Sometime after that, it was lost. When I got interested in watches again in the late 90s, I searched vainly for a replacement. I finally got lucky last year and got this one from a guy in England. The movement needs a service, but I'll probably get that sorted this year.
For me it was a 16570. First proper watch and with that came the interest and the madness ;)
Didnt keep it tho, today I wear a IWC 322702,
No collection yet, but Im working on it ;)
My uncle's Seiko; I don't even know the reference! 150m WR and quartz, Pepsi bezel and around 1981 manufacture I think. He gave it to me when I was 20 (and he got a Sub for his 40th) and I gave it back to him a few years back to wear on his boat when he doesn't want to knock his Sub (only watch and P&J). Whenever they'd come to visit I'd wear it from when I was 6 or 7 years old right up until he gave it to me at University.
I think I will buy him a new one and ask for it back. It's the closest thing to something of sentimental value I could own and I wore it with absolute pride until I got my first Breitling a couple of years later. Still have the Breitling (SuperOcean 1000m in blue) and that was the start of fascination with *ahem* high-end watches.
My father always wears an Omega Seamaster that he was given when he was 21 - I dropped many, many hints that I'd love it for my 21st. When that failed I had to get my own watch. And then another. And another.
I got this for my 21st , 4 years ago.
For me it was the Omega 2264.50 I lusted after in the AD window for a couple of years before finally buying it. I had it for five great years....then I joined this place.
I liked them even as a kid but my first proper one was a birthday present from parents. I didnt take off for about ten years and then when it was away for a service I started looking round for something else to wear as my wrist felt naked without it. I think I got a manual wind W10 from Silvermans.. slippery slope ever since.
still have the first proper one though.
My first expensive (for me) watch was my retirement present to myself, a Rolex 116610. A friend bought an SMP, and it was going to be one of those, then I saw the sub. More by luck than judgement it has been brilliant and I would never sell it. Then I joined this place, big mistake!
My first ever watch was a digital casio I received as a present from my uncle in the late 80s early 90s.Originally Posted by Ozyjohn
I just posted a thread of my collection to date and I realized that it was my father's gold Omega Seamster that I inherited that started my interest in watches. What got you started and what was your first ever watch?
What got my seriously into watches was my father's seiko diver that was handed over to me in 2013.
I'm another one whose dad infected me with the WIS virus. :) He always had a few watches throughout his life at a time when that would have been fairly unusual.
Joining TZ-UK. I was fine until I found this place.
For me, it was an Ebel that mesmerised me, on a clients wrist in the 1980's. Never owned one though!
My grandad hid all his non wearers in a draw in the spare room which I used when I stayed over as a little boy, naturally I found the little draw of treasure and looked at them often.
A fake tag Heuer off some beachseller.
My Granddad I would expect… On Sundays (probably between watching Walden and Police Five) he would teach me how to read the clock. Then on my birthday before I joint primary school I got this from him. Since then I have always loved watches.
I have memories from a young age of looking in shop windows at expensive watches that were out of reach. When I got older I had the desire for something Swiss and mechanical and in the 1990s Oris satisfied that desire and were reasonable prices. It was only when I joined here did my aspirations rise and rise to watches that did not have reasonable prices apart from Timefactors watches.
+1
It started with Orange Monster as substitution to Doxa Sub. But it took shorter time than i though it will to get 750T COSC Pro :)
My grandfathers retirement gold watch. It was passed down to me and I was able to get it fully restored by Longines. Still has pride of place.
I guess I started around 8 years ago. I'd had watches before, nothing special but I'd kept them in drawers all the same once they were outlived. Then I was given a simple Berna 3 hand that had belonged to my grandfather and was passed onto me by my dad. It needed a new glass, so a mate who has a small jewellers fixed it for me.
My own father died around 5 years ago, and I got his watch (a Christopher Ward Malvern) which he was wearing at the time. So by now I had 4 useable watches, an ex GF bought me a six slot display case and so i just had to fill the last two slots. I'm now onto a 10 slot which is now full, and I have 5 spare spaces left to fill in the old six slot.
That's how it starts, filling in the spaces.
I wore cheap no-name digital watches until I was about 12 or 14 and then my father gave me his quartz Seiko chronograph beater. That's what got me seriously interested into watches.
I wore that all the way till university and after graduating, I shared a Rolex datejust and Cartier Santos with my father (among other lesser known watches). However, I didn't quite appreciate those watches at the time and really just wanted an automatic Tissot chronograph. After a few more years, the first real watch I got was a Zenith elite. Then my interest exploded and I tried out many watches (and still trying more till this day).
Last edited by PhiloStan; 4th February 2015 at 18:21.
I believe it started with Rolex ads in National Geographic I got from my relatives back in 1980's-1990's.
And this one reignited the flame.
Embarrassingly, a Tag F1 that I bought with the money I'd been given for my 30th birthday. I thought I'd like something to remind me of the occasion .
I thought Rolex were all gold Delboy watches at that stage. How little did I know lol
Always been keen on mechanical items and watches were a natural progression I suppose. Never really had too much cash to spend but managed save enough to buy a Dreadnought GMT and it's not really left my wrist in 5 weeks. :D
What got me started? .....That was a sharp blow to the back of my head.
What was my first ever watch? ....I can't remember, I've had a sharp blow to the back of my head.
Nah ! ... it was the feeling that it's now or never.
Good point - now sold the watches but still have all the ads in a folder. For many years they made me a real Rolex fanboy :)I believe it started with Rolex ads in National Geographic I got from my relatives back in 1980's-1990's.
I can't say I am Rolex fanboy, I like only white Explorer II :)
But it was something for a soviet boy - magazines you don't get in shops, full with photos and a lot of text you cannot read. Just browse and dream about places you will probably never see.
It started with one of the guys who works for me and has a nice collection, then looking for a 40th present to myself, and then lurking and joining here. Still lots to learn, but this is a great if slightly obsessive place to do it :-)
Buying my first "nice" watch, an SMP.
It seemed like a huge amount to spend on a watch at the time.
Since then I have moved the goal posts a number of times!
First nice watch was a GMT Master in 1982 as a present to self. Black bezel with Oyster bracelet; sold it to a friend in 1984 and he stills owns it, wish I did.
Liking the bracelets on the Tag link watches probably 25yrs ago now, (fuck!)
That was the first time I remember looking at watches, and I've liked them since.
I always liked watches, but, it was the birth of my son 12 years ago and taking him through Geneva airport when he was just a wee dot, when I spotted an advert about 'never owning <brand> but just keeping it safe for the next generation'... I could have sworn it was Omega, but, I know that PP were famous for this ad, so, remain, confused to this day. Anyway, the upshot was that I brought Panerai!!!!
A boy should have an heirloom, so, Theo gets when he turns the age i was when i brought it (he may be responsible at that age!)
Love that Panerai. The strap is amazing, did it come with the watch or was it separate purchase?I always liked watches, but, it was the birth of my son 12 years ago and taking him through Geneva airport when he was just a wee dot, when I spotted an advert about 'never owning <brand> but just keeping it safe for the next generation'... I could have sworn it was Omega, but, I know that PP were famous for this ad, so, remain, confused to this day. Anyway, the upshot was that I brought Panerai!!!!
A boy should have an heirloom, so, Theo gets when he turns the age i was when i brought it (he may be responsible at that age!)
For me, it was shopping for a 50th birthday present for myself from my wife.
I got it into my head that most watches were boring, with derivative designs. I took an irrational dislike to bezels - deciding they made all watches look too similar.
This lead me to Rado, which really seemed to look different and use different materials.
Since then, I have softened in my attitude to other watch designs, but I still like unusual watches more than traditional designs.
When I landed my first graduate job and went out and bought a TAG Grand Carerra Calibre 16.
Bought on looks alone, then started researching it, realised it was a generic ETA movement, and the appreciation for in house movements etc then couldn't get rid of it quick enough.
Always had an interest, was given a Timex to learn how to tell the time when i was very young then i got a Texas Instruments digital watch for Christmas that i'd asked for and then in my teenage years had a Casio calcualtor watch, when the pay packets started to arrive it was a while before i bought my 1st proper watch i was in my early 20's and saved up for and bought a blue faced Tag Heuer auto and since then about every 10 years since i've bought another watch. In my 30's i bought an Omega Spedmaster pro, but in was in my 40's when being drawn to the classic Panerai's that i decided i couldn't have another black faced watch and after researching Panerai's i settled for a 086 which i felt was sufficiently different from the Speedmaster and during that reasearch i realised i had more than a passing interest in watches....
Last edited by saintsinner; 5th February 2015 at 07:35.
I've been interested in watches for as long as I can remember. As a kid I can recall loving it when a new Argos catalogue was released so I could spend many a happy hour browsing the watch section. I used my pocket money and then evening job wages to buy various Timex/Casio/Accurist watches while I was still at school. I had the lot - calculator watch, dress watches, G-shocks, Timex Ironman, Knight Rider(?) watch...
From university onwards I had other interests and it wasn't until a few years ago that I got the bug again. A work colleague has a Sub and a couple of Panerais that came up in conversation from time to time, so we visited a local AD together and I checked out the Omega Seamaster. A few months later, with a bonus from work, I picked up a black Bond and that was that.
My granddad was always very proud of his retirement watch (a hand wind Tissot) that I now own, so maybe my interest came from there. I'm also keen on technology and engineering, and the mechanical watch is just an incredible example of pre-digital times. This is why I don't like vintage watches but I love modern stuff - I want to see how they can be developed even further...
Saw an IWC mk XV in the flesh - after that I was hooked
I would say my Dad, and partly the fact that i just enjoy the chase/collecting (okay... hoarding)
The first watch i properly remeber was the G-shock i got for my 10th birthday, however even then i had a stash of random digital nonsense, one of those racing game watches, and an awesome Casio MQ-35 with a holographic face.
The G-shock served me well up until i was 15/16 and i took it to have the battery replaced where it was subsquently broken by the jeweler :(
My Dad appreciating that i like watches thought it was time i got a proper watch, ie Analogue, steel and would last me a long time. I'd had a few analogue watches by this point, but they were primarely no-name junk watches.
While i recieved pocket/chore/birthday/xmas money (incl the option to not recieve xmas/birthday presents in lieu of cash), my parents held it for me for (eg I couldn't squander it on hotwheels), so for a 16 year old i had a fair bit saved, resulting in my Dad taking me all over the shop looking for a "proper" watch, namely a Tudor Submariner since it would be something built to last.
Being the disappointment that i am lol, i bought a Swatch Aquachrono (and spent some cash on a Discman & Stereo!! woo hoo)
Admittedly, this was the best of a bad bunch of the abominations that took my fancy...(i recently did a hunt for some of them on Ebay, and my taste is, and probably still is shocking)
.....subsequently broken a year later by a shop changing out the cack expanding bracelet, and exchanged (+cash) for an Irony
That did me well till Uni,
The Irony had stopped running the night of a friends crash and i refused to wear it again, so started rocking a Baby-G for a while.....(questionable watch choice, i know...), along with a Phillipe Stark LED watch, and a selection of shameful timepieces.
In the end having a part time job most nights/weekends and lots of saving (in between squandering it on fags and booze), I bought a Rolex 16610 with money i had been saving for a PC to do CAD work on, but in retrospect how much is a Penitum III worth now!
... since then its gone out of control really, made worse by the Internet!
flip side of that is, i've managed to hunt down a fair few nostalgic watches that are NOS (to replace the ones broken/lost) :)
The madness started when I got the Tissot PRC 200 Quartz Black. I had the Seiko Pogue for a long time before this but the disease really set in with the Tissot.
I still think it's one of the best looking quartz watches.
Think i must have been born with it... always had a facination right from a young kid!
I remember being infatuated with watches when I was a kid- all the different functions on a Casio calculator watch vs how splash proof/ water proof another watch might be...
But the time I got properly interested was when I was a nipper and saw Goldeneye :) when I finally went and bought an expensive watch it was an SMPc
Only started to get into watches over the last six months or so, a friend wearing a Panerai Luminor triggered my interest......this hobby could get expensive!
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
