Sanity loss

[Fitron]

Are we all nuts? Spending our hard earned cash on little bits of steel/plastic/gold whatever? Why do you do this. I can't explain why I do - I was asked by my daughter last night why I've so many watches* and I couldn't really give an answer. Hell I really only need three - my beater dive watch, a steel one and a gold one. Everything else is totally pointless and unjustifiable. Hell I should use my mobile to tell the time and save myself the trouble, or a PC clock. A watch for $18,000 - madness even if it's rare. There are so many more things to spend our money on yet we all continue to buy them. Why? Weak dollar ain't helping, that is for sure Pleasure? Is it normal to get a kick out of an obsolete technology? Why do you do it? Discuss. Don't pull your punches and let's get it thrashed out - then I might be able to give an answer to a 4 year old as to why I love timepieces apart from "I just do".


*My viewpoint is that I've only 17 watches. Oh yes I was going to stop at 2, no 6, 12 oh ffs

[holly35]

ah yes i can relate to your addiction.may be your trying to relive your youth ? a fav part of your child hood? or is it that hypnotic red digits glowing back at you from that black abyss.............i think i will go and lay down in a darkend room again.

[Fitron]

may be your trying to relive your youth

Ahem. I was born in 1969 which means I had a timex analogue as my first watch - I only ever saw Leds in adverts in the sunday magazines but I wanted them so badly I would spend hours looking at a single page advert. Bugger. I had it even then but it lay dormant until ebay. It's all Jeffs fault. If he hadn't taken such mouthwatering pictures...why o why did I not find vanman instead. I'd have saved a fortune...

However, you may be on to something...

hypnotic red digits glowing back at you from that black abyss

This is the best reason so far as applies to me but what about Collector or Rewolf or the other LCD boys, but it doen't explain jump hours, or Seikos. Is it the 70ness of it all? It was a brilliantly exciting era for design, perhaps it still calls against the blandness of modernity?[/code]

[CompuChron]

When I was a kid late 70's/early 80's, my dad brought me back a calculator watch from Singapore!
I was so happy! I was looking forward to be at school the next day to show off.
But before that I took a bath, forgot to take off my beautifull watch which died immediatly after a few sec in hot water...I enjoyed it for about 1 hour.

I don't know , but it may be the start of my "watchdiction"...

[LEDluvr]

I was born in 1968 and like Fitron I LOVED those LED watches when they first came out. I begged and begged my dad to buy the one I liked the best, a Pulsar. My dad scoffed at buying a "$3000" watch for a 7 year old kid, when even HE didn't have such an expensive watch. Needless to say I can see his point (now) but back then it was a travesty among travesties!

My first watch was an analogue Mikey Mouse but I finally got my first LCD watch in the late '70's and a Texas Instuments LED around '80. MUCH cheaper than a Pulsar! Then, armed with my paper route money, I started getting fancy = melody alarms, calculator watches. I never lookes back. Well, that is until I started collecting them about 10 years ago!

For me it's the notstagia combined with the "I finally got it" with the fact that today's digital are usually just bland junk.

[retroleds]

An autonomous timepiece is comforting. A small heart beating away, willing to proclaim the time at your every command. Instead of nervously looking at the clock while waiting , you calmly press the button or just glance at your wrist. And an appreciation for the fine parts, the man hours spent designing and building them. A tribute to human endevour. Stylish jewelry, conversation piece, evidence of your financial success, a family heirloom to be passed on.

What's not to like.

Excess food makes you fat, excess booze ruins your life, excess drugs ruins your mind, excess sex leads to(strike that, I have no argument against excess sex). Gambling is a rigged game. Buy a watch.

[Fitron]

All good points, but why do we need so damn many? OK I can just about understand having my two wit polaras, one's stainless and the other's GF, but why would you collect several of the same identical model (Yes Bruce I mean your three P1's)? I hate to think how many certain collectors have lying about - hundreds perhaps. If you wanted a collection then yes - one of each model including specials is a goal, and it's even rational and understandable to anyone (excluding wives of course ) but I look at my little collection and wonder, where's the theme? 70's watches the lot, the majority leds but no particular theme/make/whatever. I cannot fathom why I have them except I like them. I regret selling the ones I have done even though I never wore them enough (the only reason I sold them - and I still get nostalgic pangs for a Bulova hunk 'o bling).

[bruce wegmann]

The roots of my own obsession are easy to trace; I bought my first Pulsar on March 28, 1974 [my 23rd birthday]. I was working at the R.H. Fleet Space Theater at the time [in the Science Center], and I had seen one or two visitors wearing LED watches [I think that's how I found out where they were available]. With my first paycheck in hand, I was off to Slavick's Jewelers, determined to come home with one of those amazing new Time Computer watches on my wrist. And I did; I chose the Model 3100 for $295 [the only other two they had were a GF P3 and a stainless P2]. I went through the first set of batteries in less than two weeks [practically everyone I met wanted to see how it worked, and I was happy to show them]. I wore it for several years [including two working in a machine shop, where it suffered an almost daily battering], then put it away [fortunately WITHOUT batteries], where it languished for more than 20 years. Accidently finding it a few years ago rekindled my interest, and as I had just subscribed to my first dial-up Internet access, I went in search of information [is there anyone else out there that still remembers or cares about these things anymore?]. Connecting with other collectors and owners...my first purchases on eBay...the fantastically fortunate connection with the New York source...all history now, as they say. And that first watch, serial number 113805...I still have it [regrettably now minus its' outer box and papers], now restored to pristine condition, functioning perfectly, and occasionally still even worn. I have collected other things; coins, when I was a teen-ager, and extra-terrestrial material for nearly 20 years, but now I believe I have found my ultimate niche; this is where the passion has truly settled. What can I say after that...

[rewolf]

.... I cannot fathom why I have them except I like them....

IMO that's
a) enough reason
b) the only reason that counts.

As for me (my name was mentioned above ), I'm strictly design driven: when I like the design and can afford the money, I have to buy the watch. Quite easy . No memories of fond childhood etc, involved. LED or LCD doesn't quite matter although I actually prefer LED - but there are few LED watches with really good design (IMHO). The GP is one example (I've been asked by friends why I suddenly wear the same watch each day ). My collection still lacks a SS HP-01, a pentagon Longines, a Heuer Chronosplit, and a square LIP. Problem is, being a perfectionist I want them in like-new condition, thus unaffordable. I'm too rational to spend 1000s of € on watches. Luckily I don't like round watches, that rules out 95%.

I know people with lockers full of clothes they never wear, and still they go "shopping" every week (not to mention umpteen pairs of shoes) - when 10 T-shirts, 3 sweaters, 3 pairs of trousers and 2 pairs of shoes (all in black) is all I need.
Maybe it's our "hunter-gatherer" predisposition, only we all hunt for different things (luckily ) as we don't have to hunt for food any more.

[retroleds]

Our family was poor, so I don't have any real recollection of the early watches(I was only 12-13 when the Pulsar came out), other than seeing them as I passed by a high-end store or maybe when I caddied at a golf course and saw one on a doctor's wrist. My dad and I always dabbled in electronics, so it just seemed like another expensive consumer product to me. I'm glad a client of mine brought to my attention that there was a need for people to fix them - now I delight in all the different styles. Yeah, one of any model is enough for my personal collection - all others are destined for someone else's wrist.

Why so many?
It's like why you might look at other people, when you already have a partner - because you can. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

[Fitron]

So I think we've found an answer as to why we buy them - we like them, it's as simple as that. Rewolfs reasoning for buying is simple - he likes the design and that's a good enough reason to buy a particular model and if you've the cash then why stop at one. There are plenty of good designs out there so theoretically you could end up with lots of watches.

But why have 3 or more of the exact same model? Bruce and Dennis - you are two examples of this. Why 3, not 4, 7 or one P1? One to wear, one to possibly sell in the future and one in the cabinet, never to be touched by human hand? This strikes me as pretty obsessive behaviour - but I buy my watches in the full knowledge that they will be worn on a regular basis otherwise I flip them. Answers please if you could be so kind - without slagging each other off!!!!! This is an investigation into our lunacy, that's all.[/u]

[bruce wegmann]

Legitimate question; answer is simple. The opportunities arose, and the price[s] were reasonable. In all seriousness, when I started collecting, I never thought I'd ever own even one...here, random chance seems to have operated greatly in my favor. That's it; no unearthly cleverness or clairvoyance, just preparedness meeting opportunity. If any more present themselves, and the price is good, I will probably go for them, too, because...in the top realms of rarity, a P1 is a very solid unit of currency...there are still a couple things out there I would consider trading a P1 for. And for the record, there are many models I have only a single example of; not everything is in duplicate or triplicate.

[redled]

I've also thought about this a lot, I think what it comes down to is that some people see more in a particular object than the object itself. They see the process that created it, or the time, or the philosophy, or the point of view, or even the opinion. Humanity's history is always reflected in its artifacts, and some people are able to, or choose to, focus on that rather than just on the object itself. Other people just see the object, for what it can do for them now, or they don't really see it all but just use it, but that's only seeing the surface. Some people enjoy looking at all that's behind it, at what it represents in a bigger context.

So basically I think its an above ordinary appreciation for quality, or labor, or creativity, or history, and the objects we collect represent all of that to our eye, in forms that make it substantial.

[bruce wegmann]

Redled...a very insightful observation. I joined the NAWCC a couple years ago, and found myself watching programs about tourbillion watches, or public clocks, or railroad pocket watches...things I would never ordinarily take any notice of, or consider collecting, but the programs were still interesting, and I often found myself impressed with the effort that went into the design and creation of these things. But most of all, the HISTORY they represented...our never-ending quest for a more accurate timepiece. And so back to the P1; it certainly marks a defining moment in horological history, when timekeeping went digital. Considering that, and their numerical rarity [currently only 40 or so known] they are still rediculously cheap. You can easily go out and spend $30-40K for a Rolex President Perpetual Oyster Chronograph [there are probably a dozen of them scattered through various jewellry stores in this city alone, and thousands more are being produced every year], but the historical value of that watch is essentially zero [you're paying mostly for the name, and a P1 has even more gold in it]. So, for me, the history is very significant [and having bought my first Pulsar...a venerable Model 3100], back when it was all so new and amazing, ties me a little closer. The 70s may be long past, but in my collection, they live on.
P.S. The P1 count is now up to 4, but that's a story for another thread...

[LEDluvr]

P.S. The P1 count is now up to 4, but that's a story for another thread...

....... Congrats!

[retroleds]

P.S. The P1 count is now up to 4, but that's a story for another thread...

I haven't a single one. But seriously, I am not a super die-hard collector.....I mainly like checking out the different brands, the different design features and specifications, and getting them working for other people. I have collector's ADD. I'm with both of your guys on all the interesting history, the intrigue of wondering about what it was like for the people working their way thru the everyday with the limitations of the techology. I can only imagine the delight of an electronics geek of the late '60s-early '70s, at opening the latest electronics catalgue or magazine and finding their most fanciful wish was seemingly a possibility. I love the NAWCC magazine - many a stretch has been spent reading those over and over(oddly, often in the smallest room of the house ..well, I do have a wife & kids ). Time and timing areimportant in life - I feel blessed that there are people who still find interest in the history and technical aspects of it, far beyond the simple numbers on the most accessible timepiece of our era.

Yes, it is hot here and I was worried about the quality of the water, so I went for something with an antiseptic in it. It's 6:16 pm. here.

[rewolf]

Yes, it is hot here and I was worried about the quality of the water, so I went for something with an antiseptic in it. It's 6:16 pm. here.

You mean "grain alcohol and rainwater"? (like Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Kubrik's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb")

[retroleds]

Yes, it is hot here and I was worried about the quality of the water, so I went for something with an antiseptic in it. It's 6:16 pm. here.

You mean "grain alcohol and rainwater"? (like Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Kubrik's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb")

Well water and Jack Daniels. I live on a high plateau of very sandy soil...the water is so clean tasting and low in minerals that no filtration is needed. I was mainly explaining that I was feeling a little relaxed and hence my exteneded,sentimental sentiments. I don't drink to get drunk at this point in my life - just 2-3 servings, once of twice a week, for mental health reasons.