Watch collectors share what moves you
My collection is small and humble, but each piece speaks to me in its own way. If these mechanical marvels move you, I'd love to hear about your collection or aspiration and what moves you about it.
To kick us off, here are some of my watches and why I love them:
Blancpain Villeret early 2000s - This was my first pre-owned luxury watch purchase. Blancpain is the oldest watchmaker still in business, tracing its roots back to 1735. To me, that means that JS Bach was alive and creating masterpieces whilst Blancpain was crafting watches. Although now owned by the massive Swatch Group, Blancpain (translation 'white bread') holds a special place in my heart. I have one with an enamel dial and applied roman numerals, including the 'watchmaker's four' IIII instead of IV. Classic.
Armin Strom - He rose to fame for skeletonizing watches manufactured by others. Two of his apprentices bought the rights to his name after he passed, and they took the brand in a new direction, manufacturing almost all of their movement components in-house. I happen to have a one-of-a-kind color of a model they produced. The color is called a 'chameleon' because it looks both green and teal based on lighting conditions, and I have serial #1, the only one they created to date.
Nomos Orion - Nomos is a relatively newer brand that began in 1990 just two months after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The city of Glashutte in eastern Germany, where Nomos is based, is the historical home of German watchmaking. Their 'Bauhaus' design (function governs form) gives us incredibly simple yet beautiful design. Orion is a dress watch from this brand, and I love that you can pretty much see a Nomos and know who made it because they share a distinctive design DNA. This was the first new luxury watch in my collection, and I never intend to sell it, because it still speaks to me every time I put it on.
Seiko Spring Drive - Spring Drive is a revolutionary step forward in watchmaking. It combines quartz accuracy with a 17th-century spring-driven movement for the best of both worlds. Seiko engineers deserve monumental credit for forging a completely new path yet to be matched. Seiko no longer offers a spring drive model under their main brand, but they did for a while, and I have a white-dial GMT with a spring drive movement that I use when I travel, because it flies way under the radar. Today, spring drives are marketed under the upmarket Grand Seiko and Credo brands.
Vacheron Constantin - I have a rectangular-dial VC watch that was probably designed to compete with the JLC reverso or the Cartier Tank in the early 1970s. It's really thin and small, pretty much like a ladies watch today, but my wrist is small and I don't mind rocking it for formal occasions.
Laco - Laco dates back to 1925 and is considered one of the original five aviation watch brands to produce Flieger (pilot) watches. My parents were both private pilots, so I grew up loving the aviation instrument look of green against black. Laco contniues to make pilot watches, many of which now have Miyota (Citizen watch from Japan) movements. I bought one to honor my Dad, who would've loved having one if only I had known of them when he was alive.
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I don't collect watches, but I admire your love for your collection
