Horological Meandering

AndrewD
[HoMe Moderator]
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POTW – California Jed

Hi All,

It is my pleasure to introduce our Purist-of-the-Week, California Jed. I know many of you have enjoyed Jed’s contributions on various topics and appreciated his taste in watches. I particularly liked Jed’s description of what it means to be a Purist and I hope you enjoy this installment of POTW as well.

Andrew

Thank you, Andrew, for the honor of the selection as POTW.  It’s quite humbling, particularly following such great answers from pplater and Blomman.  I’ll try to answer as honestly and openly as those distinguished PuristS did.

1. What watch are you wearing today?

Today, it is the Chopard 16/1860/1.

2. How do you usually choose a watch to wear?

I change watches regularly but fairly randomly.  (I almost said “at regularly irregular intervals, Andrew!) I try to change at least weekly, but I don’t follow a particular “rotation”.  If I am dressed for a particular meeting or for an evening out with my wife, I tend to wear a precious metal watch, but otherwise I simply choose what strikes my mood at the time.

3. How did you discover PuristS?

My recollection as to how I came to PuristS is sketchy.  I am fairly certain I learned of PuristS after becoming aware of Thomas Mao through Paneristi but I cannot say with any certainty when I first visited the PuristS site.  Ultimately, though, that I registered here was as a result of hiring Scott Dufrane as a summer intern a couple of years ago.  He mentioned that he was a moderator, so I decided to check it out.  I owe Scott a debt of gratitude for that. J

4. What does it mean to you to be a Purist?

A lowercase “p” purist is excited by discovering the essence of his subject, and he strives to understand it thoroughly.

Here, uppercase PuristS are fortunate to have a forum in which to share the examination and also the joy of discovery of watches. I often marvel at how vast that one inch diameter machine strapped to my wrist really is.  It’s important to understand, too, that a Purist is not necessarily a savant (despite the often-used “WIS” label for us), nor is he a pedant.  To the contrary, a Purist might embrace a break from the rules or from principles of tradition in a given instance when done intentionally and with knowledge and understanding of the rules or principles broken.  S/he sees the beauty in order, but also in purposeful disorder.

I should also point out what others have expressed more eloquently than I can (and I am thinking of a recent post by Mostel) – that we PuristS love the journey as much or more than the destination.  Many of you impress me daily with the technical knowledge you possess and share freely with us, and I am awed by your encyclopedic knowledge of horological history.  I am confident I will take more from that collective body of knowledge than I will contribute, but I do love learning, and discovery, and our community is such a wonderful place to do both.  It is amazingly easy to learn here, and to fearlessly share questions and observations with PuristS, who I have come to understand and believe are an amazingly civil and tolerant bunch that happily embraces neophytes, iconoclasts and oddballs with charm and grace.  At times, I feel I fit into each of those categories!

5. Is there a single element in a watch that is most important to you, and why?

No, there is no single element most important to me.  I am able to love different watches for different reasons, and I appreciate elements in context rather than in isolation.  The art of horology is as important as the science, and my determination of transcendent horological art is, funny enough, much the same as Justice Stewart’s classic definition of obscenity in Jacobellis v. Ohio–- I know it when I see it!  That said, I’m not afraid to admit to you my foudroyante fetish!   (Please don’t tell my mother!) I have a weakness, too, for sexy column wheels.

6. What other hobbies do you have?

I enjoy playing acoustic guitar (rather poorly) and listening to acoustic music.  I have recently taken up cycling.  I enjoy writing and reading but rarely make time for either.  I’m a bit of a coffee geek as well, so I enjoy micro-roasted coffee beans.  My favorites are Intelligentsia Black Cat and Supreme Bean Dolce Terra.  I pull shots almost every morning and I make lattes for my wife and me.

Until my son was born, I was an avid motorcyclist.  With two children, however, I have given it up.  I simply do not have the time to devote to sport touring and to maintenance, the two things I most enjoyed about motorcycling.  So I am left with a garage full of nice tools, nice luggage and riding gear, and many happy memories.

7. Do you wear a mechanical watch when bike-riding?

No.  I have a cycle computer and I carry a Blackberry with me, so a watch just makes no sense to me on the bike.  Incidentally, there is a free app available for the Blackberry (and also for Apple and Droid phones) called SportyPal that is really neat for cyclists and runners to use as a tool for analysis of runs and rides.

8. How do you time your espresso shots?

9. Have your collecting interests changed over time?

Not that long ago I was enamored of quantity, and I was after it in too big a hurry.  I have slowed down (and pared down) significantly.  I cannot really claim to be a collector of watches so much as an enthusiast.  Like most of us, I own quite a few watches, but I wear all of, and I have never made a purchase intending simply to “collect” a watch.  I pass no judgment on those who do – to the contrary, I’m often envious, but I lack the desire and the resources to do so myself.

10. If you could keep only one watch in your collection, which would it be?

This is the easiest of the questions.  If I could keep only one watch in my collection, it would be the PAM 27C I wore on my wedding day.  It was a wedding present from the girl I love.