optionc
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Reaching your Apex...
Along the lines of Mostel's post of 'watches too holy to wear'.... I have another question that may provoke some interesting reactions.
So I've been a watch fan all my life but only became 'serious' in the past 7 years. During these years, I've been able to own and wear some amazing watches (my posts document my watch collection education over the years). An then a couple of weeks ago, I bought at 5270g and felt sadness. Why you ask? It dawned on me that I reached my personal watch collecting Apex (not grail). My horological path will take a new direction as I won't be able to justify the next level of watch collecting (i.e. a minute repeater or a ultra grand complication).
So my question(s) to my fellow Purists is:
What happens when you hit your Apex (the equation where you can no longer justify pursuing the next rarified level of collecting - whatever level that may be)? How do you feel?
OpC
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Reaching your Apex...
Along the lines of Mostel's post of 'watches too holy to wear'.... I have another question that may provoke some interesting reactions. So I've been a watch fan all my life but only became 'serious' in the past 7 years. During these years, I've been able ...
Then you have fun filling in the lower levels.
I acquired the watches that turned out to be the "top" watches in my collection relatively early after becoming interested in collecting watches. Like you, while it is possible that I would be interested in more expensive watches, the next step up would b...
May I ask ...
why do you think it is your "Apex"? Is it because of the beauty, the design, the all over quality, the finish, the complication, the price tag ...? Oliver
my thinking...
Thanks for your reply Oliver... I understand your query... what defines an apex? I think the reality is the price and the corresponding complications that one can expect to get at that level. Hence, it's why I distinguish an apex from a grail. My 'grail w...
OpC, thanks for your explanation ...
which is much appreciated. For sure we all have limited budgets, even when they are VERY different My personal apex is not related to money, it is more related to different levels of quality - design, finishing, personal "cardiac flutter", the "feel good"...
You can always find beauty and interest in a 2500 USD watch and in a 250 000 USD watch.
It is not a matter of price or complication, it is a matter of intrinseque value. You can- and will-dsicover new horizons, and see that Beauty and Interest are elsewhere, everywhere. A compication such as the Minute Repeater is a costyl challenge, and so ...
OMG, exactly what I am thinking!
...great minds think alike? Seriously, I have no idea where or even whether there is the "Apex" in this hobby. I believe this will be a lifetime hobby and I wouldn't have to set my goal. Yeah, one year I would be happy with USD1500 IWC Cal. 89, and anothe...
sorry but...
Dear Ken, I value your opinion and respect your view but we may simply think differently --- and that's cool. I agree with Nicolas' point that there are alternative ways to pursue pleasure in this hobby and price/complication is not always the best measur...
I respect you view, too
Sorry if I sounded a bit "cold" and "look down" - that was not I meant to say. I understand there are different approach to any hobby, or any activity and I respect each as well. Good luck and hope you stick around this hobby and share the joy with the re...
Yes, but
at the same time, if I may be so bold, why STRAIN to find interest when you feel in your heart that a plateau has been reached? The 2500 watch, the 10,000 watch, the 100K watch, it does not matter--I think this is a statement about feeling so fulfilled th...
Collecting may be also seen as a trip, Mostel.
You can immensely ( is that correct? ) enjoy each stop, and also be happy to guess that the next one is full of promises. The beauty can be found in a small village, isolated in a mountain, as well as in the Riviera. The pleasure is in the moment you live...
I know exactly what you mean...
I was thinking of asking a similar question but wasn't sure how to word it. I find myself in a similar prediciment and I don't know where to go next...for now I have decided to get a few pieces serviced over this next year and see what happens after that....
Defining "apex" by price tag alone may cause one to miss out the forest
for a tree. After getting the 5712/1a (which is pretty much what I can and willing to afford for now), I went on to buy the Zenith Winsor (an annual calendar with chronograph) and the new Seamaster (with ceramic bezel). Each has its own points that I appr...
Thanks for your opinion
I agree, we each define our apex in our own way... to me price/complication is an objective/comparable method. I welcome other opinions on how people define theirs but your second point is the real question to ponder (and is the real reason for posting).....
My guess is it will feel great!
Good question ... I agree with you that price is a useful definition if your resources are limited (as they certainly are for me). For myself, I feel that I am almost "done" at the level at which I can usually collect (i.e. very happy with what I have and...
Thx
Thanks for your reply. I felt that it was a meaningful moment when I realized this was the top of the mountain for me in terms of price/complication. I thought about how I will feel when I buy my next watch... Would I get the same excitement? Or will it b...
If it is for your right next, it only depends how far you want to go.
Regardless what you have or how many, there are always a level above. For most of us experienced, today watches aren’t too affordable and maybe we can less justify our priorities. However, we most continue. Like Nicolas says we can find some and oth...
There will always be a "next" watch....
but you might get much more selective as you gain more experience. When I first started with watches I began by sampling watches from a number of brands. My next phase was to build a broad and deep collection from a single brand (Vacheron Constantin). Aft...
Nicolas' wine reference is a good one...
For a wine collector it may take some time to find the wine which represents his or her personal apex; a journey which begins with local estate wines moves through exemplars typical of different wine regions globally and culminates in, say, a '45 Latour, ...
The advantage of wine is ...
it is easier to share with good friends Had the pleasure to try several outstanding wines and most because of very good friends. Oliver
Sharing
Very true, Oliver. And it is often the very experience of sharing that raises things to another level. Sharing watches, particularly over a nice bottle of wine and a good meal also make them more pleasurable and memorable. A
This is where I find pleasure too ...
And it applies to food, wine, watches and many other things. I get as much pleasure, if not more pleasure, from a cheap bowl of noodles or a cheap bottle of wine that has something special to offer, way above its perceived position or price point. That's ...
last watch
Frankly, if my next watch purchase is also my final watch purchase, that wouldn't be the worst scenario in the world. compared to other luxury items of conspicuous consumption, watches have a pretty limited amount of variables in terms of brands, complica...
The Apex should not be the climax...
Each watch added to the collection should be a further climax. If you're adding a 5270G to your collection and you are finding that it is not a further climax and you have not had a climatic watch for some time, perhaps you need to add fewer more expensiv...
I view things in cycles, from horoenthusiam to horofatigue to hororgasm.
I have been hitting apexes every other year....but I always come back for more.. I am a realist though...the classic economic conundrum of limited resources but unlimited wants. But I discover there are so many angle to this horology hobby. For example, l...
this is an interesting dilemma.
to me it highlights the huge differences between collecting new watches and collecting vintage watches. everyone who collects (as i assume you do) new watches will find themselves in this position at some stage, but for those that collect vintage watches ...
Relief!
Congratulations on your Apex. The sadness may be like a writer coming to the end of writing a novel that has taken years... The writer needs a new mystery. An achievement and yet... the mystery of what would be, kept him company, and there was never the c...
Thank you.
HI Mostel, Thank you for your reply... I think you, Nicolas, and others captured my feelings quite well. I've been reflecting on this hobby for awhile and although I will likely 'write another book' especially if ALS makes a honey gold richard lange . You...