ED209
[Purist]
7307
A toast to Dr. Mao for ThePuristS site
A toast and huge 'Thank You' to Dr. Mao for ThePuristS.com site, and wishing continued success in the new AP forum on PuristSPro.
For me, the past few years have been an amazing journey with the PuristS. I started out in late 2007 as a lurker, then luckily met Dr. Mao and a few local SoCal PuristS moderators at a PuristS event, and then accepted the honor of being one of the PuristS AP moderators, and about 2 years ago joined the PuristSPro team as a moderator.
I've had so many fond memories over the past few years like celebrating a career achievement:
A fun trip with the PuristS gang in the United Arab Emirates:
an incredible visit to AP to celebrate my birthday:
Some of the times were sharing wonderful meals with fellow PuristS Moderators:
And of course the IGOTT2 PuristS 10th Anniversary in Las Vegas:
Here's to Dr. Mao and the wonderful thing he created called ThePuristS and wishing the best with the evolution to PuristSPro.
Cheers,
ED-209
Thanks to Dr Thomas Mao and auf wiedersehen to an old site (PuristSPro to continue the legacy)
Dear PuristS, Please join me in a vote of thanks and raise your glass to Dr Thomas Mao for WFED and other fora on ThePuristS website that closed yesterday. It is still archived for reference reading. (Please note: the original Audemars Piguet forum, the f...
Not to forget...
...the predeceased Watchrap forum. So long, and thanks for all the fish.... Cheers, pplater.
I thought you were a carnivore, pplater!
Boy, give a man a fish, and... :-) (Ding ding ding ding ding ding...) For whom the sonnerie strikes... Cheers, my friend. TM
Nothing on four legs passes these lips, TM...
Still looking for a breeder of three-legged cows. And ask not for whom the bell [sonnerie] tolls; on this particular occasion, it tolls for thee..... :-( Cheers, pplater.
"From acorns . . .
. . . mighty oaks grow." The end of every journey is the start of another. Thank you, Thomas.
Hopefully a tall and strong oak, Art...
thank you, for your friendship and support. TM
For me, the PuristS.com always was a home ...
... I could withdraw anytime I needed some recreation, or just the friendship of colleagues spread over the world. While my new home is PuristSPro, no new home can be as cosy and important as the first home. I know the spirit of thePuristS lives on at Pur...
Marcus, it has been too long...
and I hope to catch up with you in Oesterreich (and our German PuristS) soon. You are a great uncle among PuristS; may you grace us with your wisdom and friendship for a long time to come. TM
You are too kind, Thomas ....
... since "wisdom" is not exactly known to be my second forename, especially not if my better half is asked about her opinion on the matter ... It would be great to meet again! Regards, Marcus
many fond memories
The impact on my life has been profound. Thanks for everything! _john
You are a Purist Godfather, john.
You were right there with me, at the beginning. Remember the discussion we had about it in SF in your old place, a couple of lifetimes ago, even as you considered opening up my ... which watch was it? ... for our first in depth tear down article? Fond mem...
I was born there
as, what I now proudly call, a Purist. We will never forget where our origins are. Thank you Dr. Mao Damjan
Damjan, such values are rare. Too many today...
try to forget who they are, where they came from. I'm proud you call yourself a Purist, and thank you for helping make this a better community for all. TM
The good old times...
ThePurists was the first forum I ever got involved in, and I had some wonderful times there. Things move on, but it'll still have a special place for me. nick
Nick, I remember your very important place in PuristS history...
and I hope you'll continue to occupy a very important place in PuristS history to come... Thanks for helping make this a special place. Cheers, TM
you got it exactly, Patrick! Thanks! and...
thanks for sharing your own "next generation" with us. To future PuristS! Cheers, TM
Like many others, here, I started there, on the old site, which makes me feel sad, today.
To kinow that ThePuristS is close is not good news. This place was a strange place, at firstsight, with connoisseurs only, a bit intriguing, a lot impressive, and sometimes frightening. But what a place! A place where I learnt a lot, due to the contributi...
An important chapter closes!
And a very important one for me and my appreciation of watches and photography. I hadn't posted much on the Photography site over the past few years, but what a place! Great images and wonderful advice from people with deep experience and both technical a...
Clarification
ThePuristS AP, Automotive, WFED, Travel and Pen Forums are now closed and read only. ThePuristS Photography Forum continues (with login required to post) as does Belles Lettres (with login required to both read and post). Andrew
Thanks for clarifying Andrew
I too, thought the photography forum was included. Thank you Thomas for the vision that is ThePuristS. Without that, there would not be a community like ours! It's become my online home.
Thanks, Andrew
Guess I need to go back over to the Photography forum, then! Best, Gary G
The end of the first volume of our book...
And it was a great volume! But the chapters which have followed it are worthy of these first pages. Thanks a lot to all who contribued to the beginning of this story. Fx
My favorite site of all time.
Always enjoyed learning about my favorite brand, AP of course, and having the opportunity to travel with other PuristS, making new friends. I am glad we have PuristSPro to continue the great tradition of ThePutistS.com. Thank you TM. Best, JerryW
Danke schoen and goodbye...
Goodbye to the Old PuristS site. And many thanks to those who contributed and made it possible for it to be a special place for so many individuals.
I went to The Purists because I own some pocket watches.
But I quickly found the fountain pen forum there. And later I joined in with the WFED crowd; anybody remember Ms. Pumpkin? The Salon des Belles Lettres was lively and very smart for awhile. Back then I thought that World Wide Web sites lasted forever. Rob...
Ms. Pumpkin...
is still around. In fact, some of us were graced by her lovely presence just recently at the PuristSPro Harry Winston dinner at Le Bernardin in New York. :-) Belles Lettres can be lively (and will always be smart :-) ) once again... Cheers, Robert, glad t...
A big thank you Thomas !
I vividly remember landing on the old 'platform' in search for info about a watch .... Bim
Thank you....
.. I am relatively new, but went back and forth to see how it was and archives. Sad. But like many said, the end of one is the start of another. Live goes on and we are still here, and we are still all friends and family. Ken
to quote paul kelly "from little things big things grow"
Thanks TM for starting a most wonderous site julian
A toast to Dr. Mao for ThePuristS site
A toast and huge 'Thank You' to Dr. Mao for ThePuristS.com site, and wishing continued success in the new AP forum on PuristSPro. For me, the past few years have been an amazing journey with the PuristS. I started out in late 2007 as a lurker, then luckil...
Thomas my Friend, I have been saving this for years.
Tomorrow, in your honor and to that of thePuristS, I am going to enjoy this after our 4th of July Celebration. I could never thank you enough. I have been a member since the very beginning and am proud to say some of my best friends in life have been foun...
Sad Day :-(
I will miss the old place, it was unique, it was special and there will be no place like it ever again. At least I have the memories and the great friendships I made. Thank You Dr. T, Dr. MTF, Lord Arran, Dr. B, DRMW, ED209, JerryW, AV and all my friends ...
"We are just a bunch of watch geeks who love to share ...
knowledge , experience and our personal watches. If there is a well-respected brand or maker there to share with us their history and technique, all the better." (ThomasM in an interview, back in 2005) As much as I loved the old one, I hope that we can ke...
High Tea at IGOTT2 ...
... if I recall correctly, Oliver? Nice sentiments. Thanks! Andrew
The King is dead ...
... long live the King! ThePuristS is the patriarch of all we have here today. There was nothing really like it in 2001. It wasn't the only horology site on the Internet, but it approached collecting, and drilled down to the intrinsic value of watches, li...
Thank you, Thomas Mao, and everyone who...
...made the old site what it was. Let's continue in the grand tradition of the original PuristS site here on PuristSPro. Cheers, Daos
As much as we cherish the past...
...we can only go forward if we have an eye on the future. The memories will always be there, but we are creating new ones as we go. PuristS is still evolving. Those of us who participated in (and tore our hair out trying to troubleshoot) early discussion...
Thanks to Thomas for starting this...
Your initiative and nurturing created the most interesting site I ever found on the internet. I am glad that I can be a part of its continuation today. All the best for the future, Don
All good things must end...
Many thanks to you Thomas. We may have had out disagrements, but I know far more for having had the chance to disagree! A
An evolutionary development in...
Dr. Mao's creation of a web home for lovers of watches. Just look for the next development....for his creativity continues, I am certain. tempusfugit
Love ThePuristS and thanks to everyone
Even today I still have my bookmark labeled ThePuristS though the link has been changed to watchprosite. I wish I can still access all the old posts at WatchRap and Belles Lettres, the two fora that I felt very much attached to. Certainly I love the new P...
It's a memorable time but ThePuristS is not dead since the same spirit still lives here
in PuristSPro. Part of life is adapting and evolving to change and making things better, and I feel that's what's happening now. Yes the AP forum, WFED, WatchRap, and Automobile forums on ThePuristS.com are closed, but that doesn't mean ThePuristS.com is ...
Holy cow!
Where did you dig this up from? Seems like ages ago. Hard to believe it's been almost 10 years.
Although i wasnt here at the start
But my life changed by a whole lot since i found the Purists. So many things happened while i was here, both the good, and the bad. But i have always returned here to find comfort and joy in sharing the one thing in common that we all love. Thank you for ...
The original PuristS site changed my appreciation of watches...
once there a curtain or two lifted and I began to see behind, behind the shine and into the substance. Quite a step, and not always accompanied with good feelings, but certainly a lift onto higher spheres of appreciation. When I was once approached by TM ...
Thank you to all for your kind words, and I really appreciate your
support over the past 11 years and more. ThePuristS will never close, and will never "go away" even as the spirit of the PuristS community hopefully continues to live on and evolve here on PuristSPro. It really touches my heart when I read comments that r...
A very special place...
I came across thePurists web site late one evening many years ago, not even sure when it was, regarding wine, and stumbled onto the WFED forum. From here I contacted Thomas in regards to a particular wine and the rest as the saying goes is history. I fair...
Step away from the Forum for a few days..
and just read this! Thank you PuristS food site for all the travel and yummy recommendations from all the members.. Thank you Dr. Mao for a great forum and its sprit will carry on nicely here...
How sad, but all good things sometime come to an end
And some things progress and get better. After my 11 years I never tire of the things I learn. Good Bye to the old sites. Thank You Dr. Mao!
Infinite gratitude (and a grudge)
Infinite gratitude for everything I've learned and watched and stared at and read and delighted in! Truly no words can suffice. And a grudge for enabling me to spend obscene dollars on foolish little machines. :) I raise my glass and offer my most humble ...
Definitely thank you
My AP journey started there early on. Took me a few years to start buying them but the knowledge I received from that forum will always stay with me. Thank you!
Thankyou...
... Came a little late, but better late than .. Anyway, I started here on watchprosite. The place I enjoy the most... Due to: -you guys around here -good and proper posts (most times :-)) -I learn something. Might only be a twist. -good discussions, with ...