"Give me my watch wrapped in newspaper and cut some of that damn price"
"What Watch makers still don't understand to date is that a humongous watch case,
however beautifully crafted in whatever exotic wood and even if lined with baby's skin - is as useful to me as a hole in the head!
Like I need another one where my wife can rant at me and berate me for my foolish purchases.
I have boxes all over my house and no where to keep them and
I dare not throw them out in the event that 200 years down the road,
I decide to sell my timepieces to pay for my poverty from my ill-spent youth!
Give me my watch wrapped in newspaper and cut some of that damn price to something I can afford!"
I did a little survey around my house. For example, where I used to hav a substantial collection of single malts, I now have boxes:
And not just any kind of boxes, but
Wood inlay
Plain wood
Wood layers
Wood with drawers
Leather
Leather and wood
Leather and steel
Bakelite
Rubber (! Ikepod !) Round
Composites
Blue and Green Velvet( Seiko GS)
Naugahyde
Plastic
Cardboard
and good old newspaper
I forget where the other zillion watch boxes even are?
Better have a Laphroaig and ponder the question...
added to Editor's Pick
This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2008-01-21 17:17:10
After pondering ...
Along with the family Bible, turned open to the verse:
"Stop storing up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal."
Good advice, I think (at the moment) but rarely heeded, sad to say!
I hear you too.
We should force the AD's that sold us the watches to store the boxes for us. That way we always come back. Nothing gets lost and if we ever need to sell the AD can handle in for us; sale includes all boxes, inner outer, outer outer (cardboard), tissue, ribbon and sales persons DNA.
Cool idea. What do guys think.
Bill
Too funny...
As my wife roots through a cabinet that we need to empty (to enable us to move it so that we can paint) and as she piles up stuff to toss, I'm reading this and I laugh out loud. She wants to know what I'm laughing about and I show her the 1st post. Luckily I opted not to take several boxes that were "part of the purchase" but I had to show her the JLC box from my sun/moon.
I'll admit, it is a beautiful box (for a beautiful watch) but it sits in the garage - taking up space.
Caz, thats just too many GS's. i think you need to pass one
onto me just to assuage your guilt. i'm in the market to buy one as long as its auto and preferably bigger than 37mm. 
(i might be smiling but i am serious)
i agree wholeheartedly about the boxes as well of course. i ended up with 2 removal company packing cases in the attic full of them. try matching the 60 omegas to the boxes when you want to move them on. it a B*******y nightmare.
my 2 UN's must have £1k's worth of boxing. the Ludwig perp has a plaque in the box with its ltd ed number on it. but why? its on the watch face so why is it on the box as well. a nice touch but pointless and wasteful.
Graham
Amen!!!
I have some HUGE special edition boxes that do nothng more than take up space. I could build an addition to my house with the excess wood. Yet, I am forced to retain them in the event that I sell a watch. It is utterly ridiculous!!!
Regards,
Craig
I totally agree.
I don't mind to get extra 2%-5% discount without the box. After I bought my MIH, I realise the Brands not only get profits from the watches but also the boxes.
Regards
Ling
LOL.....you bring it out exactly what it is and also humorous! =)
Cheers buddy...cheers!
Where is the time
watches were sold in these small flat Patek Philippe kinda boxes.
Just a little larger than the watch itself.
These large jewel case boxes are great for the person that buys just one watch,
but for most of us it's a waste of money and a waste of shelf space.
Geo
Provocative rants from an irascible iconoclast ...
But really, in this day and age where environmental awareness and responsibility is at what seemingly is the peak, we are cutting down trees to make pretentious boxes that are of no use to anyone - not the owner of the timepiece, nor the retailer, or the manufacturer - except to be able to trumpet what a stupidly expensive contrivance they have created.
The box is seen for maybe all of 5 minutes when the purchase is made and the parcel changes hands, then it is relegated to the bowels of the dungeon to rot in Box Hell awaiting termites and mold (in our humid climes) to infest them.
Also, awaiting spouses to discover them and beat us over the head, all the time screaming expletive-punctuated threats of life-long celibacy about where the children's educational funds have gone and how stupendously self-centred and useless men are..! But I digress ...
MontBlanc, hear this! Have the courage to stand out amongst the crowd and proclaim by statement that you will no longer usurp the earth's precious resources. That you will no longer cause me harm through the pugilistic proclivities of my wife! Have the courage to restore my sex-life again - to what miserably pitiful frequency it was before - by doing something responsible for all of us.
And at the same time, you can save the earth as well! What a wonderful feeling that can be ... the sex I mean - of course!!
This message has been edited by mycroft on 2008-01-21 03:45:43 This message has been edited by mycroft on 2008-01-21 03:54:11
LOL - New meaning to the phrase "Boxing the ears"
I enjoyed your post and sympathize with the thread.
Thank you, Tassos. I will ...
This message has been edited by mycroft on 2008-01-21 14:44:25
Mycroft is one of the pioneers of online watch forums...
his writing was legendary in a time past. We are fortunate that he has come out of his ascetic, hermit-like existence to grace us with his wisdom once again.
- SJX
You guys hate little boxes?...I love them...
...but only if they are useful....and if you are married they can be very useful.
I will not comment on poor mycrofts sex life,,,!!!!...????
But Seriously, I hear what you guys say, but there are Watch Boxes and useless packaging….instead of knocking the Boxes may be we should be knocking the companies that produce useless Watch Boxes and give some good exposure to those that produce the good ones.
The bottom line is that no matter which watch we buy…. be it a plastic Swatch or a Gold Breguet, the cost of the Box is insignificant compared to the overall price of the watch.
The fact is that some are useless…but some are great.
In my old age, my collection is now reduced and confined to three watch brands….Breitling, Rolex and Breguet.
The cheapest brand produces the most practical watch Box and that is Breitling.
Breitling. I would give them 9.5 out of 10
First they provide the yellow cardboard box which has a draw at the base to store the manual and warranty documents, and extra unused links etc....and this is a good place to hide the reciept from the wife.
Then there is the Bakelite Box which comes with a little story of tradition ( Bakelite was the magic goo before plastic and it was very big in World war II as used in knobs for radios, cases for head-phones, light switches and any number of insulated products, and very, very big in aircraft electronics) …but that’s not all.
Inside the Bakelite box is the Watch Pouch and this is one great little oval, flat bottomed and flat sided Leatherette protector with a watch pad inside that is just perfect for carrying a spare watch when travelling.
I am out of town at present and wore a Breitling, but brought with me two Breguets in Breitling Pouches. They are small and fit in the smallest briefcase and offer full protection.
Rolex. I would give them 2 out of 10.
Rolex Watch Boxes, be they the leather, the massive and poorly coloured watch ring and jewelery accessories cases or brass inlay into exotic wood type are disappointing, even with the leather wallet and handkerchief that they come with…. in that while they do store the paperwork and links under the watch holder …they display the watch in a horizontally flat position and if you have had a few scotches and walk past your Rolex box and try and look at the watch you could well fall over while trying to align your head with the 12 o’clock digit…..these guys really need to do a major redesign.
Breguet. They are a beautiful Box and should get an 8 out of ten.
Breguet…now this is fine burl exotic wood…..they have the gold key (Not really gold…but gold in colour)…gold hinges and hardware (not really gold again) Gold Breguet logo signage under the varnish (no, still not really gold again),,,,but a beautiful sued leather interior display Box (Not real leather), and it also has a storage area for the documentation....and you can still hide the reciept from the the wife.
Breitling, though gets my Gold Star rating… Compact, nostalgic and best of all, practical.
Kindest regards to all,
Jack
WOW... Nice problem >>>
Because if you have too many boxes, that means that you have the same number of watches...LOL
It begins to be problematic...
I stored all the boxes in the mezzanine, which loks more like a cellar....
And I don't speak about the goodies, the reviews, the books, the catalogues...LOL
Best ,and congrats for this funny post!
Nicolas.
Humor is the refuge ...
This message has been edited by mycroft on 2008-01-21 06:51:30
Hay amanico...you have some of the same boxes
as I do....May be we could start up a forum on watch boxes....We would not have to worry about buying watch winders or getting them stolen.
Kindest regards,
Jack
Great idea, Jack! LOL >>>
And you didn't see the UN 160 Anniversary box!!!
Never saw such a packaging, even much bigger than a Panerai SE box, 3 times bigger!
As it includes the box of the wathc, but also the box of the Barometer, and the book " The Making of a Masterpiece"....
The rolex boxes seems cheap, compared to these heavy and enormous boxes...
OK to open a Forum about Watch Boxes...Who Else? LOLOL
Best, Jacky.
Nicolas
Presentation boxes...
Thanks, Mike.
And yet...
...if you drop a lazy 50K or 100K on a diamond bracelet for Significant Other Schott you and SO would expect no more than - and probably be deliriously happy with - a 'little blue box' barely larger than the bracelet itself.
The watch boxes are beautiful. The watch boxes are nice to have. The watch boxes do help to validate the purchase. The watch boxes have gone over the top. ;-)
Cheers,
pplater.
With you all the way. ...
With you all the way.
But the concept of AD's providing some support in storing watch boxes for the more seasoned buyers is pretty cool. Also for those who don't see the value in their boxes they two could leave them at the AD's with a receipt. The concept for me is a simple one "Box Exchange". If you want to participate you simple keep all the manuals and other paper work and get an IOU one box when ever you what to make a claim for one. You would hope that the brands would work towards some box standardization, not across brands, but at least within the brand. This way it is easy to match the original box format. The AD would not actually store 100's of boxes but would keep a number of "Box Exchange" deposits in the store for the occasional customer to come and collect one. You could even take it further by offering a discount "Value of the box" if the buyer wants and when he comes back in the future when he needs a box he simply buys one at that time from the AD.
This again would reinforce the reason to always buy from an AD. And, for the poor guy that some how lost his box. Buying one for completion from his AD carries not shame and is simply a matter of course. This is good for everyone including the environment.
This is a copyrighted idea and when the Brands and the AD's start this practice they won't forget where it came from.
Start a letter campaign and write your Congressman – oooppps wrong forum, write your Brand Executive and ask them to provide the support and create a part number for boxes and the Box Exchange and box replacement program will be born. Suffering watches everywhere will be able to seek refuge in new boxes and a whole new market for boxes will be born (can you hear the triumphant music in the background) boxes and people everywhere will rejoice. I will stop here as tears are starting to flow.
What do you all think?
Bill
I think we need to stop at Cazalea's place in San Diego and help him . . .
. . . polish off his bottle of Laphroaig, that's what I think! I'm sure Mike (Cazalea's name in the real world) won't mind a bit . . . cordially, Art
Come on down, it's raining anyway today
Besides, I just found the stash of outer cardboard boxes for my Orbita Winder Boxes.
And the boxes for my wood box which holds my marine chronometer used to set my other watches and clocks
Mike
Uhh . . . we'll need a bottle of Don Julio blanco to figure that one out, Mike . . .
. . . . funny thing, I'm on my way down to OC this afternoon from my digs in Ventura county . . . too bad we didn't work this out earlier - I would have loved to come down! Cordially, Art
OT - single malts...
For those fond of Islay malts such as Laphroiag who have not yet tried it, 'Lagavulin' 16 y.o. is a must. For a watch connection, Lagavulin is to Laphroiag as Patek is to Poljot.
Cheers,
pplater.
That's too condescending; Laphroaig is more like
Lagavulin is a whole other animal.
No comparing one to the other, as sometimes you want to drink that one too.
Cheers
Mike