Horological Meandering

Hi Purists,

For me the life is nowadays simple: I never buy second best if I can somehow afford the best. This means that in your shoes I would buy the best piano and then collect more money and wait till I can afford my dream watch.

The piano.

You're a musician....

A piano is about doing things.

A watch is about having things.

This message has been edited by BDLJ on 2011-08-31 01:08:58

do we, or some of us, overdo the 'collecting' as we are perhaps dissatisfied with what we do. i can honestly admit that i'm very dissatisfied with what i do as i DO nothing. others may not be so eager to admit that perhaps they are dissatisfied with what they do, but if they look at what they HAVE they may view things differently.

i can tell that you are very happy in what you DO Ben, you are very active in your spare time and have a job you appear to enjoy a lot which is why you are very happy with your small assortment of vintage Seiko dive watches etc.

your comment is perhaps the best i have read on this forum for a long long time and i agree, go for the Piano.

best

Graham

tsss tsss not good not good...

it will only get worst one day ... believe me..
you must keep the obsession level constant
(if you can) cos if you suppress it then one day it erupts ....
seriously go for best piano there is
then for best ...no... for watch that sings to you most
Cheers
D

Watches are not to be bought because of what the others think, I mean, to try to be clearer, watches are not a social status tool, but just watches, just our nice, lovely, trusty and passionate " thing ".

Life is a matter of priorities, and it seems that despite your young age, you already got it.

First Life, your job, your family, then it will be tme to live and feed your passion.

Nothing wrong, here.

Don't turn your back top your dreams!

Best,

Nicolas. This message has been edited by amanico on 2011-08-31 01:34:16

Have both - a Steinway baby grand and a fine watch :

(photo from homepage)

 

Cheers,

pplater.

First of all I would go for the piano which seems the highest priority as you can play music with it and express your creativity through the instrument.

The rest is a question of patience, we cannot always have everthing we want on day one and need to learn to be patient.  Don't give up the AP dream, live for the day that you will be able to fulfill it.

In the meantime, a Rolex Submariner is a great watch to wear as a daily beater, a watch that will bring you a lot of joy in the meantime.

Once you have finished with your first dream you can then move on to another.

Best regards,

 

George

Like what BLDJ pointed out...piano is doing and watches is having. And activity and a possession....

Go for the piano would be the only logical advice. Music for you is both logic and passion, horology are only passion.

Since you are so young, practice hard and achieve something as a musician. The material wealth will follow...sooner then you can imagine.

And who knows, if you become a famous musician, you might get sponsored by AP, given their penchant to have as many ambassadors As their unLIMITED editions of watches.

Best,

Horo

This is a very interesting post. I've recently thought along the same lines. Ironically, also involving a piano purchase. I've not settled on it, but I did find an interesting quote. (It is in the context of the Lord of the Rings but probably self explanatory to most: "The delight and pride is indeed in the making and in the thing made and neither in posession nor in mastery; wherefore he hoards not and is free from care, passing ever on to some new work."

Tim

. . . our own Don Corson in mind when he wrote those words . . . 

Without doubt, you've made the right choice.

kudos for that. To go for the piano sounds clearly like the best choice.

Now as to being content with what you have, which is a different issue I think, research shows pretty clearly that happiness is a trait that is influenced very little by what you actually have, earn, or do, with an estimated heritability (genetic component) in the range of 80%. I take that to mean that a certain amount of "know yourself" is useful: if you are the type of person whose desires are stirred to the degree it becomes painful by puriistpro or Revolution, it might indeed be smart to avoid the drug pushers for a while.

 

Best

Andreas

I have been a watch addict for five, six years now but it only took me a short while to realize that:

1. One cannot possibly own EVERY piece one likes. There will always be the next Basel/SIHH...and no matter what you have, there will always be a more attractive proposition.

2. One should clearly understand why a particular piece appeals and not care too much about what other people says about the watch

3. Having said that, one's tastes may change (this is the most horrible moment), so one has to be pretty sure that a new acquisition will last... one way to achieve that is to refrain from making impulsive purchases and if one cannot loose a piece from his/her mind for a whole week, then perhaps that's a keeper.

4. If you can afford it, go for the best - compromising will only lead to regret

As for me, I am very happy with what I have (compared to a few years ago) and I consider myself lucky to be able to develop the current portfolio.

Best

Sam 

No message body

Congratulations on turning 21 soon. I remember reading about you being torn apart by music or engineering sometime back, so whats new now?

I'm about your age so I totally get you

if music is your passion and something you really want, and when you've really made it big, you can get a steinway or any watches u desire. meantime got to wok hard, practice on a cheaper instrument, save up/invest and see if you have what it takes since you're also up against many talented/passionate individuals in this industry.

I'm not attached to things so watches are just watches. Watches are not something we really need

I am currently trying to transfer to UCLA for mechanical engineering. I would love to design medical equipment or work for Lockheed Martin one day. I've been taking piano lessons since I was ten, and I've been in some amateur piano competitions. Once I turn 35, I am gonna win the Van Cliburn Amateur, no doubt. 

No message body

Thank you for the input, guys! I really do appreciate it. About the Rolex Submariner: I gave it some thought as to what would make me happy in that price range. Don't get me wrong, the Rolex Submariner is a watch that makes me smile and would love to own. You can see it as settling, I see it as drawing a personal line so I can have what feels right to me. The AP dream is nice, but it is something I can live without. 

Again, it's all about sacrifices. Sometimes we have to sacrifice.

You may like it now, but if you ever have an opportunity to get in a fair amount of playing time on a good grand you will thereafter not want to play an upright. $35K will get you an excellent used Steinway B or Bosendorfer or a similarly-sized Bechstein, Grotrian, etc. with cash left over.

A used Steinway B is precisely what I purchased so many years ago. I hired a technician to accompany me on my search, and that was money well spent. My first priority when I was looking for a home was to ensure that the piano would work well in it (good size living room/nice wood floors/etc).

Bill

...especially for someone so young. You should be proud of that.

As another poster put it so well, the instrument is about "doing" while the watch is about "having." You owe it to yourself to meet that need first.

You are lucky that you play the piano. After you spend a bit over $100K, no additional expenditure will get you a better instrument. I play the 'cello, and there is no effective ceiling. (I suppose there is, but it's high enough in the millions to be irrelevant to me.) I didn't get involved in watches until (a) I had highly satisfactory instruments and (b) I was fairly sure that I would not be able to afford to take the next step up.

I will now argue against myself in one respect: there may be times in your life when you are not playing much: a new baby, job travel, hand problems, or even just lack of inclination. At those times, your "have" items will still be rewarding to you even when your "do" item is not. Therefore it's good to have a source of aesthetic pleasure you can enjoy without having to put time into it. Nevertheless, if I didn't have a good instrument, I would be looking to "make do" with interesting but inexpensive watches until I had acquired the instrument.

YOU Know what you want.!

Reading your Post , i thought you were much Older.but you are so Young and Wise. Life is ahead of you. ...but right now ?! you're doing the right thing (imo)..

 You can always find the Watch that you've been Lusting for. DON'T WORRY. Watches are going NOWHERE..

most important thing for you right now is your Study which will determine your Future. !! and when you get it Right ? you can have any Watch you want.

 Wish you the BEST OF LUCK . and hope you'll remebmer us when you become  Famous.:0)))

 

Cheers

 Tony

Your playing will improve to keep up with it.
Forget the Rolex this year.
You will be happier with a better instrument and the watch to go with it later.
Take it from an Electrical Engineer, Violist, Watchmaker.
One can do all three, but never skimp on your insrtument.
Don
 

I'm keeping the piano (and I'm not even a particularly good player).

Of course you could enter a competition and win yourself a Steinway B like my brother in law did.... ;-)

Good luck with your music career.

Bill

I knew I wanted a AP when I was 12 and began to seriously consider one when I was in my late 20's.  I save up for a while and finally purchased one when I was 34.  Buy what you really love, be it a piano or watch and enjoy it.

and if you are like me and live in a world where resources are very much finite, chase the passion and that for you is music and how the best crafted and tuned piano will help take you to the highest level of enjoyment in that regard.

Watches for those who are not into it as other things like you and I, nice to have but really, life would still be pretty much the same without them.

Your chain of thought is right.  I would also second Kol's suggestion to save for as long as you need to to get what you feel is the best piano given your resources.  Getting anything less in the interim will only be a compromise and sap resources but in your case for constant practice, this may be necessary.

Best to you and for your sake, I hope you don;t fall for the watch bug