Horological Meandering

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I am head over heels about the Harry Winston's Tourbillon G number 2.

I am also crazy about getting a Jacob & Co tourbillon from this year's Basel.

Here is where I have to practice what I told forum fols back here and on 2 oher purist's forums..AHCI and the HWRT Opus projects...can one enjoy and yet recover the costs?

Not always. That does not mean no.

This applies to the lesser known but worthy pieces.

I played a dangerous, and misunderstood game.

Buying offset from mainstream.

Making it hard to sell, but when things move, they move big.

I missed ALL of the Greubel Forseys first time, except for one.

I was drawn out, cash down.

Disciplined, I bought only with 10% of my income, and never with salary or fees from work, rather, I traded in collectables, not waches.

This hampers me, but it honed my skill to buy Richard Mille, Freaks, Franck Muller, Opus , MB&F, Urwerk and Vianney.

I bought these way back into boondock era, before the cellphones were sold, before laptops and cars cost $18,000 sgd for a Mercedes 190E. 1984 onwards to 1995 plus.

The internet came, stayed, grew.

I never sold anything till my Panerai lesson...no one bought any Panerais when it was first launched.

It's true, I do sell my watches, less than 12 actually, bec I needed to keep my budget to below a 2 million mark, that was what was placed into the hobby from 1973 to 2011.

Not a cent more.

So..it hurt to sell.

It didn't hurt buying a few used, bec I hadn't talked much about them, and no one else did much too, heaven is kind to me.

So biting back tears, I sold 12 watches, got my Greubels.

Now, recovering from my last Greubel. I am back to chasing down my old personal watches.

Did I make money? Yes.

Do I think it can be repeated? No.

Now, I am buying my "Forever Watches"...these I will own, pass on, and my kids can enjoy or sell, so the new me begins with a mix of used and new pieces.

The market, after 30 years, with rapid AHCI and other independents, have enough used and new to balance a good economy. I hope.

These are wrist shots taken today...mostly.

I chose the Greubel Forsey because of Opus 6, my last of the Opus I worked with on the web, they are really a mix of the best machine and hand work, the best of technical old charm mixed with 10% computer genius, maybe less.

Drawback...costs.

They are similar to the British grandmasters, and the Lange's best work.

Careful examination of the edges, joints and the techniques employed in the joining, metals used, and surface and jewels used for all.

Note the black polish and all that is done to protect a watch from scratches! Designing.

I like, love, the old world thick..not thick, but just thin enough to keep the double tourb.

This message has been edited by bernard cheong on 2015-04-29 02:12:13

NT

I wish I had more cash.

I had no cash for this fella...but I will want to own it one day.

This message has been edited by bernard cheong on 2015-04-30 08:43:14

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I am also apologizing if naming prices or money had spoiled anyone's day.

I just wanted people to know that I do not have tons of cash, but I am as close to any guy on the streets of any city which is not at war.

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but always referencing to money is tiresome and not required.  If you are looking for everyone to tell you how well you have done and how much money you have made then its a shame you need to post this for your self promotion and to further boost your ego.

This is what I am wearing now, and will report on how it has been for 8 yrs.

I wear this once a week.

One of the favorite divers of mine, white...even before RM did his.

Not costly.

Most people feel it is too girly for me...but I like its Seikorai Submersible look and weight.

Clearly anyone who posts personal watch collections worth in excess of $500K (or frankly any single piece worth over $50K) is way ahead of the curve so I really don't see the point in false modesty, particularly as his mentions of finance were, I believe, provided to illustrate his collection journey and the trade-offs required to achieve it rather than to simply boast.

For all who have even met me, I doubt if more than 5 people would see me as insecure and even mildly boastful, or attention seeking.

I must be coming across as a totally insecure, boastful, name dropping person with a dishonest passive aggressive approach to critique to many.

I will not defend myself. It would only serve to waste the time of others here.

What I would do is to bend back wards to fit in. Because I value the potential of this forum, and more....I sincerely value the lives and families of the watch makers.

I guess I have always been on the side of the watch makers, they are a new growth of an economic wave, which thrives on the best of what I see in people.

Many may not agree, but I come from Singapore.

I am a real life pioneer generation of people. I began my cognitive life in a colonized country.

Not many here would have shop lifted as a child. I have.

I have been caned, expelled from society when I was not yet 12 years old.

I had to work as a garderner to pay for expenses in a once poor country, before the era of the late great Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

I held down 2 jobs, delivery of office supllies and giving math tuition, to pay my way thru med school.

I married and had our first child when my bank account was in a negative of $6,000.

I guess these are old news. However, my point is that if I could make a life out of this, so could anyone else.

It's hope and plenty of friends, being honest without hurting people, that made me. Plus forces beyond my understanding.

That's too much to write here...but I am hoping that everyone here gets to enjoy, live and even get more out of life than I have.

Thank you and my sincere apologies for upsetting anyone.

This message has been edited by bernard cheong on 2015-04-30 08:39:29

...it is so good that today's Bernard has his own web blog, where those who do enjoy what you describe as a lack of false modesty can read it to their fill. Everyone's a winner if it stays there. We find ourselves (again) in a thread which demonstrates the value of our cardinal rule that prices and money are best discussed elsewhere.

this is a bloody nice watch!!!  Thanks for sharing it here.

cheers

fernando

More will come...

Dear Bernard

I appreciate that except for those that are "born into money"; every one that buys a watch beyond a nominal price point, has to save up; except that the effort, time and the quantum differs.

Fundamentally I do not see anything wrong in speaking about MSRP or after market prices or price related discussions. But they do not help elevate and sustain the discussions.

I have always enjoyed reading many of your posts, especially when they are about technical aspects of the watches that you have owned or had opportunities to review.

It would be brilliant if you can focus your knowledge and energy in helping all of us gain better understanding of technical excellence of the brands that you admire or  if you can conduct and present comparisons of the top brands in terms of various aspects such as Time Keeping Stability, Finishing, Long Term Performance, Service quality etc. The reason I ask is that very few persons have a real opportunity to own the range of brands and complications at that level as you have ( i.e. MB&F, Greubel, Vianney, Dufour, Cabestan etc).  I would believe that you as an owner and a horology expert will be most suited to perform these comparisons and write in an unbiased manner.

 

In short, please if you can dwell less on the effort that you had to put in to afford the watch(es) in question, but rather on the aspects stated above; we will all benefit.

Thanks.

Narsi ( chintu)

of the first time I saw what a Greubel Forsey was.

It was 2006, and well...till today, it is the singular, most solid, as if carved out of one block, the Vision 30...which is 100x more incredible.

Winding it, reveals the detail of tactile thought and planning.

Holding one, wearing one, each reveals a hidden beauty, like you said, cannot be described, but related in words....after a 2 year, minimum relationship.

That was why I came up with the concept of keeping a few "Forever Watches".

Area to speak about the difficulty in acquiring a watch?

I can understand why, but I try to reveal what I uncover, especially since I wish to buy a few on the used market.

Truth...these 2 watches are so good, that they deliver beauty to lives in ways beyond just being watches....I would try to buy another 2 more.

Got to say this another nice write up, watch photos sharing and watch collection tips. The net is gigantic and we can never get everyone to share the same view or let alone same belief. Important is to be yourself. Tks you sir and aways looking forward to post written by you.

The Greubel Forsey 25 Incline which is out of production. This is the only one of its type in platinum, but with a wg look. It has the rounded tourb bridges.

 

Just saw on CNA that they will be featuring an interview with you about watch investment tonite at 10.30pm , under "money mind" TV program. Looking forward to it and hopefully can catch the sighting of this GF monster. 

I came across as mildly eccentric.

I was happy that the 3 hours of footage was edited well... so maybe more will appear.

Shot on location at my home.

This watch, the IP1 was seen most. More than any.

 

"I just wanted people to know that I do not have tons of cash, but I am as close to any guy on the streets of any city which is not at war".

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but seriously: this guy keeps amazing me every time I read something he wrote but this time I was truly perplexed. One word comes to mind: disconnected. 

Disconnected or not is dependent on the environment. In a forum such as this where tons of ppl share their amazing luxurious watches or even exotic super cars what is disconnected? You can alway choose not to read ppl post if you find them disconnected, have grace, peace and move on.