Patek Philippe

Hello Everbody,

I've been lurking for over a year now and I'd like to participate more frequently in this forum's discussions.  Therefore, it's time to introduce myself.

I've been collecting mechanical watches for 15+ years now.  My watch collecting history is probably very typical.  My interest began when a colleague bought a Rolex Submariner and explained to me how it didn't need a battery and stayed wound on its own.  As a controls engineer with a degree in mechanical engineering, this immediately caught my attention (why ME students aren't exposed to mechanical watches while in school is beyond me - a watch combines so many of the topics of mechanical engineering but that's a discussion for another day).

I had the same impression as virtually every American does, Rolex was the best watch so the Daytona was the target of my first purchase.  Luckily, I wandered into a diverse and friendly used watch store in Boston that took the time to launch my education of watches in the correction direction.  Namely, Rolex is just the tip of the iceberg and there is a big world of watches to be explored before just buying the first one you think you want.   Within a month, I ended up with a JLC Master Reserve.  Not a bad first watch to start off with.  Of course, my interest in it waned as my knowledge and interests evolved.   That watch is now on my father's wrist.  I don't think he really knows what he has but I do know that he really likes it, but that it probably more driven more by the fact that I gave it to him than the intrinsic quality of the watch.

As time passed (and my collection) grew, I started to see a trend in my interests.  I liked complications and I leaned towards vintage pieces.  Years ago, I felt I had to have every version of the Universal Tri-Compax.  Luckily, sanity prevailed before that was seen through to completion (there are A LOT of variations of that watch, I can tell you).

Somewhere along the line of seeking higher quality watches and my continued interest in vintage, I ended up buying a Patek 1578 and wore it for a couple of years.  But, the interest in complications kept gnawling at me so I ended up with a 3941, and then a 3970, and finally the real pride of my collection - a 1526.  I haven't purchased anything of any real significance or value in a number of years.  I've grown content with what I have (which really surprises me), and one can only have so many watches before it just seems silly.  Sometimes I think I'm nuts, especially when I start forgetting about various pieces in my collection and find myself pleasantly surprised when I visit the safety deposit box (oh yeah - I forgot about that one ...).

That's when you know you have a problem.

Thurmond

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