Ssherman855
199
Such great dialogue
Thanks all for such engagement, some very interesting bits of info I still need to respond to. For myself, I am a commercial banker ($10mm-$100mm revenues) for a large US bank. I had never comingled horological passion with work; not intentionally it was just never organic. Recently, I was on a video call with a CEO and CFO of a company I have been prospecting. The CEO became abruptly upset and disconnected from the call, while the CFO stayed on (I’m sure there’s a joke about this somewhere). Confused as well, the CFO scratched his head and apologized to me. That’s when I saw he was wearing the unmistakeable shape of a Panerai Luminor. Instead of addressing the elephant in the room, I asked him about his Panerai. He was taken a back and we exchanged many pleasantries about his watches, mine, and horology in general. Yesterday we began on boarding them and it led me to believe sharing that common interest/bond played at least a small role in winning that relationship. This also led me to believe that most Watch collectors swim in some kind of symbiotic professional space and the common hobby could potentially help eachother organically.
More posts:
Profession
I understand this may be a sensitive subject and mean no harm; please only participate if comfortable. What are some collectors professions here? Have you found other collectors while in your professional ecosystem that the hobby has helped enhance those ...
Easy....
Real Estate and estate security. As plain and traditional as it gets. Yes, of course, there have been people that I've worked with, at all wealth levels, who love horology and enjoy it to varying degrees. Likewise, there have been people who, despite thei...
Thanks Filip
Yes very similar findings, I shared a story below but I am in commercial banking- appreciate your take.
I made a big career change earlier this year...
I worked in defense technology for a number of years, but am now at a high frequency trading firm.
I'm moving this to TimeOut, but I think it could turn into a very interesting topic depending on the replies (only people who would like to reveal their profession will do so, so no worries -- and many of our members already did! ;-)
Like I mentioned on many occasions, I am a mathematician (a university full prof. here in the US), whose main occupation is to sit down and think about possible new theorems in Abstract Algebra! As for the watches within my "professional ecosystem"....I'l...
What a fascinating field
I’m sure you see the world entirely different than most people. Any revelations through algebra you’d care to share? did noticing the other speakers watch spark up any conversation or engagement that maybe wouldn’t have occurred without it? Sorry, I share...
Many thanks, Math is the subject I always loved the most since childhood (and perhaps understood the most -- unlike for instance much of Physics! ;-), so I feel blessed to do what I love....alongside some teaching, mostly at the grad level :-)
The fact that I only ever met one other mathematician wearing a watch was partially said in jest (in fact, there are a few mathematicians also on this forum! ), but in general Math departments are REALLY as far as one may think from the right place to mee...
I wholesale semi trucks to dealers.
we buy them from the end user and fleets and sell them back to dealers for inventory. We buy them sight unseen but have them inspected by a 3rd party inspection service, we share the report with the buyer prior to any money/titles changing hands. Buyer is...
Transaction taxation and structuring, first in law firms and then in accounting firms.
I run across many people who like watches. Some clients have very fancy ones; colleagues, less so. Not really a subject for networking, but some people do like to keep an eye on each others' wrists.
You know, I don't have a normal brain. That's what all my teachers told me.
I was 12 years old when I told my maths teacher that maths were a big scam. They use to say that - x -=+ I answered that it was pure BS. The maths teacher told me why. I answer that if you multiply two poor people per 2, it won't give 4 rich men. He summo...
You are mostly right! But I went on that way, when he asked me in front of all the pupils, who was Pythagore.. I answered that he was a great Greek but who had no life. :)))
And the answer was... One more month without football...
LoL!
I used to have a French teacher who literally smacked me in the back of the head in high school, she would go to jail for that today x))....
Well....
I went to school both in L.A. and in Belgrade, this one happened to be in Belgrade, perhaps unsurprisingly ....
Yeah, here in L.A. ....
Unless you are attending Le Lycee Francais, chances are you're not taking French language lessons . I had French from 1st grade in elementary school in Europe, but the only French I learned was during those first 5 years, all of my subsequent teachers (es...
I never really learnt any French (despite a long list of girlfriends in the past, since France/Monaco are very close to Genova! ;-), but I believe it's still the other main language taught in the Italian schools, of course alongside English.
The issue is always that your French or English teacher in Italy is most likely an Italian rather than a native speaker/writer....hence often the learning experience may not be "optimal", so to speak! ;-)) I still recall that I first started to get famili...
I did have Latin....
for a brief time in elementary school as well, I enjoyed it mostly because I was always hyper passionate about philosophy. Italian I had for two years in undergraduate university, but admittedly my knowledge is simply fundamental - I can find my way aroun...
Latin too throughout high school - I went to the "scientific" school, while my friends at the "classical" school were taking both Latin and Greek throughout....
The funny thing is, while I never spoke Latin or wasn't particularly good with the vocabulary, even today sometimes I recall constructions from 25+ years ago to check whether my Italian or English make sense *logically*....So I guess Latin was useful for ...
One of the dumbest but also funniest....
stories I have from the years I attended school in Belgrade is this one law professor (hawhawhaw) in undergraduate university who finished his law school at the Sorbonne, and was therefore BY FAR the most pompous teacher I ever had! Not only did he litera...
I have a Belgian friends ...
... who's thinking is VERY similar to yours ... you once met him in Paris back in 2008 I believe.
Another lawyer here. Spent 15 years in private practice, mostly in competition law/antitrust. Moved inhouse some time ago, now in a much broader corporate/commercial role
with a US transportation services company, based in Europe.
Retired now but back in the day, diplomacy, legislative liaison and government relations. Europe and the U.S.
The collectors I've met have all been post-retirement.
Patent examiner
I hold a Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering, worked in research (turbomachinery) for many years.
I think so too, luckily :)
Many things are getting less interesting the more you now about, demystified sort of... with this field however I find it always gets even more fascinating!
:-)
and you can't even imagine how much fun it would be to discuss the turbocharger technology of (old and new) 911 turbos X-)
Quite a lot of jobs I did
Currently studying medicine after a decade of managing/serving in hotels and restaurants. Prior to that, I competed in bodybuilding contests and worked in 2 large commercial gyms. My part time work now involves cutting trees, lawn mowing, and landscaping,...
Thanks Nico
My early years were spent competing in bodybuilding/manhunt contests. Met many colourful people in those early years. My body is no longer massive, but somehow, when I see those scary looking powerlifters/bodybuilders, they gravitate towards me because I ...
Wow who’d know
Amazing you were a DJ and Barman too. Those were the most colourful days, money cannot buy these moments and experiences. Would you do an encore, one day? Just for a day…
For one day, I’d..
Like to be a sherpa. I can carry the bags a little and still reach Mt Everest. Through grit and talent and experience, not by deep wallets.
Physician
Physician specializing in internal medicine with an emphasis on cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. However, I have seen and done it all. I have been doing it for 38 years. The first 30 years were in private practice. The last eight years I’ve joined a ...
You have a big heart Doc
Respect and salute. In this day and world, many skip the “step” to get ahead financially. Some resort to research fraud, or insurance fraud. I have seen quite a few already.
Telecoms
Telecoms industry for me. As i guess most of us i always look at either my colleagues or customer wrists. Being in a customer interface, it is a bit ackward sometimes to have my kind of pieces so, here comes the joy of long sleeves. Also, it is difficult ...
Such great dialogue
Thanks all for such engagement, some very interesting bits of info I still need to respond to. For myself, I am a commercial banker ($10mm-$100mm revenues) for a large US bank. I had never comingled horological passion with work; not intentionally it was ...
Currently retired, but working on an apprenticeship . . .
. . . in a second career. 🎱
I think this site counts as group therapy ...
... but happy to add some individual sessions Best Andreas
Author, Editor, Publisher
My whole working career (now retired) was in this order: Newspapers, then books for youth workers and church groups, then automotive repair and parts catalogs and diagnostics, estimating and labor time guides, then car price guides and residual value pred...
Not only a fruitful....
but a long and eclectic career! It's always informative and entertaining to read about your professional life experiences Mike! Cheers, Filip
Radiologist
Collecting (all things, not just watches) has been shown to be more prevalent among academics, a fact that seems borne out by this thread.
Interesting observation
I tend to agree, however, I would disagree on the term “academics”. I would categorize it more as the intellectual and curious (heavier on the curious)… for example, I barely graduated high school but have a career where most of my colleagues are MBAs or ...
Yes, I guess what I meant was, the personality type tends to be curious and intellectual.
Not 'academic' in the narrow sense of 'university professor or researcher', but perhaps more along the lines of 'academic vocations'. But I think it's been shown to be more prevalent in academics (university types). I just can't remember where I read that...
