Well, I thought I would add this post as soon as possible before I forget or get too busy. And as I forgot to in the last post, I will wish all of you a Happy New Year, and Happy Whole Year, may it bring you all health, happiness, and holidays. and may your horological hopes come to fruition. Last year, I ended up with one of the watches from my 'Birth of 2023' Top watch wants list, it was expensive and fantastic, and was my purchase of the year. But it wasn't the bargain of the year. Having somehow bought 13 watches last year, this year I hope to be more careful, 'hope' being the operative word there.
I am on the list for two Rolexes, I expect a call for one, I don't know if I will be able to afford it. Especially because I want a Porsche, which I definitely can't afford at this moment. But this is the thing, we must hope and want, then create a plan to manifest that hope, to sensibly plot a course to our wants while realising that these things are not the be all and end all of our existence. Know that the only real reason you want these things is that corporations have nurtured your nature to make you want, capitalism owns you, and you want to own stuff. Want, not need - top watch wants. Got it.
Now that I have made that clear to myself, I want to get into it, but first a problem. This is in real time, I wrote the above passage then was doing random things including looking at the Goldsmiths watch sale, some good discounts there in the January reductions. I then clicked on an open tab in my browser, the Rolex website. It was open on the GMT-Master II 126713GRNR page, oyster steel and gold, the one I tried on (above right), the one I'm on the waitlist for. Yea, that one. I look at the price, £14,600, erm excuse me, it was £13,850 last time I looked. This is an outrage, a disgrace, an unfortunate inevitability, this is the watch life. What's another £750 quid you say, not much? Really. But it's not the price, it's a reminder of what Rolex is and what watches are, and what life is sometimes. Nonsense. I am over it. Then, I go to look at the Sky-Dweller with the green dial, the only Rolex I really really like, the Sky-Dweller is a proper watch. The new price, £13,650, an increase of £350 I think, thank god, if it went over £14k I would have been out. It's the principle. It's complicated and fancy, like me, not precious.
Here then are the watches that are making me feel those feelings that we feel, from last year the Anordain remains on the list, a beautiful piece but I need to be careful, strategic with those pennies. What's new, after looking into Cartier all of last year and seeing a few pieces at the AD, a Cartier watch will join the collection this year. It will be pre-owned, it could be a Tank, a quartz on a deal, wow, would you really, near £2k on a quartz watch. Hmmm.
Imgs: Chrono24
Imgs: Cartier
Or the striking but simple Ronde Must de Cartier watch, a slim, 40 mm and an auto. A real statement piece, it kinda shouts, look at me, I'm a Cartier watch, but while somehow retaining poise and charm. I like it a lot, I saw it in the AD alongside a little quartz Tank which was pretty nice, surprisingly considering my love for bigger watches - I'm changing, evolving maybe.
The one that really gets me for some reason is a limited to 50 Tank Must Geneve edition, it's got a black cabochon or crown nipple if you prefer, that means something to me. I want to handle that shiny black nipple, crown, can I say that... Unfortunately that raises the fancy quartz game to an unseemly £6,950 for a pre-owned one on Chrono24, and no it's not white gold...it's steel. I think that would become the one watch to rule them all, the black on black, no time indices, the void, the future, the past, time nondescript, indeterminable, metaphors and symbols, the truth. Yea, no way that's happening, if I was loaded though I would have bought it already, no question.
Imgs: Chrono24
What I'm really after is something in gold, or bronze, especially seeing as the goldish Rolex is off the table (thank the gods). It used to be the Tudor Black Bay in bronze that was on my mind, bronze case on the bronzey bracelet, very cool and I love the dial. But I reckon something different is on the cards, better value a bit more nuanced, and a new brand to add to the collection, an Oris it is right, how did you guess? This is the Big Crown Bronze pointer date, and I really like it with the burgundy dial. Take note Tudor, this is burgundy, erm and take note Oris, it's not red. Jeez, what is wrong with these lot, have they been employing colour blind designers/copy writers! There are three other dial options, blue, brown and green, I think that's what they're called. Even better, it's already on sale, coming in at £1695, down from £2300, so you don't feel it in the orifice.
Imgs: Oris
You know what else I'm after, if the Oris brings the pointer date movement, I'm after also, an annual calendar, on a deal obviously. This one is a pre-owned beauty, featuring an annual calendar, El primero chronograph and some gold thrown in too for good measure. You know what it is, it's a hot damn Zenith, the discontinued El Primero Windsor Annual Calendar in Rose Gold (18.2071.4054/01.C711 - below is a 2016 model that has sold). I like it a lot, it's a one watch collection for £7000, you get a bit more than the quartz Cartier above - watches eh, bonkers. And even better you can get a steel one for £4-5k which is just crazy bang for your buck. I'm gonna say, and you can quote me - you just can't, you cannot get a better 'proper' complicated watch for the money.
Imgs: Watchfinder
Of course, we can go on and on, there are so many lovely timepieces out there in the world. I think it's clearer to me that I am after a Cartier, seems in any shape and form. I love the Zenith, but it's pricey in rose gold, it's rare as well, a limited edition. There's only one on Chrono24. There are other variation but they don't look as good, I love gold now, I think I'll look more into this and gold watches, in a separate post. Which the Oris kind of offers, at a great price, maybe a good place to start but maybe I'll look lower down the rungs, like a Tissot PRX in gold. Oohwee, we are spoiled for choice.
I will continue to scour Chrono24, Watchfinder Offers, eBay, Aliexpress and the rest of the watch world for deals which inevitably means there will be impulse buys, impulse highs and lows. These, and of course, the many new releases that 2024 holds will likely ruin my plans to be sensible. All the best to you on your individual watch journeys this year.
Yours Preciously,
Alvin
Rolex
Oris
Zenith
Cartier - Chrono24