Reflecting, pause and looking to the future is a staple of mankind, animals and our Earth’s climate. Nowadays, in the digital internet age, content delivery is deployed every year with exponential speed which translates sometimes being faster than cultures can absorb it.
Personally, reflecting on the year 2024, this writing is about how this newly defined watch collecting hobby has ignited deep-seeded interests and appetite to learn about the vast array of watch styles, movements, manufacturers, and sales and distribution.
I can ask myself, when did I actively start considering a watch as a necessary component to my wrist? IDK 🤔 but I am thinking it was an active consideration in the mid-1980’s as I became a newly minted civilian, being honorably discharged from the US Navy. I entered into college, had a part-time job and had landed in the Newport Beach area not knowing anyone. I am going to guess my first watch around that period was a Timex of sorts and probably ended up with an Ironman as the Ironman Triathlons were just gaining mainstream popularity and if you can’t compete in one, at least you can wear a watch that says it on the bezel! 🤣😁😉
Digging a little deeper, I would guess the first “clocks” were rudimentary sun dials where early mankind (estimated around 1200 B.C.) mostly needed to figure out seasons for crops and survival from either brutal winters or blazing summers. Maybe those sun-dials got coverted to “calendars” or petroglyph sketches where people could then start forecasting for events, weather and seasons. Around the 15th century, with the invention of the “mainspring”, clocks were being built. Fast forward to the early 1900’s after WWI, wristwatches were the “next big thing”! The American watch company Waltham Watch Co aka American Watch Co went on to produce 40 million watches, clocks, speedometers, compasses, etc from 1850-1957.
The global revenue in the ‘Luxury Watches & Jewelry’ segment of the luxury goods market was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 43.4 billion U.S. dollars (+27.52 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the revenue is estimated to reach 200.9 billion U.S. dollars and therefore a new peak in 2029.
I consider 2024 my Freshman year of watch collecting and it has been very exciting and maybe a tad compulsive. 😱😉😁 I started with maybe one 3-watch roll to one watch case to now having four main watch cases and several others to house watches that probably will never be worn but they have some sort of emotional connection.
As I have come to despise everything that META (aka Facebook and Instagram), TikTok (not a subscriber), and Google including YouTube stand for and how it is inconceivable that these “mafia” groups of social media would ever consider customized feeds WITHOUT algorithms. Algos is how they make their money, I get it. But, a small segment of insightful adults can easily draw the parallel to how the dangers of cigarette smoking were to our entire societies until it became punitive. I cannot fight that war here but jumping on WatchCrunch, this is what “social media” should be. No algo’s, not forcible acquisition of your personal data and for the most part no social noise. The glue is people passionate about THEIR watches – not my watches or your watches, but THEIR watches. A wise person once told me, the key to living a contented life, is don’t try and manage anything beyond my own personal hula-hoop! WORD! WatchCrunch has been great about that…some people like their Rolex’s, some like the Fauxlex’s, and everything in between. Can I get an AMEN???!!!
This year, 2024, it seems I have added almost 80 new watches to my collection and new understandings and appreciation for the watches I have acquired. This was before I knew what I wanted to curate my own personal collection. Those earlier years in my 40’s, it was acquisition via Amazon via keywords without understand features like lume, or movements or straps or bracelets. I bought a watch from Costco that was sort of a fashion brand, but it was my fav watch for several years, and it died this year. I do not think I have purchased a watch from a retail store like Kohl’s or Target or WalMart but, I did buy a watch from a local watch shop that was also my fav watch for several years until it died. It was my first automatic watch, and I had no idea what that meant?! 😉😱🤣 I did not wear it for a week or so and took it back to the jeweler and told them my watch no longer worked. hahahahahaha
As I review my watch collection in 2024 there are some very consistent trends, as I think there should be. As much as I hate to be “influenced” I am to a certain point, but I do have certain criteria I try and satisfy before I punch in my credit card:
- Can I afford it? Yes, I pay with my credit card or Paypal but can I replenish those funds quickly?
- Do I have an existing watch like this already in my collection? Some people like redundancy in their brands or styles or colorways, but, I want each of my watches to stand on it’s own merit as being unique.
- What are the design cues? This is VERY IMPORTANT to me. Great fonts versus fonts that suck. Are the color swatches on point?
- Movement? I will say now that the VH31 quartz movement is my fav for a GADA watch. I do have only one self-winding watch and I like that, but not as a regular dude on my wrist. The NH35/36’s are robust and legit but all too common. More and more I prefer no date window as even tho I like a Day/Date display, my old eyes just see it as a distraction or eye-sore. Don’t get me started on GMT’s. I am happy to see many people excited about their GMT watches, but that extra hand drives me nutz and, no-thank you!
- I am not one to want to be so unique that I have to be weird, but I am not a fan over anything mainstream. I could probably be driving a Mercedes or Beemer, but I drive a Volvo wagon. It is different but legit. Like my watches, I will probably never own a Rolex, or a Tudor or an Omega as much as I enjoy other people enjoying them on their wrist. As long as the watch meets my other prerequisites, I like microbrands and more and more I am becoming interested in the tsunami of Chinese watch manufacturing hitting the streets. In fact, I am hoping to attend the 2025 Hong Kong Watch Fair in September and this visit might result in my entrepreneurial partnership with a reputable Chinese watch manufacturer. Who knows?
So, for mostly my own exercise, I have listed my Top Ten watches from this past year. I cannot really define exactly how these watches were picked and rated, but I will say it is mostly emotional and visual. I have at least 20 pieces that I really, really, really like, but I might only wear 2–3 times a year. And, these Top Ten do not necessarily equate to regular daily drivers as well. These just reflect this past year of my interests and acquisitions and satisfactions from those pickups. That great thing about any collectors’ habit, NO ONE IS WRONG. You might or might not relate to my strategy or tastes in watches as I do, but, that makes the world more interesting!
I am looking forward to a more tempered pace of acquisition in 2025 as my tastes are more tuned in, but no doubt there are 1000s of watches out there that will always keep me interested!
#10 Henry Archer Nordso
This watch represents the absolute best in design with EVERY component of this watch. Perfect purple, but I have to be in the mood for purple.
#9 RGMT Tritium
I love the textured dial on this RGMT, the colorway and mostly the tritium tubes. This is a fairly lightweight GADA watch that plays well with a variety of colored rubber straps and also bracelets.
#8 Hruodland Pilot
Live and learn. Learning is the most important. I had no idea this was a manual winding watch and what that meant. I woke up in the morning and wondered why my watch had stopped during the night? 😱😉🤣
#7 Addies Tuna Custom
I luv a good tuna case/watch, I cannot lie! Addiesdive watches offers up a custom logo on their high-valued tuna watches, so I went for it! This is a great zombie Apocalypse watch!
#6 Berny Railroad Custom
For a cool hundy, you have four areas of customization; two logos on the dial and two custom texts on the back, including the rotor. A fantastic full lume dial.
#5 Humism Kato Kinetic
Artistically, this is my favorite watch. The Humism (not Humanism) team is all about creating art for humanity. I only wear this for special occasions.
#4 Seiko GMT SSK017
Blame/credit goes to Teddy as this was my gateway watch to officially beginning my watch collection. I have since discovered I am not a fan of GMT watches but I love the colorway (unique to the USA) and the bracelet.
#3 Farr & Swit Wayfinder
This probably would have never ended up in my collection and at #3 on my list had I not attended the Austin watch expo and tried this watch on. The lume is fantastic but this watch is so GADA for me whether it is pickleball, lap swimming or single-track mountain biking!
#2 Deep Blue Abalone
Lux bracelet, bomb-proof case and bezel, but the abalone dial is the star of the show with this piece. Absolutely gorg but this watch is not just about looking pretty….it is a warrior watch when called upon!
#1 Aragon T-100 Tritium
The biggest and most exciting surprise pickup for me in 2024! This Aragon T-100 with tritium tubes is just fabulous! I love the bracelet, the dial, the bezel but mostly the tritium tubes….