While these days community building in the enthusiast realm seems increasingly the domain of brand-agnostic organizations, there remain old-school organizations whose members are devoted to the watches of a single maker. One such example is the Journe Society, a small, low-profile group of enthusiast collectors. GaryG sheds some light on the group and its specially commissioned group watch.
There aren’t that many rules that GaryG applies to watch collecting, but one rule that he has found critically important is that it’s crucial to handle a watch before buying it. This story however is about how Gary completely violated that rule and nonetheless came away happy with a watch that few people would have guessed he would buy: the 2020-launched Oyster Perpetual 41 from Rolex with a bright turquoise blue dial.
Koen Simon is a 26-year-old watch collector from The Netherlands. A regular reader of Quill & Pad, he is a fan of high-end watchmaking. He recently sent us this story about how and why he acquired his rare two-tone Orion timepiece by Christiaan van der Klaauw, which we are pleased to share here.
GaryG looks back over 2021 to share his travels, acquisitions, thoughts, and even some of the more interesting swag he picked up in this delightfully comprehensive overview of a watch nut’s year.
Bhanu Chopra picked up his unique piece Kudoke Flieger Concept from Stefan and Ev Kudoke over lunch at their favorite steakhouse in Dresden, Germany. Here he describes how and why he fell in love with this unique one-off timepiece and what makes Kudoke’s watches so special in general.
For watch lovers, the name “Paul Newman” is associated first and foremost with Rolex, and in particular with a subset of that brand’s Daytona watches with specific dial characteristics, including a recessed outer seconds track and subdials that feature block-shaped hashmarks and Art Deco-style Arabic numerals. But what does this nickname mean for these references on the vintage market? And what does GaryG think about it?
A common question in watch servicing/restoration is, “Who does the ‘best’ work?” In a word (or three), what is meant here is superficial case refinishing. And in other words: huge chamfers on Rolex cases, perfectly flat surfaces, and well executed sunburst patterns. And that’s got Ashton Tracy ranting. Find out why here!
While his friends’ paths into serious collecting have been fairly diverse, GaryG started with Jaeger-LeCoultre, which opened his eyes to the world of fine watchmaking and served as the foundation for his ongoing fascination with horology. Take a look here at Gary’s history collecting fascinating timepieces by this revered Swiss brand.
Deciding whether or not to restore a vintage watch is a tough decision to make. The internet is awash with tales of watches butchered by an incompetent independent watchmaker or, worse still, the brand itself. Even more confusing is deciding which options offered should be accepted. Refinish the case? Change the hands? Replace the crystal? Here is some help for you.
Most will agree that re-painting a dial is a big no-no. Vintage pieces with re-painted dials can be had for a steal as they are difficult to shift and mostly unwanted. But not all dial restorations are created equal, and we do encounter varying degrees of “upgrades.” Some of these upgrades are purposeful deception, while others are not. Here is what one watchmaker feels about the subject.