The watch collecting continues

I’ve got a friend and colleague who is recently into watches. Like, really into watches. And from what I gathered, it is only very recently that he gained a deep appreciation and respect when it comes to the world of horology. He would start posting Insta photos and videos of luxury watches from Omega, Patek Phillip, Audamars Piguet, Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre and many more. He would read up on stuff and tell me about the history of certain watchmakers and brands, which to some extant I already knew.

Part of the reason why I bought the Black Bay Ceramic in my previous post was because of him. It was him that rekindled my love of luxury timepieces. Back in the late 2010s when I was just starting out on my career upon graduating from University, I mentioned how I bought my first mechanical watch, the Tissot Visodate, and then on to the Muhle Glasshutte pilot watch. I also mused how I would love to own my very first Omega watch from the Seamaster Aquaterra line. But it was very expensive at that time when I just started work upon graduation. Despite all that, my love and appreciation for mechanical timepieces never wavered. It was just supressed, buried deep in my heart. It is a hugely expensive hobby to really dive into, but really satisfying to read the rich heritage and history these watches have and to go beyond the price and brand and just appreciate the technical and artistic aspects of making beautiful timepieces.

So this friend, was enthusiastically sharing his new found love of watches and in turn, I shared my knowledge and appreciation for them as well. It became a shared passion between the two of us. But what drove me to actually buy my dream timepiece, the Black Bay Ceramic was when he dropped a bomb on me and proceed to buy his first luxury timepiece from IWC Schaffhausen, The Portugieser Chronograph.

It was such a stealth purchase that he made upon arriving back from his trip in Switzerland early in 2024 that I only noticed the timepiece when he wore it to work for the first time. Surprisingly only I noticed it and no one else does. It was a stark constrast to his usual watches that he used to wear. In addition to that, for weeks prior, he kept telling me how beautiful this watch was, which I readily agree that IWC watches are beautiful timepieces.

I was flabberghasted. He actually bought his first true luxury timepiece, none other than IWC. What was more shocking was that during his trip to Switzerland, he actually bought another watch, this time from an Omega boutique, the Omege Seamaster Professional. He didn’t even tell me that.

So while I admit that his purchase led me to splurge and get the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic, it wasn’t an impulse buy. The Tudor Black Bay Ceramic the watch on my wishlist of luxury watches to buy in the future. It’s just that the desire to buy one was so buried deep in my heart, that I thought I would never revisit this decision to buy until my friend came along and re-ignited by passion for luxury watches.

And first forward a couple of months after my Black Bay Ceramic purchase, because of him again, and because of my desire to own my very first Omega, I pulled the trigger and bought another one. The Omega Seamaster Aquaterra.

So this year, I just spent $15k on watches alone for both the Black Bay Ceramic from Tudor and the Aquaterra from Omega. I hate myself for spending that much. But I love that I actually get to own not one but two dream watches. It is this love-hate relationship that it is really aggravating for me. I blame my friend for spending this much. But at the same time, I am happy with my purchase. It gives me great happiness. Strangely, for such an expensive purchase, more ofen than not, I would experience some degree of buyer’s remorse. But not for these purchases. I love it to death. Did I just spend an insane amount of money on this? Yes. Do I truly love my watches? A resounding yes.