Watches #51-100

Time’s moving fast when you’re having fun and after I decided to pick up  the pace a little another fifty posts have already been published. But it’s extra fun when you suddenly receive some recognition. One morning two weeks ago I noticed that the incoming traffic had increased tenfold over night. It was so fun to receive some sort of approval that there are readers out there who seem to appreciate my short reviews.
 
I’ve since then received a lot of questions and the most common have been how much money I make out of flipping watches. I can tell you that I’m the total opposite of being a professional dealer and my goal is absolutely not to make any profit out of this. I’m just trying to lose as little as possible. I’m only in it for the thrill. That’s it! Adding it all up I’ve lost hundreds of dollars over the years but the average loss per year is probably in comparison to what other material hobbies such as golf, fishing or Hi-Fi tend to consume spending-wise. To be able to afford more expensive watches I’ve simply pitched in more money into the hobby over time.

Also, some seem to misunderstand the purpose of my hobby and are asking me how I can afford all those watches? Well, just as much as I’m not a professional dealer neither am I a collector. I have four or five watches tops at the same time. Everything else is sold and spent on another watch. I can’t stand the thought of owning something that doesn’t come to any good use and can’t therefore collect anything. 

Some of you also seem to be concerned about my “poor wife” :-) That’s sweet of you but totally unnecessary. While my money is invested in something that quickly can be sold the next day (most of the times) my wife’s money is happily spent on clothing and other accessories which she has no intention of parting with and I’m totally fine with that. She is actually very encouraging and I must give her a lot of credit for being as supportive as she has been during the years and still is. Of course she has to put up with me spending a lot time glued to the iPad which is something I’m constantly having a bad conscience for but I try to make up for it.

#287 - The Heuer Professional 1000m, ref. 980.023L.

I recently acquired something I’ve considered being a little of a grail. I finally got my hands on a Heuer Professional 1000m, ref. 980.023L, in excellent condition and complete with box and papers. Ever since I owned its successor back in 2011, the Tag Heuer-version, I’ve been looking for one of these. Several of my latest purchases haven’t amazed me the way I thought they would. I’ve learned during the years that what I like most about this hobby is the intense hunt followed by the excruciating wait. As soon as the watch has arrived and been placed on my wrist a sensation of relief washes over me in an awesome wave and the butterflies, which just seconds ago were flooding my stomach with anticipation and excitement, are completely gone and I’m standing there alone left in an empty void. But receiving the Heuer was different. It had the hunt and the wait, which I love, but when it was placed on the wrist it gave me another dimension of satisfaction. It was definitely worth waiting for. I guess my new goal is to focus on quality instead of quantity. I’m sure it’ll make me happier to buy what I really want instead of random junk just to always have incoming items. 

Anyhow, since I started to write in December 2014 I’ve now approached closer to 300 watches. So my idea of “laying low” during the writing process hasn’t turned out as planned so far. It makes it much harder for me to achieve my goal of reaching the present day if I keep on gathering new material all the time. But with my new purchase strategy the amount of new watches should decrease. Let’s also hope this year’s fishing season is better than last years. That would definitely take my mind off the watches for a while and make it easier to catch up!

Thank you once again for all the positive feedback!

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.