Hello. On this site you will find information, pictures and personal takes on various subjects about watches. If you didn’t find the information you were looking for contact me or have patience, maybe I will get to that too. Thank you for taking time and visit this web site.

This is me

  My passion for watches started when I was just a little boy. I remember my father having some old watches that he never got to repair. He kept those watches disassembled in a porcelain container and from time to time I used to inspect them. He had an LCD watch with two batteries and an old mechanical watch. Those were the two watches that he never got to repair. He told me that the LCD watch was his favorite watch. At the time he bought that watch (late 70’s) the LCD technology was cutting edge technology and my father was all about new technology and innovations. He used to joke about how you could start a car with that watch, given that the watch needed two batteries to work. I was impressed by that watch but still, every time I got to inspect the watches I was mesmerized by the mechanical watch and the complexity of the movement, the entire idea behind the works of this movement and how it didn’t need an external power source. I remember the movement not working and still having some appeal to it.

When I got my first watch, I made sure it was a mechanical one. I bought my first watch when I was about twelve years old. It was a Pobeda and it was in such a bad shape. I got it used. The watch was missing the crystal and the minute hand, but the movement was working properly. I still remember that, when I first opened the watch, I was so hypnotized by what was going on in there. I had it fixed a couple of weeks after I bought it, just so that I could study the movement more and not risking any damage to the movement after the service and restoration. I had and enjoyed that watch for many years.      At some point, I don’t remember the reasons why, I stopped wearing a watch so my passion for this field was on hold for a while.  

In the early 2000’s, I was again fascinated by some watches I’ve seen on some friends wrists. In 2008 somebody showed me a Breitling Navitimer (special edition), a very complicated watch with a lot of features. Even if I never owned a Breitlig I have to admit that, that was the watch that started it all for me, as a grown man. That watch is amazing, with great, useful complications (big date, chronograph, dual time zone, tachimeter…). I mentioned the complications because that is what seriously got me. How was that possible, so many functions in one wristwatch and above all, a mechanical (automatic) watch? That, for me, was fascinating and I started to read about it. At first, about that watch and then about the movement, and what followed was me spending more than half of my free time reading about watches. Soon, I wished to own a good mechanical watch but I knew I could not afford anything close to that Breitling.

  I started looking for a good watch within my budget and I was sad to discover (not having enough information) that I could only afford to buy quartz watches, so I bought my first “serious” watch, a Wenger :))). That was not even close to what I had in mind when I started looking for watches. I soon found out about a solid market for vintage watches. It was a plus, a step in the right direction but I still could not afford a good (brand) watch. Then I started learning about movements, parts, cases, and soon I find out that I could buy very good watches that had great movements without having a big brand on the dial. Better yet, I discovered that I could buy watches with minor problems at great discounts and then get them fixed by a watchmaker. At this point I started knowing a few things about watches, about movements, about malfunctions in a watch that could be easily fixed, about prices in this vintage market. I remember being so fascinated by the durability of these 40, 50, 60 years old watches and how they keep the time at reasonable parameters. I remember my first SWISS MADE mechanical watch. It was an Accurist with a 21 jewels Peseux movement. It was a time-only watch with only hours and minutes hands and a very slim profile, a true dress watch from the 60’s, with gold-plated case and a stainless steel back. It was an awesome watch and it worked perfectly, keeping good time. Sadly, I don’t have that watch anymore. The next step for me was to try and find vintage watches that are in better shape and with all the original/signed parts. I was paying attention for signed cases, signed crowns, signed buckles, signed movements and so on. Practically, I was trying to buy for myself the best watch (according to my knowledge) for the money.

  Money quickly became an issue buying a lot of watches and project watches, even at low prices, the amount of money that I was spending was a little too much for me, so I decided to sell some of my watches. That’s how I got to experience the other part of this passion. First of all it was very hard to choose what watch to sell and, to make it easy on myself, I first did some trading. Trading my watches was easier because I would get another, better watch and not money. The first watch I’ve ever traded was my Accurist. I got a Zodiac automatic and with this watch, I started to see other qualities, like a full stainless steel case and how this type of cases are most probably to look better in time. A good period of time, I only bought watches with all stainless steel cases, having that as an indicator of good quality. From this point, I started to focus my attention on brands. I had to have all the specs that I learned about, plus the name on the dial. All this happened in time, years, and in all this time my knowledge in this field was growing.

  In my humble opinion, the first thing you have to collect in this field, and probably in any field, is knowledge, information.

  Because at the time I was getting in to this field (2008), the reviews on newwatches were somehow superficial, and almost inexistent for vintage watches(except for some forums), I had to experience a lot by buying and selling. Nowadays there are a lot of good blogs, videos, podcasts with presentations and reviews of watches (new and vintage).

  So this is where, my choice was born to share with anyone who is interested, share my experience, and my knowledge.

   Writing about all that this passion represents to me, writing about how I see the beauty in every single part of the watch is my next step towards growth.