Why We Buy Watches: Three Reasons Why We Love this Hobby 

I am still with many of you here, I wasn't *wholly convinced that watches are obsolete!* I couldn't fully submit to that opinion, *BUT* the point he was trying to make was quite clear: we - *collectors and enthusiasts* - don't buy these so much for the time, but for the reasons I laid out here. I'm already seeing a ton of feedback on what drove you into this hobby and I cannot wait to read through some more. Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving and have a great weekend.

Watches are faithful companions that can stay with you for a long time. It can go everywhere with you and share in your adventures. It gives you a history of who you are whenever you look at it. Plus, it's such a practical device. There's something universally human about watches because it tells us our relationship to time.

A mechanical or quartz wrist watch is a piece of jewellery, a memory, tells the time and/ or date, alarm etc and it looks cool. An Apple Watch is not the same thing, as in 2 years it will be obsolete and battery no longer work. A mechanical watch will still be working in 20 years time and look even cooler.

Three pieces that are front of mind for me... the 1969 Omega Seamaster that my Dad received on his wedding day, the gold plated quartz Seiko I remember him wearing day in and day out even when he’d be working on the cars, and the quartz Wenger Officer’s watch he gave me when I graduated high school. These three pieces are what got me to appreciate watches, and now it’s a hobby that we share as we both continue expanding our collections.

I DO THAT! My most beautiful watch is a Hamilton Navy Pioneer, and you’re exactly right: the majority of the instances when I look at it, I’m admiring its silvery dial, the style of the Arabic numerals, and I’m tilting it in the light to bring out the heat-blued hands. Occasionally, I’ll actually check to see what time it is. ... yes, I do that.

Nothing makes time more accessible than a watch and so they are certainly not obsolete in that regard. Indeed they also forms of expression, inspiration, admiration, sentimentality, image ... and the list goes on. Value time? Value your watch! Great vid. for "winding up" watchoholics.

I do that!! Love your passion. Beautifully articulated episode. Well done.

All of your videos have been really good. But this "vlog" was by far your best work! BTW, the answer to your question: I DO THAT! Keep up the outstanding work!

That was a wonderful video!! Exactly why I (badly, because I can't afford it) buy watches, it's a hobby, and I fondly wear my Dad's old watch, just to keep him close by!!

Aesthetics number one! A good story. The Mechanics, heritage all are important. But what I like the most about my watch collection is if I am being bored to death in a meeting even across the dining table. I admire and look at my watch quite often knowing I have something beautiful on my wrist to admire and it's not quite as rude having the cell phone underneath the table texting. Great video Patrick, keep it up.

'When you buy that solid gold Rolex, it says: Fu...' I'm dying 😂😂😂

Great video and great point. I just got my turtle 6309 7040. I can't believe it still keeps good time. Now there is nothing obsolete there😁.

Contrary to what most folks who no longer or had never worn a watch on their wrists, I, for one, happen to believe that wristwatches are not obsolete. At least not for a while. When I am out and about, be it working on the garden or on a trail far away from civilization (or not), I would want to save the battery on my cellphone for communications. When I am doing yard work, the last thing I want is to fiddle around with my smartphone just to tell time! I probably would end up dropping it or getting the screen all scratched up! Yet another example for wearing a timepiece on my wrist is when I am on my bike, to tell time all I need to do is to just flick my wrist. It is that easy, instead of stop riding and then trying to find my cell phone which is likely somewhere in one of the saddle bags! Thanks for shooting this wonderful vid and for sharing your thoughts and experience on why us watch-nerds collect watches!

For me, it's the mechanical mastery, history & the beauty of a nice watch. I think obsolete is a strong word however. The watch community on RU-vid alone is massive, I used to collect coins and its tiny in comparison.

Bravo!! Well spoken young brother. Also I do that.

I remember my first watch, not the brand, but what it looked like and how it made me feel. I was 8 and my parents gave me my first analog watch. I don't remember the brand but it had a green dial and it had a SS bracelet. I remember being at school and just staring at the watch. I loved it. Of course I lost it but I fell in love with watches because of that watch. It's why I HAD to have the Seiko Alpinist... green face and awesomeness all in one.

I used to point clocks on church spires out from my pram as a toddler according to my mum and when visiting family in Germany who had a cuckoo clock I would apparently sit and wait for 59mins in anticipation of the cuckoo coming out once an hour before going crazy then patiently waiting for another hour 😁 my parents said I was the easiest kid to amuse once they figured this out! I started on Rolex, Omega, Panerai and Jlc but now own 3 seikos (mm300, sarb35 and lord Marvel) along with a vintage seamaster deville and a Jeanrichard ltd Edition Chronograph from my favourite football/soccer team. I will probably go for a Grand Seiko or maybe a Tudor next but desire the haute horology and expensive pieces less as I get older(I’m 37)- but glad I have owned a few over the years, it’s just Seiko does it all for me now. I love seikos for their faults not despite them 😁

Nice video Patrick, I agree with you on all three reasons, and I can add a forth. It is a mood changer for me.

Watches are one of the only things that you can wear everyday for the rest of your life and pass it on to somebody else and they can still wear it, other than probably a ring or a bracelet. You can't say I went to visit this country, or watch a big game wearing this with a lot of things... I also buy watches because I like them and one of the reasons I enjoy about this hobby is because unless you're an enthusiast nobody knows what you have, as for a car you can't say the same thing, everyone knows it's expensive.if they see it. Also, since you're a vintage Seiko guy, I would recommend looking at the Seiko Lord Marvel Great video, keep it up!

I received some kind of Timex hand-wound watch when I was around ten years old. I can see it on my wrist in a few old photographs, but honestly don’t remember it very well. The first watch I remember really, really wanting was a Texas Instruments LED Watch, the kind that you had to press a bottom on the side to get the red LEDs to light up for a few seconds. I thought it was the coolest, most futuristic watch I had ever seen and I received it as a Christmas gift my senior year in high school and wore it through most of my college years. It ate batteries at an alarming rate so it got retired because the batteries went dead so frequently and getting them replaced by a jeweler was a pain, plus it was expensive for a student with no spare money. I found it in a junk drawer about ten years ago and unfortunately threw it away. I would love to have it back, having developed a passion for horology and now with the tools to easily do battery changes myself. Yes, these are obsolete devices that still manage to capture our hearts. A lot has to do with the tendency - mostly in males - of getting involved in a hobby that is technologically-driven, has a socio-economic hierarchy to it, and allows those nuts enough to watch RU-vid videos about them (that would be me) to exercise control over a tiny part of our lives in order to bring refuge from the often cruel and chaotic real world we live in. I’ve seen it with my many of my friends, who delve into outdoor sports, or collecting firearms, or audio equipment, or R/C airplanes, or a million other hobbies that allow the same enjoyment of a technologically -based pursuit. I’m looking forward to the next installments in this series.

Indeed. I was trying to tell my girlfriend about why men fond of collecting watches, and this video explains a lot.

I love the artisonship and mechanics that goes into making watches.

A watch is not obsolete. It is the only way I can tell what time it is when surfing.

I wear a watch only because i can make it go 15 minutes ahead of time. So im always 10-15 minutes early where i need to show up. Like my father thought me.

The very first watch I remember owning was a Rugrats watch I had when I was like 5. I got it wet when I was washing my hands and it broke. The next one I wanted after that was a Pokemon digital watch that would play scenes from the show on its tiny screen. lol

Awesome, awesome video once again, Patrick! The gold rolex meaning was funny as hell. Anyway, my first watch was a replica quartz Tag Heuer when i was just 8 years old. Bought it because it meant wealth for everyone else. Didn't know what a replica was so it melted on my wrist after a year and a half of daily wear. Lol!

I admire the technique behind the mechanical watch and do like the aesthetics too. I have some Seiko's and Hamiltons and I recently purchased a Bulova. But besides that my watches do tell me the time quite often. I don't like carrying my smartphone with me the whole time. So if i walk the dogs in the wood or go somewhere else to find some rest, my watch is my only time teller.

I >>totally

Most of the people especially in the developing nations and even in developed ones cannot afford the unreasonably expensive brands like rolex, omega & many more don't have generational sentiments related to it. I think an analog watch survives because of factors like Variety (Choices), Quality (Unlike the Rubberband strap smartwatches), Affordability (for region specific VFM brands), Availability (You can find it being sold on roadside), Habit-formation (PC, Smartphone on my desk & Digital Clock on Wall but I still look at my watch when someone asks time) and Style (the fact that its an accessory considered as Style statement).

For me it's more of the artistry and history of the watch.

I do that!

I DO THAT

Yeah weirdly enough I find my Sirius five looks awesome it looks like a piece of night on your wrist.

what watch are you wearing in this video?

Sometimes I wish I had 8 hands.😅

You look like Will from The Inbetweeners

100% obsolete. I wear it because my job requires a mechanical watch. I dont hate it, i dont love it. If i break it, ill get myself another one. Its a tool....

I bought the gear s3 and it's far more better than ROLEX & CHEAPER

We buy them because they're pretty; same reason women buy handbags or shoes. Everything else is an excuse.

I do that!

Funny thing is i only ever look at the time on my watch to see if it needs a service😂😂😂 Great video man!! The GS is *PHENOMENAL* Cheers, WCS

I do that!

I do that!

Reliability. Durability, Beauty to name a few. Those 3 are never obsolete.

In my opinion wristwatches will never be or become obsolete. They just got some competition when it comes to functionality ;) But my phone can never take the place of the watch - the phone has no function as a piece of jewelry, the phone is in my pocket whereas the watch is already on my wrist, and it really doesn't matter how much you try to bling up the phone it'll never beat the beauty, heritage or feeling of a watch. And I predict that phones will disappear long before wristwatches do. So, that's why I do it too - look at the watch I'm wearing just to admire it, no matter which watch I'm wearing :) And that is something that has changed for me since I was young. I remember when I was around 8 I got a watch, a mechanical watch, so I could be home on time. And that watch annoyed me, it was hand wound which I hated and in my mind a watch should be battery driven digital lcd - just as music should be all electronic with keyboards and synthesizers. Today I'm annoyed with something else: That I don't still have that watch... ;) But the first watch I really remember is the one my grandmother gave me when I was 13-14 years old. A Casio ana-digi. Of course I don't still have that watch, but this year as I started collecting and really get into this hobby, I found and got that same watch. It's become a watch that I wear every day at some point of the day. It's a watch that really shows how watches have grown in size :D It's from the mid-late 80's so today some people think it's a womans watch :D

Great topic. I do wear a watch so that I can admire it. But, as a teacher, a watch with a rotating bezel is basically my everyday carry, as they are better than any other tool I've found for helping time the end of classes and activities. I'm also subtly getting my students into watches.

My first watches up from when I was 5 to after university was digital quartz watches with backlight alarms and stopwatch functions. Then one day my grandmother passed down my grandfather’s USA made pocket watch and I fell in love with the ticking sound. That got me into analog mechanical watches and I feel naked without a watch on my wrist like something is not right and missing. I hope one day the USA gets back into watchmaking like they used to and show the Swiss who is king like the old days. We need more mechanical movements designed and manufactured in the USA.

I know my very first watch was also a swatch from McDonald's. I couldn't tell you much about it except I really liked it. And I agree with your point about art on the wrist. No matter the brand there's something special when you look at your wrist and forget to see what time it is.

I remember my first interest in watches was watching my mom violently convulsing her wrist back and forth to wind her watch. I’m guessing it was a Timex. Well, that’s how I recall it 😂. My first mechanical watch was a pocket watch that I asked for on Christmas my junior year in high school in 1979. I was THE SHIT! Don’t know what the brand was but I thought I was cool as shit! Unfortunately I left it in my pocket on laundry day and it was washed.😔 Anyways, jump forwards almost 40yrs and my passion was reinvigorated,

The first watch high end watch I ever got was a rolex datejust all steel with a blue dial. It is magnificent. It was down to me by my brother it has scratches that my mom placed it has scratches my brother placed it has scratches that I placed. I suppose it may be said that every rolex has a story

I use mechanical watches because they need no battery, in case of an apocalypse I can keep time without needing to charge a smartwatch or change a battery. This is the main reason I chose mechanical watches over the other types. I also love the ingenuity of the mechanisms, truly an artwork. My watches of choice are country specific vintage Watches, like Russian Raketa Pobeda Poljot Wostok or Romanian Orex. They hold historical value unique to the country it was manufactured in. I am currently wearing my Grandpa's Raketa Day Date Black Dial with a golden Jubilee Bracelet and it fulfills all my needs.

Hei Patrick. I love Seiko as well, Citizen as well and i am really passionate about time pieces but not really that wealthy for Rolex an AP😂. Btw Seiko is pronounced Siko😉. Keep up the great work bro!

when i bought my solid yellow gold rolex with meteorite dial i definitely agree it definitely conveys f--- u to everyone. my dads eye dilated when he saw it on my wrist

Another thoughtful video. Thanks Patrick. --Michael

Dude lively up a bit, I slept through the video.

Do you know anybody who does Eching work

i do that

I do that.

When you're taking a test in accounting class and the clock is broken, you definitely will want a watch. Or at a movie theater. I think watches aren't obsolete, but they're certainly obsolescent. Regardless, with smart watches being so common it's more interesting to see someone with a watch collection. At all price points you can get something interesting as opposed to an Apple Watch, which is interesting but to me is too small for its functions (the Tag Kingsman watch looked cool at least). You can express yourself a lot more by having a modded Vostok or an interesting diver like a Squale.

Why I buy and wear watches its because it the only thing that consist of the following- 1. History/story, sentimental value 2. Mechanical technology 3. Artistry/craftmanship Pt 2 & 3 are what I appreciate and like. To me its important to wear your watch to have your own story and build a connection with it. The connection you have will be the sentimental value. If you are not wearing the watch, it is just another watch like the thousands out there in the stores worldwide.

I often look in admiration at the watch that I am wearing. While some are tools, several watches signify an accomplishment and how I rewarded myself.

I don't like wearing a digital appliance on my wrist. Simple, I like wristwatches. It's a question of taste, knowledge and heritage. Good editorial, dear fellow! Cheers!