I get obsessed with things pretty often. I’ll find a topic or hobby and spend ridiculous hours going deep into the topic. Over the years it’s been things like Golf, Motorbikes, leather craft, film cameras, retro mountain bikes and more. Sometimes it sticks and other times it’s a passing phase. Sometimes I try to turn the obsession into a business, other times it ends up costing me lots of money (motorbikes were a particularly expensive obsession). I’m guessing people reading this have the same tendencies?
I’ve learnt over the years that having these phases of enjoying a subject so intensely is really fun, despite it looking a little silly to my family.
Recently, it’s been watches.
When you dive deep into something you find there are other like minded people who are equally as into the thing, usually whole ecosystems—and interestingly for me— unbelievably cool indie brands making stuff for the industry. More on this later.
You might have read my article about my starter watch collection, a collection that was sparked by a comment from my girlfriend and has blossomed into infatuation with these stunning pieces of metal and plastic you wear on your wrist.
I couldn’t tell you why this happens, but I am going to tell you about some of creators on YouTube I’ve found, brands making cool stuff and watches I would like to add to my collection.
YouTubers
Most of my obsessions start and evolve through watching hundreds of hours of YouTube videos. Some of the content created on this platform is unbelievable, and it’s exciting to see so many creators making a living through the thing they love most.
For years I’ve followed a YouTuber called Nico Leonard (1.7m subs), an energetic and opinionated Dutch-Northern Irish chap who makes popular watch “tier list” videos and more. He tends to talk a lot about the high-end watches but his videos are always entertaining.
But as I started to look more into the less well known watches I stumbled across Ben’s Watch Club(225k subs) who primarily makes videos about lower-end brands who punch above their weight— he also introduced me to Ali Express “homage” watches which will become relevant shortly.
I then found my favourite watch YouTuber, Kieron from TopTierTicker (65k subs!), who opened me up to a world of “microbrands” (basically indie watch brands) and unique looking watches at attainable prices.
There’s a popular YouTuber called Teddy Baldassarre (1.1m subs) who focuses mainly on the big brands, but does some great reviews. I got a bunch of information from Teddy on the really high end watches. I enjoyed this video on Kevin O’Leary’s channel (yes the lad off Shark Tank) showcasing some nice watches under $1,000.
Of all the videos I watched, the one that might be interesting to most normals, is this showcase of a watchmaker’s collection. It helped clarify what I want out of a watch collection, which is each piece having a story to tell for a certain milestone in my life:
Inside a Watchmaker's Watch Collection
Types of watches
You’ve got a bunch of styles of watches, something that I had to wrap my head around, so here’s my explanations from noob to watching a few hours of videos:
- Dress watch - basic dial, maybe a date “complication”, a range of leather straps and metal bracelets. Look cutesy.
- GMT - can tell the time in another time zone, usually with a large bezel with numbers around and an extra hand.
- Chronograph - 2 or 3 spinny dials on them, I don’t know what they do but they look cool. One went to the moon.
- Diver - I don’t really like these or understand them but they have a bezel with the numbers and look kind of like the GMT watches. Very famous Rolex and Omega versions.
- Field watch - usually has actual numbers on it and a textile strap
Oh and then there is the “movements” which watch people get snobby about. You’ve got mechanical movements and battery powered ones called “quartz”. Oh and digital watches like the legendary Casio F-91W.
If you know about watches, I’m very sorry. Please educate me if you read this.
Brands
Here is where it gets interesting. You have hyper luxury brands that everyone talks about; Rolex, Omega, AP which can fetch prices up to £40k and you won’t get one for less than £5k. You have to be rich to own one of these. These are cool, and I want one someday, but it’s unattainable right now.
So you have to go a few rungs down and find the brands that make great value watches and don’t break the bank. The most well known are probably Seiko, Casio and Timex.
They do some stunning watches ranging from £10 to £500+ and I’ve already got a few in my collection.
If you want to get a great quality watch without breaking the bank there are a few brands on AliExpress which make “homage” watches (dupes). It depends where you land morally but I think the luxury brands are doing just fine and I need to stop spending lots of money. I don’t have one yet but I ordered my first today (I’ll update this when it arrives).
Ok and then there are these “microbrands” which are essentially indie brands making watches. Watches are really complex items so I was surprised to find these existed.
You can typically find the watches they make in the £400-1000 mark with a few being an exception. They make unique looking watches and I love that they are trying to break into a category dominated by huge players. Here’s some I’ve noticed and really like:
- Christopher Ward started in 2004 but is now massive, so I won’t count them but they deserve a mention because of the growth they’ve had.
- Studio Underd0g make unique looking watches in the UK but their prices are pretty high (£2k).
- Duckworth Prestex rebooted the “Prestex” brand and now make some really unique watches.
- Baltic’s offerings are just beautiful and not too expensive
- Roue are low priced but unique looking watches, but I believe they are based in Hong Kong. Because of the price I might end up jumping at one of these.
- Paulin and Anordain are quite expensive but made in Scotland. They are a husband and wife team with the latter acquiring the former.
- Mr Jones Watches is the most out there. Everything made in London with some wacky looking watches. I’d never wear one of these but worth a mention.
My guy TopTierTicker made a tier list featuring 50 of these brands if you want to dig into more of these.
My wishlist
Now all this obsessing would not make sense if I didn’t find a way to spend a ton of cash, right? I kid, but it’s been nice to find the styles of watches I like and something to aim for in the future. Here’s my wishlist in price order (note I don’t want all of these at once, so you can refrain from buying them all for me).
- Rolex GMT Master II - £9,900
- Rolex Explorer II - £8,550
- Omega Speedmaster Professional - £6,600
- Rolex Oyster Perpetual - £5,100
- Tudor Black Bay GMT - £4,050
- Cartier Tank - £3,300
- Hamilton Murph - £940
- Bulova Lunar Pilot - £600
- Duckworth Prestex Centenary - £495
- Baltic MR Classic - £450
- Seiko SSK035K1 - £420
- Seiko SSK023K1 - £410
- Roue TPS - £220
Wrap up
Well, I hope you have enjoyed my brain dump of watch nonsense that I’ve collected over the past few weeks. It’s been fun to dive into this hobby. Watches are such a wonderful way to elevate an outfit and express yourself. Some pieces are timeless and are made with a level of craftsmanship that I love to see as a fellow craftsman.
If you too are into watches, I’d love to talk more to you about your collection and the stories that come with them.