drunken monkey

Scratching an itch

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There are far too many watches that I like so my buying decisions had been boiled down to a simple set of "rules" as it were:
minimise repetitions of brand, style, type and type.

That is an easy thing to follow if one were so disciplined but of course, that is not always the way.

I can't pin down when it was set down in that fashion but it was likely to have been after I bought the Carrera but before I had bought the Planet Ocean. I recall that I was mulling over a Submariner vs the Planet Ocean as at the time, both were on their way out, soon to be replaced by their maxi-lug and 8500 successors.
The choice that I had made was that which ever dive watch I ended up buying, I would then make the next watch, either the Aqua Terra of Explorer 1 from the opposing maker.

Very neatly, that would result in me having the three "major" watch types (chronograph, dive, regular sports) from the three major mainstream, middle market makers (TAGHeuer, Omega, Rolex).

As I said, things never really worked out that way and I am still missing that Rolex Explorer; the watch I should have bought after I had gotten the Planet Ocean. Some of that is that the 36mm was already out of production when I was looking. Some of it, it has to be said, was that the 114270 was just a little underwhelming whenever I tried it on. I knew that it was just a watch and I'm fine with that but the sticking point was that there were details on never Rolex that weren't on the Explorer. At the time, they had introduced better bracelets, better clasps and the movement had a little more updates to the parts in the 39mm 214270.
In short, buying the 114270 felt like buying the old and inferior when compared to the 214270.

As luck would have it, while I was stumbling around deciding on how much I wanted the Explorer, Omega were rolling out Master Co-Axial versions of the Aqua Terra. That meant that a lot of bargains were to be had on the non-Master versions. I ended up buying a blue dial and a white dial one for the (retail) cost of a 214270 and thus broke the planned trilogy.

I still have my three types of watches but brand diversity too a step back.


I still want that Explorer but not as much as I thought I did. I think that set of rules in the beginning made me want it more than I liked it. There is certainly something very tidy about the concept of three watches, covering three types, from three makers. As much as it fit the pattern, the Explorer just didn't scratch the itch when it came to actually buying. As I say, it is still on the want list but there are other older Rolex models that possibly interest me more than it does.

In short, there are other watches that I just like more and that is the only real way to go about it, right?
Buy what you like.
It's said often but not often carried out.
In my case, I had convinced myself that I wanted that set of three but doing so would've gotten me three watches, one of which would've been a compromise.

Itches are strange things.
You can try many ways to scratch it but in the end, only one will do the trick and that one isn't always the one you thought it would be.
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Comments

  1. Dan R's Avatar
    For sure, itches are a challenge. I had an EXP1, but ended up selling it to get a JLC Reverso Duo. That was a no-brainer IMO. I did end up with a Tag pre-64 Carerra reissue and keep it because it cost me little. The deal breaker was the PO Co-Ax 8500. I always wanted one, and now that I have it, I consider my collection to be more or less complete. This is not meant to be a knock on other makers/watches, but only to signify that my itch was scratched.



    Dan
  2. drunken monkey's Avatar
    I was looking at the 8500 Planet Ocean when I was initially shopping for the dive watch of the trilogy; the old dilemma of new (8500) vs old (2500) being the sticking point.

    Luckily for me, that decision was made wasier by
    i) the 8500 being that little bit too chunky for me
    ii) if I get the 2500, it would firstly be the original Planet Ocean and secondly, give further reason to get an 8500 Aqua Terra instead, which would minimise overlaps/redundancies.

    Rationalisation?
    Of course but sometimes, it's little "deceits" like that which do actually make decisions easier, especially when you really do like so many different watches from so many different makers.
  3. Dan R's Avatar
    My decision was real easy. It was a gift. LoL!

    We go to a jewelry store every Christmas, mostly as a means to get some free grub at their Christmas party. For years, I have told my wife how much I liked the PO with the orange bezel.

    After all these years, she decides to get the watch. She dallied long enough that the 2500 was no longer a choice.

    Oh well. I really do love the watch. I've close several times to making it my "only" watch, but I love other watches too much to do that.

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