Best/worst watch purchase

[geoffbot]

Saw this on reddit - interesting idea I thought.

My best is my sub from @Samanator because it was a steal, and a grail, and I love it and wear it all the time. And I went to miami to pick it up and had beers with Michael which was absolutely awesome. And I won't lie, the value retention is nice.

Worst is my jlc moon 39 cos its my grail but I never wear it.

You?

[tribe125]

Good question, and I’m going to have to think about it. I hope my ‘best’ doesn’t turn out to be something I’ve sold…

[mlcor]

I'll play. Worst was probably one of my earliest purchases, the Longines Master Retrograde. A very nice watch, actually, someone here (@hayday?) has the black dial version, but at 16.1mm it was just too thick for someone wearing suits and dress shirts regularly at the time.



The best? Obviously this stunning example of under-the-radar artistry...

[Samanator]

Worst for me almost needs a few categories like Worst failed watch was the Doxa Caribbean GMT - The Case arrived warped originally and they tried to blame it on me (Like I have a ten ton press to warp watches with). Worst or most uncomfortable would be either any Breitling Avenger series watch or the B&R BR02. Both draw blood in different places on my wrist. Functionally the Reservoir Diver was so unreadable to me that I could not take it for more than one day. The G-Shock first generation Activity watch must have shipped with preproduction code. It was total garbage and a huge disappointment. Arrived on Saturday and returned on Monday.

Best watch is kind of a tie between the Rolex Explorer II Polar white and the GS Kira Zuri. I've waxed on about the greatness of the Rolex and summarize it as the best everyday watch made regardless of price. The GS Kira Zuri for how it surprises me by just how pure and good it is. It's the only dress watch I ever really liked.

[rodia77]

Good thread.

Worst -- the Zodiac I'm wearing at the moment.

Best -- need to give it a think, but my SNK803 comes to mind first and is a strong candidate.

[mlcor]

Wow, @Samanator, I'm surprised that the GS is in a tie with the Explorer. It is a beautiful watch, though.

[tribe125]

Worst

Several contenders here. There was a Bulova Precisionist that I returned the next day. I think I had doubts when buying it. It had a concave crystal and it was horrible. God knows why I bought it. I questioned my sanity with that one.

There was a Seiko 6309 that I bought at a watch fair. I should have walked away when the bloke had to thump it into the heel of his hand to get it going. Then I failed to notice a substantial ding between the lugs. I bought a new movement, and was then thinking of buying a new case…

But the worst purchases must be those that were failed attempts at a single ‘top watch’ that resulted in significant losses when I moved them on. It’s bad enough to have made an error of judgement, but then to be hit by a whacking financial penalty…

My runner-up for worst purchase would be my JLC Réserve de Marche. I had gone through three Rolexes as my top watch (Datejust, Explorer II and Submariner) but they didn’t last the course. The Submariner might be my most disappointing watch purchase (when pride of ownership receded, I was left thinking it wasn’t all that great, really), but I made money when I sold it. Anyway, my Rolex equity paid for the JLC and I was done! Except I wasn’t. I don’t blame the watch, which was all that it should have been, but my judgement had been poor. It wasn’t ‘the one’.

I took a bit of a hit, but it wasn’t drastic. But the next wrong step was more serious. Glashütte Original Senator Excellence. This was in fairly recent times, but I’ve clearly suppressed the whole experience because I had to look up the model name. The GO wasn’t ‘the one’ either, and I couldn’t find a dealer to take it off my hands, including the dealer that sold it to me. Eventually, I found a previously unknown dealer that took it on consignment. Many, many months later it sold, and I couldn’t begin to convey the sense of relief. I can’t tell you what I lost because I’ve suppressed that too - but it was a lot. The GO is my worst purchase ever.


Best

It’s less disturbing talking about these.

There are many candidates, for different reasons. My vintage Memovox cost hardly anything when I bought it from the man who cleared my friend’s house after he died. That’s a special one that doesn’t really count in this context. I also found a pristine vintage IWC in Kraków when prices were a fraction of what they would have been in Western Europe. Commercially, that was a Best Buy, but not really what we’re talking about. There was also an Omega Dynamic that turned out to be new-old stock at a similar price to tatty examples, and it was serviced before sale. That was a best find, and might have been a best purchase for the bloke who bought it from me.

My Rolex Explorer II might have been a candidate for best purchase - until I sold it. At the time I bought it, I was pretty convinced it was the cleanest example for sale in the UK, and it didn’t cost that much, relatively speaking. If I was prepared to own more watches than I do (or was richer) I might still have it - but then it was involved in the short road to disaster that led to the Glashütte Original.

The best purchase is my Grand Seiko Elegance. It occupies the top watch position with more confidence than the Rolexes, JLC and GO that have gone before it. Very roughly speaking, it was about half the price of any of them. I should have bought it when I bought the JLC, I should have bought it when I bought the GO - assuming that it was around at the time. I think it was, but if it wasn’t, there would have been a similar model.





I should also make an honourable mention of the Nomos Metro Gangreserve. I loved it when I saw release photos in 2014 and my admiration hasn’t lessened. It has been a fixture in my watch box while the headliners have come and gone.

[tribe125]

Worst -- the Zodiac I'm wearing at the moment.

Go on…

[gnuyork]

Go on…

Yeah wondering the same... That Zodiac looks fantastic.

[gnuyork]

My worst purchase is probably my SKX 009. Even though I love the styling and case, the movement is kinda crap, at least in my example. It's been in for warranty service twice now, and this is the second one. I returned the first because the bezel alignment was quite a bit off. The new one is spot on, but now I have a shady movement. I didn't keep the first one long enough to know if its movement was any better or not... But I do love the utilitarian printed dial as well as the aluminum bezel insert and though I prefer no dates, the day and date are actually quite handy complications.







My best purchase is my Speedmaster. I bought it about a month before the birth of my daughter, and I was wearing the watch for her birth, which I witnessed. I love everything about this watch (the stepped deep black dial, the legibility, the aluminum bezel, the comfortable bracelet, the astounding accuracy for a mechanical movement) In a perfect world I do wish it were 2mm smaller, but it's definitely no perfect world, so I can easily live with it. I should note that this was a consolation since I could never get the Explorer from an AD (still waiting, and maybe changing my mind for an OP36). I will also mention as soon as I saw photos online of the new Speedmaster on the new bracelet, I had to have it... I've never been so immediately drawn to a watch as I have the pictures of the new Speedmaster... it was the same feeling in the metal when got a call from the Omega Boutique when they let me know they had the first Hesalite in. I don't regret for one second that I got this before the Explorer.