Rosneathian, a respected member of the WatchProSite community, shares a deeply personal reflection on his decision to scale back his extensive watch collection. His 'Great Unburdening' offers a unique perspective on the evolving relationship between collector and collection, emphasizing the shift from acquisition for study to curation for enjoyment. This article delves into his insights on classical mechanical watches, the allure of form watches, and the broader implications of collecting in a data-driven world.
For those who care to remember, some time ago I posted about my decision to exit watch collecting. TL;DR It's going well.
I can look at the decision in the rear view mirror and say that it was the right one to make. I'll emerge from The Great Unburdening having moved on watches that I bought to study and admire, while keeping a modest selection to wear and not think about too much. My tiny brain will be freed to do other things.
Collecting watches has been enormously enriching. One thing I learnt was that I quite like mechanical watches that some may describe as classical, or traditional, or maybe both. I never had the acuity to go full vintage so tended to gravitate towards examples from the revival years after 1985-ish. Not for me anything too avant-garde, unless of course it was avant-garde 50 years ago and has since mellowed with time.
I especially like form watches. As fellow travellers know, they had their heyday in the 1920s, and again in the 1960s and 1970s, three of the zaniest of decades in design. While none of the watches below are from those periods, some draw on them directly while others riff indirectly. And who doesn't like a groovy riff?
I won't like any of these watches less when one, more or all of them are gone. On the contrary. So I thought I'd post them here out of nothing but fondness and fascination, and leave it at that.
(with apologies for the predictably grim quality of photos taken under lamplight this weekend).
