Horological Meandering

Gary G
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Collection selection: my big 6

Greetings to all!  Over the past few months I've been particularly active here on various brand fora with photo postings, and a few folks have asked for group shots of my watches.  I'm home from the road this week and in the interests of having each watch at least the size of a postage stamp on the screen, decided to focus in on the "big hitters" in the set. 

Pretty simple criteria (to be honest, I came up with these more in retrospect than in advance):

1. The six watches I would take with me on a very long journey

2. No more than one watch from any single maker

3. The conditions of the journey will not require that I have a sport watch with me

A few words on each piece, from left to right, after the photo -- in an abbreviated version of my usual love/not sure/don't love format:

1. Vacheron Constantin Malte Squelette WG

Love: VC openwork is the tops; very elegant and thin on the wrist; Cal. 1120 movement is a wonder; blued hands make it legible; ultimate tuxedo watch; Maltese Cross buckle

Not sure: A bit small by contemporary standards (the good news is that my wife wears it from time to time as well)

Don't like: On my particular example, there is a bit of a glitch on one of the numerals on the rotor engraving (see "VC openwork is the tops," above, for why I am calling this out)

2. Audemars Piguet Equation of Time (original version, WG, San Francisco cams and bezel)

Love: Cal. 2120 is the same great base as the VC 1120; perpetual calendar, moonphase, time of sunrise and sunset, and EOT, all in one compact package; Jules Audemars case shape; AP deployant; great astronomical complications that remind me of our (small) place in the universe

Not sure: Grey dial with luminous hands -- at the last service, I probably should have switched to the white dial and black hands; a very difficult watch to photograph clearly

Don't like: Complications are a little finicky (I adjusted the moonphase with the stem pulled out and had to send the watch for a service to get it ungummed); strap wears quickly

3. Lange Datograph RG

Love: See my recent review on the Lange forum here; #1 has to be that wonderful movement view through the rear crystal, and I have a long list of other "loves"

Not sure: Would prefer that the chrono seconds hand be blue rather than RG and that the running seconds be RG, not blue

Don't like: Slow date changeover at midnight

4. Voutilainen Observatoire RG

Love: Made by Kari; using the Peseux 260 was an inspiration; great, beautiful, balanced look; ability to customize (e.g., dots vs. triangles) to get exactly the watch you want; quick-release straps; gorgeous case fabrication; jewel-like finish

Not sure: Winding is extremely firm; deployant works great but the outer buckle is a little plain

Don't like: The finishing on my piece is not absolutely, positively, dead-nuts perfect (see jewel-like finish, above); wish Kari had stopped expanding the order list after I managed to sneak in

5. Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso Repetition Minutes RG

Love: It's a Reverso; it's a repeater; elegant look; exposed spinning regulator; wonderful, compact Eric Coudray movement design; my example sounds phenomenal -- better than most repeaters I experience, and the regulator is very quiet; beautiful old-style JLC deployant

Not sure: A little small on the wrist by today's standards; solid case back invites engraving, but what if you eventually need to sell -- and would it harm the beautiful sound?

Don't like: Repeater slide is quite stiff to actuate and tends to push the case out of the cradle to the right if not extremely careful

6. Peter Speake-Marin "Fighting Time" PT Unique Piece

Love: The whole concept of "fighting time" with the mighty dragons trying, and failing, to turn back the clock; Kees Engelbarts' mokume-gane and engraving work; unique piece; one of a very small number of PSM pieces in platinum (and has real heft on the wrist); the first-ever PSM "art watch" and, IMHO, an iconic piece (cliche overload alert!)

Not sure: The light has to be just right to see the dragons clearly against the swirling mokume background

Don't like: Crown and buckle are WG, not PT; movement is robust and heavily tweaked, but still starts life as an ETA

For me an important element of each of these watches is that they represent the essence of their makers/manufacturers, while at the same time appealing heavily to my personal tastes.  The most "conventional" choice is probably the Dato -- in the sense that it's almost a cliche that if you are going to own one Lange, that's what you "should" buy.  I do love it, though!  Perhaps some of the other choices (the EOT rather than a Royal Oak, the openworked VC, the PSM art piece, even the Reverso) are a little more individual in nature while at the same time leaving no confusion as to who made them.

I'm in a bit of a transition with my watches, selling off some more modest pieces to concentrate on a smaller number of "special" watches.  There are, however, several less expensive watches that I will be keeping (the JLC Master Ultra-Thin and Geographique, for instance, and the first-gen Omega Ploprof, among others) that I just can't imagine doing without -- again, brand essence meets whatever sense of personal style I've developed over the years.

Hope I haven't gone on way too long here!  As always, all comments, questions, and criticisms welcomed.

Best,

Gary G