Horological Meandering

From the perspective of a media employee writing an article,

 

I think most of the time it's just a job.

I'm in the technical publishing world, and there are automotive writers I know who review cars but don't own one. That doesn't mean they can't drive or that they don't have an objective opinion. They say Why should I put down my own money when I can drive something paid for by someone else? They  can earn a good living without knowing the mechanics of a vehicle, or feeling any emotion towards a car. But you can hardly expect that non-owner to care much about maintenance, or depreciation, or cost of insurance.

Whereas a real enthusiast (Purist) whether in watches or cars, wants the writer to have more "skin in the game". It's disappointing to buy a nice piece and discover flaws that the writer of the fawning article should have noticed and mentioned. And you think he would have mentioned it IF it had been his cash on the line.

Overall the media in general tend to concentrate on one corner of the multi-dimensional astral planes of collecting. That's their business plan because it appeals to the advertisers, as we have discussed above.

I threw this together quickly to show what I mean. The magazine reviewer is concentrating on the upper left corner - new, interesting, high quality watches. Not really interested in the rest of the universe, because it won't get his name on a byline.

Tell the editor, I want to write a story about that hot 8-year-old TAG quartz watch, the one they had before Tiger Woods came along ... likely you'll get 2 column inches in the back before being assigned to the new publication on worm farms.

The collector (Buyer A and B; both Purists) are concentrating on finding watches with tritium on the dial, or pointy crown guards, or cases of bronze, or pearl dials. The world can't afford a magazine for all of these specialities. Though it can support web communities like this one, thanks primarily to the generosity of Thomas, Anthony, Bill and all the moderators. (Thanks very much indeed).

Remember the original question was - can a collector depend on articles to guide him (or her) in collecting. My answer, only if you are interested in the upper left corner, and if you have the grain shaker of salt with which to season what you read.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

Cheers

Cazalea aka Buyer C
This message has been edited by cazalea on 2009-10-02 14:08:36