dannymc
130
Long live the Safe Queen??
Hi guys and girls,
Many of us here are familiar, some more than others, with the idea of keeping ‘safe queens,’ a watch that for a number of possible reasons, we deem ‘to precious’ to risk wearing.
Given the large amounts of money that we pay for many of our watches, on first instinct it seems like a perfectly natural thing to do, however I find myself torn between opinions on the matter for a number of reasons;
Firstly, there is a part of me that considers keeping a watch as a ‘safe queen’ something of an insult to the maker and the art. Most of us are aware of the hours of skilled labour that go into manufacturing the watches we love, crafting an exquisite timepiece capable of amazing things and so it somehow seems almost insane that after such skilled individuals have put so much effort into making these things, that we decide for whatever reason that a watch will not fulfil its potential as the maker intended, but will in fact spend its days in motionless darkness! I think the catalyst for me forming this opinion was an interview I read with Usher (singer) of all people, in which he was explaining his ‘passion’ for watches. He spoke of his various watches, Audemars, Panerai, Cartier, Breitling and went on to explain that none of his watches ever tell the time because he cannot be bothered to set them, instead he wears them ‘as trinkets’. This immediately frustrated me, the thought of such capable mechanisms being worn as little more than jewellery! So many wasted hours of a watchmaker’s time, I wondered how he’d react if I told him that I’d bought his latest album and I use it as a Frisbee!!! J Although this is obviously not a direct comparison, I feel it still highlights my point.
There is of course the argument that if a watch brings us pleasure, it does not matter in what form this pleasure is derived. Which is of course valid, but as Purists, I think most of us take pleasure from the exceptional skills and techniques of the art as much as the physical manifestation that is the finish product. This is of course all my opinion, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong!
The second point of issue is the age old idea of investment, that the watch in our safe is in fact an investment that if kept ‘in mint condition’ will increase in value over time. Fair enough, if a watch was purchased with the intention of never wearing it solely to make money, then people are free to manage their money how they wish. In this case, the watch is no longer a watch and may as well be any object, a lump of gold for example (which would probably be a better investment!). Whilst I still consider this to be an immense waste, I can understand why some people may do it, especially if the investment potential is the result of something trivial such as a minor dial variation or a ‘limited edition’ of a particular colour/design.
However, it does frustrate me that some of us choose to keep exquisite pieces that we love, locked up, never to be worn; pieces that we’d love to wear but are afraid of risking resale value! Madness! If you are privileged enough to own a piece that others aspire to, then it’s your obligation to wear it! You deserve to! After ten years of storage, once a couple of thousand in profits have been made, I bet most Purists would look back and wish they’d worn such a magnificence piece instead of submitting to the idea of resale value.
There are more points I’d love to discuss, but I feel I’ve probably droned on for long enough!! And so you’ve heard my 2 pence worth, although finally, it should be noted, that there are obvious exceptions, pieces of historical importance may be viewed as ‘too important’, understandably. But you know what, if I owned the Marie Antoinette or the Graves watch, I use them everyday!!!! Although almost paradoxically, I’ve a feeling there’s a few who would consider that an insult to the art!!
Hope everyone’s well,
Dan
Long live the Safe Queen??
