Horological Meandering

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 a...  

What I see here is a certain harmony. Each watch complements the others, you don't have " doubles ", here. Each watch is well chosen, and I won't repeat what you perfectly said about the " essence of the manufcatures ". Maturity in horological tastes requ... 

I appreciate your very kind comments. It has taken me a while to get to this point -- although I just realized that I have owned 5 of the 6 watches in the photo for over 2 years now (the Dato is the new addition). Coming to the realization that there are ... 

But literally everything you have here I would want in my collection. Maybe not the exact case/dial combo I would go for but lets not be fussy!!! Superb! Happy to be Watching justindependent

Thanks very much for your note -- I appreciate the thoughts, and of course completely appreciate that tastes vary a lot when it comes to "ideal" metal and dial colors! Best, Gary G

Thank you for the quick and precise review, I find your selection of a high quality, they are so different but with that very special level of nobleness in common.

...is an interesting one, for sure. Does a collection need a unitfying theme other than the informed taste of the collector? I don't often even refer to my set of pieces as a "collection," but at some point if it continues to reflect some consistent under... 

What I admire most is your honesty and clarity when describing what you like and don't like. thanks for sharing! -Sancerre

Thanks for the positive reinforcement, sancerre. I still hesitate a bit before I post "don't love" remarks, realizing that they are just one person's perspective. That said, it's perhaps too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that because we are passi... 

What I find most interesting and appealing is that you don't "restrict" yourself (at least in my view). Many "collectors" seem to focus on a certain theme, whether it be based on complication, origin, maker/manufacturer, year of birth, etc., but your coll... 

For a long time I believed that a "collection" had to have an obvious theme -- for instance, as you say, watches of a certain brand, or a single complication, or year of manufacture. I still think of these as "pure" collections, as the collector pursues t... 

The quest for perfection and harmony seems never-ending. I would be happy to own any of your 6 and those "imperfections" wouldn't bother me at all. Thanks for sharing Gary. Regards, Richard.

The three really dressy watches (VC, PSM, and JLC repeater) get the least. I've been wearing the Dato every weekday since I bought it a month ago, but that will slow a bit, I'm sure. I wear the EOT a surprisingly large amount given that it is a very compl... 

Great choice of big 6 there! I would be happy to have even just one of these WG, RG, PT covered Chronograph, perpetual calendar, repeater, eot Finishing varies from skeleton, "Kari" perfection, to unique dial There's a good variety to rotate around with a... 

Thanks for your note, sidney. Of the pieces that I own, the 7th would almost definitely be my JLC Geographique (the original version) in YG. This watch is the current masthead over on the JLC forum, so take a look! In keeping with your comments, the Geo a... 

You are right Gary, the Geographique is one of the most beautiful JLC have ever come up with in their Master line and there is no doubt it would make it into any "big" lists! I'm also a big fan of the VC OS you've mentioned, the only thing is that it is t... 

...than the photo. And the photo is impressive, to be sure. It is really interesting and instructive to read your positive AND negative impressions of each piece. Any one of these pieces could easily be described as "perfect," but as you have pointed out,... 

Thanks for appreciating my frank inputs -- I can imagine that on some fora, I'd be getting flames for suggesting that some of these pieces are anything less than perfect! As far as PP goes, I guess that (so far) I am just not a Patek guy. I've owned 2 Pat... 

Your collection is amazing! I agree with you about concentrating your collection, one day I will do the same. Thanks for sharing! Cheers SamEE

I'm sure you will find the right time to consolidate -- for me it has been a matter of enjoying a lot of watches over time, and owning some pieces that "everyone should own at some point" (e.g., a JLC Memovox) -- but now I find that I want to be more sele... 

I do think that your "negative" on the Observatoire was really for the sake of saying something "negative." That watch can have no flaw...

The Observatoire is still the "one watch" I would keep if I had to sell all the rest! That said, at some point I'm going to ask Kari to do a few touch-ups on specific bits (the triangular tips of the hour and minute hands, the bottom of the slot in the sc... 

a collector with a vision and understanding for the collection! Important pieces from great makers. Congrats on your journey forward! some closeups? And to mirror above, which one gets most wrist time?

First, thanks for your comments! Second, as noted to another respondent, the Observatoire gets the most wrist time, with the Dato coming up on the outside. In response to your request, here are a few more photos. What moves me: Ready for a night on the to...  

wow...that S-M dial is exquisite... all beautiful finish/dial work...WOW! Thank you for posting the closeups...

...here on PuristS. Here's the link: ahci.watchprosite.com Best, Gary G

All wonderful! Wear them in the best of health! BTW - What ever happened to the Voutilainen "tracker" you were putting togheter? Hope all is well! Best, asg

Thanks, asg -- always great to hear from you! Two issues with the KV registry: 1. Laziness on my part 2. Few responses from owners What I'll resolve to do is to summarize what I do have and post the statistics to try to build interest. Thanks for the nudg... 

Gary, Thanks for sharing. Each watch is beautiful and special in its own way. Your candid opinion about each one is much appreciated. Is there any particular watch that you aspire to own but do not currently have in your collection? Dave

Thanks for your note, David. I do have two independent pieces due this year -- one from Kari Voutilainen and one from Volker Vyskocil (although we'll see about the latter, as delivery timing has already slipped a lot on this one). I also recently took del... 

All representative of their respective makers, as you said. A collection like this does not need a theme, buying what one like is the best 'theme'. Lovely to see that all are time synchronized. Thanks for sharing them. Best, Goh

Thanks for the note, Goh, and also thanks for noticing that the watches are set to the same time! Perhaps a little obsessive on my part, but I think it makes for better photos. One downside from a photography perspective was that since a couple of the wat... 

Reflecting electic but good taste. Congrats! - SJX

Great to hear from you as always. As for the collection, I do find that it is easier to buy things that I think make sense than to sell! Best, Gary

Wonderful group. I've had 4 of your 6 (and actually 3 of them at the same time), though none of them remain in my collection now.

That's really interesting to me, especially as we are really talking about 4 out of 5 (would be hard for you to own the unique piece...). Would love to learn more about your other watches and tastes when you get a chance. Best, Gary G

Gary, The four formerly in my stable were the RG/black Dato, WG/grey EOT, Reverso Repetition Minutes, and VC skeleton perpetual in YG (first generation). Of these four, I must say I miss the Dato and the VC the most... Again, great choices for an eclectic... 

with 6 being the Devil's number, would the lucky 8 in Chinese tradition be a better option? I'm sure you would have no difficulty to obtain 2 other fantastic pieces Gary. cheers PAt

Thanks, Pat -- I may already be at 8 with my JLC Geo and MUT and the PSM Shimoda, but there's always the possibility of moving up! Best, Gary G

the Reverso minute repeater especially caught my eye. It is interesting to hear that it has such a nice sound because clearly it has such a small case to reverberate in! Thanks for the post, Andreas

The Reverso RM is a revelation -- I saw one 15 years ago and immediately wanted one, and finally bought this one about 5 years ago. The Coudray movement is brilliant -- if you look at the current JLC repeaters (including the round Master versions) you wil... 

You have great taste Gary.

I really appreciate the compliment. It's great to see what fellow collectors like yourself favor, as it strongly informs my own tastes! Best, Gary G

hi mate, well done. wonderful gathering and cross selection of complications, metals, brands and independents. fastastico!! Horo

While I am doing a bit of consolidation at the moment, I will be keeping these and others, and expanding the set of "big" watches as well! Best, Gary G

Any of these individually would probably be considered as a grail for most fanatics, so the 6!...What to say, refinement for sure, a lot of taste and careful thinking to put this together! The pieces really seam to complement each other. Thanks for sharin... 

...are attuned more to the independents. A Kari and (hopefully) a Vyskocil coming in over the next months, and an interest in acquiring a VH Antiqua and perhaps an FPJ Vagabondage (either first or second generation -- both are great, in my view). The Vaga... 

wear it healthy!

nt

There in you reveal much, and i think it is fascinating... Cheers, Tim

...where I got 3 of these! Thanks for your comment -- you can see that your thoughts on what constitutes a "Gary" watch seem to have held true over time. Best, Gary