Jaeger-LeCoultre

Ubik
1871

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Themes not goals

It's an interesting question and one that has made me pause and ask myself if I do have a plan or a goal.

I'm not sure that I do in such a precise sense, say in the way some collectors are compleatists and want one
example of every particular style of watch.

Rather, I guess, I think in terms of themes and fascinations and I find this is a more organic way to collect as they intersect in
new and interesting ways. The more I learn, the more I realise how little I know, the more I want to know more.

OK. To more specifics. I began my collecting life with vintage Breitlings, at first i couldn't put my finger on why I was attracted to
them, but only later did I realise it was because of their clean lines, their wearability and their broad sense of design. They were a
mid-level manufacturer who created what is arguably one the of the five most instantly iconic watches of the Sixties in the Navitimer,
but I was not drawn to them so much as to the simplicity and balance of the co-pilots and the uniqueness of their divers. They also appealed
to me because they were an "undiscovered country", there was and still is much to uncover on the histroy of this brand and how they fit into
the histroy of watch making through the twentieth century.

From this I learnt of the term "tool watch" and this is perhaps the DNA that runs through my collection. I am fascinated by watches
that were created for a technical purpose and that were involved in the history of innovation and events that have shaped the passing era.
A period of time in which technology and world events were exciting and dramatic; two world wars, the birth of aviation, the birth of diving, a series
of conquests from everest to space. Watches were integral to many of these events and watches were created and the technology of watches were
pushed to meet the requirements of those explorers. Those watches fascinate me.

This gives me a large umbrella under which to collect many types of watches, from military chronographs, to Borgel cases, to early aviation watches and divers.
I have a basic rule which is that I must feel the watch is wearable and I am personally drawn to the larger watches. I have a desire to have examples of watches
that were the tools of their era, so I have several watches that date to the birth of watches from the mid- 1910's and have examples of watches dating from almost
every decade until the 1970's.

Now why I pick one watch for that period over another is perhaps an even longer conversation, but I am lucky in the sense that I have access to a lot of other collectors and dealers
and I love the thrill of being shown something I have not seen before and feel the heart skip a beat.

My next collecting theme is going to be to collect watches of different brands who all share the same dial manufacturer.


This message has been edited by Ubik on 2011-04-12 09:35:57