Horological Meandering

this is somewhat a aggrandizement post as it is a sentimental one. Today, I celebrate 10th year on Puristspro. I actually joined the old PuristS forum in 2003/4, and was roped in by Dr. Bernard Cheong, a former moderator of this august site, for those newer members who do not know. I officially signed up as a member on 14 November 2007. In the first few years on PPro, I was as silent as a Fransican monk, and mostly lurking and reading. My total post count up to 2010, was like a shameful 35 posts, and I never started a thread. In late 2010, I became massively active, largely due to the huge PuristS crowd here and the active encouragement of MTF. In late 2011, I was made moderator and accepted into the horo-cabal of High Priest MTF and Lord Protector Thomas Mao. I took a stressful sabbatical from PPro in 2015 and 2016, after my daughter was born and I switched employers after a faithful 15 year service. My contribution here is somewhat negligible, as evidenced by my also embarassingly 7K with some change, when benchmarked against luminaries such at Amanico. Over the years, I have met many wonderful PuristS and fellow WIS. Notable among the Mods and Management team - Thomas Mao- for his understanding of the horology world, MTF - for his refinement and deep knowledge, Amanico - the fun bastardo - , FRX - super serious guy with a camera for a left hand and rumoured possessor of over one million wristshots, KIH - gentlement with a keen eye and a very personal PuristS story, AndrewLuff - Lord Orange and royalty, Bill - whom i met briefly on a clandestine Paris trip and a wonderful mind, Alec Yin - fellow Lamborghini owner and car nut.

In Singapore where I was born, breed and based, my fellow local mods - Kong, for his industry and ire humour, Robin - tirelkess and selfless, and a strange love for all things Montblanc, Stefan - who took over my old job as Community Liaison and the last of the gentlemen collector. Past alumni of Bernard Cheong, Jaw, SJX, who has moved on to greener pastures, for helping build the PuristS brand and their friendships. And of course the many Purists all over the world that helped me form my horological values and horned my PuristS instincts. PuristSPro has became a home, a refuge, especially during boring corporate hours!!There were some disappointments too. Certain characters took my hospitality for granted, and also the first and thankfully only place where I got scammed, over a Panerai!! Its also the place I ruffled a few feathers with my brand of horo-humour, and got into trouble for submitting an watch on a ladies ankle for the weekly wristscan, and for having the audacity to suggest that the weekly Wristscan be renamed Limbscan -

I have also met many wonderful sould outside the PuristS, and a few rascals, over the years....having met CEOs and MDs of big brands in big swanky ballrooms, to commercial ADs and gray dealers, to visiting small ateliers of Independent watchmakers....I am very fortunate to have made many friendships and been involved in many horo-events. I have visited huge manufactures from JLC to Hublot, visited horology museums, spent time with Indie watchmakers and developed personal friendships with some. I have been to Baslworld and SIHH, and the many watch fairs that pop up in between them. I have met many fellow Purists and WIS communities around the world from London to Hong Kong, joined brand specific clubs like Paneristis, and in turn hosted many collector visitors to Singapore. I have hosted many watch events and product launches regionally in South East Asia. All in all, horology for me has transcend beyond watch collecting into a lifestyle. I started a short lived local watch forum called WristLounge from 2009-2011. In 2014, I co-founded a horology blog www.deployant.com with two collector friends, one of them, Peter Chong, used to moderate Lange forum at "rival" Timezone. 3 years ago, I started a self named Instagram account : HORORGASM and that opened up a whole new world of watch collectors I never knew existed, and met horology social media personalities like mental santa laura and the indomitable Watchanish.

On the personal front, I became father of two and still gainfully married to the same SheWhoMustBeObeyed(SWMBO), who I met in 1997, the same time I started collecting watches. The good news is my crazy devotion to horology has influenced SWMBO and the kids, and since then, she has started her own collection and now have about 15 watches to her name. The bad news is there exist a divide in the household, SWMBO is into Patek, and was featured in local society magazine for Patek, along with my daughter. I am a Lange guy, and thankfully my son too (though he rate Casio G Shocks higher then Lange!!!!), and we appeared on local literature for Lange. And yes, I am still a #corporateslave and now being in my 40s, have given up hope of being a entreprenuer.

On the collecting front, I am pleased to announce more successes. the collection has ballooned at a faster rate than my expanding waistline. See below.

at this stage, I conclude my almost Academy Awards-ish speech. Kindly permit me some self indulgence, as I Iook back at a decade of PuristS life, thru the photos below:

THE PURISTS CONNECTION

It was also held on my wedding anniversary, but the supportive SheWhoMustBeObeyed was very forgiving that night. Local retailer Hourglass actually celebrated for us, with a singer serenading from the floor above. Many PuristS turned up, coming in from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia (yes...PPlater....where are you these days??) With Kari Voutilainen, Laurent Ferrier, Philippe Dufour and Roger Smith. Vanney Halter fell ill, and couldn't attend. The event was publicized on the AHCI thread. In 2012, I was asked to co-mod AHCI sub-forum with the extremely intelligent and amatuer watchmaker himself Don Corson, probably the most technical guy among the moderating team.




Me with Max Busser, the most creative and personable Indie. 

(Typographic Edits)

Congratulations and I can't wait to see your collection after another 10 years! 

Thank you for the honourable orange mention... next time I see you I will cross you shoulders with my orange sabre to make you a 'Knight of the Orange' or maybe we will just have an orange night on the town