debng over at digg.com writes, “Horology has seen many significant technological advancements in modern times as it progressed from the early days of the spring powered clock up to IBM’s Linux Wrist Watch project.“
I always considered myself a (w)hor(e). I got my first watch when I was 7 or 8. Instead of a sweep second hand, it had a jet plane mounted on a clear disk so it looked like it flew around the dial. I loved that watch.
My friend Kenny gave me one of his Rolexes. He bought his first one because I told him that GQ said that a boat salesman knew a customer was serious if he was wearing a Rolex and Gucci loafers.
Through my horological reading, I found that most watch collectors recognize Rolexes more for their value as status symbol than it’s craftsmanship – it is a mass produced watch. A. Lange & Sohne, Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Officine Panerai, Patek Phillippe, Ulysse Nardin, Vacheron Constantin and Zenith are just a few of the (w)hor(e) watch names, that, except for the watch cognoscenti, wouldn’t mean much to the average person.
At a recent family gathering, I sat next to someone who was wearing a Ulysse Nardin and I asked him if I could look at it and he obliged. The only other time I’ve seen (w)hor(e) watches were at Tourneau on 57th Street.
With my first bonus, I bought an Omega Speedmaster Professional (ref. 3570.50.00), better known as the first watch worn on the moon. Being independently poor, that will probably be the extent of my (w)hor(ing) for a while.
I read a book along time ago, by Bruce Wagner, “I’m losing You”.
I had read a review of it originally in the New Yorker, and then waited
a few years later to get it at the library. Anyway, they had a couple
of pages or so about watch collecting among the rich, and described
something called a “tachymere” (?), and time pieces where you could
plug your pocket watch into a mantle clock, of the same set I would
think, and the mantle clock would synchronize and wind your watch for
you. They were dropping figures like 400k or something, and up for
these whiz pieces. Otherwise the book was a tome of every scheme and
debauchery imaginable. They later made a movie out of it which probably
enhanced how truly crappy the story line was.