Anyone who collects anything, especially something expensive (and let's be honest a bit 'unnecessary') will recognise the scene... you want to add another piece, but your wife doesn't approve, because, you've already got fifteen watches so why on Earth do you need yet another one?
This isn't the sole preserve of the watch collector of course, you can substitute anything really, model trains, cars, Lego sets, models, books, wine... I even had this conversation with a guy the other day about airbrushes, he has eleven already but he wants/needs another one. But of course some collectibles are more affordable than others, and if your hobby can easily cost you a month's salary, as watch collecting can - no matter how much you earn, well that can be tricky to get past your significant other.
I'm pretty lucky in this regard, as my wife has always liked watches, and I unwittingly set myself up for an easier ride long, long ago when I bought my wife a brand new, blue dial 2000 from Goldsmiths for our 10th wedding anniversary. Since then she's built her own collection and now owns seven TAG Heuers and an Oris Automatic with a skeleton dial... which of course means that buying new watches is probably easier for me than for a lot of people with less 'on message' partners.
But despite that, I occasionally still get the rolled eyes - I think the worst recently was when I announced I was buying a second twenty cushion watch cabinet. True, it wasn't my intention to fill the first one up so quickly, it just kind of happened. But I'm not done collecting yet, so it made sense to get it while it was available (watch cabinets are tricky to find, unless you have megabucks to spend) and I'm hopeful that this one will take a little longer to fill up!
Traditionally watch collecting has always been a 'guy thing', but I've noticed in the last couple of years that women are starting to come onboard. Now, whether they view it as 'watch collecting' as such I'm not sure, possibly not... I mean I'm not entirely sure there's a woman out there who would want a drawer with 30 Submariners in it, all of which are ever so slightly different, or possibly a Sea Dweller that costs as much as a very nice Mercedes just because it's got a little 'Comex' on the dial. No, I think for the majority of women it's not a 'watch collection' as such, just an extension of their 'jewellery' (also definitely NOT a collection).
But female watch buying is definitely on the rise, and furthermore there is a willingness to move away from the traditional ladies quartz pieces. A few years ago I saw a documentary on TV about luxury goods and part of it featured watches, the one thing I particularly remember from this show was the information that whenever women buy automatics, they always bring them back and want to change them for quartz. This is obviously because (and I can sympathise here) if you don't wear an automatic everyday then when you want to wear it you have to set the hands and the date (if it has one) and wind the watch, whereas your quartz is always good to go (as long as the battery has life).
But this may be changing. My wife showed me her copy of Marie Claire the other day, and it was quite interesting. You know how 'glossy' magazines are, the first few pages are always just adverts that you have to scoot through to get to the text (in fact the glossier the magazine the further you have to scoot, generally speaking), well in this issue the first two pages are for Chanel (jacket and potentially 'glasses' I think), the second double spread is for Omega, and in particular the Omega Constellation Manhattan Master Chronometer, illustrated using four elegant ladies in red dresses, two of which appear to be Cindy Crawford and Nicole Kidman!
The next page features a single page advert for the Rado Diamaster Diamonds (which I presume is quartz), then over the page another double page spread, this time for Swatch, which is admittedly quartz and a whole lot more affordable than Rado or Omega. Then over the page again we find Lady Gaga flogging the Tudor Black Bay 36S&G in two tone silver and gold, with the text 'self winding' clearly printed on the dial. Maybe the subtle inference that quartz is 'cheap' and mechanical is 'luxurious' is beginning to be planted in the minds of the lady readers already?
Flip over another ten pages and we find another single page advert, this time for the Mondaine Railway Clock watch, another lesser known Swiss company. Not sure if that's quartz or mechanical, I'm guessing quartz but I could be wrong. Two pages further in and the same watch is featured in an article, it's £169 so I'm guessing it's definitely quartz. Looks good though... which is more than can be said for leopard print trousers.
You know who looks good in leopard print?
Leopards.
Two pages on and we have another watch advert/feature, this time for the Chanel J12 white ceramic. This one is definitely automatic and costs a not inconsiderable £4050.
Ah, Cara, what women's magazine would be complete without Cara DeLavigne? For once she's actually giving an interview, and strangely there doesn't seem to be a single Cara-advert in the whole magazine, which is remarkable given that she's the 'face' of countless products, including TAG Heuer of course (now they've dispensed with Bella Hadid, Cara seems to be back in vogue...).
Okay so maybe the magazine isn't overrun with watch ads, but there's significantly more in there than there ever used to be (while perfume adverts are notable mainly by their absence, save for Chanel No5 on the back cover) and last month I remember my wife showing me a 6-8 page spread which was wall to wall watches, including some TAG Heuers, F1s and Lady Carreras, IIRC.
Also I've noticed of late that the Bicester boutique has been getting more and more ladies models in, and I'm told the sales have increased significantly too. Incidentally, they still have that solid gold ladies Link if anyone's looking for a present and you've got £12,000 burning a hole in your pocket... go on, you know it makes sense. Think how easy it will be to get yet another Carrera or Monaco into your watch box once she's sporting that on her wrist... :)
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