BUYING EXPERIENCE: 20 Cushion Watch Cabinet

I'd been mulling over the idea of buying a watch cabinet for some time, even last year when I 'only' had six watches I was thinking about it, but the selection available was very small. Ideally I wanted black, but I was reluctantly open to a different finish if the cabinet was the right size, the right price and if the door opened the right way.

A 12 cushion cabinet came up on eBay, with black cushions, but the door opened the wrong way, so that killed that idea. And then this one appeared offered by a seller with good feedback. Fortunately there were ten available, so I didn't have to rush my decision.

I mulled it over for a good few weeks I think, and every so often one would sell. There were 37 watchers as well, which didn't help, but I didn't panic. The thing was that I really like having my watches in the boxes they come in, but with eight boxes in my cabinet it was starting to become an issue of space. And while I'm not expecting to buy too many more watches in the immediate future, a wall cabinet was definitely on the cards sooner or later.

So I decided to take the plunge, spurred on by the positive comments left by the other recent buyers and, at £135 it seemed pretty reasonable considering the prices some of these things go for. But, bizarrely, just as I was about to place my order, I noticed a link at the bottom of the page to 'Similar Items'... and saw the exact same item, being offered by the exact same seller for £108. So, right off the bat I saved £27, what a result!

I think I was too late to get the item sent out that day, but they dispatched the day after and it arrived at my work the day after that. Extremely well packaged, and in perfect order, I simply had no complaints whatsoever. Well, maybe just one, the cushions could be a little bigger. I have a 7.3/4" wrist so the watches on fixed bracelets are a little loose, but to be fair they did clearly state the cushions sizes and they are making a one size fits all product. Speaking of which, I did try putting my wife's watches in the cabinet, but her wrist is tiny and it just ended up crushing the cushions and looking really crappy, so I took them out again (let's face it, I'm gonna need those cushions back eventually, right!).

I've actually had the cabinet a couple of weeks, and it wasn't until today that I actually got around to putting it up. I don't know if it was luck, or my exemplary DIY skills, but it went up really, really easily and I must say it looks pretty damn great on the wall.