“But anyway, everyone has a Rolex. If at 50 you don't have a Rolex, you've still frankly missed your life. ".
These are the kind of remarks which, as absurdly asserted as dishonestly interpreted, have caused significant damage to the perception of watchmaking in France. And can make the purchase of a beautiful watch seem like the whim of an old executive in need of recognition.
Indeed, the opacity on what makes a timepiece valuable remains significant , with the majority of media dedicated to masculine elegance treating it as a fashion accessory and therefore approaching it from a strongly reductive angle: that of style.
Under the cover of such omerta, it is very difficult to understand how a Rolex can be worth 100 times the price of a Seiko. And we quickly come to realize that the luxury tastes of our heroic James Bond have turned downright pompous, in a century where any connected object can give precise and universal time.
A start of reflection
After exploring the first stages of the stylistic path and constructing a visually coherent universe, I noticed that what was only a detail at the beginning had taken on particular importance.
Throughout my career, I kept the same type of watch. Small diameter, dressy, leather strap, gold frame, which I changed as needed when the battery of the previous one died, for around thirty euros maximum.
And besides, why pay more? I was a student, I had the time on my smartphone, so my only ambition was to have a complement to my outfit that would properly create an illusion.
Seen from afar, these watches may even earn you compliments.
However, curiosity in stylistic matters inevitably leads to a path that is still vague, both in its direction and in its form, that of the search for authenticity.
Often, this research takes a step forward: no longer considering an object in a purely functional way, and giving space to what is incidental, to what is detailed, because it is often in the detail that beauty appears.
A glass in scratch-resistant sapphire. The material of a case that remains resplendent despite the years. A slightly worked dial. And above all, a mechanism, a set of numerous cogs assembled by the hand of man, capable of giving life to the hands, of recharging thanks to the movements of its wearer, and above all of keeping time with panache.
All these details, which certainly do not enter into the choice of the majority of people buying a watch, relegated to economy class in the face of style, managed to pique my curiosity.
I had to know more.
The first research
In the spring of 2016, I therefore began - as a curious person who has already explored several areas considered ancillary to style - my quest for information.
After delving into the specialized media and enthusiast forums, I came away more erudite from a few scholarly names on the components of a movement. And I start looking for the rare pearl.
Very quickly, I realized that an automatic movement with a design corresponding to my desires, at a new price, does not really fit into a student's budget. Or not at all.
Fortunately, I know that there is a real second-hand and vintage market and that I will surely have to look in that direction.
And when you're looking, you have to have a broad perspective. Etsy and its vintage resellers, Ebay and its connoisseur auctions, FàM and its classified ads where even second-hand goods are weighed in kilo-euros. Although I am able to make a selection, I feel that I still lack a lot of information to start purchasing a second-hand part. I am unable to verify for myself whether a watch is truly in good condition.
Fortunately, my research was done neither in a day nor in a week and I was able to see, on the forum of your favorite blog, which I frequent regularly, a regular poster on the topic dedicated to watches (Don), who seems to have experience that goes well beyond just design.
And the wonderful thing about a community is that when you send a polite and interested message to an enthusiast, they respond, and often at quite a length.
You still have to be curious yourself: I didn't ask him to make a selection for my budget by giving him some indications on the design, I arrived with a visually coherent selection of 4-5 pieces , in different ranges and questions about their technical characteristics.
After a few discussions, Don suggested that we discuss all this over a drink. Which I accept with pleasure, it's always cool to exchange with enthusiasts.
My meeting with Don
The appointment is made for the end of the week, a Saturday lunchtime, in the heart of Paris. We are in the heart of summer 2016.
After a few wanderings in a fairly busy area of Saint-Paul, I arrived at the meeting place. The large blue door that I pass through opens onto the courtyard of a former private mansion, the Hôtel de Marle, renovated in the 1970s on the initiative of André Malraux, and which houses the Swedish Institute.
The interior walls of the courtyard are lined with green trees, and an imposing square of lawn is outlined on the ground, surrounded by gravel.
Opposite the entrance are the hotel's white walls with high windows, and tables with parasols are scattered at their feet.
Why the Swedish Institute, you ask? For Swedish women, because they are pretty. Don't criticize me, it wasn't me who chose.
The Swedish Institute café, the kind of place that makes you want to take a break, right?
I join Don at one of the tables, and we strike up a conversation very easily. From the start, I was surprised by his ability to popularize the subject. He seems to know every little nook and cranny, and yet his very advanced technical knowledge is easily accessible to the quasi-neophyte that I am.
Very quickly, he notices that I have never tried anything other than a quartz watch , and suggests that I try the one he wears on his wrist, a Longines Master Collection Chrono mounted on a Japanese-inspired nato bracelet, just to experience the sensation of wearing a timepiece on your wrist.
The conclusion is clear. The piece he hands me is much heavier, dense, dazzling, in a word much more luxurious, than anything I have worn until then. Up close, the gap with a low-end watch becomes more pronounced.
From the guilloché pattern of the dial, on which long blue hands stood out, to the steel of the case, the difference with what I knew then is obvious. But even more astonishing, the second hand continues its course with elegance, with a uniform movement which results, up close, from several small jumps per second.
Seeing my surprised look, Don offers to return the watch. And that’s when the magic happens. The transparent background allows you to contemplate the mechanism in action . And the abstract cogs that I had in mind took shape before my eyes and came to life.
The oscillating weight, iridescent and engraved with the name of the house, covered part of the mechanism, but I can see the balance wheel, a real conductor around its axis.
The magic of discovering the mechanism of a beautiful timepiece
Close to my ear, far from hearing a measure beaten to the second, the cadence of the movement is, to the rhythm of the pendulum, a veritable little mechanical symphony, and I remain amazed by this visual and melodic ensemble.
To my great despair, my interlocutor was between me and the only means of exit, I found myself forced to give him back his watch.
Fortunately, surely used to making innocent people dream, he brought me two other watches from his collection which correspond to the criteria of my research, to allow me to refine my idea.
And what is certainly most captivating when you talk to an enthusiast is that the different timepieces are associated with a story about the design, about the movements, about the place occupied by this guy watch in the society of the time. Even on the historical links between the century-old firms that gave birth to them and the political and military frameworks of the 20th century (and before!).
So I first try a vintage Lip, an automatic watch with copper numerals on a black dial of only 33mm, allowing me to test my taste for small diameters, the entire selection that I sent to him on the forum being less than 36mm.
Then, a watch that met all of my criteria at that time, a Longines Conquest Vintage 35mm , with a burgundy leather strap turning black, a silver case and hour markers marked by golden triangles, on sunray silver dial. In a word, elegance personified.
The back of the watch is encrusted with a medallion in champlevé enamel and gold. I could have fallen in love with it, but this watch is well above my budget at the time (and above all, as he has since repeated to me, it is not for sale, profiteer!).
Coming out of this meeting, my curiosity and my desire were fueled even more, and I remain determined to acquire a beautiful timepiece.
Would you resist this Longines Conquest?
We're going shopping!
To get a more precise idea of the market and my tastes, I understand, I need to try several watches. I then followed the advice given to me by Don, and went to the largest Parisian multi-brand dedicated to luxury watchmaking, Bucherer.
In front of the Bucherer boutique, bd des Capucines in Paris, we are very far from a small designer boutique
It's always a surprising, not to say confusing, moment to enter a store with a doorman, who unlocks the door as you pass. And what is even more disconcerting is to contemplate these displays where the prices range serenely from the slightly indecent to the uninhibited stratospheric.
That day, I wore my best selvedge jeans, with my best Lanvin sneakers, a natural indigo dyed t-shirt and an overdyed suede leather jacket, because those are really the kind of details that stand out in the eyes of the first person to shout that yes, if that happens, I will go to Vacheron Constantin and buy five watches. Crazy credibility.
Nevertheless, and in complete contrast to many Parisian boutiques where sales advisors only deal with customers who will allow them to have a better commission at the end of the month, the welcome is on the contrary very pleasant and attentive. Of course, you risk being greeted by around fifteen people in black suits during your pilgrimage, but we are happy to offer you the opportunity to try different models, or even make a selection based on your budget and your needs. criteria, knowing that, in the majority of cases, you will not buy.
Watches presented by the dozens, but still no favorites!
This is how in two hours on site, after having visited the three floors of the building and having looked at pieces ranging from a little over 600 euros to a little over 600,000 euros, I established with a recommend a selection of three or four watches, from Oris, Rado or Longines.
All have more or less the criteria of what I'm looking for, but I haven't fallen in love with them, although I could have settled for a very beautiful A.Lange&Söhne with moon phase, by multiplying my budget initial by about 500.
And finally, the little Grail
Finally, a few weeks later, in September 2016, Don asked me to take a trip to show me his latest do want . A magnificent Pequignet Manufacture watch , a French watch brand which still produces its manufacture movements in France, and which was one of the most innovative houses of the end of the 20th century.
And he also tells me that he is going to have to make room in his large watch box, which is full to overflowing. That day he wore a very beautiful vintage watch on his wrist, an Oris Big Crown Pointer Date , which he made me try.
Oris Big Crown Pointer Date in the sun! It's so versatile that you can even pair it with a BonneGueule shirt.
It's a favorite. Its bee-shaped hour and minute hands as well as its Pointer Date complication, which points the date with a hand, give it a little offbeat touch, on a very elegant whole. I ask him, curious, what he plans to do with the model I have on my wrist. He tells me that he likes it a lot, but doesn't wear it enough. So it was after some time of heartbreaking reflection that he agreed to part with it to make room, and that I became the purchaser of my first timepiece.
And here is her current bracelet, in green crocodile!
And now ?
The first few days, I think I wasted 15 minutes each morning watching the mechanism turn in the transparent back. To wind the watch, to change the date, the time, and just to entertain myself with this mechanical orchestra, which does not work with the baton, but with the crown.
The secret is perhaps one of the rare things that can make modern life mysterious or wonderful, and the most banal thing is a delight , as soon as it is hidden. Through this window, entirely hidden from the knowledge of the layman, I can take pleasure in contemplating what lies beneath the surface. And I now understand better this admiration of the mechanism, always more complex and elaborate, which imposes itself on enthusiasts as obvious, well before the style.
We wouldn't say no to this very pretty Longines Legend Diver.
Above all, for a long time I thought that a single watch would be enough for me, but around fifteen months after this purchase and, although I still love my piece as much, because it is an investment that one does not regret, I am starting to be interested in other models, and surely, in the long term, I will be tempted.
For the moment, several fittings but still no purchase, my only potential desires exceeding 1000 euros. And it remains a budget that I prefer to put elsewhere for the moment.
The bottom line of this story is that I will surely prove wrong this maxim that my mother repeated to me: “Curiosity doesn’t cost much!” ".
Far too much “I”, not enough curiosity and true open-mindedness. Everyone has their own motivations but it is always more pleasant to interact with someone curious and open like Gwénaël.
His approach interested me because he had a long journey in the construction of his style. In the same way that you don't redeem yourself by acquiring a watch, you don't develop your style by accumulating clothes appearing here and there on Instagram.
I remember our exchanges with friendship and I continue to follow with interest the development of his passion for watchmaking. From my experience, it is better to take a gradual path. And you have to try, try, try. Don't limit yourself to what you think might suit you.
Be wary of slick photos in the media and, where possible, experiment as much as possible. You will see, barriers will fall: a diameter which seemed too large for your wrist (and vice versa) will ultimately suit you: the 42mm of the Longines Legend Diver appear large on paper for a person used to 36mm, this is not the case .
Brand names should not frighten either, acquiring a watch is not acquiring social status and, in the same way, one should not give too much importance to the ready-made thoughts that some give to a few brands that do not. have no other fault than being vaguely known to the general public.
Watches should be a personal pleasure, not a propaganda tool for your wrist or your person.
