My Year in Watches: Community as the Center of Enthusiasm
It’s a sneaky secret, but the truth is everyone in the watch world occasionally gets a little tired of watches. Okay, I can’t speak for everyone, and ‘tired’ might be the wrong word, but anyone who has ever worked in an enthusiast field would probably tell you that balancing your own enthusiasm with a professional life can be a tricky thing. Enthusiasm itself is not a boundless resource, and sometimes you can find yourself in need of a cool-down period (something Nathan Schultz described beautifully here). Coming into 2024, I had no idea this year would be one of those cool-down periods (it can be hard to notice one while it’s happening) but looking back at the last twelve months, it’s hard to deny the characterization. It’s not that I love watches any less than I did last year, it’s just that, as I wade deeper into the watch universe, my own collecting has taken a backseat. Going into 2023, I made a conscious decision I wouldn’t buy any watches. Instead, I would save up and make one big purchase at the end of the year. Then I got to March, bought a G-Shock, and opened the floodgates. So when Zach asked me to put a New Year’s Resolution on paper back in January of this year, I went the other way, stating with intention that this would be a buying year and that I would likely end the year with a Tudor, a NOMOS, or both. Instead, I’m ending the 2024 calendar year having bought just three watches, none of which cost more than $110 dollars. I’ve been wh...
Fratello
