It’s Valentine’s Week. Hopefully, I’m not catching you unawares with this information. If I am, hopefully you have enough time to pull something off by the big day.
I’ve been mulling over what it means to love watches for a while now and this week seemed as good a time as any to post some thoughts on the subject of love and how it relates to watches.
As a fairly non-discriminating watch lover, I find that I admire a LOT of watches. I own simple $10 time/date digitals, quartz 2 handers, mechanical and automatic watches and wish I could own watches with many complications costing many tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of dollars. I admire them so much that I use the word ‘Love’ when commenting on posts on different watch forums. Do I love all of them though? How does one person love hundreds & hundreds of watches? Is it even possible? Maybe; maybe not.
If we look at the topic of love through a romantic lens and equate it to say… a long-term relationship or marriage; it seems impossible to love multiple of the same type of thing all equally. If you’ve ever been married or in a long-term relationship, you know how much work and energy it takes to keep one functioning in a healthy way. A monogamous relationship is hard enough that most people choose not to get into polyamourous relationships. Look at the number of divorces and then remember for every marriage there has probably been at least a few failed relationships for each party before the marriage. So loving dozens or hundreds of watches seems implausible, right?
Well, maybe not… If we look at horological love and equate it to how a parent loves their multiple children, it seems achievable. Each child receives love from their parents and over time, that love seems to be pretty equally applied to all of the children.
However, in only the most extreme examples does the number of children a person has even begin to rival the number of watches most enthusiasts possess. For example, I have 25 watches and only 3 kids. Others have reported having hundreds of watches. Hard to imagine that those folks have more than 10 kids. When we also factor in the watches we enthusiasts merely see and appreciate from afar -even in one day in our various forums- that equation gets even more skewed towards the watches. It would be pretty unrealistic for nearly every enthusiast to own every watch they find beautiful or interesting.
In my case, I find the following watches interesting and beautiful: Rolex Milgauss, Omega Speedmaster (multiple references, most notably 3594.50), Omega Seamaster (multiple references), Omega Aqua Terra (multiple references, most notably 220.10.41.21.06.001), Lorier Falcon Series II & Series III, Zenith El Primero, Bulova Devil Diver, Bulova Lunar Pilot, Squale Matic Light Blue Mesh, Doxa Sub 300T Clive Cussler, a Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Skin Diver, a Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Compression Diver, a Breitling Navitimer, a Longines Master Collection, a Longines Legend Diver, Hamilton Ventura, Seiko Presage Negroni and many, many, many more.
Do I love all of those watches though? A number of philosophers have said quite a bit about what love is over the millennia. Two recent examples are the pop singer Beyonce & Mr. Levenstein from American Pie. Beyonce said “if you liked (love is implied) it then you shoulda put a ring on it”. Noah Levenstein (Jim’s dad) said that ‘Love’ is an action word. Love requires action, not just feeling. What action is required to ‘put a ring on it’ as Beyonce is implying? Typically, that type of commitment to the person symbolically represented by the ring requires money to acquire. You have to buy the ring and show the person of your affections that they are worth more than the money the ring cost.
So, what does putting a ring on it mean in regards to watches? It seems obvious, doesn’t it? Loving a watch requires action, it requires that you acquire or buy (action words, aka ‘verbs’) the watch. It requires that you maintain (another action word) it in the lifestyle it has become accustomed to. You must clean it and service it and eventually give it away to someone. So, can you really love a watch you haven’t performed an action to acquire? Can you love a watch you don’t have the pleasure of strapping on now and again? Do you really love all the watches you profess to on forums? Or are you like me and lust after them, hoping that the next one will fill that empty spot in your soul?
Until next time, watch friends.
Unholiest Watches 
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