Among car enthusiasts, a familiar saying is that if you don’t look back at your car after you parked it, you bought the wrong one. Although slightly different, I feel that the same thing goes for watches. Here, I would say that if you have to look twice to tell the time, you bought the right one. It is a common joke for my girlfriend to ask me the time when she sees me checking my watch. More often than not, I have to look again, as I was admiring everything except the exact position of the hands.

Realizing that the right watches leave you enamored can also lead to some confronting conclusions. Many years ago, I bought an Omega Speedmaster Professional. An impressive watch by all means, and I was very excited to get it. Unfortunately, when on the wrist, there was no magic. When I checked to see the time, that was exactly what I did and nothing more. This doesn’t say anything about the Speedmaster, but more about me, and that this Omega simply wasn’t my watch. Through this experience, I learned that I am more of a Seamaster and Constellation kind of guy, and there is nothing wrong with that.
I even made a deal with myself that whenever I don’t have the look twice experience with a watch in my collection, it has to go. This is quite a thing, as some watches I have admired for years, are considered icons or took a long time to get, only get to enjoy a short stay with me. Despite all this, and while they are great watches in their own right...