Oh, this awful hobby...

only kidding.

Watches are fun!

Usually cheaper than cars and they take up less room in the garage. Maintenance is about the same. Enjoying a watch takes less time than a round of golf. And you can play with them in any weather condition. They're easy to hide. They come in cool boxes. You can hunt for them all over the world. You can get them to match any outfit. Age is not a factor, although some would say the older the better. They come in all sizes. You can get high maintenance ones or ones that require no thought or effort at all. Yes, watches are fun regardless of cost.

They can be status symbols, although most of us can't read or recognize them unless they're right in front of our eyes. There's thousands of them on Ebay at any given time. Our grandparents had pocket and purse watches. There's plenty of legends and lore, magazines and books, plus thousands of web sites (including this one) dedicated to them. And watch collectors have their own lingo and buzzwords.

There are status brands, luxury brands, unknown brands, craftsman's brand, discount brands, However this site deals with my love of high-end mechanical watches.

High-end mechanical means in most cases a watchmaker or other highly skilled artisans designed, produced, assembled, and finished the watches. Some complicated watches from Blancpain even have the watchmakers signature engraved underneath the dial of the watch.

Here's an example of a high-mech watch. Click on this link.

Blancpain Perpetual Calendar Flyback Chronograph

If you want to learn more the best place on the web is the community of watch lovers, collectors and friends called www.timezone.com