"Upheaval" — that's the word that jumps to mind when I think about how the past year has shaped my watch collection. At the beginning of 2022, my collection felt a little out of sorts; lost, and without direction. I believe this came about from 2021 being a year still marred by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, life was still noticeably impacted by COVID, and as such my collection was a mix of adventure-eager timepieces and tired vintage pieces that had aged out of their days of wanderlust long ago. Whether consciously or subconsciously, I was resolute to fix my disjointed collection in 2022. As chance had it, 2022 would be a year where the fog of COVID would finally begin to lift (at least for many in the U.S.), borders would begin to open, and life, for the first time in a long time, would begin to feel normal again.
Upheaval and change go together like spaghetti and meatballs, and 2022 would see my collection go through significant changes. In this "State of the Collection" series, I'll share what changed and why a given piece was moved on from, added, or kept in the collection. Given the length of this topic, I've elected to break up my posts into three distinct parts. Part one will review what left the collection in 2022, part two will look at new watches that were added, and finally, and finally, in part three, we'll look at the enduring pieces of the collection. With that overview out of the way, let's dig into part one.
What Left the Collection
Aquastar Deepstar Chronograph
I originally purchased this piece to fill the void of not having a chronograph in my collection. It looked great in photos (particularly the stunning grey dial variant) and its quirky dial layout and dive-table bezel appealed to me. Furthermore, the fact that this was a diving chronograph with a supremely legible 30-minute chronograph subdial effectively sealed the deal. Unfortunately, upon receiving the watch I quickly realized this piece fell victim to its proportions. On my 6 3/4" wrist, the nearly 15mm thickness from the thick movement and protruding case back combined with shorter skin-diver style lugs made the watch wear similar to a UFO saucer. This lack of wearability ultimately forced me to move on from the Deepstar shortly after acquiring it. In a cruel twist of irony, Aquastar would go on to introduce a 39mm Deepstar later in the year that purportedly solved this wearability problem. Just my luck.
Omega Genève circa 1969
This was one of three watches I moved on from in May when my girlfriend, Monica, and I bought our first house together. This example was a simple, time-only watch with applied markers, sword hands, a sunburst grey dial, and a vintage-style applied Omega logo and text. What made this piece special was not on the dial side but on the case back of the watch, which was engraved with Japanese characters and a logo that read "Mr. Tatsuo Egami - gift from Yomiuri Ikuei Shougakukai - Yomiuri education scholarship society". I loved the idea that this watch was gifted from a mentor to a student. It could have simply been a gift or a merit of accomplishment. Regardless, I found this engraving immensely endearing. Ultimately this Omega was not getting enough wrist time and while I would love to keep every watch I buy, it was best for me to move on from it so someone else could enjoy and wear it.
Universal Genève Polerouter Date Ref. 204610-2
This was another one that left the collection because of the house purchase. Unlike the Omega, this one was noticeably more uncomfortable to let go. This piece was all original, had an unpolished case, a patinated black dial that appeared to be turning tropical, a signed crown, a stand-alone Universal Genève "U" applied logo, and a beautifully clear Polerouter logo on the case-back. Despite the Polerouter's charming aesthetic qualities it fell victim to its caliber 218-2 movement lacking a quickset date. It did have a sort of "semi-quickset," where you could cycle the date slightly quicker by winding counterclockwise after the date change beyond 8 o'clock and then reversing clockwise past 12 again, but it still seemed to take ages. Additionally, I still had a precious metal Polerouter in my collection (more on this later), so to restore the cash coffers after the house purchase, this was sold as well.
Unimatic U3-F
The U3-F came and went quicker than any other watch I've owned. Similar to the Deepstar, I purchased this to add a chronograph back into the collection. Again, I went after a dive-oriented chronograph to fill the void but after a single wear, I knew I had made a mistake. I still enjoy the visual design of this watch, even now after selling it. The flaw with the U3-F lay in its function. The first functional issue was that it lacked a running seconds hand, which is critical for a dive watch to ensure the watch is still running while at depth. The second issue was that the right-hand subdial was a 24-hour indicator rather than a chronograph hour. This robbed the watch of a more practical chronograph in lieu of tracking 24 hours which is practically useless unless you exist in an environment without access to the sun. The combination of these two flaws left me feeling that the product had failed both as a functional diver's watch and as a reliable chronograph. The U3-F attempted to be both a diver and a chronograph and, in my opinion, failed at both. The only redeeming moment in this brief story was I was able to move it on to its next owner relatively quickly. A real shame as I really wanted to like this one.
Seiko SPB143
The SPB143 was the watch I chose to get open-water certified in and that is a memory I'll always have associated with this watch. When it came to function, I found the SBP143 to be more than capable of the task of scuba diving. Furthermore, it fit the visual mold I like for a diver and for my daily style — clean, crisp, with a flare of individuality. It has, in my opinion, one of the best grey sunburst dials I've seen on a modern dive watch. This combined with the vintage hallmarks of the 62MAS made this a watch that was ready for just about any occasion you'd throw at it. However, I was ultimately let down by the 6R35 movement in this watch. While it is well-recorded that some of these movements operate fantastically, mine performed closer to Seiko's quoted precision marks for the 6R35 at nearly +25 seconds per day. Over time this precision (or lack thereof) got to me. The 70-hour power reserve seemed diminished when I had to correct the watch if I wanted to wear it for consecutive days. Even though it didn't last, we had some excellent memories together, and much like in romance, this one was better to have love and lost than to have never loved at all. As you will see in part two of this series, this watch may have had the largest overall impact on my collection and really shaped my taste for dive watches throughout 2022.
Tudor Heritage Black Bay ref. 79220N
The crown jewel in my watch regrets. Not just from 2022, but in my entire collector journey. My dear smiley dial "Black Rose". This was the watch that really got me into watches. It was the third piece I let go of as I was recouping cash after my house purchase. At the time I sold this, I felt a need to trim down the number of time-only pieces in my collection. Additionally, it wasn't getting as much wrist time, which for me, is almost always a sign that I'm ready to move on from a piece. The dealer I sold this to (one I consider a good friend) made me an offer well above what I had paid for it back in 2018, nearly double in fact. I knew if I let it go, I wouldn't be able to get it back, and certainly not at the price I paid in 2018. For a short time, I didn't miss it and thought I had made the right decision but eventually, I felt the sharp sensation of regret creep in and haven't been able to shake it since. Since recovering cash after my house purchase, I've been hunting one down. I'm confident I'll add one back to the collection. When? Who knows, but I've got a hunch it will be sooner, rather than later.
Part two coming soon...
That wraps up the watches that left my collection in 2022. To summarize the breadth of change this represents, I had a total of 13 watches entering 2022 and as you can see above, six were sold during the year. By the end of the year, my collection would grow to a total of 15 watches, six of which were new additions. Read on to part two to see which watches I added during 2022.