3-Watch Thursday #61
A note from a subscriber, Nomos and Watch Culture at Work
Good morning all,
Happy Thursday. This week I’ve successfully managed to get the day right for the newsletter.
A couple of exciting updates my end.
I received an incredible reply to the last email, that I will share below.
This is the second week in a row of 3-Watch Thursday in a while (Great Success)
Yahoo auctions has some gems (maybe you already know that).
So without further ado, let’s get straight into 3-Watch related things.
Re: Rolex Prices in 1968
Following my inclusion of Eric Wind’s article last week on Role prices in 1968, Doug LaViolette of the LaViolette Foundation reached out to share what he was up to in 1968.
Pictured second from the right he shares that he was busy buying beers instead of Rolex watches, ‘but then again the highest pay as a Sergeant E5 I [he] received $255 a month’.
You may recognise the name LaViolette from the Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation, where a Swatch wristwatch donated by His Holiness Pope Francis sold as the most expensive Swatch ever sold.
Doug has hinted that there are some pretty interesting stories behind the watches of the next auction and I can’t wait to share them in due course.
Buying, Selling, & Collecting Finding Hidden Gems From Nomos With The Help Of Two Of Lange's Master Watchmakers
With all the hype of LVMH Watch Week (I’ll leave that for Chris Hall tomorrow), I was more surprised than I might otherwise have been to see such a piece on collectable Nomos watches on Hodinkee.
Definitely worth a read, as Nomos have always offered great value German watchmaking. As Mark eloquently puts it, collectable Nomos offers an answer to the question:
What if you wanted to build a special collection without it representing your retirement nest egg?
Many of these watches fall into that neo-vintage 90s window where every other watch brand is having a bit of a resurgence, but for Nomos it doesn’t feel neo-vintage. They feel somewhat exactly the same as today, but special and collectable in their own way. Whilst they are older than the reincarnation of Lange, there’s this feeling that they’re younger.
Maybe Nomos hasn’t received much hype due or interest due to where they are in the industry at the minute. Many think Nomos have gone stale, but surely that’s more reason to go out and collect the back catalogue. As demonstrated in this article, many of these watches were produced in such low numbers and are so hard to get, there will almost always be a hunt to find them.
Regardless, I had no idea many of the watches existed before this week and now want them all. You should really check it out here.
Don’t Wear Your Expensive Watch To The Office Unless…
I love a good opinion piece like this over at Fratello.
You just know the comments section will be packed.
One thing I agree with though is:
Most watches will not be recognized
Worth a quick read if you’re into these kinds of articles.
That’s all from me this week.
Maybe you’re wondering why I haven’t addressed point number 3 from the intro?
It’s because I want to beat you all to the good watches 🙃.
In all seriousness though, I know it’s been written about before finding great watches from the Japanese market, but if you’re a fan of the hunt, you’ll love diving into Yahoo Auctions in Japan. You truly never know what you might find.
With that, have a lovely weekend when we get there and see you next week.
Owen
Do you know when the next Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation auction will be scheduled?