Worthy talked to Joe Thompson, the editor-in-chief of WatchTime
magazine, at the inaugural edition of WatchTime New York, a new watch
collector’s exhibition in New York City in October 2015. Joe has written
about watches and the global watch market for 38 years. A frequent
visitor to watch production centers in Europe and Asia, he specializes
in in-depth, analytical articles on watches and the watch industry.
How many watches are there in your collection?
I don’t actually have a collection. I don’t have the wallet. But as a
reporter, this is the industry I cover and it’s fascinating to me. It’s
still fascinating after 38 years. I have a few watches but I’m not a
collector: it would be insulting to a true collector to call me one. I
don’t have important watches.
What watch are you wearing today?
Joe Thompson’s Seiko Kinetic
Today
I’m wearing a Seiko spring-drive Kinetic watch. It’s sort of a hybrid.
It’s a little too large for my tiny wrist but I happen to like it. It’s a
dress watch.
If you could own any watch in the world, which would it be?
It would have to be a Breguet. Because I think Abraham-Louis Breguet
was a genius. He was the inventor of the modern style, he was a
phenomenal technician and craftsman. He was the inventor of the
tourbillion, shock absorption, and many many other things. And he had an
unbelievable life. He was in Paris for the revolution, declared an
enemy of the state. Jean-Paul Marat, one of the terrible revolutionaries
was from Neuchâtel, Switzerland just like him. Marat’s sister worked
for Breguet. And Marat saved Breguet: he came to him and told him: “you
escape tonight, they are coming to get you.” Marat knew because he was
the leader but this was his friend Breguet and he couldn’t let this
happen. All of these things interest me enormously and I do like that
look. I like the guillochet look, the off-center design that he did. Of
course this is doing me no good: I make one friend and 600 enemies. But
if it’s the end and somebody said we’re going to get you any watch, it
would be a Breguet, to be honest.
What watch would you recommend for a collector who’s just starting out?
I don’t recommend. There’s a lot of different ways to do it. A lot of
guys today are starting out on the vintage side because the looks are
great. They are more affordable because they are second hand and you can
get really wonderful products like vintage Tudors or vintage Rolexes
that have been around and they look great on the wrist. What’s great
about young collectors today is that they want real watches. They might
wear a smartwatch but they know the value of a historical wristwatch.
That’s one way in. The industry today has all kinds of options. Today
you can buy a Swiss mechanical watch for $600. You have lots of options
under $1000. Then collectors tend to graduate to starter Rolexes which
have become more expensive now. That’s why vintage has become big.
This
1785 Breguet watch was owned by the Duc de Choiseul-Praslin. Now in the
Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris. Photo by PGHCOM World Imaging.
What can watch collectors learn from WatchTime magazine?
WatchTime readers tell us they learn a lot from WatchTime’s magazine,
website, and social media. WatchTime is best known for its independent
watch tests of major brands like Rolex, Patek Philippe, Vacheron
Constantin, Omega, Breitling, and many, many more. Each watch is
evaluated according to nine criteria, with a numerical score assigned
for each. A final score is based on a 100-point scale. The brands have
absolutely no input into the testing and scoring process. Such
independent scored tests are extremely rare in the watch world and very
useful to readers.
The magazine’s editorial includes in-depth, independent, analytical
articles on watch trends, watch companies, industry issues, and
technical matters, as well as articles on watch people, watch history,
watch markets, watch culture and more.
What was the concept behind WatchTime New York?
The purpose of the show is to bring watch collectors and aficionados
together to meet with top watch brands, and with each other, to
celebrate their common passion: fine mechanical watches. With 20 watch
brands at the show, attendees get to see more watches from more brands
than they can from their local watch dealer. They also get in-depth
information about the watches from the experts; brand owners, CEOs, and
sales and marketing executives are on hand to talk to WatchTime readers.
This kind of access to brand insiders and insider information is rare.
Attendees also get to meet, talk to and spend time with other
collectors, swapping stories and information about their watch
collections and obsessions.
In addition, WTNY offered interesting talks and exhibitions (A. Lange
& Sohne and Seiko has watchmakers working on watches on site) and
events (e.g. a Watches & Whisky reception with prominent watch
blogger Anish Bhatt) that made the show a fun-filled, full-day watch
festival.
vedere di piu
rolex replicas e
Replica Bell & Ross 46mm Model