There most certainly is an elephant in the room and I hope everyone is paying attention.

I felt that both Ron and Jeff’s posts above should get some response so here are some of my views on the issues that have been raised.

I am coming to the end of my fourth year as a watch collector. To some I am just out of diapers and to others I am looked upon as an experienced player in this game. I refer to my pursuit of watches as a game but one for the men and not the boys. If you are a dealer and earn a living from selling watches then it’s a business. But if you are like me and buy far more watches than you sell then it’s a game.

As a game it exhibits all the characteristics that some may remember from the playground – fun, competitiveness, aggression, fights, tears, resolution and of course some rules. The rules on the playground are made up as the game progresses and are adhered to by some to play fair and bent by others for personal advantage. We like to think as men and not boys that everyone will play by the same rules that we impose upon ourselves. But as in life, this is never the case and as men we should have learnt by now how to weed out the good guys from the bad. This is not always evident when you start out but at some point it should become clear or you will be burnt. I have made mistakes, some costly and other less so but I hope that I have learnt something from all these mistakes and not make the same ones again.

For me the fun element of this game is of primary importance. It’s a great distraction from the day to day pressure of life and if it was not fun then it would be yet another pressure that I certainly don’t need. I enjoy owing some amazing watches, wearing them and photographing them for me and others to enjoy. But most of all I enjoy the contact with other like minded people either by telephone, email, forum/OnTheDash or face to face This week I met 5 such people over various lunches, coffee’s and drinks to talk watches. Now that was fun.

Through all this contact relationships develop and grow and once again you lean who the good guys are. Sometimes I am amazed how much trust there is in these relationships that have been nurtured. Whilst doing the book I asked for the help of some community members and the response was unconditionally positive. These people sent me watches without the slightest hesitation. Not everyone would do this but it just illustrates that there are some amazing people out there who have put there trust in me to act accordingly (and I would like to think that I have).

I am not in favour of a set of rules of conduct nor do I agree that a moderator should impose his/her personal views on a public forum. Keep the peace yes but let people have their say whether you agree with it or not. I must say that Jeff has done just that and in 4 years I recall maybe two occasions when posts have been deleted from this forum and only because these were rude and personal attacks by one member on another. Let people have their say, talk up the value of a watch, link to a spectacular price realised for one of our favourite pieces and highlight a dodgy seller. That’s called freedom of speech and what goes with this is freedom of choice – if you don’t like the subject don’t read the post. If you don’t like the attitude or conduct of a community member don’t get involved with them. Conduct yourself as you see fit and mix with those that share your views but remember there is never one way of doing things or a single point of view. If that were the case life itself would be bland.

Finally, prices are on the rise and if you got into this before me you were smart and your toys have substantially increased in value. Market forces are at play and the collectable market be it watches, cars, art etc have all seen tremendous growth in the past three to five years. Nobody can stop this and if you have read this far you are probably like me and can now justify to the wife/partner why you spent so much money and bought so many watches when they all do the same thing and could be had for a fiver. But it does not mean that behaviours need change and in my experience they have not. As I said above there will always be good guys and bad guys in the game and the sooner your lean which one are which the more fulfilling your experiences will be.

Happy holidays to all the good guys out there and best regards
Paul
www.heuerworld.com

PS: the only change I would like to see on this forum is more activity.