When Worlds Collide

Yes, I made the muggles take a wrist shot with me!

This past week, I was at a work conference. As an avid watch fan, I spent a fair amount of time looking at wrists, trying to discern what people were wearing. Of course, it started on the plane ride while we were boarding. Nothing of note—perhaps the Seattle crowd on this particular day just wasn’t happy to wear “real” watches. There were plenty of Apple and Samsung watches, but nothing that fit what I was looking for.

At my conference, there was more of the same, for the most part. However, a couple of friends at the conference came through for me. One wore a nice Timex that he’d started wearing many years ago, and it looked distinguished on his wrist. When I pointed out that he was wearing a watch, another in our group mentioned that she, too, had brought multiple watches she’d “inherited” through the separation of family members. It was a great feeling to see people in my work group wearing watches and sharing in the hobby that I’ve embraced so much.

I finally spotted a Rolex wearer who had a unique piece on—a James Cameron Sea-Dweller. It looked stunning, but when I asked the gentleman at the restaurant (sitting alone at the bar) about it, he wasn’t interested in talking further. I can’t blame someone in this day and age for not wanting to discuss their expensive watch in a public setting. I get it—who wants to get mugged later in the parking lot? Now, I don’t think this was a place to worry about such things, and I tried to show him that I, too, was a watch fan by showing him my Tudor Pelagos 42mm, but it wasn’t meant to be. I got the proverbial “no thanks,” and I moved on with my evening.

As the conference progressed, I found out that another friend who works for a watch brand was going to be in town and was able to meet up with me and my colleagues. My colleagues have no idea about this second life I live—the one where I write about watches and have social media pages dedicated to this hobby. As my friend joined my “Muggle” party, it became apparent to the group that watches were important to me, and they were intrigued when he broke out two watch boxes full of pieces for everyone to try on.

I’ll write more about what we tried on in another post—it’s not critical for this piece. It was just fun to expose my friends to this world, for them to show interest, and to see that this was something I was passionate about, completely separate from work.

The best moment came when my watch-brand friend asked if I wanted to borrow the watch off his wrist to work on an article about the brand. Why would someone trust another person with a few thousand dollars in watch form? Wait, they cost how much? How do you get someone to do that? My colleagues had questions, for sure. It was really enjoyable.

I told another watch buddy (Wuddy) of mine about this, and he said that in the watch fam, we become friends at an exponentially faster rate than in other friendships. We trust, we share, and we open up much faster because we have this shared interest in common. And rarely do you meet someone who wants to spend time talking watches who’s rude or discourteous. It’s one of the best things about the watch community—once you know you’re in the tribe, you’re connected.

I know I didn’t create any new enthusiasm amongst my colleagues, but it was fun to expose them to a part of my life that’s really important to me. It was also fun for them to see me as fairly knowledgeable (compared to them), which was a nice feeling. I’m not nearly as knowledgeable as most of you that I get to have regular watch conversations with. I’m learning, and that’s really enough for me. I learn and write, then learn some more. Along the way, I get to connect with amazing people and try new watches. Occasionally, I even get to play with new watch straps (Thanks, Artem!) or other toys in the watch world.

I do this for fun. I have a day job, like most of you. If I were ever able to make a career out of this, I’d certainly explore it in great detail. I’m simply not there yet, and that’s great too! I just like this stuff, and it keeps me energized to have this amazing group of people to geek out with. I’m heading to another watch meetup this weekend, and I can’t wait to write more about that. I’ll even be delivering watch mugs to some of the group! Something I never would have thought would come out of my mouth prior to joining this community… it just happens.

Thanks for letting me share this short note with you! I really appreciate you taking the time to read it, and please feel free to reach out and share your stories with me too! I’d love to connect.

Take care!

Adam

@Watchcology on Instagram