You should buy a watch because you like it

I frequent a lot of watch forums, Facebook groups and read a lot of Instagram comments. If you do the same, you will undoubtedly come across someone asking which watch they should get. This is fairly common and the responses tend to show affinity for a watch the person answering owns. What I see even more often is when someone is deciding between two watches. The most common “coin flip” is between an Omega Speedmaster and pretty much anything else.

“Should I get the Speedmaster or a Tudor Black Bay?” “Would you choose the Speedmaster over a Rolex DJ?”

These questions are extremely common, but I saw one the other day and the responses were ridiculous. The person was asking if they should get the Speedmaster or the new Seamaster. There was an abundance of answers to the effect of “You should get the Speedmaster because it has so much history and the Seamaster has LITERALLY none! What are you even thinking?!” Whoa, pump the brakes guys.

I love my Speedmaster and part of the reason I wanted one was because of its history. The reason I care about that history is because I love space and like every other kid I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up (still do). With that said, let’s be real. My Speedmaster has no history whatsoever. It went from Switzerland to a dealer in New Jersey before finding its way to me. I love talking to people about the role the Speedmaster played in space travel but I don’t pretend that mine went to space. The same goes for almost every Speedmaster in existence today.

With all of that said, this brings me to my point. If you are deciding between two watches, buy the one you like. You have already chosen two watches for various reasons, maybe one of those reasons is its history. You are going to wear this watch almost every day and will most likely think more about how it looks and makes you feel than its history. The only reason I would say to buy a watch based on its history is if you are going to be in situations frequently where talking about its history will give you more joy than simply wearing it.

One final footnote. The Seamaster has plenty of history. James Bond wore one for goodness sake.