What is your Grail watch?

[seanusmaximus]

Im afraid it would have to be the technical masterpieces from TAG in the past two baselworld expos, the TAG mikropgraph 1/100 and the even more impressive 1/1000... which can only run its function for 5mins apparently before it runs out of power in the spring... By the by, I really thing the rose gold 1/100 is a stunner if you can stump up £35,000 hahahahahahah!

[MSK1974]

The most complicated Panerai ever........ The PAM 365 for me every time....... When I have a spare 200K+

http://www.hodinkee....i-in-all-t.html

Sweet Lord have mercy, I almost wee'd in my pants. That one left me speechless and a tribute to GG, I better start saving. PeteM you got yourself a new fan.

Yours truly.

[gran]

This particular one...

Now that is one presidental watch great design but what is the origin of the Vulcain name?

[slask111]

Oh im so simple. 30y+ and my grail is now the PO

Oh im so simple. 40y+ and my grail is now the Rolex Deep Sea or Submariner

Oh im so simple. 50y+ and my grail is now the IWC Portuguese

Oh im so simple. 60y+ and my grail is now all of the above. Plus a few more i guess.. its a long way still to go

A yes a 911 in the garage aswell.. will look good to all watches mentioned above.

[freddy333]

I think I answered this last year

[donerix]

The Grail:

I have been thinking for a quite some time now and I always get confused with the term "grail":

By definition it is: "the object of an extended or difficult quest"

So my ongoing Angelus 6152-1 project (16 months in the making) and my just started 6542 Franken ( so far I only have a gen mid case) would qualify.

But if I look at my grail watch as the watch that I would buy if money and availability where taken out of the equation I don't know if I could really just settle for one watch (which would make life probably a lot easier).

Or if I think of "The perfect watch":

Then I want the stylishness of a vintage Rolex Cosmograph or Big Crown, the size and wrist presence of a Panerai 6152-1 and the ruggedness and everyday convenience (including water-resistance) of a modern Sea-Dweller - ALL IN ONE WATCH.

While my GWSD of all my watches probably comes the closest to these goals it still doesn't give me that ultimate satisfaction that I am looking for.

The AP Diver gave me some goose bumps, but somehow the weird mix of elitist sky-high gen price tag and readily available mass produced reps in amazing quality (V2) take away from that special feel - it's like buying a DVD with Eva Mendez knowing that she will never return my imaginary phone calls and just hitting rep(lay) over and over.

Maybe the quest has to continue for that there will always be a grail watch - seemingly unobtainable.

But then maybe one day someone will build my personal Ultimate model, until then I will happily try out every watch that gets me ticking

[MSK1974]

The Grail:

I have been thinking for a quite some time now and I always get confused with the term "grail":

By definition it is: "the object of an extended or difficult quest"

So my ongoing Angelus 6152-1 project (16 months in the making) and my just started 6542 Franken ( so far I only have a gen mid case) would qualify.

But if I look at my grail watch as the watch that I would buy if money and availability where taken out of the equation I don't know if I could really just settle for one watch (which would make life probably a lot easier).

Or if I think of "The perfect watch":

Then I want the stylishness of a vintage Rolex Cosmograph or Big Crown, the size and wrist presence of a Panerai 6152-1 and the ruggedness and everyday convenience (including water-resistance) of a modern Sea-Dweller - ALL IN ONE WATCH.

While my GWSD of all my watches probably comes the closest to these goals it still doesn't give me that ultimate satisfaction that I am looking for.

The AP Diver gave me some goose bumps, but somehow the weird mix of elitist sky-high gen price tag and readily available mass produced reps in amazing quality (V2) take away from that special feel - it's like buying a DVD with Eva Mendez knowing that she will never return my imaginary phone calls and just hitting rep(lay) over and over.

Maybe the quest has to continue for that there will always be a grail watch - seemingly unobtainable.

But then maybe one day someone will build my personal Ultimate model, until then I will happily try out every watch that gets me ticking

Well said Donerix!

[Nanuq]

Donerix, I've found that a "grail" is an elusive concept. I have all the bases covered in vintage gens, and each was a quest in its own right to get into the stable. I've got, IMHO according to my tastes, the epitome of each category of sport/tool watch made by certain iconic watch makers, none being newer than 1974. When each one fell into my trembling hands I felt "yes, now I have finished, I am satisfied and my collection is complete."

And yet, those pieces that I lost sleep over, sometimes for years, now gather dust on my shelf.

It's the song of the stainless steel siren.

[MSK1974]

Reading the two posts above by Donerix and Nanuq, got me thinking if such a thing as this "grail" even exist? Now one could argue that it does and the road is a straight and narrow one much like a computergame, you defeat one "boss" to go onto the next and harder "boss". Much the same way we seem to start out either with a canal rep. or a 10$ Thailand rep. and from there progressively end up with better and more expensive rep's or gen's, most of us. I know there are others who are fortunate enough to be born wealthy and start off with the genuine article, but ultimatly we end up, at some point, on the same crossroad. I will argue it is not quite that simple;

The reason being like Nanuq stated above, I wonder why those pieces you elegedly lost sleep over, gathers dust? Is that not what collecting is, in and of themselves they are, im sure, beautifull pieces in their own right. Whether on your wrist or as you said gathers dust. In your case I would actually display them in my house or my apartment. So whenever I do have visitors they would get a chance to look at these pieces as well, much like a museum.

Esthetics is a subject thats about as slippery as an eel to get a hold on, I read Hegel's Esthetics once when I studied philosophy and was left none the wiser about what beauty is, was or will be. Why is it X can absolutly hate something and 10-15 years passes and the same X suddenly find it pleasing, another 10 years pass by and same X is then in love with the same said thing X hated 25 years ago. Now you would probably say, well thats pretty simple, life is what happens. I agree fully, but then life never was simple and what makes you tick now didnt make you tick even a year ago, then what is it, is it you get older? Is it change? If you start making up all the variables accounting for the changes over a course of say 10 years, all the combined computing power in the entire world would be hard pressed to come up with an answer. Heck you are not even you in a metaphysical sense. BUT once in a blue moon there does seem to come along something esthetically pleasing that DOES not come between cultures and seem to be of a universal sort, something that is pleasing to all of us. Come to think of it I actually believe that was the point of Hegel to begin with, something that is esthetically pleasing to all of us.

Maybe my friends that is the grail!!

...and if im rambling please tell me to go sit and sulk in a corner.

p.s. English is not my native language, so excuse me if there are spelling mistakes.

Edited July 19, 2011 by MSK1974

[lhooq]

Pffftt... Philosophy majors.

[Nanuq]

If a Grail ticks in the forest and there's nobody there to appreciate it, does it still show the correct time?

[MSK1974]

If a Grail ticks in the forest and there's nobody there to appreciate it, does it still show the correct time?

Good one Nanuq, one could argue that it does, but thats an entirely different thread.

[freddy333]

I would actually display them in my house or my apartment. So whenever I do have visitors they would get a chance to look at these pieces as well, much like a museum.

I would reconsider your premise as it is a good way to have your stuff pinched (stolen). Especially, in the case of Rolex-branded watches, it is always best to stay under the radar.

[Watchmeister]

As a number of said there is most likely no end-all or be-all for me. It is always changing. It used to be haute horologie dress watches with complications (i.e. Patek, Breguet, etc.). Then I actually had the luxury of partaking in that space and got completely disillusioned when they all spent more time in Switzerland being repaired then on my wrist. I then moved onto "tool" watches whether it be Panerai, Rolex or whatever. I am now enjoying the haute horologie tool watch space with the AP's and perhaps ultimately a Blancpain or Jaeger but now I lust for an exotic non-traditional watch. So today my current grail would have to be one of the Uhrwerke turbine watches. But ask me a agaimn tomorrow and you may get a different answer.

[MSK1974]

I would reconsider your premise as it is a good way to have your stuff pinched (stolen). Especially, in the case of Rolex-branded watches, it is always best to stay under the radar.

.....and I would then consider what kind of clientel I invite into my home.

[Utheman]

If a Grail ticks in the forest and there's nobody there to appreciate it, does it still show the correct time?

What if there were no hypothetical situations?

[dluddy]

I am always perplexed when I hear the term grail and having it associated with a single watch, as others have said.

But, the two genuines I aspire to own, once I get back on my feet financially and get my daughter through schooling and into adulthood, would be:

JLC Master Compressor Memovox - I have the rep which is good but having the real deal with a working alarm would be better.

OMEGA 1960's Cal 322 Speedmaster Moonie

and

My birth watch is a 1960 Gilt Dial Rolex 5512

item of interest is the new PAM 372

[lhooq]

You have all chosen... poorly:

[Nanuq]

You have all chosen... poorly:

My God, that's a ... *gasp* ... a genuine INDIANA JONES PEPSI??

Sweet Lord Jesus, I thought they were only rumored to exist. In fact, I can safely say this is the only photo I have ever seen of one.

That's it, LHOOQ wins the über grail award. I am not worthy.

[PeteM]

My God, that's a ... *gasp* ... a genuine INDIANA JONES PEPSI??

Sweet Lord Jesus, I thought they were only rumored to exist. In fact, I can safely say this is the only photo I have ever seen of one.

That's it, LHOOQ wins the über grail award. I am not worthy.

Certainly a winner.... I think LH had to carefully replace that one on its pedestal with a bag of Vintage Rolexs so as not to set off the flying spears and big rolling ball !!!

[Nanuq]

Certainly a winner.... I think LH had to carefully replace that one on its pedestal with a bag of Vintage Rolexs so as not to set off the flying spears and big rolling ball !!!

[ubiquitous]

I think some of you nailed it; the idea or perception of a grail is a moving target, always being redefined and ever changing. As such... Does a 'grail' really exist? Cause the way I've come to understand it, a grail should be one of those end all, be all kinds of things.

I don't think that's really possible... Is it?

[chris5264]

the whole myth of a grail is just a little more than what we have....remember how Rockefeller replied to the question... how much money is enough, and he responded just a litte more than I have....this is the myth of the grail ..it is always a moving target.

Edited July 20, 2011 by chris5264

[lhooq]

I personally think that you can have a grail, find it after a long search, then rest on your laurels. Or maybe I just want to believe.

What irks me is how frequently the term gets tossed around to mean any watch you might want at any given time: "That Liquid Metal Planet Ocean is my grail! So I placed a deposit at the AD." There's got to be more effort to it than that, and working hard for de money shouldn't count. Chuck Maddox (RIP) searched far and wide over a period of years to find his Grail Speedmaster, and spun a ripping good yarn after doing so. I don't expect "Le Morte d'Arthur", but there ought to be some semblance of a quest.

Doesn't have to be genuine either. freddy's 6542 is an excellent example of a grail, even if "it's only a model."

Re the Pepsi Indy watch: I wish it were mine, but sadly it ain't. It has a real "This is a photo of Sean Connery signed by Roger Moore" quality to it!

(For you kids out there, Last Crusade was famously associated with a Diet Coke commercial.)

PeteM: I think one Radiomir would've been heavy enough!

[TeeJay]

I personally think that you can have a grail, find it after a long search, then rest on your laurels. Or maybe I just want to believe.

What irks me is how frequently the term gets tossed around to mean any watch you might want at any given time: "That Liquid Metal Planet Ocean is my grail! So I placed a deposit at the AD." There's got to be more effort to it than that, and working hard for de money shouldn't count. Chuck Maddox (RIP) searched far and wide over a period of years to find his Grail Speedmaster, and spun a ripping good yarn after doing so. I don't expect "Le Morte d'Arthur", but there ought to be some semblance of a quest.

Doesn't have to be genuine either. freddy's 6542 is an excellent example of a grail, even if "it's only a model."

Re the Pepsi Indy watch: I wish it were mine, but sadly it ain't. It has a real "This is a photo of Sean Connery signed by Roger Moore" quality to it!

(For you kids out there, Last Crusade was famously associated with a Diet Coke commercial.)

PeteM: I think one Radiomir would've been heavy enough!

I know what you mean, that's why I don't consider the 7032 a grail watch for me. I like it, but the Heritage has filled that void enough that I'm no longer bothered if I get a 7032, so to me, that's a sure sign that it wasn't a grail watch