The Grail Watch

I relate deeply to fellow obsessives and their Grail pursuits – see the recently published G-Shock disclosure from a founding father of this very website.  Our personal quest to discover artefacts of a magical character, tangible gateways to abundant awe and objects of Biblical significance.

Such is the magnitude of these pieces, they possess the attributes to provide :

1. Sustained joy (the kind which only ownership and wrist gazing can bestow)
2. Eternal youth (relevant to the male midlife crisis – affectionately known as menoporsche)
3. The accolade and collective back-slapping of the watch family
4. Design language and brand association to which we relate

One of my earliest memories of personal grail relates to a shopping expedition to Edinburgh’s Princes Street under the shadow of the Scott Monument.  I needed a new watch.  It was a more practical pursuit than passionate pursuit but we all start somewhere.  My purchasing power at the time was seriously wanting.

The previous month I had been down in London at a job interview.  The company was looking for individuals to come in at the lowest level,  sell their soul and begin a daily homage to commission based capital generation.  My interviewer rolled up the window blinds on the 20 something floor and, with his eyes straining in the sunlight, asked me what I saw.

“ Erm, London?”  I said, devoid of anything smarter to add.

“Money! I see money” said the guy, I kid you not.  He told me of his six-figure salary and asked me what I currently earned. On telling him, he looked at me puzzled and said “What?  Do you mean a week?”.  This was a low point, a very low point, but serves as an illustration to where my finances were at the time.  When the guy phoned me back I made my excuses it was not the job for me.

So options were limited but I remember standing in the doorway of I think Fraser Hart gazing in admiration of a Zenith El Primero, one day you will be mine, oh yes you will be mine.  The grail was borne.

Two important factors in my own idolatry were design language, in terms of its aesthetics and practicality, but also image. I hate to admit it but I really cared about what other people thought.

My evolving grail, as I tumbled into watch nerdary, became the Submariner.  In part, it reflected an absolute bomb proof icon of a watch with a timeless aesthetic and instant recognition.  Secondly, it was a Rolex which, to one of Rotherham’s finest, was a lofty aspiration.

I had flirted with homage watches – those with a similar aesthetic and robust material.  I had discussed this with a friend, a no watch friend, who had simply said “Sure, you could go down that route but why would you want to?”.  In terms of the grail, this had sent my brain cells into a spin.  Would buying this homage watch dispel my desire for a Submariner?  Of course, it wouldn’t, for me the homage route was a potential quick fix in aesthetic with none of the brand equity, harsh but true.  Also, it perhaps said something about the perceptions of the wider populous in terms of what it adds in their overall perception of brand ‘you’ or ‘me’ in this example.

It took a while and a little good fortune but I managed to get the real deal. I loved it and continue to do so and it’s one I don’t think I would ever willingly part with, such is my connection to it now.  On occasion I wonder, with the information I now know, whether I would make the same choice of watch but to some degree it just perhaps references a slightly more immature point on the watch obsessives journey – a time before black polished screws, adjustment in six positions and the relative merits of an escapement fashioned from non-metallic material had seeped into the consciousness and where choice was based on a much simpler set of parameters. The good old Sub excelled in this slightly more primitive world view.

Anticipation is often underrated.  It’s a truly beautiful thing as you wait, you plan, you save and then there is a moment, sometimes a scary moment, where fantasy translates to reality.  This struggle ultimately makes the acquisition all the sweeter.  The identification, the comparison, even more, comparison, eventually targeting something over everything else and then the pursuit, to the point of crossing the line and celebrating a personal feat of endurance.

But what then, when the quest ends?  Acquisition begs the question “Where do I go from here?”

Like the concept of the one watch guy, there is a part of you that likes to think you could shut up shop and go home with the prize.  It’s a compelling thought indeed but what about the other half a dozen watches on the watch list/notebook, the innovative unveilings of SIHH and Baselworld being but a breath away and waiting to drop a bombshell on your internal watch prioritisation paradigm.  Also, if we are honest, we enjoy the chase far too much, in our self-constructed horological bubble of potential options that jockey for position on a daily, if not hourly, basis.

So invariably, there is no other option – the process begins again.  Variables are adjusted, new targets acquired, a further pursuit commences.  Perhaps this process diminishes to a degree the grail concept, as our focus shifts on the acquisition and what was once the ultimate becomes the acquired, only for another ultimate to step into this prestigious position.  Or perhaps the grail is just a reference to the current effort and focus before we draw a line on the current search, up the ante and press the reset button.

In my mind, grails reflect those watches that appear just out of reach.  Not so out of reach that the only chance of attaining the watch would be lottery based, reference here to Rick’s Unobtanium list, but perhaps ones that reflect a struggle or a quest to attain the almost unattainable.  After all, in today’s market, it is not simple enough to choose to buy a watch, you have to jump through the respective hoops to land the piece if your aspirational target points towards one of the more in-demand pieces.

There’s also sub-grail / accessible demi-grail watches.  Ones that are more readily attainable, ones you could happily buy and perhaps get a couple for the price of the big sacrificial grail.  This is perhaps the space in which my mind continually dances – especially when patience leans towards the unbearable.  I try to rationalise if Watch A plus Watch B provides more value than The One.  If I bought two cheaper, but quality watches, would I still end up wishing I’d waited, of course, I probably would, the nature of the grail I’m sure.

I originally wrote this with personal examples for Watch A and Watch B but felt it unfair to use specific examples as these could on their own be the embodiment of someone’s grail piece, plus after seeing the Grand Seiko Hi Beat GMT in the flesh this week my demi grail may be upgraded.

For the last grail I acquired, I had tried to quantify my priorities.  An excel spreadsheet was constructed – I know that sounds tedious, just listen to yourself Jon, but it was a way for the analyst within, to validate the soft whisperings of the heart and mind.  Twelve watches competed against thirteen different variables; weightings were introduced to manage differences in specifications and a total score arrived at which aided immediate comparison.

I’m not sure it worked too well as there were, in reality, only two or three in the running and I ended up changing some of the scoring to suit my own end game but it did make me think about what was important to my inner geek.  Having made the choice then left a small matter of a year on a waiting list, modest relationship building with retailers and batting away the detractors who didn’t believe in in the mythical concept of availability.

The grail is perhaps different things to different people – always an aspiration but perhaps a spectrum ranging from extreme fantasy to the next logical step. In my experience, it reflects a period of quest which ultimately ends in an acquisition or an evolving position resulting in a new shiny pursuit.  It feels a positive concept when driven from a personal, heartfelt, place.

It highlights for me, a goal, against which, any compromise position can be assessed and in doing so allows us to hopefully make more informed choices.  It also provides a framework against which we can identify our own stepping stones along the journey and perhaps even a nod to our changing/maturing tastes.

I’m keen to have the next grail reflect what I love rather than what I know people would like and at the same time trying to balance the competing principles of increasingly high horological endeavor and the more modest means of myself and those I hold dear.  It’s a beautiful problem that will, no doubt, keep me occupied for a while yet.