why I'm not (quite) a watch collector

I'm one of those strange creatures who doesn't suffer badly from nostalgia. Recently this watch was posted for sale...

Its a beautiful watch and in its time ground breaking.

However there have been improvements in watches and in so many ways modern watches are actually better; I mean Seiko has not advanced as a company by making worse watches ... to me this is exemplified by the SRPE range and in my  61K1 model. It came with a NATO (perhaps to save money, I don't know) but I quickly discovered  that such straps are (in my view) best in the era of watches when they were made for slimmer, lighter, smaller watches. I know balance plays a part in wrist feel of the watch, more so than outright weight. So I thought I'd try this budget bracelet out on my 61K1, it looks great (but has some fit issues) and importantly feels great and nicely balanced now.

I see however that many people are highly fond of the 60's watches which had bubble style crystals, perhaps because it looks retro.

Well to me Retro is good when retro is better, and I can say that in my experience having grown up with bubble crystals / glass I can say that when I got a watch in the  70's (a digital) with a flat face I was 100% a convert. My Sports 100 simply would not have lasted this time if it didn't have a flat face and I can honestly say that in the vast majority of viewing angles is superior to see the time. Its actually hard to photograph (because it hard to see without orientating the watch to actually show them) what 30 years of hard use as the only watch I wore has done

In practical daily use bubbles get smacked a lot more (because they protrude more). Bubbles come from limitations in design and manufacturing capability ... so actually this technology is inferior to the flat crystals we now use.

Of course people buy watches for other reasons than practical, and the spectrum of "practical instrument to decorative jewellery", and while I lean towards the former there is of course an element of the latter.

So because of this leaning towards the practical I also know that watches will get marked in usage (as seen above), and its always the first obvious mark which attracts attention. This leads to (in my observation) anxiety in one's preshuss (jewellery) coming to harm ... which sort of obviates the goal of it being practical.

Now I have good friends who are sort of collectors as they have a selection of watches, these folk in the main work in professional inside roles (not like say a diver or a construction engineer where their watches will not come to harm) where their watches are like other items of their daily dress. Just like choosing a pair of shoes (I only have a few of them too) for the day the watch is like getting dressed.

So with that out of the way I appear to be becoming a collector of sorts with this addition to my set of watches:

From 1972, which has a bubble glass and is definitely more a dress item than a daily driver. It will however get worn.

But a collector is one who seldom puts on their watch (often having many to choose from) to go out and do stuff ... or if they do they have what is now charmingly called "a beater". I knew beater as another meaning for too long to have that displaced by this usage.