Collecting By The Book

A few years ago, I posted a story titled "How do you collect?" in which I wrote about different types of watch collectors. I described myself as seeking diversity and wearability – aiming to make my collection as varied as possible while retaining practicality, even in the older watches.

Since then, I found that another theme has emerged within the broader habit. I acquired the 1999 Orient Watch Catalog, an unofficial publication that provided information on many of Orient's models and movements from the 1950s – 1960s, a golden era of hidden vintage gems.

This became like a sticker album for me – except for seeking watches instead of football player cards. I was not an avid collector of cards and stickers as a child – I was fairly impatient and probably ditched most albums after a few days, with not much more than those few cards you'd usually buy with the album itself… So I guess I'm making up for it now! It is a known fact that any unsolved childhood issue costs much more to solve as a grown-up; still, watches cost less than therapy – at least Orient ones do!

Collecting by the book proved to be plenty of fun, but it is also a decent way of going through the brand's history. I said I was not specifically aiming to be a collector of "models by years" as some do, but it is nonetheless a valuable part of the hobby, and the technical and historical information included in the book contributes to another side of my interest in Orient: gathering knowledge, on top of collecting watches.

The special Royal Orient designs caught my attention early on – I wrote about some of those, and pretty soon set to acquire a few. The Polka-Dot came first, and was recently accompanied by the Zodiac-Dial. Yes, the Zodiac is not identical to the book version, but – it's close enough! No need to be nitpicking – always remember the intention is to enjoy your hobby, not make it an obsession.

In some cases, it turned out I already had the right piece in my collection. Such were the cool Crosshair-Dial Olympia Calendar, or the Map-Dial World Diver. It was still nice to see pictures of my watches pop up in the book. In a way, it was also quite reassuring; I always make every effort to verify the authenticity of what I'm buying, but seeing the same piece in a publication like this is an additional seal of approval.

Many models in the book are also shown with their case backs, which provide an additional level of authentication. It's not always the most important thing: sometimes a case-back is lost or cannot be fitted back in during servicing of old watches. So you might come across a watch that's mostly authentic but has a slightly different back cover. Not a deal-breaker if it's an inexpensive item. But of course, when you see that you do have the proper one, that is ideal!

Mind you, I'm not really advocating this specific book, and it's not the easiest to find online, but as a concept, I find it quite a nice and effective way to curate vintage watches. There are some other interesting books out there, though not much easier to find, such as the Orient 60th Anniversary Commemorative Book.      

Navigating my Orient purchases using this book did not change my main guidelines. I still make sure I'm getting wearable watches, in terms of style as well as their actual condition. And the diversity of models and designs over the years covered is great, providing plenty of options – and I'm still not done with it! I wonder what I should get next…