Well, after about 3 months, my pocket watch is back in my hands! PJ's in Frederick, MD did a FANTASTIC job of servicing the watch. It required a new winding arbor (or whatever the arbor for the mainspring is) and a healthy deep cleaning – as it was VERY hard to wind before service.

It always kept great time – but now, it's running even better than ever! I can't praise PJ's enough – if you've got a pocket watch, they're definitely a great shop for restoration and servicing these beauties…

Just got my Waltham Crescent Street serviced at PJ's Watch Repair!

Well, I figured it's time to update the State of The Collection. I periodically do this, but this year in particular, it's been an interesting watch collecting year: I won two of the A Blog To Watch giveaways – almost back to back… Which… wow… Just awesome!

Anyway here's where I stand:

Starting from the upper left:

• The empty slot is for an inbound Tsao Baltimore Orioles watch. It's been delayed thanks to tariffs on the parts. Yay…

Fall 2025 SOTC – because it's been a heck of a year.

Well, I was the lucky winner of the ABlogToWatch giveaway the other month for a Rosenbusch Watches "The Quest" (Rosenbusch Watches). I've had it for a couple days now, and wanted to give my first impressions of what is just a lovely integrated bracelet watch.

Full disclosure: I have nothing to do with the brand, other than having won the giveaway – so I have no vested interest in anything they…

First Impressions: Rosenbusch Watches "The Quest" RB200

I just got this in my inbox, and thought I'd share with my fellow watch hounds:

Vortic CEO had a stroke – Update from his wife.

Nothing to see here, just an all chocolate watch…

Folks, I'm not really in the market for a new watch – I mean my collection is largely complete from any logical standpoint. I've got about a round dozen watches, decent mix of quartz/auto/Dive/Travel/etc…

But I kinda want a statement piece.

I really haven't been able to find ANYTHING that really has inspired me to want to spend any money on a watch. The last one I picked up was a Magrette Moana GMT – which has really filled out my collection nicely – and really satisfied my urge to buy…

Need an inspiring watch for $500-1000…

Just felt like posting a poll I feel like I ask occasionally: What are the types of watches we're absolutely suckers for. Just can't seem to have enough of them in our collection?

For me, it turns out I'm a sucker for GMT/Worldtimer watches. Caller, traveler, true world timer, dual time bezel, doesn't much matter. Just love being able to have 2-3 timezones on my watch.

It used to be Moonphase (although I've never owned one) – but I was absolutely gaga over them for a year or two…

Periodic Poll: Watch Types We're Suckers For (Summer 2025)

OK, so I remember hearing tales of old soldiers buying Rolexes at the PX for a fraction of what they cost today, or Omegas, etc.

We've ALL heard the stories.

So my question to you is: What are the brands we all know today that are in that "get in now before they become the next outrageously expensive brand" phase?

I'm starting to feel like Christopher Ward is one of those that is now starting to march up the price ladder – and justifiably so for many of their models (The C12 Loco, the Bel…

Watch brands to "get in on now before they…"

This is a bit of an odd duck question – but I remember growing up in the 1980s and my dad still had a mechanical watch at one point – and I remember how he (and many other men) used to wind their watches.

They’d open the crown, and the wind back and forth – like 1/2 turn forward, 1/2 turn backward – repeatedly until the watch was fully wound.

Today, I have my own autos, and I find that I don’t do that at all – I’ll unscrew the crown, and just wind in a single direction – full turns…

Stemwinding – what technique do you use?

Well, folks, it's been an eventful year in watch collecting. Out of my dozen watches, I've gotten rid of 5, broke 1 (through my own stupidity), and added 4…

What's out?

• Seiko 5 SNK601 (Was lovely, but I didn't love it on my fat wrists. Again.)
• Seiko Skyliner (After getting my birthday watch, this one just didn't get wrist time)
• Glashütte Spezimatic (Just didn't get enough wrist time)
• Tsao Baltimore Constellation (Again, no wrist time, and fully lumed dials bug…

SOTC 2025 – It's been quite a year…here's where I'm at now…