Tony’s opening salvo, “If it’s not a “hell yes,” it’s a no”1, cuts through so much collecting nonsense. I think this speaks to something deeper about how we actually connect with watches. This is about the feeling when you first see a piece that stops you dead in your tracks. It is an immediate, visceral reaction which bypasses all the rational programming you have in your head, and this is a signal worth trusting.
I remember the first time I encountered a Resonance in person; my friend Paul will remember this too. All my preconceptions about what made a watch ‘special’ completely evaporated. The technical specs were irrelevant, the market positioning and price meant nothing, and really, the way I felt as I looked at this object sat on my wrist, felt like, well, fate. There was an immediate recognition that I needed this in my life. Tony’s rule captures that moment perfectly, in that, your gut will know before your brain catches up.
Brands
Things get murkier with Tony’s “Buy watches, not brands” commandment. This holds water when we’re talking about the usual suspects i.e. corporate giants where you’re basically buying marketing narratives wrapped around somewhat competent but mostly soulless mass-manufacturing. To me, the independent world operates a little differently.
I will use my own experience with Romain Gauthier as an example. I genuinely never cared about his work until I met the man, saw his operation, understood his approach to watchmaking, and honestly, just ended up enjoying his company. That connection to the maker literally transformed how I viewed his watches. When I finally bought one, the purchase carried layers beyond just the object itself; it represented my desire to be a patron of this artisan’s efforts, and I was not only enjoying a great watch, but supporting a vision of what watchmaking means to him.
So maybe this creates a bit of a paradox which Tony’s rule doesn’t quite address. Sometimes the brand, or more accurately, the human story behind it, becomes inseparable from the meaning in the object. The usual warning about brands never loving you back feels different when you’re talking about a single craftsperson putting their name on maybe 200 pieces per year.
Railmaster
The Railmaster Rule states: “Don’t settle for the affordable alternative, it will end up costing you more” and really, this strikes me as incredibly rigid. Sometimes the ‘affordable alternative’ becomes the more interesting choice, precisely because it sidesteps the obvious path.
I happen to know 2 people who specifically bought Railmasters over Explorers, and I shit you not, these were statements not settlements! They wanted to avoid the insufferable hipster Explorer crowd, the clowns who make the predictable choice, and/or the watch which every other enthusiast would immediately clock and categorise. Frankly, there’s something to be said for deliberate contrarianism in a hobby that can, very often, feel suffocatingly consensus-driven. Heck, I’d go as far as saying contrarianism can, in and of itself, be a fantastic collecting strategy if you have the mental fortitude to follow your own path, and the stamina to have aggravating debates with various tribespeople from the mainstream buckets.