John:

Thanks for the very interesting manifesto and the beautiful photos. Well done on both fronts!!

This is a huge topic; cannot write a proper manifesto now, but have added to the list of projects, articles, postings, etc.

Jeff

++++++++++++++++++++++++

: I love the article that Jeff gave us a link to earlier. It
: made me reflect upon why I collect and why I love watches, so I
: wrote a little collector's manifesto. If anyone else feels so
: motivated please add your own manifesto. I would love to know
: why there are other nuts like me out there.

: WHY WATCHES? I am the son of a watch-collecting father. Some of my
: first memories are of going to pawn shops and auctions with my
: old man. I am almost 60 years, old at the time of this writing
: and although I didn't buy my first watch until I was around 25,
: I feel like I have been collecting since I was about 5. My
: father, a mathematics professor, was very interested in
: mechanical contrivances in general. His heroes were inventors
: like Eli Whitney, and Cyrus Hall McCormick. He often said that
: the best trade in the world was that of a machinist or tool and
: die maker. His love of machines passed down to me. From early
: on, it seemed to me that watches were some of the most
: fascinating and soul satisfying machines around.

:
:

: I did not, as my father wished, become a tool and die maker.
: Instead, I went to college and studied history, with a slant
: toward economic history. So, aside from the sheer mechanical
: wonder of watches, I am fascinated by their place in history. I
: am fascinated by the timeline of technological advancements one
: can trace by examining watches from different points in the
: production of the various makers. The history of time-keeping
: plays an important part in the study of the development of the
: industrial economies of Europe, and later of the United States.
: The development of watch production in the United States is a
: fascinating part of our industrial and transportation
: revolutions.

:
:

: At this point in my life I am both a collector and a dealer. I am
: in love with, collect, buy and sell both pocket and wrist
: watches. I try not to have more than a couple hundred in my
: collection at any one time but I may buy and sell many more than
: that in a year’s time. My favorite pocket watches are the high
: end production from various American companies including The
: American Watch Company, The Illinois Watch Company, The Elgin
: (National) Watch Company, Hamilton Watch Company etc. In the
: field of wrist watches I like Heuer, Omega, IWC and a few
: others.

:
:

: I loved what Jack Froster had to say in his excellent article
: “Wanna Buy A Watch?” on Forbes.com which Jeff Stein point to
: in his recent post. However, I disagree with one point that he
: makes. Although I have some nostalgia for the good old days of
: collecting, I love the hunt today and although the internet has
: made it different, it has made it no less exciting….at least
: for me. My father taught me that as a collector/buyer I should
: stick with what I know. The internet, this forum for instance,
: makes it much easier for me to gain knowledge and knowledge is
: the key to success in collecting or buying and selling. While I
: think I have a good basic knowledge of watches and a cultivated
: instinct for what is right and wrong, I am a Heuer novice and
: there would have been no way in the “good old days” to gain
: as much knowledge in as little time as I have here on this
: forum.

:
:

: Anyway, there you have it….the collecting manifesto of John Cote.
: Thanks for all the help I have gotten here…On The Dash.

: JohnCote: September 3, 2012