What was your very first watch you bought?

TVDinner said:

1) very first watch I bought was sometime in the early 80's and was a Casio digital something. It was "wicked" cool at the time and inexpensive

2) my first expensive watch I purchased was in 1990. It was a Locman Briarwood Chronograph, which at the time was very expensive for me. Here is a picture of it -

Click to expand...

Thinking about this again, the Locman above (which I sold years and years ago to start my real watch collecting madness) was actually AFTER this one. I bought the watch below in high school I think.

It makes me laugh since I NEVER wear gold watches any more and I NEVER wear straps (bracelets only). So my tastes have changed a lot over the past 20+ years.

I STILL HAVE THIS ONE in my watch box BUT it never ever gets worn, lol

(not my photo)

At the age of 63 it's hard to remember the very first watch I bought but it was likely the one pictured above. Even today Timex serves me well,the models and complications have changed a bit but they remain accurate and reliable!


Timex IQ Linear

My new Timex pictured above and I love it...it's one of my favorite watches.


-0-

My first was a Timex with a light face. I received it in the early 70s as a birthday gift from my parents. I used to hold it up to to a lamp and then go into a dark area to see the lume. I put it close to my eye to get a better look on how that lume worked. One evening it was struck by a rock as I was trying to hit rocks with a baseball bat. We didn't have a baseball so the pitcher was using rocks. We were just goofing around. It put a crack in the crystal. I may have had a Micky Mouse watch before that but trying to remember over 40 years isn't easy sometimes.

In the early 80's I moved on to basic Casio digital watches. After that it was analog only. I purchased Citizen's first Aqualand watch in the late 80s but I never went diving with it. It ran fast which I didn't like much. I ended up selling it in the early 90s.

I then bough a Fossil in the early 90s and still have it. I also bought a Victorinox Renegade, from someone at work in 2001. I still have that too. The Fossil and Victorinox are very accurate.

This is it right here. Its the actual watch. Can remember how old I was but it was purchased with funds gained by cutting lawns and washing cars. My parents had gifted me gshocks and others plus a Micky mouse watch on a trip to Disney which was possibly the first watch i ever owned -- I was very young. 6yo??

An oldie but a goodie, this thread. The first watch I bought with my own (birthday and chores) money was a Sicura. A Swiss manufacturer of low cost but high spec watches based in Grenchen. Little did I know in 1974 that some of the watches they made were cookie cutter Rolex Sub and GMT tributes. I bought the watch at our local tobacconists' who had the whole Sicura range and their thick brochure. After thumbing and contemplating over it for months I bought the watch pictured below. For 69 Dutch Guilders. A thousand bucks to a 14-year old boy. During the search for Sicura I came over several urban legend style remarks from sellers. It seems that the holding that owned Sicura once also was the owner of the, back then, ailing Breitling brand. So many of the sellers peddle their watch as Breitling-Sicura. Sure...

Wow, old thread back from the dead!


Thinking hard about it, the first watch I remember owning/wearing was probably a Casio Databank (calculator watch) from the early to mid 80's. My dad would often give me his old watches after he had worn them for a couple years. I remember having one just like the picture below for a long time before the battery died and it stopped working even with a fresh on installed.

Brings back a lot of memories because I don't think i have though about that watch in decades.

I know I had a series of very cheap watches as a kid, but the first watch that made me think, "I like the look of that" was this thing.



I found it in a bathroom over twenty years ago, and it's been in a drawer for many years and is missing a battery and band obviously, but it was the first watch that made me think a watch was more than just a tool for timekeeping.

Bought a Zodiac Seawolf on a Navy ship when I was in the Marines in 1967.

This exact model. Interestingly I paid $120 for it, and the Ships Store was also selling Rolex Subs at the same time for $180. I bought the Zodiac because I thought it was a nicer looking watch (and I still do) and didn't want to part with the extra $60, which was a lot of money for me at the time. Back then Rolex didn't have the cache it does now, it was a tool.

If I had only known, huh?



1966 Sub

$9.99 Timex from the plastic spinner rack ……...

in the window of Peoples Drug Store on the corner of Atlantic and Pacific Avenues in Atlantic City---circa 1962.

Swam with that watch all summer with no problems.

Wish I still had it.

Some guys had their Mom's throw away their comic books and marbles when they went away to college. Well, my Mom did all that and my Timex and folding pocket knives too.

)

Kurt

I'm pretty sure the first watch I bought with my own money was a Caravelle by Bulova. It was back in the early '60s so my memory is a little foggy. I think it looked something like below (not my image).

A Two Tone Bulova - Gunmetal and Gold

Thanks to the OP for making this thread!! :thumb:

There are certain first that we never forget, and buying my very first watch is one I will never forget.

It was the summer of 1974 and I was a junior in high school. I lived in a small country town, and the biggest city just happens to be the state capitol. I went in a well respected jewelry store and not having a clue as to what style I wanted. It just so happened that one of the owners of the store came upon this young country boy, he introduced himself and asked if he could be of assistance.

You must remember, this jewelry store sold Rolexes and had some of the finest diamonds you would ever find. My entire visit was memorable and remains very special to me. The gentleman who waited on me treated me like I was a very important person. While he was showing me several to consider, he also gave me my first lesson into watches and horology.

There was one watch that I found and it really piqued my interest. It was a Bulova but I cannot remember the model. From what I can remember and knowing a little about watches now, this particular model's case and metal bracelet was done in a gunmetal type finish with gold accents on or around the bezel and extended down to the bracelet.

To a young country boy, this was a very stylish watch that someone from an upper middle class would consider. When I put it on my wrist for the first time, I did not feel like a country boy that whole afternoon. For the first time I can remember, I felt like I was very special and worthy of such a beautiful watch. Once the owner sized it to fit my wrist, I knew this would be the watch I wanted. To this day, I have never found that model anywhere including online.

For one day in the life of a young country boy, the owner treated me the same as if I was buying a Rolex. He made me feel good about myself and that I was somebody special. It just so happens that four years later, the same gentleman sold me my first engagement ring for my first wife. When it came time to that special day, I knew where I would go and get first class service and treated with respect.