Believe it or not, watch collecting is not a pursuit exclusive to the moneyed class. No, in fact, money alone will not do; you need to be well connected as well. You also need to send your favourite retail sales specialist elaborate floral arrangements and sweet treats. We are joking of course, but you, dear reader, do in fact know the best people – the WOW editorial team. We have consistently felt that the word hobby should always come up in the context of collecting watches – we even consider ourselves a hobbyist magazine. Somehow though, the word hobby itself is problematic, and thoroughly unsexy.
This is perhaps because it conjures up images of befuddled gentlemen, dressed in ill-fitting suits straight out of a mail order catalogue for Thai disco enthusiasts, arguing loudly about this or that detail, as it relates to whatever hobby unites them. That is of course unfair, because Thai disco patrons would not be caught dead in the company of these degenerates. Perhaps the stereotypical image of human traffickers, with a side trade in Nazi memorabilia, is the better allusion. We apologise to the Siam Diu, and their aficionados for the unwarranted shade.
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