WABI?

[timewatcher]

I know this has been discussed before but I was thinking about it last night and thought I'd bring up the subject again.
Wabi? Why do some guys like it so much?  I know it tells the story of where and what a watch has been thru but IMHO I cant stand it!
As I have mentioned before to me a watch is a nice piece of jewelry and adornment and should look nice when its on your wrist and not look like its been thru a war!
I would be embarrassed to walk out the door with a beat to hell watch!  I try my very best to keep my watches looking in top notch shape so I am proud to wear it.
If a watch for example has a beat to hell bezel and insert I will buy a nice AM bezel/insert just so it looks nice and when the time comes and I can find a nice OEM one I'll replace it.
So c/mon......... tell me what you find so fascinating about Wabi!

[normdiaz]

Oct 21, 2014 10:07:52 GMT -8 timewatcher said:

So c/mon......... tell me what you find so fascinating about Wabi!

Nada.  (aka nothing)

[Deleted]

Just a posh japanese word for manky

[Groundhog66]

Not all watches look good wabi'd, but some certainly do. Divers definitely look great, chrono's...not so much. If I only had one of each model, I'd have them as pristine as possible. But since that is not the case, I appreciate having some wabi'd examples. That being said, there is a big difference between a nice wabi, and rot.


I love these two, not overly wabi'd...but definitely show character. I'd never consider replacing the bezels, I absolutely love them.


I've grown to like the mismatch on this one, didn't care for it when I got it.




I've never seen another bezel like this one, awesome IMO.




I was just thinking today, I need to seek out a couple other 6309's that have more wabi...I love them.

[sweffymo]

As a collector of vintage furniture, honestly nothing will compare to the patina of an old, well-made item.  Anyone can have shiny and new.  I love my newer watches, but I have a soft spot for things that have been around a long time, and show it.

[Myles]

I don't mind a little wear on an older watch. I think it gives it character. Same goes for cars.

That said, I don't care for tarnish or corrosion on watches or cars.

W.A.B.I.: Worn And Broken-In

[bobbymike]

Wabi-sabi is part of life - To me it can be beautiful, but I've been around it all my life. My grandmother sold colonial era furniture and I grew to appreciate the beauty in a loved and well used object. It makes them more precious. It's probably why I specialize in working on furniture, houses and buildings that are 150-250 years old.

Watches, to me, are not jewelry. The are tiny mechanical marvels. I love the ingenuity of their designs (much like I admire guns and cars). They become repositories of my memories of different events and people.

So, while I understand where you are coming from Rene, I'll be heading in the other direction looking for a watch, truck or gun with a few battle scars.

[saul]

Depends on the watch and whether or not the wear equates to character or just grunge.

Taking an old watch and completely cleaning the metal bits but not refinishing it is perfectly acceptable.  Keeping the decades of grot and dna is not.  I don't have any long personal history with any of my watches (Seiko's) so restoring them was my intent from the get go. 

I have two Omega's, a 1948 18K bumper that was my wife's grandfather's and a 1954 Seamaster that was her dad's.  Both deserved and got full restoration.

Conversely a friend of mine had Spencer service his father's brown bullhead.  Other than crystal and gaskets and cleaning the cosmetics have been left alone.  Everytime I shoot him a link to a good deal on a nos bezel he declines.  He values every ding and scrape that his father left there.

[SpinDoctor]

its a fine line between ageing gracefully and beat to piss

[saul]

Oct 21, 2014 17:56:20 GMT -8 SpinDoctor said:

its a fine line between aging gracefully and beat to piss

Yeah.  I see that line in the mirror every day.

[Adrian-VTA]

I don't mind a bit of genuine wear, but I'm not into the heavy wabi look. Or modding my watch so it looks wabi'ed.

I'm pretty good with a slightly dinged bezel and some scuffs on the case, if it's had the bejeezus polished out of it and the dial/hands are gone, forget it, not for me.

I agree divers tend to hold up better with a bit of wear, but the chronos, mid range and dress pieces just look thrashed.

[69ChevelleSS]

It's all good guys . . . . it all boils down to a matter of personal taste.  My Dad's 7A28 Ti Sports 100 has a crystal that's pretty scratched up but no to the point where I can't read the dial.  I leave that crystal there to remind me that he wore the snot out of the watch and used it for what it was intended.

On the other hand, I do try to find good examples when buying.

To each his own.

[ninja01]

I try to avoid wabi-sabi on my "specimens" unless:

1. the watch is "rare" (very hard to find in the marketplace due to limited original production or low survivorship)

2. watch is of an age where "pristine" specimens are not usually found

3. price is right & there is good "value" & there is something I like about the model (1 or more of the following: high quality movement, gold case, interesting/unusual dial, unusual visual design, complicated watch movement not easily found, ...).

You can see some of my (Japanese) examples in the 2nd page of the "Got WABI??" thread. I do have some Swiss & American "wabi-ed" examples as well but not shown in this particular sub-forum.

[rob3rto]

Oct 21, 2014 10:22:15 GMT -8 @cockroach said:

Just a posh japanese word for manky

Or in car terms....

Rat Look.

[cobrajet25]

I have lots of wabi-less watches.  They all live in my safe.

Safe queens have their place, but the wabi watches I actually wear.

I won't wear anything that's hammered, but a little honest aging never hurt anything.

[Myles]

Oct 23, 2014 1:16:11 GMT -8 rob3rto said:

Oct 21, 2014 10:22:15 GMT -8 @cockroach said:

Just a posh japanese word for manky

Or in car terms....

Rat Look.

I've grown to appreciate rat rods.

[cobrajet25]

I'd drive the HELL out of this car...just as it is.

[C4L18R3]

Wabi is something I can't live with. Aged, a bit scratched, rough, a few marks here and there.... thats fine with me. I like vintage anyway, but I do like them 'decent' (thats my own definition only, no offense to guys who like wabi). I actually can't even stand a scratched bezel insert! Same with old cars, I love 'em! I don't mind it if its not fully restored, but it has to be clean. Any rust that shows gets replaced, repaired and painted asap. If I can't keep it clean, I'd rather not have it.