Whats your most expensive hobby?

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gaijin said:
At the moment I think the most expensive hobby are my watches, even though I haven't bought anything nice in a decade... Just paid the equivalent of $450 for a service and repair of a semi-old Omega ... and just now got quoted more than the double for the corresponding full serivce a little older Rolex.

On the other hand, I'd rather pay to service older stuff that will continue to work for a few more decades than to buy an Apple Watch or something else that will be outdated and with a dead battery in just a couple of years. :)
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I know this all too well. Service pricing goes up an up every year. My 16600 had gone 9 years without service because I just didn't want to cough up the cash. Then I found out that a family member of mine knows a guy who knows a guy who is a Rolex officially certified independent technician with his own workshop and who'd do a complete service for free but with a waiting time of 8 weeks. That put a real smile on my face.
 
mille162 said:
View attachment 41191. New speakers and now this is back to being my most expensive hobby. The Wilson W/P’s were going to be just a temporary speaker demo, but after David Wilson’s recent passing, I might just hold onto them a bit longer. This album blows me away everytime btw, Water of Love might have been composed just for this set-up to shine!
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do you ever listen via just the watt? i think they sound better as a 2-way without the additional woofers.
 
automatic and manual wind movements typically should be serviced every 5 years or so if you want to minimize the wear on components. A 'real' service entails pulling all the movement pieces apart, cleaning them and reassembling/ oiling. Usually the mainspring gets replaced as well. You also check certain parts for wear and repair or replace as needed.
 
what the crap, guess an excuse to get another watch while the main one gets serviced when the time comes. haha.

my question is, do i send it off back to the manufacturer or can any local watch service shop do the work?
 
Depends on the watch. Local is always better, but they need to be real watchmakers (not jewelry store workers who mainly just change batteries on quartz watches and polish cases). For some watch manufacturers only watchmakers they have certified can buy parts, so your local guy may not be able to work on them (this recently happened to Omega; Rolex is that way as well). Prices vary depending on type of movement and complications, but local guys are generally a bit less expensive then the manufacturer.
 
In this case, the Omega was serviceable by the local trusted watchmaker, and I knew of one part needed changing (the crown didn't screw down as it should) - previous services without part swaps have been cheaper. "Spare parts are ridiculously expensive for these" was his comment.

For the Rolex, this guy cannot simply get parts anymore and he's in a too small town to have any volume on Rolex work so he don't certify. He just sends it off to a trusted friend in the business in a bigger city who will do the work.

He's hinted that Omega will be harder for him in the future too.

Anywho, I still like my mechanical watches, just like I like my carbon steel knives in some way. And my end grain cutting board. And my guitars. Stuff that lasts. Both of these watches has been in my possession for more than a decade.
 
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panda said:
what exactly involves a watch service? is it necessary? do all automatic watches need to be serviced after a while?
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This explains it pretty well.



More or less, for manual and automatic watches, there are lubrication oils that dry up over the years. Once these oils dry, they may cause damage to the components, just standard wear and tear, but they affect time keeping. Servicing typically involves taking the entire watch apart, cleaning it thoroughly, changing worn components, and then re-lubrication and assembly. Often times they will polish the watch so it looks factory new when you get it back.
 
gaijin said:
He's hinted that Omega will be harder for him in the future too.
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About 2 years ago Omega started a policy of only selling parts to certified watchmakers. Parts resellers like Ofrei can no longer get parts from Omega. As their warehouse stocks deplete, they will not be restored. Along with the policy change, Omega hiked parts prices a lot.

Getting certified by Omega means participating/ completing some of their certification workshops and owning certain pieces of equipment. You have to know how to service the newest coaxial movements to get certified, even if you only plan on working on vintage pieces.

...and in the spirit of this thread, I bought another one yesterday :cool:
 
WildBoar said:
automatic and manual wind movements typically should be serviced every 5 years or so if you want to minimize the wear on components. A 'real' service entails pulling all the movement pieces apart, cleaning them and reassembling/ oiling. Usually the mainspring gets replaced as well. You also check certain parts for wear and repair or replace as needed.
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That's good to know, because every time I have to send one of my TAG heuer quartz diving watches in for a new battery, I get annoyed at the hassle, and think I should get into automatics instead. Sounds like it's a hassle either way.
 
How much should a mid level Hamilton cost to have serviced? My next watch will be a Seiko prestige series btw.

Pics of the newly purchased Omega??

Is it weird that I sold my fancy leather strap cause I prefer synthetic sailcloth looking one that was only a third of the price?
 
service costs depend on the complications usually. If no chrono, and no parts needed, probably $250 or so. If you like, I can ask one of the forum members who lives in you neck of the woods for a watchmaker recommendation. There are a few avid collectors in the Boca/ Ft. Lauderdale area.

The new Omega will likely not arrive until late Fall or early Winter.
 
Although the Omega Speedmaster is the only watch I would spend more than $600 for, I don't think paying $1000 to have it serviced is a hard pill to take.
 
I'm a little surprised in a thread of cooks and chefs nobody said hookers or drugs.
Good on you everybody.
I would say watches for me. Its a good and bad thing. Good because I can get enjoyment all day, bad because you need a lot of money to collect very few high end pieces.
 
I prefer strippers since they are great at pretending to be interested in you and are more affectionate. As alcohol is my drug of choice and it is an infrequent indulgence it is not that expensive to maintain.
 
For me it's sailing...fortunately it is much more difficult to collect boats (I've got two) than knives.

When I first entered this hobby, I was told that the two best days in the life of a sailor are the day they buy their first boat...and the day they sell it.

I was then told that if I really wanted to experience the thrill of owning a sailboat I should stand in a shower fully clothed and turn on the cold water while simultaneously ripping up $100 bills as fast as I could remove them from my wallet.
 
ForestryProf said:
I was then told that if I really wanted to experience the thrill of owning a sailboat I should stand in a shower fully clothed and turn on the cold water while simultaneously ripping up $100 bills as fast as I could remove them from my wallet.
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Sounds a lot like the thrill of my first marriage :D
 
panda said:
do you ever listen via just the watt? i think they sound better as a 2-way without the additional woofers.
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Panda,

I did try just the WATT, but since I’m using the McIntosh C50 preamp, i was able to dial out a lot of that bass you noticed and get it performing properly in the room. WATT alone was a bit hollow sounding, def improved when paired up to the Puppy. I am using a SS (McIntosh MC452), so they might get a bit fuller and warmer with a tube amp.

Unfortunately, I’m just not in love with the Wilsons. I think my Egglestonworks’s outperform the W/P’s for mid and high-range. I have a pair of the Rosa’s downstairs I was going to use for a home theater, but trying to avoid carrying them up to my listening room (220lbs each). This weekend, I’m playing around with a pair of Isabel’s and a pair of Fontaine’s on stands. The Eggleston modified Dynaudio Esostar (silk dome) tweeter is so much smoother and easier to listen to than the Wilson modified Focal T-120 (inverted dome). Although the Rosa’s don’t go below 31hz, the rest of the output is so “full” that you barely notice there’s nothing in the room shaking or vibrating. Given the smaller room I’m now using, I hope to get similar results from the Isabel (39hz) or Fontaines (55hz).

IMG_1532105635.827275.jpg
 
I am guessing internal debates (inside your head) on how to spend money go like this:

"Hmmm, do I want to buy this integral Bill Burke san mai with dragon's breath damascus cladding, or a new 1 meter interconnect? How best to spend this $5k today?" :D
 
WildBoar said:
I am guessing internal debates (inside your head) on how to spend money go like this:

"Hmmm, do I want to buy this integral Bill Burke san mai with dragon's breath damascus cladding, or a new 1 meter interconnect? How best to spend this $5k today?" :D
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Thankfully I’m on Bill’s list already for exactly that :)

All my interconnects are Transparent Super level and until I upgrade the preamp to the McIntosh C1000, I don’t see any improvements from higher level cabling...the turntable though, thats next on the list. I am looking for a deal on a MT-10 belt driven to upgrade my 1210 quartz direct drive since the cost of upgrading the tone-arm and platter makes a used mt-10 cheaper!
 
Kitchen knives kicked off my adult life hobby collection craze.

Then it was fountain pens, fragrances, razors.

Then I purchased a vintage tobacco pipe company just to acquire a few pieces the guy had which I really wanted.

Recently I’ve been building ebikes.
I paid more for my last battery than I did for my first complete ebike.

Drugs, well, those don’t work so well anymore as the brain is depleted of all those happy little connection points. A heavy psychonautic trip helped me kick the bottle as well as put me in the hospital with a barely pumping heart just a few years ago as well.

Cheapest collecting hobby recently has been mushroom foraging. Well it’s cheap for me, but theoretically I have maybe $25k worth of dried out and frozen delicious mushies for me and the fam. Matsutake season is upon us! These are best gifted to older Japanese folks who can’t run up the mountains to harvest. Their smiles are priceless.
 
Had a Hobie 16 lot of fun. Any larger sailboat go for the ride with someone who has more money to burn.

Forging for mushrooms and a change in eating habits are good for the heart:D
 
Guitars are knives are the big ones for me. There are so many variables it’s hard for the collection to ever seem complete...
 
When your main listening system starts to feel too complicated, lol...grabbed this integrated 2-channel for a 2nd listening room. Using my spare Eggleston Works Isabel’s. For inputs, need to upgrade the cartridge on a collectors Pro-ject Debut Carbon and find a mr74 to restore for terrestrial radio
IMG_2385.jpg
 
In a thread full of extremes. I guess I'm middle of the pack with everything. Nothing of mine is top highend but everything is mid range.

1) Guns
2) Audio (Car & Home)
3) SCUBA
4) Computer/Gaming
 
mille i bet that sounds sweet, i would even argue integrateds are better simply due to cohesiveness.

i've always wanted to get into guns (i really want a beretta m93a and an over-under shotgun) but it always end up lowest on my list of priorities.
 
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