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January 15th - Looking back
I know quite a few of you will say that looking back is only meaningful when driving a car. Still I want to spend a moment about 2022 which (give or take) was my first year in existence. December was not that great, I had corona and the flu and very little time to spare. Talks with prospect collab stores took a lot of effort. But having said that, quite a lot of things happened in 2022….
Sales
Well I sold 30 watches for instance…
I think it is an awesome collection! Let me crunch some numbers. Seven watches where sold through my collab stores, five watches where sold through referrals from only one customer! Four watches I sold to (extended) family members. Three watches where sold directly from the website to customers in Swiss and Spain.
Besides these transactions I gave away nine watches as ‘marketing investment / just to be nice’. Three went to The Mocks (see blog below).
I did not really have a strong idea about the anticipated sales. So I’m actually quite satisfied. However, in relation to my purchases in watches, straps, tools, repair costs and overhead, this hobby can’t last very long.
What about the site?
How shall I put this. Watchphilippo.nl is definitely a ‘Geheimtip’. Only known and read by the very happy, very (very) few…
So to be fair, the site was only ‘crawled’ by Google in April. 2022. This is the same period I started my Instagram account. So my ‘social media’ / ‘e-commerce’ life has literally just left its embryonal stage with its 9 months on the clock. But even then the numbers (257 users and 86 followers) are actually quite laughable. This is somewhat anticipated and I don’t mind too much. Look at the bright site: if this small community of users/followers can generate 30 watches sold, what will 8.600 followers generate..? Interesting to see that the biggest spike in October is generated by some Instagram activities with The Mocks.
So what’s next?
See below where I labelled some activities with the perceived efforts (from top to bottom). In green what went well or what I enjoy. I was a bit to heavy on the buying element of this hobby. It’s so easy it is an addiction… Luckily I have developed more patience and discipline. Look better and more and buy less.
I did very little in educating myself in watchmaking. To be honest, I don’t have a proper bench at home to work on. One of the reason’s we are looking to relocate. In all fairness I don’t see this changing in the near future. I have enlisted for 24 weeks course, but that will only start in September. There are some interesting opportunities with a watchmaker in Amsterdam, I will write a separate blog on that. I foresee that the time available to spend on this hobby and blog will be limited this year. Taking care of my mother and buying and relocating to a new house is intensive. My resolution for 2023 is however to ensure my web shop is up to date (is currently not) and that I write two blogs a month (or on a regular basis). If I not, it is what it is!
November 16th - Some considerations
Hi Folks! I few considerations now we are nearing the end of the year and the first anniversary of this journey (27th november).
I really am not satisfied with the looks of the webstore and how my beautiful babies are presented. Will need to rework that (1). End of year is coming and would definitely want to onboard a new collab store. I have good interest but for whatever reason I can not come to conclusion. Will need to improve my pitch (2). Les Deux Freres is waiting for months already for me to create a proposition for women. I definitely need to that before my leave in December (3). I for sure need to make more noise on Instagram and improve my SEO. Numbers and traffic in general are slow, will update you as evaluation of my first year (4).
Let me end on a positive note. Although my photography is still crappy I enjoy it a lot and I do quite some experimenting around in our apartment. Hope you have noticed!
Below a picture of the watches in my collection currently for sale with me directly (webstore/pop up). Interested? info@watchphilippo.nl
November 7th - Photography II
After having watched some tutorials on product photography and more specifically watch photography I messed around with my set up. It is all about ‘diffusors’ and reflecting light. It is quite frustrating if you see the result and quality of these pro’s.
Check this clip.
Lessons so far. 1) diffuse and reflect, baking paper is a good diffuser. 2) hand held will not bring me crisp and sharp photo’s. 3) I feel some investments are upcoming.
November 1st - Photography
Let me share some considerations (and struggles) I experience with photography. An important part if this hobby for me is the combination with photography. I enjoy photography for a long time. I only recently appreciate and understand digital photography a bit better. I’m an old fart and I thought that photography was all about ‘the eye’; no cropping, and definitely no processing allowed. Previsualisation being key and standardization ‘a la Ansel Adams’ a necessity. And oh man… did I try and struggle in my dark room…and man what a crappy pictures did I make! It is from my Samsung phone that I learned to appreciate the final picture, irrespective if that was 75% the result of software processing (simply love the ‘magic staff’)!
I have experienced during my hikes that I was taking most of the pictures with my phone (195 grams), hardly using my full frame Nikon and professional (20-30mm, 24-70mm, and 70-210) lenses I was carrying around that weigh ten times more!
So recently I started to use the full functionality of my equipment including ‘the cloud’ and subscriptions I have been paying for but never used. I can shoot with my full frame Nikon Z6, and transfer the files by wifi to Lightroom and process and store the pictures on my phone/ tablet / notebook.
So how does this relate to watchphilippo? Back to watches. Taking pictures is a challenge. I don’t have what you’d call a ‘studio’. As you might have noticed I stopped taking pictures on my kitchen chairs (see blog 13 Dec 21) to move to another part of the apartment, my ‘home office’.
I bought a 30 EURO’s small foldable 30 x 30cm photo cube with LED light in it. I have maybe 1 square meter, so little room to manoeuvre and no room to set up a tripod. Besides this I have a daytime job meaning that I take pictures in the night/evening. Especially in fall/winter this means low (artificial) light. With my (hand held) phone this resulted in pictures shot at 1/30 sec at iso 800 and higher. Results are ok but the pictures are severely processed and rather soft and dark with noise and artifacts. I did check the web for some tutorials on macro photography (really need to explore all the available YouTube tutorials on watch photography).
My go to website for photo equipment and tutorials is Ken Rockwell. Upon reading I decided that, instead of adding another lens to the pile, I was better off buying some ‘el cheapo’ macro rings from China to fit the Nikon Z mount. Huge advantage of using my Z6 is the ability to use the VR (vibration reduction) which provides for smaller aperture/higher speed in the same light. So technically sharper pictures with more depth of field. So this is my current set up I will explore the coming time: Nikon Z6 + 16 mm macro ring + Z adapter + 1.4 50mm Nikkor. Top dimmable LED light in a small photo cube (+ paperclips) with black background. Digitally I’m supported by the Nikon VR and Adobe processing (Lightroom) software.
So what do I hope for? Crisp and sharp pictures: full of detail! Taken hand held without time consuming ‘set up’ and moving things around. The pictures should have enough detail for ‘screen inspection’ and honest inspection of imperfections (if one is considering to buy) and at the same time be pleasing and esthetical. After all the pictures (sometimes) needs to sell a watch as well. As always this will mean another compromise.
Most challenging for me now is 1) to capture the specifics of the strap 2) the reflection in the crystal (need a better diffuser than plain print paper)) 3) limited depth of field. Luckily I have the most stunning models before my lens, so hopefully my crappy skills still results in pictures that are worthwhile looking at.
To be continued
October 18th - New watches at Club Clothier
A new selection for Club Clothier / Tommy page. Check out his collab page (if I get to it today to update it)…
October 14th - The Mocks
Check these guys! True beat from Holland! Started during the pandemic in 2020 The Mocks (Niew Vennep) are already capturing Europe (just finished touring France and Spain) with a super act and even better sound. See their Instagram, Spotify, you tube or Tidal for their music. Better, see them live! I haven’t yet but it is the thing to do according to many on the net.
But hey…?… why is that of Watchphilippo’s concern?
Well as you might have noticed these guys have an excellent and distinguished appearance, they practically breathe the sixties! So I met Tim at Club Clothier (the shop of Tommy Page) and, since my business there was my watches, we started a conversation on watches, fashion, sixties and music. I offered them a watch each to complement their storyline.
And there we are. Today this, soon to be, legendary band sat at my kitchen table for a coffee (and some bananas) discussing music and choosing watches. Can you believe it?
I hope they enjoy their watches and show them off. 
They should… they are simply superb. Personally I think they picked just nicely. One bold 60’s Dauphine from France (check the dial!) on a spandex gold tone bracelet (STAT4055). The others went for a more dress style kinda look. A beautiful Anker and Ducoda both fitted on a James Bond Nato strap.
The watches are on the house, I would enjoy it a lot if they wear them and if one day I’d see a picture pass by. If not no worries. If it provides some traffic to this blog and my Instagram that off course would be a bonus.
The pictures are a bit crap as we did not have too much time and, well a kitchen is a kitchen…. Just a last picture to pay credit to the stunning suite Tim arrived in. It is hand made by Tommy Page and I definitely will need to get one myself!
Sept 21st - Autumn collection Les Deux Freres
Check the LDF (Les Deux Freres) page! Always a hazzle to redo shop pages…man what a work. Just need to jump on my bike during one of my breaks to swap watches at Les Deux Freres. Wanted to do this weeks ago, finally! So glad, the result is quite satisfying.
Last selection (spring) did kinda okay-ish considering my 50 followers on Instagram and 120 visitors on this blog. But he… I’m stepping up my game, mark my words!
Sept 18th - On a rainy day
What a nice day to be surrounded with watches! I had a couple of beautiful arrivals this week. Like I often say; buying from the net is always a gamble but I’m surprised how nice all the watches turned out to be once I had the time to have a closer look. So today was about, taking pictures, measure on the Timegrapher, categorize in my excel catalogue, a bit of cleaning, polishing and trying out straps! I did a few post on Instagram and I be damned: there are actually people seriously interested. Let’s see if I will make my first ‘Instagram sale’. The Walor is simply stunning; it is ruby red with a beautiful patina. I actually took out a 600 grit sandpaper to sand off the corrosion of the hour marks! I don’t think I can hold on it for it very long. Upon investigation it contains a Durowe 422 movement which dates it between 1953-1954 (according to the internet off course…) 
I also listed in for a course on watchmaking at the Vakschool Zadkine in Schoonhoven (Uurwerktechniek Horloges 1). One evening a week for 24 weeks. Unfortunately I missed the start dates in September (full) and I don’t know when I can start, but I can’t wait. It is going to busy to combine with my other activities, but man do I need some teaching! To be honest, my e-learning course on Youtube is not progressing and I believe I destroyed more than 5 watches already. This brings me to another quest I spent hours on. My explorations to ‘convert to quartz’…ssstt.. I know. It’s like electrifying a 1960’s Alfa Romeo! So I’m searching my way through all kind of sellers (not that easy if you’re not a professional watchmaker) on the net for some cheapo quartz movements in the right size, with the right stem, hands and what have you. Turns out that even sellers have difficulties identifying the correct part/SKU…will need go to the postal office for a return tomorrow (again). But he… I’m learning… will keep you posted on this specific journey.
Another pressing thing is to update the shop pages. This Anker is simply to beautiful to be left in a plastic bag in my stash! About this watch…. don’t you simply just love the luminescence dots near the hour marks on the dark dial? The picture did turn out very nice don’t you think? I believe the case aged just beautifully, forbidden to polish or clean! That’s it for today…time for bed…time for work, I definitely need my paycheck with this hobby.
One last note: look what a stunning movement from Certina Nacar (KF330). When I have time this week I will put this watch for sale. I was measuring it on the Timegrapher and the light was wonderful.. The watch is from the 1950’s and it runs weak. But he, this watch is worth the investment to have it cleaned some day don’t you think? Let’s see the the dial as well… unlike your underpants you can’t wear your watch inside out!!!
August 30st - First webstore sale!
What a surprise! I was cleaning my inbox and was about to delete all the ‘spam’ when I noticed a message related to a Lucerne watch for sale in my webstore. After months of complete and utter silence and vibrating commercial non activity I needed to look twice…really…The message was already 4 days old, oh man…you idiot…
Anyways it turned out to be a very nice musician from Lucerne who still was interested in the watch. If I could ship the watch to an address in Amsterdam. HELL YES WATCHPHILIPPO is always available for a deliveries in Amsterdam! So I nicely packed he watch in a -made in China- ‘giftbox’ I provide to my collaboration stores and jumped on my bike. Man what did I enjoy Amsterdam! Unfortunately nobody was home so I was then asked to shove it through the mailbox. I have tons of bubble wrap material so I can just put it in a envelope. He, ho, wait a second! That’s way too efficient and effective. That’s so not watchphilippo! There must be a more complex, expensive, useless and time wasting solution.
Sure there is! Remember back in the days when your analogue photo’s where actually developed and printed? As a photo enthusiast I shot hundreds of photo’s and at the end of the analogue area I’d received them in a carton fancy folder. So bye bye photo’s, welcome watches! I hope it arrived in the right hands.
August 23 - Dr. Spectacles stops selling watchphilippo watches
As with immediate effect none of my watches are for sale anymore in store with Dr. Spectacles. I took back the watches and I will need to rework the store page. No hard feelings. We tried but it simply did not work. Too bad as this means I will need to rework the site. It was quite a work to set it up as it is and I kinda like the set up. So I will keep the lay out and structure but refer to myself. The watches on this page are for sale with me. Just send me an email. If I find a new store to collaborate with I can easily rebrand it to that store. At least that’s the idea.!
August 23 - Hi there folks! Back with some updates
I’m back! Although the summer in the city is troublesome from a climate / ecologic perspective I can’t help enjoying this wonderful weather as much as I can! I’ve been doing all sorts of things except for posting and working in my free time indoors behind my computer. This means I have a lot of catching up to do. Check my blog in the coming days (weeks) as I will provide an evaluation of the the first 8 months of my site; will rework the web shop; looking for a new ‘in store collaboration’ and off course share with you my latest acquisitions and where I’m currently into with regards to the appearance of a (statement) watch. Left/above, my latest arrival. It is always a gamble if an internet purchase turns out okay. This one certainly did, this watch has it! This sixties / jazzy kind of blue birth of the cool kinda thing…catching my drift??
May 3rd Time for a new collection at Les Deux Freres
Last Sunday I dropped by at Les Deux Freres to buy myself some new shirts. After 2 years in lock down I’m frequently in the office again and I realized my wardrobe could do with some replenishments. I realized that some of the watches in the counter where there since the start. LDF was one of my first collaborations from December, and although they sold some watches, sales is somewhat slow. New season, new collection! Watchphilippo has evolved and we can create a new fit. So I’m going to pitch some of my more classic, somewhat more expensive, watches to LDF to combine with their summer catalogue. Of course this will require an update of their store page as well…let’s see what they say.
25 April - My First Rikketik
Sunday April 24th. 7.00 AM. I have an ‘early bird’ ticket for the Rikketik fair so I better not snooze… I don’t want to, as today is ‘Europe’s biggest vintage watch and clock Fair‘! Check their site for more information. I need to be prepared, what to do? Not much, my intention is to learn, and specifically not to buy. So I don’t bring any cash (I need to protect myself). Most important; let’s enjoy and watch watches! A further orientation on vintage watch brands, books, tools, and watchmaking, hopefully meet some nice people. In a sense it feels as that I might need to ‘out myself’, a make or break situation, a validation on what I’ve been doing since last November with this blog. Writing a blog presumes there is interest for others in reading what I write…oh man I feel a crisis emerging…does watchphilippo have raison d’etre?
So immediately after entering the fair I get a short circuit in my brain. Pavlov makes me drool and I immediately regret that I didn’t bring any money. After a while it settles, this fair is 4 times a year and these watches that are up to decades old will most likely be available for a little while to satisfy my cravings / addiction in the future. Moreover I encounter a sort of brain frost, it is simply too much. The sugar pot I just fell in is so deep that it paralyzes me. So I walk around, timidly and I observe. I’m being watchphilippo with my ears open. Especially in the morning there appears to be a lot of commercial/professional trade. I see people with bundles of euro’s making their trades that likely are prepared in advance. A lot of watches are not prized for, and if they are, the asking prices appear to be high (compared to?). I guess that the idea is to counter. Not everywhere though, there are sellers that have priced their merchandise.
Some stalls lack a bit of love, some are stunning. Most of them are simply adequate. A few are extremely clever with a ‘plug and play’ conception. Having seen the number of international plates on the parking lot I assume a fair amount of these people do this quite often and have a lot of travel to do. It comes quite handy when your show case is your suite case. I kinda enjoy this back to basics -no frills, what you see is what you get set up.
After a while some initial observations pop up:
- I have not seen one Timegrapher nor have I heard any reference to TG readings: watches are sold ‘as is’ and people appear to know ‘their stuff’ by ear and eye.:
- until 11:30 AM the population is mostly (older) men:
- majority of available products are 1) vintage mechanical watches 2) clocks (including accessories/tools) 3) watch straps 4) new/quartz watches 5) (old) books/magazines 6) watch tools (mostly old/used):
- coffee is okay (I managed to spoil half a cup over a vintage Breitling ad 1650 EURO! Can you imagine? Fortunately the seller was really nice!:
- The available knowledge and experience about watches and clocks is intimidating. Overseeing the beauty of the collections displayed, all these traders, collectors and hobbyist, the years of experience, enthusiasm and knowledge all together, it all makes me feel insignificant. There is nothing watchphilippo can add to this…why not just stop here?
- straps are sold by the kilo! No (little) need to go on the net and pay for ridiculous shipping costs.
Let’s have another coffee and walk another round. By now I can orient myself a bit better. Some watches are so stunning they demand another visit, besides, some vintage divers have attracted my attention.
Vintagemechanicalwatches posted some beautiful Wittnauers not long ago. The brand was unknown to me so I immediately did a search. I bought some cheap (not too expensive) from the net very recently so I had a special interest, and man… did I see some extraordinary pieces. Let’s move on, these are for another time (if anytime) and a bigger budget.
More obscure divers are possibly in my reach. I fell in love with one specific Precimax (?). I never heard about that brand but the watch, sold by a really nice French guy, really got my attention. The asking price appeared to be reasonable but I just did a quick search on the net. The only vintage Precimax that resembled this watch was a Aquamax, but the asking price is more than double. I explained to him that I loved the watch but that I had no reference at all for this model. Besides that, I did not bring any money, so why bother…
So the seller tells me it has a beautiful ETA 2879, is in mint condition and has the original rally strap. He understands the obscurity of the model makes it difficult to pay mucho. It feels sturdy…so I do like I have seen others do… I take my loupe turn it around and start listening for the amplitude and the beat error… Without kidding, the watch looks like it has never been open (the crystal has deep dents at 2 o’clock and you can see it has had a beating). It is in really good condition. I’m about to leave telling the guy I did not bring any cash especially for this specific reason.
Upon his words Paypall my last line of defense collapses, I need to make a deal, and we do. This watch is not for resell, I’m not too concerned about the reselling value.
Around 12.00 AM it gets busy, time to leave. I’m satisfied and happy. I learnt a lot. See you next time Rikketik! (probably with cash and a proper camera).
23 April - Watch straps
Interrupted, to be continued.
As stated earlier I have a serious interest in watch straps. For the obvious reason off course. Ultimately it is the combination of the watch with the strap that creates a ‘watch appearances’ that allows you to create or make a desired statement that fits your mood, the occasion, your hair cut and shoes (at best all of the above)! Take for instance your vintage diver on a NATO strap. The other way around is equally possible a 70’s ‘panda’ chrono with orange hands on a beautiful croco/gold strap, me like!
April 1st - Instagram
Yup, this old fart is now on “Insta“. Finally I can truly connect with mankind.
Besides this I got help from my dear friend who managed to get me ‘verified’ by Google and ‘indexed’. Will you believe that my site is finally visible and accessible through Google? Unbelievable!
In any other context these words sounds horrifying. To me it feels like I’ve eaten my frog…
24 March - Watchphilippo now also at Dr. Spectacles
Another collaboration in town! This time with Jon’s shop Dr. Spectacles in the Nieuwe Leliestraat 25 in the Jordaan. Good news of course, but unfortunately The Amsterdam Archives is going to close shop in April. To sad.
Dr. Spectacles site is not that attractive (more terrible than mine, can you imagine!), his store however is the best ever. If you’re looking for funky glasses this is your (candy) store! Let me show a few pics.
This leaves my ‘in store collaboration’ with 3 shops;
- Club Clothier
- Dr Spectacles
- Les Deux Freres.
Check the separate shop page for Dr. Spectacles. The two others will get a similar page (when I find the time). Maybe I’ll try something in the future with a QR code for ‘virtual on site, on site support’, take that mister Meta!…naah.. don’t think so.
10 March, Isoma on the Timegrapher
I offered to have a look at the first watch I sold. As I feel more confident now to “regulate” a watch after having watched some tutorials on YT ( Chronoglide). Let me share some pictures of the movement and result on the Timegrapher. More info on the movement is made available on found https://17jewels.info/movements/f/foerster/foerster-222/ .
Nothing special or fancy. I did not ‘oil’ it (apparently you’re not supposed to without full cleaning first).
22 February - New entries in the webshop
As I sold one watch and managed to categorize my collection a bit I though it was about time to replenish and put some more watches for sale! Check it out! I focussed on what I call my Statement watches. After this it will be time to rework and study on my pages and SEO (aaargh…) to see if I can generate a bit of traffic. That’s s for later…. 
17 february - Let's make a Statement!
Although I have not updated my blog since early january I did not sat quietly. Actually I bought quite a few watches that need to be “catalogued”, inspected, measured and admired. Of course I wear them. Before they end up in the web shop I’ll put some sneak previews over here.
I’ve been focussed more on watch straps, off course I can’t resist to bid on a watch now and then. Straps are extremely expensive, a lot of my liking is sold from the US / UK which means that – besides freight- you will be charged for duties. This makes it’s nearly impossible to buy nice straps at attractive prices. I’m currently interested in vintage duo tone straps and ‘rally straps’. Metal rally straps (skeleton) are extremely expensive.
Besides ‘hunting’ for nice inventory at reasonable prices I educate myself watching YT and éxperimenting on my own collection. As I was also quite busy with my work it explains why I did not post that much. Let alone that I did a lot on improving my site. The site is still not visible in Google and this whole SEO stuff can’t grab my interest. This means that it’s rather lonely over here and the selling part has ‘little to no traction’. But he…let’s end this post on a positive note: I’m having fun and I enjoy fiddling with my watches; cleaning the case, polishing or replacing the crystals. Have a look at some beautiful ‘statement watches’.
15 February - Wakmann Chronograph
Hi all. It has been a while, apologies for that. I’m currently skiing and I met this guy with the exact same Wakmann Chrono (and outfit) as me! Can you imagine? I love this watch, check the net for more info on the Wakmann brand. In short (my version), a Russian immigrant founded the Wakmann company in Portugal to set up shop in New York in 1946. Purpose: tax evasion! In order to circumvent import tariffs (imposed to protect US watch industry after the war) he imported disassembled Breitling watches to do final assembly and design in New York.
This was a major success and later his company got acquired by Breitling. These chrono’s are famous for their dial designs (and one specific calendar complication). I bought it at Amsterdam Watch Company https://www.awco.nl/
I never had it open but had it serviced once. Let’s have a closer look. I will keep it in my collection. 
8 January - Junghans replace Diehl
So the Diehl (left) that I wanted to ‘improve’ got tortured by me. An oil bath, ultrasonic bath (assembled!), cooked in the oven and thrown in the bin (pure frustration).. I regret that I have thrown it away, the rest served a purpose I guess. Anyways I have a better alternative a Junghans with Cal 93. The Junghans appear older, it has a beautiful age and is more sophisticated. It can create the same look and feel as the Diehl but better. See my project P2008, below pictures of the movements. See further info on Junghans Vintage: https://junghans-vintage.de/de/uhren/junghans-armbanduhr-kaliber/kaliberfamilie-junghans-693-junghans-j93/junghans-j93/1-junghans-69382.html . The movement was built between 1954 – 1966. Supposedly it has 8 jewels, I only see one.
Unfortunately the strap is too big…it is the only I have in ‘off white’ vintage cotton. Can be fixed.
4 January - The beginnings of a Webshop
Pfff…. finally…check the webshop page. I will start 
loading more watches for sale soon! Currently at action prices, we celebrate a new year and I need funds for some beautiful watches and NOS bracelets I have spotted!
2 January - Chronoglide
After my ‘disastrous’ adventures on the Diehl I oriented myself a bit more on watch repair and tutorials on the net. I stumbled on an awesome YT channel called Chronoglide. Check it out! This guy (to me) knows his stuff and has a fabulous project with his repair shop to built a complete watch (yes including all parts) in house with vintage machines! These streams are so educational and are followed from watchmakers all over the world. He (Kalle Slaap) is actually working on watches and chatting, responding questions, drinking coffees at the same time! I really learnt a lot about his videos on timegraphers, amplitudes and beat errors. His videos are also to be followed on Glitch and Facebook. I will definitely become a member, although I’m a complete newbie is this world and probably will not understand everything, his what you see is what you get (not afraid of making ‘mistakes’ on a live stream in front of watchmakers from all of the world) deserves support. If you want to learn about watches and watchmaking you should not listen to me but better listen to, and read these kind of experts and sites!
27 December Project page & Christmas gifts
A very short note on my new Project page, have a look. The purpose of this site is also to fiddle a bit with my watches and to share and show the experience. 
I just shared a journey on a Atlantic Master (P2007). Will post a another soon on a Diehl which I messed up big time! Update 01/11/2022: The Project pages never took off and I stopped with it after a couple of weeks or so.
Having said that, we had Christmas and I selected 2 very well picked, specific watches, as Christmas present for two folks really close to me (family). One, a (former) east (?) German Ruhla and the other a Diehl – I’ll need to check but you can research yourself. Both watches are not interesting from a ‘watch aficionado ‘ perspective – they where ‘cheap & simple’ but represent – to me- a timeframe that tickles my imagination.
They are a (watch / industry / society) statement in itself! Very specific plain looks, you need to appreciate, but in a specific angle, light and mind set, you might see what I see. There is a very informative site on east german watches, go check it out: https://ostalgieruhla.wordpress.com/umf-ruhla-caliber-24-movement/
Fun facts (from ostalgie ruhla) the UMF 24 is one movement that accommodates for all type of ruhla/uhm watches, developed especially that all components / raw materials could be sourced from the DDR!
So this Ruhla SILVINT5003, past my collection. I polished it and cleaned the dial and gave it away as a Christmas present. Check P2008 on the Project pages for more info on the Diehl.
24 December - A Christmas carol
Look what the cat dragged in…! My 50th birthday present received from my wife. Bought it 2 weeks ago and on Christmas Eve Santa rang my doorbell -dressed in red and yellow but nonetheless- a very very stunning Omega jumbo! WATCH my friends… That’s it for now, kitchen, family and drinks are awaiting. Have a very nice Christmas…
23 December - Giftbox for Isoma
As hoped and anticipated I have a buyer for the Isoma, a beautiful simple yet very functional and and stylish watch. 
In the Bauhaus tradition if you ask me. The dial is in very good condition and if not for the damaged markings between 12 and 1 o’clock and the calendar I’d say the watch is in perfect conditions. Due to some ‘poly-love'(oeps) the crystal is entirely scratch free!
I heard the calendar clicking at a quarter to 12, a loud mechanical healthy sound, as always it clicked to tomorrow, without speed change…gr… I leave it.
What about this? A gift box with a superbe 70-ties Isoma with Anker movement, automatic, crisp and clear that runs on an 260 Amplitude! It loses 80 seconds a day which is worthwhile adjusting if you’d care. I leave the movement untouched by me (so will not open the watch), no need to mess with it by me.
Both the gift box as the shown TG data is very much, what you see is what you get. I like!
22 December - Tools
A few words about tools. Early december I invested in the replacement of some of my tools: screwdrivers, tweezers, oilers and other (less expensive) accessories. I have not had the chance to use them but they look and feel completely different than the ones in my chinese build ‘starter kit’, have a look. 
Can’t wait to start a ‘project’ over the weekend. I have to say that it’s expensive stuff (the oil is pure liquid gold), so I hear you ask ‘how do you know”? I don’t, as with a lot of purchases in this hobby I guess a lot. But this time I had a bit of help from the website and (commercial) course presented by Mark Lovick http://www.watchfix.com
I enrolled on his level 1 course getting started: really interesting and all about the autonomy of a movement and required tools! I embarked on level 2 as well but have not found the time yet to get my head around it.
22 December - Back to work, back to lockdown
Back in the lockdown again. A full one this time. All stores are closed except for the essential ones…guess vintage watches are not that essential compared to beating Omikron. 
So my route to market turned into a dead end! I need to make my watches available on my site. Will think about something soon. For now a few pictures: a lot of goodies sailed in through the net…So another Accutron (Bulova tuning fork), Lucerne and superduper Kienzle. 
The book did not sail in, the book is a precious gift from my friends from work for my birthday. Another special gift is on its way, I will show and tell upon arrival. 
13 December -The bigger picture
Time for the bigger picture. Not always interesting – we tend to like our own pictures best- and it is often a bit boring. Anyway may be it’s not so hard to sit this one through: I want to share with you the bigger picture of my own photo studio in our kitchen! Super duper high end…
10 December -Time for rest...
All purpose watch… functional, comfortable, reliable, affordable, fashionable..!
9 December - replenishing stock at LDF
The Isoma watch is sold, so this void is filled with a brutally beautifully Statement watch, the Glashutte Spezimatic!
Watches are handled, cared and wound with love at LDF. Did make some store pictures while I was at it. That Certina is a killer dress watch (all of them are!)
9 December - Watchphilippo for sale in Club Clothier.
I’m super stoked that Tommy Page from Club Clothier at the Prinsenstraat 7, Amsterdam wants to sell some of my watches with is collection (at least for now!). His shop, collection and fashion statements are simply stellar and a a true match. Go check his store and/or his page http://www.clubclothier.com
7 December -With a little help from a friend
Some of you may wonder, heeh.. this watchphilippo dude is really stepping up his game with his (ever better looking) blog!?..that guy is a fast learner! …unfortunately not.
The story is that WPhilippo has outsourced its IT to a low (should I say optimized?) cost location of a downtown Manhattan NY hotel suite.
For real? No. what happened: Sunday I spend hours on this blog. Before I hit the sack on Monday early morning I hit the update button on wordpress (just an old habit) in anticipation of my progress…guess what… no readable text anymore nowhere…all my efforts …ggrrr…!
So what do you do? Eat your pyjamas? Abuse your notebook? Stop with this journey? Hell no, you text that friend who helped you out initially during summer (let’s call her Em). Em! On behalf of the entire global community, all seven watchphilippo readers would like to thank you for your help during your holidays (again!) Have a drink with M. in the hotel bar on my expense, and enjoy your stay.
Back to watches: what about 
this Bulova Accutron? Soon for sale in my webshop. It’s a ‘music watch’ so it runs electronically (like a quartz resonator). Before I depart with it I want to do a little exploration on the net on ‘ how exactly’. I have more electronic vintage watches, some of them beating like a mechanical movement (Junghans Argonaut Electronic), some with more like a ‘Cuban embassy torture’ frequency… Check the catalog for pictures. Send me a message (info@watchphilippo.nl) if you’re interested.
5 December - Watchphilippo celebrates first sale and first week of its existence
It’s Sunday and yesterday I sold my first watch ever to Les Deux Freres! Today I celebrate the anniversary of the the birth of Watchphilippo a week ago (Nov 27th). Man what a ride!
Although I’m over the moon, it feels as a sad departure. I have not been able to show off enough with this ultra beautiful statement of a watch. When I have time I will create a ‘Hall of Fame’ section and this beauty will be in there as my number one. Photos’ from the (net)
So to the buyer of this watch I’d say: “Give me your hand! You bought yourself a cracking Glashutte!”.
The watch came from the US and I bought it Dec 7th 2020, so I had it for almost a year in my collection.
I’ll never forget you…sniff…
4 December, watches in store in Amsterdam
Watchphilippo presents collab with Les Deux Freres and The Amsterdam Archives.
Two photos’ say more than three words. What fun did I had! ‘My route to market is by bike and a big mouth!
The Amsterdam Archives on the Leliegracht and Les Deux Freres on The Rozengracht are -as we speak- selling watchphilippo watches! I’m, so excited…
Les Deux Freres.
I met and spoke Mathieu (Les Deux Freres) briefly. They have a briljant store with high quality fashion and accessories for men very carefully selected and proposed. I had 2 minutes to pitch my watch collection. That was enough, he is an aficionado, and a professional one to! He told me he has had a strong interest in watches for a long time and sold watches as a retailer in his store!… oeps watch out watchphilippo!… hell no…these guys are running a solid operation and looking at their store we have a lot of mutual interest. Except for the commercial savviness I guess- I have not sold a watch in my entire live (!), I bought quite a few of them now but so far only give away .
In think watchphilippo (Gold)Dress and Bauhaus -watches will appeal to the customers of Les Deux Freres.
Who knows, the lines are set in the water and the hooks full of bait… as said to be continued, this story just started!
The Amsterdam Archives
I spoke and met twice with Nicola at The Amsterdam Archives, what a lovely and super energetic lady and a outstanding interior shop!
Will be continued. For know a few pics from the
store: golden (I wish) Junghans automatic (with blue hands..yes!!!) for sale at The Amsterdam Archives.
The Amsterdam Archives is basically a photo set! All this high end (artist make) vintage, and design, the colours, the vases and lightning is a killer set to make photo’s. If Nicola permits I will shoot more of my collection in the future in here store.
What about these three German stooges (Junghans, Glashutte and Kienzle)… just like the doctor ordered!
As said …for sale as of this very day…
29 November, structuring the collection.
Structuring the collection, watch codes and a sales attemp.
Due to my sales adventures of last Saturday I have to think about organizing and managing my collection in a more structural manner. More than a year ago I started with Excel but I got bored and I felt pressured to have it up to date. I quit with that after a month or so. Then I tried a good old notebook, it lasted a week. Then I thought, I’ll just buy small labels and write specs (buying price, date, location, how it runs etc. any ‘activities’). I still have ‘that kind of a system’ today. But it doesn’t work either as I still require a repository of some sort to manage more information a label can handle! I can’t put timegrapher data nor pictures on a small label. Besides that everytime I decide to wear a watch (multiple times a day) a need to take of the label and put it back on. Guess what happens…I find these bloody labels everywhere … enough with it.
Back to excel, but now with my blog. Due to my recent sales pitches and interest it created I need to step up and get my act together. So here we go:
As from today I will categorize my watches as follows (at my sole and only discretion…):
- BAUHAUS-> max bill, simple flat (linear mostly white or black dials) (BAUHA-1000 series)
- DRESS -> nice stainless steel or b&w spacious dials, mostly leather bracelet (DRESS-2000 series)
- GOLDDRESS –> idem but gold coloured (will not have spandex bracelet) (GOLDDRESS -3000 series)
- STATEMENT-> statement watch, gold or any colour and or with spandex bracelet and or jump watches, rally straps, or TV shape very, bulky, (STAT-4000 series).
- SILVINT –> stainless steel vintage (SILVINT – 5000 series)
Let’s see if this works and how long I will stick to it.
A little test, see below an offering I made today: what codes do you see….
Correct these are from left to right the: DRESS1001, BAUHA2001, BAUHA2002, STAT3001, GOLDDRESS4001 and STAT3002.
I hear you think, he Philippo, the 3rd is not a Bauhaus, thats a Silver Vintage you idiot…. wrong… picture is off and I feel it is a Bauhaus. End of discussion.
29 November, Polywatch polish
A very short post on… Polywatch.
Buy it online and just use it with a micro cloth on your acrylic/plastic watch crystal. See before and after (max 3 minutes so definitely not the result that can be achieved with some serious effort!) This gives me the opportunity to show you a briljant found / purchase I did in august on Ebay. I’m really pleased with and enjoyed the watch a lot, I will sell this watch however.
Before Polywatch:
After Polywatch:
(compliments to those who figured that it took me more than 3 minutes…it did not )
29 November, Timegrapher explorations
A few words on the Timegrapher. I have it and I use it. Although I’m still in the process of grabbing the complete autonomie and health of a watch, I’m that far that a great amplitude most of the time (!) stands for a well serviced watch with a strong spring energy and will typically run great (consistently). The point is: what is a great amplitude? I think a lot depends on the age and type of movement.
In my mind for now I’d say: for old vintages watches an amplitude of 180 is minimum, 200 is okay, 220 is fin, 250 is great and between 270-300 is super! This I just made up and I have no authority whatsoever but since it is my blog, I’m permitted. Dunno, will check my literature and the net.
For now I use it as a reference. Even if I don’t know sh*t, I (and therefore you) can compare or have it as a reference point. The lower the beat error the better, the less rate you lose/gain the better. The closer the lines the better (little beat error). Ok so let’s go, let’s make some references.
Omega Constellation(C model- early seventies so approx. 50 years old). Originally Chronometer certified well serviced (last time 6 months ago by a watchmaker in Amsterdam on the Albert Cuypstraat).
Really… 0 secs off, amplitude of 260 degrees, 0,1 ms beat error on a 19800 bph. I have difficulties to believe the accuracy. I’ll put a link to the watch repair shop as he for sure knows what he’s doing (or Omega is…). My personal feeling so far is that the timekeeping rate does not correspond with my personal experiences (or at least with the experiences of my radio controlled atomic clock on my wall). As a general rule I’m not to interested in the time rate as such. Every quartz will outperform on this aspect).
Can’t wait to check another watch from my personal collection, this time the Tissot Visodate, relatively new ( 7 years?) current production, let’s see:
Well that’s for sure a nice solid line (0,0 ms beat error!!!) advances 13 sec a day and an amplitude of 273 degrees. I have had this watch serviced once by the same repairman ( a couple of years back).
Okay, next, who’s on? What about the Ulysse Nardin . I have this watch 30 years and a bought it NOS, I have not had it open so don’t know the production date but let’s assume (by the looks) this is a late 60’s watch, never serviced!!! Pretty descent still, it gains 45 sec a day, has an amplitude of 212 degrees and a beat error of 0,9ms.
Will need to work on the magic but for know I have some sort of a reference. Maybe to conclude with a índustry benchmark’.
A friend of the family recently bought his first dress watch a Omega ( I believe Geneve or Seamaster). His first serious watch and he had it serviced. Based on our mutual interest he send my the attached receipt of the repair guy. This gives some perspective as well, this is what you may expect after a professional service from a watch maker (220 degrees/0,6 ms beat error 7 secs a day).
Takeaway: amplitude is difficult (old watches have less energy stored due to an old spring / dirty movements have less amplitude due to drag and resistance / broken movements simply don’t run), time rate difference is ambiguous and my Omega is super and trashes my Eterna…. haha!
I will not panic if I see amplitudes around 180- 200 degrees, what I will do is wear the watch longer to check its performance during the day. In any way I believe this works best (not so convenient if you want adapt the movement though….)
To be continued in a separate section on this site (need to think how). Let me finish by stating that I will try as much as possible to measure my watches and post the pics on this site for evidence. Ciao!
Note 5 December: Interesting post on the issue. Have a read here (Note 5 December: Interesting post on the issue. Have a read here.
It appears I was not entirely right (not wrong either). An amplitude of 220 degrees is some some of sweet spot number. Too much amplitude has a downsides as well. So the shop who serviced the Omega of my friend are spot on, well done! It shows there are true Omega specialists (kuddo’s)!
November 28, start of my blog, site and store.
Nov 28. I guess I published a new page. My blog! yeah….let’s post a picture…
yep…from my collection. I polished the glass with poly watch and combined the watch with a NOS bracelet from ebay.
Nov. 28. Time to check and validate my own assumptions. Cold selling in Amsterdam on a rainy afternoon.
Yesterday I did a tour through my town, Amsterdam, or at least ‘de negen straatjes’ and around. I used to shop there (I lived for 2 years in the Runstraat (above restaurant Lulu (?) during my studies), due to tourists, now COVID, career and other interest I don’t frequent the area that often and it had been a while. Of course a lot of shops disappeared, actually I’m always frightened to bike through town. Afraid to be swamped by wine bars, coffee bars, nutella bars, project stores, pop up stores, barber shops, tattoo-and ice parlors. I was actually positively surprised. Today I experienced that there are still a lot of courageous entrepreneurs with interesting propositions working really hard.Armed with a cross selection of my collection ( I selected 12 watches from my pile) and some print outs (I had them printed at the print shop in my street) I presented some shops I targeted (appearance, product, ‘feel’) with my proposition “hi… I have a collection of very beautiful bespoke selected vintage watches which matches your store portfolio pretty well… I know it will trigger the interest of your targeted audience and increase the proposition of your shop….). So there I was on a rainy day, on my bike, with a leather briefcase in my hands (and >a foot between the door) trying to get the interest for my product >and story. A completely new experience; this ‘romantic’ cold selling.the main takeaways of today are:
- it is hard to be a entrepreneur in a rainy winter, with COVID restrictions and low commercial sentiment, even in Amsterdam (I guess rental prices are steep)- I feel more appreciation for these people now, especially without all the tourist
- I have indeed ‘hand-picked’ a nice collection of watches, really sellable and appealing to a specific customers
- I have little knowledge of retail (paying for a physical store in the city requires high margins)
- I have even less knowledge of retail; you can’t just expect retailers to sell your stuff without vetting- of course they have risk when selling ‘vintage’ ‘mechanical’ (what is?) watches. It reflects their entire proposition, brand and goodwill.
- I had super responses, including follow up appointments and leads, even though I interrupted these entrepreneurs on their ‘must sell Saturday afternoon’ in covid, pre curfew, pre Christmas season (respect…!)
- selling is fun and i’m not afraid of it- I’m actually quite good at it (…),! – meeting new interesting people even more. Sharing mutual interest in beautiful product and interest justs gives energy.
