Andrew Benzer has around twenty or thirty watches he’d like to get rid of at any given time. The longtime reader and friend of Worn & Wound’s slough pile would form an impressive collection on its own, complete with grail watches like an Omega Speedmaster Professional. The watches he holds on to are even more varied and impressive.
“I love watches, I love different kinds of watches,” said Andrew in an interview. “There is no other experience that’s akin to actually having something on your wrist for an extended period of time. And as a result, I have acquired probably more watches than most people would like to admit.”
That collection is in the range of 60 to 70 watches and major names like Tudor, Omega, Zenith, and Grand Seiko, and smaller brands like Brew, Ming, and Halios. But like so many watch enthusiasts, for Andrew it all started with Timex and Seiko.
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“My godfather gifted me a Timex for my first communion,” Andrew recalled. “And I remember just thinking it was the coolest thing in the world, it made me feel so grown up. I would wear it to school every day, I wore that thing until the plastic band basically disintegrated. And just from a very practical standpoint, I always thought a person should have a watch, you should know what time it is. This is in the 80s and 90s and well before smartphones and everything.”
Timex led to Casio, Casio led to Fossil, and Fossil led to the Seiko SKX.
“The SKX was kind of my gateway that really blew the lid off it. And I realized ‘oh my gosh, there’s all kinds of cool, interesting stuff out there,” said Andrew.
This led to a major shift in Andrew’s approach to watches: “It really shifted from a pragmatic use for a watch to a fascination with the movements.”
By 2014, Benzer had a bona fide collection, with 10 watches–and growing. Part of what drove that growth was Andrew’s participation in forums and watch events, which introduced him to independent watch brands whose work he grew to deeply appreciate.
“Being able to try on watches when you meet friends before an event like the Windup Watch Fair really helped me develop and shape an appreciation for those independent brands and what they’re doing,” said Andrew. “It’s coming from a real place where these guys are as crazy and deep into this hobby as I am, and they see a niche that hasn’t been filled and they do something to fill it.”
Soon his collection included watches from brands like Louis Erard, Benrus, Nomos, and Equation of Time. Andrew has been in the habit of picking up a new watch every month or so, selling off or trading in watches when possible.
“Incoming is a lot easier,” he noted.
Andrew said he tends to be drawn to watches with a high level of accuracy. The co-axial escapement in Omega’s Railmaster drew him to the watch, and it’s now one that gets a lot of wrist time. Another go-to these days is his blue Tudor Black Bay 58, which he appreciates for its “no muss, no fuss, no nonsense” straightforwardness and durability. Other watches hold a special place in his collection because of the moment in life they represent, like the Hodinkee collaboration with Zenith, which was a gift from his wife, and the Omega CK859 Andrew wore to his wedding. Watches that don’t have some sort of emotional connection don’t get the same level of attachment.
“If it doesn’t resonate with me the way that I thought it would, I’m not sentimental about these things, I’ll let it go,” said Andrew. “I wanted a Speedmaster forever, and I have one now, I have a couple now, and I just don’t wear it.” said Andrew.
“Whereas this quirky Railmaster, if somebody spots it and says ‘hey, cool Railmaster,’ it’s a conversation piece and they’re not as common, so if somebody notices it, then you know you’ve got somebody you can really open up and go deep on this sort of thing.”
Andrew kicked off 2024 with the intention of going on a watch fast. And then in January he saw an IWC Fliegerchronograph with its clean pilot watch appearance and a pyramid style bracelet in the Worn & Wound+ Slack and…
“So that lasted all of like two weeks,” said Andrew with a laugh.
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