Value of anything is a most fascinating subject to me.
Eric Clapton hasn't owned this Rolex Daytona for nearly 20 years. It 's probably been in storage since he dumped it and is expected to fetch north of $1.6M?
For that much I'd want his playing ability AND his stereo system.
I've never understood or related to the fetish for expensive watches. UK reviewer Ken Kessler is a collector, occasionally dropping a watch reference into a review. There in no time, man, only the eternal present. Unless you have to be at a record store when it opens. ;-)
Now old guitars and drums, there's something worth spending big money on. Neil Young owns Hank Williams' Martin acoustic, Marty Stuart Clarence White's B-Bender Telecaster. I own one of Jim Gordon's (Derek & The Dominos, etc.) Camco drumsets. None of his cymbals, unfortunately. He played the best I've ever heard. The worst? Ginger Baker's. Real trash can lids.
Now and then I wonder just how ridiculous my spending would be if I were in that league-01%?
Sure would love to wrap my hands around a few classics normally unobtanium to mere mortals. The drum kit you have certainly is of more "value" to me and I don't play!
I appreciate fine timepieces, wouldn't object to having even a " budget" Rolex, but not my thing.
One LP, Strat and a beat up Deluxe Reverb keep me occupied.
Secretguy-what a silly comment. How's YOUR music career going?
The Deluxe Reverb (blackface, of course ;-), my favorite amp. Dwight Twilley’s long-time guitarist Bill Pitcock IV (now RIP) used a pair of them with an MXR digital delay between the two, with an ES335 plugged in. Awesome live sound!
When I recorded with Evan Johns in Atlanta, his Deluxe was up in British Vancouver, so he plugged his Tele into the studio’s black face Super Reverb, and cranked it to 10. Loudest thing I’ve ever heard! One Fender I really dislike is the Twin Reverb---too metallic/brash for my taste, though Mike Bloomfield made his sound pretty damned good (with a Les Paul).
The best live guitar sound I’ve heard was that of Ry Cooder. He had a pile of a half-dozen old combo amps: Fender, Gretsch, Ampeg, etc. And his playing? The best I’ve ever heard. This is related to the topic of the post because when Ry played his little solo in John Hiatt's "Lipstick Sunset", it felt like time stopped. The single greatest musical experience of my life.
Dont deduce from this fact that i am godlike but perhaps almost godlike because i am retired... 😎
I never collected books or music albums only purchase a great amount of the two but because i read them or listened to them...
Collecting or hoarding is a strange act for me, especially watch and matchboxes ...
But i must reveal to be fair and then i contradict myself here that i am in love with beautiful hourglass and if i was rich i may have collected many for their beauty also...
Human nature is complex ...
i just discovered that i could have been a collector after all....
i am a strange animal also after all....
The difference between an hourglass and a watch is striking, you wear a watch because you dont want to WATCH time itself...You wanted to be able to be DISTRACTED out of time or to worked inside a span of time and dont want to pay attention to objective time when wearing a watch...Save if you are very annoyed by your job and dream to be out each passing minutes...
But an hourglass is completely different, you must WATCH it with a relaxed mind , and pay attention and meditate about the flowing instants or grains of sand and time...
An hourglass is a meditation tool...
A watch is a distraction for working fools... 😁😊
And solar watch is another meditation tool like the hourglass and also like a watch a way to forgot time by marking it...
Solar watch are more difficult to collect at the same place though ! 😁😊
And all the beauty of the solar watch design is to be an instrument alone in a specific garden under a specific sky...
The object i will pay for though to be constructed for my collection of unique object would have been an old mechanical chinese sismograh with 8 dragons heads which liberate a ball and determine the direction of the epicenter......
"The Deluxe Reverb (blackface, of course ;-), my favorite amp. "
bddp24-Yes, I don't have the "real deal" but a1994 2nd year reissue(circuit board but ALL tube) Not a Fullerton Ca. "original. 22 watts of power able to keep up with most any heavy handed drummer and overly loud bass player.
I think it's safe to say -EVERYONE who has ever listened to R&R, Country, Pop, Jazz and everything in between particularly 60-80's recordings, has heard a Fender DR!
THE MOST used studio amp there ever was? All the greats likely plugged into one at some point.
@tablejockey: In the 90's I had a '66 Deluxe Reverb, but the reissues are great too. In December of 2007 I played a 3-night gig with a singer (L.A.-based Jonny Kaplan) who is a really good rhythm guitarist, and his Les Paul Jr. into a new DR sounded fantastic. For that gig I played one of my 1950's WFL black diamond pearl kits with a 24" kick.
I had a Blackface deluxe and a blackface vibrolux at the same time and enjoyed them both. Eventually I got frustrated with the finnicky nature of vintage amps but they sounded wonderful.
I'm old school. I like the feel of a proper watch on my wrist. I have a few nice ones, some older, but nothing like the big dollar bling that is thrown around these days. Watch-making is both science and art. Some of the designs are fascinating (and I pretend to know very little about the watch making art). To @bdp24, it's another way to spend money, a hobby, some pursue with a passion.
I had a friend back in NY who was seriously into cars. He managed to get the stopwatch Steve McQueen used in the movie Le Mans. He can afford it.
Daytonas seem to be some of the most collectible Rolexes for both neophytes and serious collectors. Nice watch. Not worth millions, other than for provenance and bragging rights, but I understand it. Is the money going to a charity?
@secretguy + 1 Though I wouldn't say Clapton can't play - he obviously can and has done so for decades - he just doesn't play anything I'd care to listen to!
He's a hack. Any actual, trained musician would agree.
«God is the clock in your heart and the clock maker himself but you can throw the 2 hands of the clock at whichever time you want to be...» Anonymus widow of a watchmaker
bdp24--I owned an original ’65 Deluxe Reverb for 20 years and never understood why everyone else thought it was the desert island amp (and just where do you find electricity on a desert island?). I later found that what I really wanted was a Vibrolux Reverb. Different strokes, I suppose.
I lost my last watch years ago and never replaced it.
secretguy, I am an actual trained musician and I think the stuff EC did from Mayall through Blind Faith is outstanding. Love the studio solos with Cream.
I thought this was going to be a thread about the use or non use of master clocks for dacs, etc.
I don’t even wear a watch. A friend gave me some very good copies of expensive watches. She thought it might be a nice accessory, as I was on the dating scene a number of years ago, but always forgot to wear them. I did buy a super expensive bottle of Creed men’s cologne that was quite helpful.
@jrpnde: Gordon Lightfoot's Bobby McGee is my favorite version of that song. Good recording, too.
In 1973 I was visiting the newly-opened Audio Arts in Livermore California on the very day Bill Johnson was delivering and installing his complete ARC system (Thorens TD-125 table, ARC's pro-type arm which never made it into production, Decca Blue cartridge, SP-3 pre-amp, Magneplanar Tympani T-I loudspeakers bi-amped with D51 and D75 amps. The sound blew my young mind. Later in the year that system was in my house ;-) in the shop's listening room. AA proprietor Walter Davies played that very track, and Johnson remarked on the good sq of the recording. I bought a copy of the album (If You Could Read My Mind), when I got back to San Jose, and still have it.
Ry Cooder is a guitarist's guitarist. Good taste is (heh) timeless.
"I had a Blackface deluxe and a blackface vibrolux at the same time and enjoyed them both. Eventually I got frustrated with the finnicky nature of vintage amps but they sounded wonderful"
stuartk-
Yeah, they're noisy idling, the pots eventually get scratchy, and the tone conrols don't really do much-but once you plug in- the sound. I plug in a tubed stomp box for pseudo Marshall stack tones.
whart- I've always admired the Submariner. Classic looks. Cool made cooler since it was the choice of Steve McQueen. I totally get the watch collector thing. It's a "hobby" reserved for someone with Tech Das Air Force One play money.
Because I can turn my arm and see the time vs reach in my pocket, take out the phone, and activate it in some manner to see what time it is. No comparison.
My favorite "watch" mechanism would stunned any swiss match designer and was made more than 2000 years ago, by a disciple of Archimedes if not the great man itself i dont know and nobody knows...
Have worn my dad's Oyster pretty much every day for twenty years- only had to have the strap repaired once and serviced occasionally- keeps spot on time and still looks new despite daily abuse. Don't own a mobile phone
Always been disappointed with my bro's twin reverb- always seems to hum too much despite servicing; maybe find a better tech
I don't know which model Daytona Clapton has. Some rare ones are very valuable. But it won't be worth anything like $1.6m. Paul Newman's 60's Daytona fetched $17.8m. Newman is not 10 times more famous than Clapton but his car racing exploits including at Daytona raised the value.
I cannot understand the recent fetish for owning generic kit that has been owned by famous people. There has always been such interest, but currently the price premium has multiplied enormously. Each Rolex Daytona of a particular model is the same as all the others.
Auction houses have latched onto this and now routinely sell the furnishings and personal possessions of the rich and famous either when they are down-sizing, need the money, or mostly their children cashing in after they pass away.
It is interesting stars can cash in on their fame, and make a lot of extra money merely for being famous. Possibly they should game this by owning a lot more stuff than they need, even more than they actually do.
@keithsax Yes Rolexes do seem to keep good time if properly regulated. When you say 'spot on time' what do you mean? I have a Submariner that gains about 1.6s a day. I reckon that's pretty good.
@bdp24 Each to his own, please. I have about 13 good watches and no guitars. I suppose you think I'm missing out?
Probably loses about a minute a month if that- can't remember the last time I had to adjust it- always run my watch/ clock 2-3 minutes fast anyway so I'm never late.....
Have about 20 saxes and over 40 pushbikes but one watch
Wristwatches were made so one would not need to to reach into their pocket for the time. Now it has come full circle where people reach back into their pocket. I’ve been a watchmaker for years, hence my ID "isochronism" (So I have more than a few) I also have a few vintage guitars and amps also. Funny Clapton story: A friend who only gave guitar lessons and was a big 50’s Strat collector, received a call from Eric’s people as he was to appear on Letterman show in a few weeks and was looking for a Tweed Twun to borrow. (my friend told me of this a couple weeks prior to his appearance) My friend said: "you know I don’t have one but even if I did I wouldn’t lend it. I told his people I don’t have one, but Eric can come in for lessons anytime" 😄 True! And my friend was THAT good! Such is life.
I would put watch nerds and vacuum tube nerds in the same category. Both very detailed and chasing some version of a perfect synergy. Please take "nerd" as a term of endearment.
I do appreciate a unique watch but would never spend good $ on one, and I agree that they are not about the current time. I visualize an independent watchmaker at his/her bench with the same level of skill and enthusiasm for craft as all the images of Nelson Pass at his bench. Both take science and turn it into art.
Probably the best and most functional watch I've ever owned was a "Casio - Moon Phase" back-lit LED, I think that was the name. Cost was $12.95. Never had to replace the battery. I would use the stopwatch function to race myself to work every day, got to be a real "thing". I realized it was really getting reckless and so I took the watch off my wrist while riding and tossed it in the woods. Pleasant trips after that. Haven't worn a watch since...that was 1982!
Just who would I pick, If I could choose any of the greats for a one on one?
"Wristwatches were made so one would not need to to reach into their pocket for the time. Now it has come full circle where people reach back into their pocket."
That is one of the reasons I wear a watch. I just don't have the wrist or wallet to wear a cool one as the Submariner or Daytona!
A watch keeps time. A Rolex is a piece of jewelry that also keeps time.
Some folks like to wear jewelry, some like to look at appreciate it & some do both.
You can buy a decent watch that keeps better time than a Rolex for under $100 & requires no maintenance. It may not be as beautiful & probably won't last generations. Its sort of like cars. You can buy an American or Japanese sports car that will be as fast as all but a very few Ferrari's or Lamborghini"s but nowhere near as beautifully hand made or last as long.
Some of us are willing to pay for beauty & artistry in the audio world too & thus this forum.
On the Ry Cooder sub-convo, and in connection to the “Clapton is God” graffiti, RC played the sweet Tele slide guitar for the soundtrack of the movie “Crossroads” in opposition to Stevie Vai’s demonic metal shredding in the final shoot-out between Ralph Macchio and Vai to reclaim the soul of his friend.
My dad left me a very basic Breitling watch before he died. He suggested I sell it because he knew I wasn’t interested in watches. That was the plan, but 5 years later I’m still wearing it. I grew fond of its qualities such as; self winding, doesn’t care about the internet, amazingly robust and waterproof. Basically it feels like something that will last for more than my lifetime and it’s rather convenient to get the time at a glance. Recently my love for this device has faded a bit because it’s not keeping time as well. It probably needs servicing and that’s expensive. It was running about 1 minute a month late, which I thought was exceedingly impressive for a mechanical device. I think it’s now losing a minute every 4 or 5 days. The change seems to have happened suddenly. It’ll probably get worse. Don’t know that I want to pay to have it serviced.
@crustycoot: Actually, the guitar Ry uses primarily for his slide playing is a heavily-mofified Strat, not Tele. He refers to it as the Coodercaster ;-) . At the suggestion of David Lindley he replaced one of the stock pickups with a pickup out of an old pedal steel guitar. Awesome tone, but of course it always comes back to the player, his touch, and his musical sensibilities and taste.
i think that you are not an idiot and must know that everybody interested in watch mechanism and not only in Rolex brand name know that the first complex "watch" or mechanical computer was very ancient and unsurpassed before millenia pass over it ?
And astronomy/astrology of the greek is nothing save " sky fairy"...
You know that before Newton Archimedes genius anticipate calculus and theoretical physic?
Go back silent or post something which will be interesting TO ALL instead of trolling me...
When i answered your posts i gave ARGUMENTS...
Where does the imaginary sky fairy enter the story of watches?
Here is a Swiss watch maker thinking otherwise than your limited onlooker blind habit about greek "sky fairy":
asctim, before cell phones and further a Man's watch was an important tool and some felt an extension. Many Men owned only one and it was cherished. Your Dad's watch has a story for you. Keep it at least. Down the road service it and enjoy it reminding you of your Father.
@secretguy: You and I agree on many things but sadly you are way off on Clapton. Most of the great respected guitarists of all time (Albert Lee, Yngwee Malmsteen, Joe Bonamassa etc) all say Clapton is a fabulous improvisational talent and blues player--Yngwe saying Clapton's guitar on John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers album defines blues playing. Is he the best of all time--no---is he a great guitar player--yes. Would love to know what successful trained musician thinks he's a "hack" ? Oh and don't mention Ritchie Blackmore--his jealousy of Clapton is well known. For the record Clapton thinks Albert Lee is the best.
The problem with EC's playing from my perspective is I always seem to know which note comes next which for me makes him boring. As for his watch, who the F cares. We are sitting on the brink of a nuclear war, getting as close as the Cuban missile crisis and this is what we have to talk about, a silly watch that people wear only to prove they are rich. I bet Putin has one.
It bring tear to my eye to hear such good example of why so many buy cheap watch and drive old car. I never understand why guy no work harder and try get ahead but it make sense some want nothing good.I think maybe that what make world go in circle. That thing moving like 25,000 mile per hour so move out the way I coming through.
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