Ulli Kampelmann's Hilariously Ugly Watches
I am probably losing a load of karma points for this article. Part of me feels bad because I am in a sense directly criticizing artist Ulli Kampelmann, though I mean nothing personal. I just find her entire collection of watches so bad looking, and in just a funny way, that I had to show them off. I am sure her other types of art work are better.? I don't actually need to say much, because the hilarity sort of speaks for itself. They looks like cliche 80's satire, with a healthy serving of bad taste, and framed by expensive materials such as gold and diamonds. What is even funnier are the images placed with the watches in the little marketing shots on the Ulli Kampelmann site (which you should totally visit if you are in a bad mood as it will make you smile with laughter, I promise).She has a combination of men's and women's watches. The one hideous cream of the crop is the "Jeans Pocket" watch (also in pocket watch form!). The watches are in steel or rose gold plated with a variety of

black themes vs navy 2014
so i owned the black themes for more than a year. loved it... it matches everything and is easy to wear.then this year the navy 2014 came out and i was pretty blown away. blue's my favourite colour and i was coveting the watch for many months. so i decided to trade in my themes and buy it.however... now that i own the navy 2014 i find it clashes with pretty much everything! it's a bit difficult to wear, and i tend to wear business attire about 80% of the time. and looking at it more and more, i'm finding the blue doesn't really go with the orange or rather looks a bit weird with the orange highlights.have not peeled the stickers off yet so now i'm wondering if i should go back and buy the black themes again before it's completely discontinued...yes, i know it's my own fault for not predicting this earlier, but what do you guys think?p.s. went back to the dealer and he flat out refused to sell me back my black themes and take the navy EVEN with a top up. i'm never dealing with him again

Patek mind games: separating the money from the watch
I've been collecting watches for about ten years. I've had over 100 watches of almost every brand, from Anonimo and Marathon to Doxa and Panerai. I always come back to Rolex. For a long time, my dream watch was a 5512 and I've been wearing one now for about 6 months. But lately, I became spellbound by the 5711. I've never owned a watch anywhere near as expensive as the 5711.I'm in a position to buy one if I could find one secondhand or get on a wait list. But I'm having kind of a watch crisis. Being able to spend $30K on a watch has been messing with my mind a lot. Now I look at, say, a 16610 - a watch I dreamed of for twenty years that I've now owned in multiple incarnations - and it seems rather diminutive. Why? I keep thinking, A 5711 is like wearing 6 16610s. I feel like the money is really blurring the line between ego and appreciation. It's like being able to afford one has the potential of turning me into an instant watch snob. I'm worried about how my thoughts have transitioned

Great story on the Dalai Lama's Patek ..
I'm sure most have seen it already, but if not, there is a great story on The Dalai Lama's Patek Philippe, over on Hodinkee right now...hodinkee/articles/the...stoy-seriously

Second thoughts on the 5167
I recently bought a 5167 ( rubber strap) and am having second thoughts about it. It just doesn't seem to move me like my 5711. I don't think the rubber strap is as comfortable as the 5711. I do like the fact that it wears more casual. For those who have both , what are you thoughts and do you wear the 5167 to more casual outings?