Bernard O'Shea has become obsessed with watches

Bernard thought it was just he and John Joe Brennan that were obsessed with horology but it turns out the internet is exploding with collectors

Bernard is checking his Post Office book to see which one he can afford. Photograph Moya Nolan

During lockdown I got obsessed to a lot of things. Baking, meditation, drinking turmeric tea and walking barefoot on grass to ground myself, but I never thought that I would become completely infatuated with watches.

As a kid I was obsessed with time. I couldn’t understand why every thing was measured in tens but time was measured in sixes. A quick Google search will tell you we have the Sumerians to thank for that, and primarily the Swiss to thank for the current global obsession to possessing some of the most complex and beautiful objects ever made on planet Earth.

I remember my first watch was a digital Casio. I got it for my Communion. It was a typical first watch for a kid. It was cheap, reliable, sturdy and digital. I didn’t know then that my simple purchase was ultimately destroying the Swiss watch industry.

The quartz revolution of the 1970’s sent the Swiss watchmaking industry into turmoil. They had hundreds of years of tradition producing mechanical watches from various different “houses”. The term “house” is essentially the brand. But they couldn’t compete with cheaper and no service required Japanese watches.

Long story short, some Swiss watchmakers under an umbrella group ‘Manufacture Horlogère Suisse’ came up with the Swatch Watch as an entry level quartz competitor. It worked, and by the 1990’s a Swatch watch was not just a fashion item but more importantly an affordable piece of Swiss engineering on young wrists.

Those young wrists became older and more affluent and some eventually started buying brands like Rolex, Omega and Patek Philippe, and thousands like myself also went deep diving into the online world in the last few years and discovered brands like IWC, Tudor, Breitling and Jaeger-LeCoultre. But why? YouTube. I watch thousands of car review videos. Mostly hyper cars that I will never afford or drive. But watches are different. Not alone can I devour copious content from watch influencers like Teddy Baldassarre, and Jenni Elle, but more importantly I can walk into a jewellery store and touch them, look at them and if I’m feeling cheeky try them on (even if I can’t afford them).

Take a brand like IWC Schaffhausen. You might have seen Lewis Hamilton from the Mercedes F1 team wear one of those iconic pilot watches. The level of handmade skill, hundreds of hours and complex detailed engineering that goes into making one of them is mind-boggling. They are by no means cheap but unlike an apple watch (which I own and love) they are forever.

As Paul Sheeran from Paul Sheeran Jewellers explains: “A watch is much more than a time piece it’s a sentiment that has been purchased for a special occasion. Today is my daughter’s 21st and we’re giving her a small piece of jewellery that she will have for the rest of her life. A watch is the exact same. The modern horological watch is made for life. You will... probably pass it onto the next generation... When you touch that watch you’ll remember your father or mother, or whoever gave it to you. People have said to me it’s like you’re holding hands with them.”

I thought it was just me and John Joe Brennan from the 2009 Late Late Toy Show that were obsessed with horology but the internet is exploding exponentially every day with influencers and collectors talking about watches. The bizarre and possible alarming side of things though is the grey market.

In the US the secondhand market is mostly driven by supply and demand. Brands like Rolex and Richard Mille have seen pieces double and triple from their original retail price and there is a growing cohort of people investing their money in watches, instead of traditional areas like shares or property. Where once people spent their days trading bitcoin they are now buying and selling online sites like Chrono24.com

How does a retailer like Paul Sheeran see these new trends developing? He explains: “There is unbelievable demand to have the newest hottest watch on your wrist, whatever the brand is. We have limited edition pieces here. People think we’re joking when we tell them we will give them the first phone call and first refusal to buy them. For instance we have over 20 names for a new Tudor Chronograph on a waiting list and we had to stop at 20.”

I asked him the price, while holding the very same watch very delicately and desperately not trying to drop it. “That’s €5,000 and if you think that’s expensive we will see that same watch on the market today for €11,000. We, and the manufacturers, don’t want to sell these pieces to people who just want to make money from them. We go to great lengths to make sure that it has a good home and doesn’t end up on the grey market.”

And if you think having a watch obsession is a “man thing” you’re wrong. The industry has seen a massive growth in women buying the traditional male brands and buying larger watches too, not your traditional petite sizes. My own dream watch an IWC Portugieser Chronograph. It is one of the biggest selling watches Sheeran’s sell to women.

So I think its time to see what’s left in my post office account and maybe in a decade or so I might be able to put a deposit down on my own little piece of Swiss ingenuity. And John Joe Brennan, if you ever get to read this you’re not alone my friend. Horology rocks!