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Confessions of a serial flipper


toptime810

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I am under a self-imposed ban on new personal acquisitions - no imcoming timepieces unless they are a repair commission or for sale.  I thought it best.  I already have five antique pocket watches, four newer mechanical ones, six wrist watches, and throughout the house are numerous clocks, three of which chime.  Somehow, God only knows, at home I have learned to tell time in my peripheral vision, because clock faces almost litter the landscape. I am acutely aware that if I am ever late for anything, it better be something like a flat tire, because nobody who knows me would believe anything else. 

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On 10/1/2020 at 6:40 AM, KarlvonKoln said:

I am under a self-imposed ban on new personal acquisitions - no imcoming timepieces unless they are a repair commission or for sale.  I thought it best.  I already have five antique pocket watches, four newer mechanical ones, six wrist watches, and throughout the house are numerous clocks, three of which chime.  Somehow, God only knows, at home I have learned to tell time in my peripheral vision, because clock faces almost litter the landscape. I am acutely aware that if I am ever late for anything, it better be something like a flat tire, because nobody who knows me would believe anything else. 

Sounds a bit like the horological equivalent of the "crazy cat lady"! LOL

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I used to flip cars (loosely speaking), and hope to eventually do the same with watches. I would buy something I thought was fun and cool, play around (I like engines, shocker, huh?), get bored once everything was fixed and tuned, then sell it off for a small profit. Just a few hundred to a few thousand. Got in a bad wreck and stopped; I got gun shy about being behind the wheel of pre-safety rolling stock... Our best friends are moving to DC for the wife's job; she got a faculty position and a huge grant (MacArthur foundation I think, but not the well known genius grant). Very sad. As a parting gift, they just had a tow truck drop off the husband's (broken down) off road/camping truck (full of tools, electronics, and electrical components). Between now and the end of the pandemic, I'll get it cleaned up and running like a top, then start flipping again. Pretty excited. 

I hope to be able to horse trade with watches. I'm currently of a mind to only have two (one for daily wear, and one for shop use). I have a handful of 404 club watches, and I hope to be able to salvage a handful of them into wearable, sellable watches that people will enjoy. Eventually, I'll move up the food chain from 404 to... Who knows... $20? Then $50? May even get crazy and go all the way to $100 if I ever get my batting average up over 500!

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