A collector’s journal, not a shop window.
Lam Timepieces is the record of a collection that began in 2020 with a humble Casio and grew, chapter by chapter, into the eighteen pieces documented here. Every watch has its story written the way it actually happened — the waiting, the milestones, and the ordinary days in between.
Six years, chapter by chapter.
The beginning
Dad takes the 116610LN Submariner off his wrist and starts everything — and alongside it hands over his very first Rolex, the two-tone Datejust 36 he bought decades ago to prove the hard years counted. A fifty-dollar Casio AE-1200WH joins the same season: the honest end of the same hobby. Three watches, one lesson — it was never about price. The Submariner would score a perfect 10 before this site existed to score it; the Datejust still wears his scratches unpolished; the Casio has never once been serviced and never once been wrong.
A lesson in restraint
The De Ville Co-Axial arrives — my first formal watch, all restraint and polished lugs. It teaches me dress codes, deliberate buying, and the discipline of loving a quiet dial in a loud hobby. One watch this year, chosen slowly. The habit of patience starts here — a quiet dress Omega that taught me cuff clearance, restraint, and that a 9 can whisper.
The first pure want
The Seamaster ‘No Time to Die’ — the first watch bought purely on desire. Titanium, no date, a film on the wrist, and months of savings handed over without a flicker of regret. The first time a watch felt earned rather than given. Titanium, no date, a 10 out of 10 — and the first boutique where a salesperson learned my name.
It becomes a collection
The year the word stops feeling ridiculous: the Explorer 40 for every day, the Nautilus 5811 from Dad — lightning striking twice — the Aqua Terra Worldtimer for wanderlust, and an Apple Watch Ultra 2 for the miles. Four arrivals in twelve months, and a spreadsheet becomes a collection. The Explorer for every day, the Nautilus from Dad for the story, the Worldtimer for the trips not yet taken, the Ultra 2 for the miles that keep me honest.
Vacheron, and lightning
Haute horlogerie arrives: the Overseas 4500V, silver dial, a finishing masterclass. Then Dad strikes again — the discontinued green-glass Milgauss 116400GV, bought the year after Rolex killed it, before the market woke up. His collector instincts, still two moves ahead of mine. The 4500V opened the haute-horlogerie chapter at a 9; the green-glass Milgauss walked in behind it laughing at everyone who called it a mistake.
The Royal Oak
The 15510ST. Blue tapisserie in daylight, months of waiting, one phone call. Genta’s masterpiece makes the steel-sports trinity two-thirds complete — and teaches me that the anticipation is part of the ownership. Blue tapisserie in daylight, a 9.3 on the page, and a parking-lot phone call I can still recite.
The deep end
The Aquanaut 5167A, the Daytona after years of patience, the JLC Master Ultra Thin Moon, the Overseas Tourbillon Openworked — and a walk-in miracle at a Fifth Avenue authorized dealer: the green-bezel ‘Starbucks’ Submariner, the first Rolex I ever bought myself. Eighteen watches. Six years. One story — six of them landing in this one year alone, from a $600 snow-day Swatch bought from a friend to the openworked tourbillon this site cannot stop staring at. The clock is running. I intend to fill it.
Why write any of this down?
Because most watch content online is either trying to sell you something or trying to prove the author knows more than you do. I wanted somewhere that just documented ownership honestly — the watches that got worn every day, the ones that quietly ended up in a drawer, and why.
Every watch featured here is one I actually own or have owned. Every review is written after real time on the wrist, not a weekend press loan. Ratings, pros, and cons are mine alone — there’s no sponsorship arrangement influencing a score.
Chapters, not purchases
Looking across the collection, I see more than watches. I see chapters. I see the beginning, the growth, the patience, the milestones, and the refinement of taste over time. Each watch marks not only a purchase, but a moment in a longer story. The humble Casio, the first serious Omegas, the Rolex milestones, the icons from Patek and AP, and the quiet excellence of Vacheron and Jaeger-LeCoultre all tell the story of a collector who did not arrive at taste instantly, but built it slowly through curiosity, work, and appreciation.
That is what Lam Timepieces means to me. It is not just a place to show watches. It is a place to tell the story of how they became part of my life. And when written honestly, that story becomes far more interesting than any specification sheet ever could.
What’s next
The collection and journal will keep growing. Longer term, the plan is to open this up further — watch listings, price enquiries, a wishlist, even collection valuation tools — but only once the writing and the collection itself are worth building a marketplace around. For now, it’s a journal first.