THE HOME OF WATCH CULTURE

tomaustin

Tom Austin

Contributor

Tom discovered watches at the young age of around 5, fascinated by a digital Super Mario Bros watch which was devastatingly lost on a Spanish holiday. Clearly scarred for life, Tom has spent the last 30 years attempting to recover from that tragedy by becoming a lifelong watch collector and enthusiast.

Tom’s taste has since matured from 90’s plastic cartoon watches and now favours Steel Sports watches with a bit more refinement. With a background in engineering and business management, Tom finds watches are a fun escape from all that stuff.

My favourite watch: Like picking a favourite song, it’s almost impossible for me, but I guess it’s whatever I get drawn to most when opening the box, and usually that tends to be my Rolex GMT Master II 116710BLNR. On my wrist during some of the most memorable parts of my adult life, it’s the one I couldn’t do without.

My Finale watch: A black dial Rolex Daytona 6240, I’m a guy who loves details and nuances which make a particular piece rare and collectible. For me nothing beats 4 digit Rolex Cosmographs and Daytonas for this. I also love that Rolex could barely give these away back in the day too, it makes me smile.

Articles by Tom Austin

Nineties nostalgia – 9 of the greatest watches from the 1990s
5 of the best Italian watch brands
Timewarp treasures – 8 totally tubular watches from the 1980s
Hublot’s new Classic Fusion High Jewellery is blinged-out to the nines
Breguet’s Marine Tourbillon 5577 is a sporty tribute to the founder’s famous complication
10 of the best 21st birthday gift watches
A collector’s first foray into vintage, and why you should consider it too
Marlon Brando’s Rolex GMT-Master is up for auction again. What will Kurtz’s watch bring this time?
5 of the best two-tone watches
5 of the best budget moonphase watches
The Benrus Ultra-Deep copies a page from the history books
5 alternatives to the Swatch x Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
The Citizen Eco-Drive 365 presents a brand new movement with a year-long power reserve
10 of the best watches for an 18th birthday
Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon EOD
5 of the best strap monsters
5 of the best budget skeleton watches
5 of the best minimalist watches
5 of the best manually wound watches
5 of the best Omega Speedmaster limited editions
7 of the best carbon fibre watches
5 of the best tough watches
5 of the best world time watches
7 of the best GMT watches
5 of the best titanium watches
5 of the best “old money” stealth wealth watches
The 5 best summer watches
The 6 best perpetual calendar watches
The 5 best square watches
The 5 best Tiffany blue watches