Your Best Hobbies (other than Audio)

Sinclair-I hear you, I have a few though I have down sized a bit. I am dreaming of the Ulysse Nardin(the name slips my mind) it isn't on there website its around 65k and I think its worth it, like you said in that range things only go up in value. I currently wear a Cartier Pasha C and enjoy it more then anything else I have had(Rolex, Tag, Bvlgari-big mistake!) Sounds as though you have impecable taste in watches, I like most all Pateks, Piguet. I want a JLC reverso duo very bad but need a new play watch first(enter Fortis, Cosmonaut-a very cool simple watch if your not familar with them) too many toys not enough money or time!! Do a search and just use the word "time" and the watch thread here will show it face(heh-heh), its name is "what time do you wear" a few others here are into nice watches.

~Tim

Old Rovers sedans, Land Rovers and Range Rovers, then sailing and more sailing topped off with a little walk across the Tetons.

The gateway drug to watch collecting (I could never keep up with them) -- Fountain pens. As with many good hobbies, a way to take a simple part of daily life and make it a true pleasure (and a way to waste endless time).

Gheon- I like pens don't know a damn thing about them, are Monte Blanc good pens? I see them everywhere. I like there watches, but are there pens on the level? ~Tim

In response to your question, Mont Blanc is to the pen world (aside from a few of their Limited Editions, which can be nice) what Bose is to the audio world (more or less). Their basic pens are kind of an overpriced cliche for those who do not necessarily know better (like Bose as I am led to believe by this site). I am sure that I have offended some of those who like Mont Blanc's, but that is the closest analogy I could come up with for an audiophile chat board.

I personally like Italian pens (Omas, Montegrappa, Visconti, some of the nicer Stipula's) and am more into newer pens than the vintage thing.

I would strongly recommend at least a dalliance in fountain pen collecting to anyone who writes. It adds a little pleasure to what us usually a very mundane activity. Hobbies tend to be for consciously eschewing practicality in favor of more pleasurable arcana and pens, even at a simple introductory level, are a great way to do that.