Watches, Pens, and the Craft of Analog Living
Ellen Ashford · July 25, 2026
The Drawer Where My Grandfather’s Watch Waited My grandfather’s watch arrived without ceremony. No velvet box, no letter tucked inside. My aunt handed me a small zip-lock bag at a family gathering in 2014, and inside it was a slim, gold-toned dress watch from the early 1960s — a Swiss-made hand-wind piece with a signed … Read more
Ellen Ashford · July 20, 2026
Let me tell you something that used to get me strange looks at watch meetups: I collect Casio digital watches alongside my vintage Omegas. For a long time, being a Casio digital watch collector felt like a guilty secret in circles where anything under a Swiss movement got politely ignored. People would admire my Seamaster … Read more
Ellen Ashford · July 19, 2026
Most people assume that if a watch doesn’t carry a century-old Swiss name on the dial, it isn’t worth a second look. I spent the first few years of my collecting life believing exactly that — realizing too late that the prestige name on the dial had nothing to do with whether the watch actually … Read more
Ellen Ashford · July 17, 2026
A few years ago, a friend texted me a photo of a watch he’d found at a flea market. “Is this real?” he asked. It was a Rolex Submariner — pristine, green dial, cyclops lens — priced at $180. I knew immediately it wasn’t. But explaining homage watches vs counterfeits to someone who’d never heard … Read more
Ellen Ashford · July 9, 2026
A few years ago, I nearly paid $1,400 for a Rolex Datejust that turned out to be a patchwork nightmare. The dial was genuine. The case was not. The movement had been swapped for a cheaper ETA caliber, and the bracelet was a mismatched aftermarket piece worth maybe $40. Knowing how to spot the fake … Read more
Ellen Ashford · July 5, 2026
The first watch I ever bought with intention cost me $47 at a flea market in Cincinnati. It was a beat-up Seiko 5 with a scratched crystal and a bracelet that pinched arm hair. I wore it every single day for two years. That watch taught me more about building a beginner watch collection on … Read more
Ellen Ashford · June 29, 2026
The first watch I ever bought new at full retail cost me $340 and taught me almost nothing useful. I walked into a department store, pointed at something shiny, and walked out feeling like a collector. I wasn’t. Starting a watch collection as a genuine beginner — without a mentor, without a roadmap, and with … Read more