This is a side note to the archive: a short account of why someone photographing aircraft from the perimeter fence keeps a watch on the wrist, what that habit grew into, and the small drawer of reference pieces it ended up collecting.
Why a photographer keeps a watch
The first reason is practical. A camera’s internal clock drifts, an approach is measured in seconds, and the long exposures on the night pages need a second count that does not wander. A watch on the wrist gives both: it times the pass, and it keeps the exposure honest when the light is poor.
The second reason is older. Aviation and watchmaking grew up together. The chronometers that kept the ships on course were the same instruments the first airmen trusted, and the pilot’s watch was part of the kit long before the wristwatch became a fashion object. A photographer standing where the airfield fence meets the perimeter is, in a small way, in the same line of work.
What I wear on display days
On the day itself the watch is a plain steel sports watch, something that survives the tarmac, a pocket full of film and a cold hand. Nothing precious goes on the wrist when you are crouched behind a railing with a long lens. The pieces that get asked about are not on the wrist at all.
The pieces in the drawer
It began, as these things do, with a single patek philippe replica bought to test a forum recommendation. It was honest about what it was, arrived on the day it said it would, and has sat in the drawer at home ever since — which is to say the habit has been with me a long time.
The drawer has grown slowly and by preference, not by number. The Nautilus replica is the piece I get asked about most, and that is fair: the porthole case is one of the most recognised watch shapes made in the twentieth century, and it has not needed redesigning since the 1970s. A reference piece like that does not need to change; it needs to be made correctly.
None of this is a claim that the drawer holds genuine pieces. It is a collector’s habit, and a note about the one reference site I actually use for the classic shapes. The makers are easy to deal with, and the pieces are labelled for what they are.
A note on the links. The two external links on this page open in a new tab. This is a note page, not a shop: I am not paid for either link, and the pieces described here are the ones I keep at home.