A while back someone asked me about my watch storage. I tried to find the original thread on this forum so I wouldn't add unnecessarily to the amount of posts but after 30 minutes of trying, I gave up. So here are two ways in which I store my watches.

First is through the use of stainless steel, laboratory desiccators made by Boekel. I am sure there are others out there but these are the easiest and quite frankly the cheapest to find. Three of mine, I picked up for free at work when they were getting tossed out and replaced! The other three, I bought off eBay for approximately $50 each. They definitely scream "lab equipment" and your significant other might have a problem with their tendency to upset their decor but luckily for me, my wife let me have a room just for my junk! That means she has free rein with the rest of the house but I don't mind as our taste is very similar... craftsmen style.

Anyway, here are the desiccators. What I do is buy them cheap and then clean and polish them. Even some of the worst scratches can usually be polished out. I then remove the typical wire drying racks and replace with new custom cut glass with beveled edges. From the pictures you will see that the cases are pretty bare right now. I work overseas and currently the bulk of my collection is here with me. The photos were taken while I was home back in the states about a week ago.










I guess the only negative to this set-up is the overall look. It doesn't really go with anything. The next idea is little more decor friendly. I had these shadowboxes custom made to match some furniture. They are made from quarter sawn oak and each one weighs about 25 pounds.








The interior is lined with goatskin from a US Navy G-1 or horsehide from an USAAF A-2.




Nice details...



Hope this was of interest.

Very nice, James! I like the idea of recycling and it has even become fashionable these days so hopefully you can convince your better half that she should welcome them in other parts of your home.

Or, if she still won't go for that you might take your nice wooden shadowbox idea a step futher and have a large, long one made and have the maker put low legs on it to make a nice coffee table. You could then fill it with your nicest looking watches, wind them all up and it would be a real conversation piece for your living room when guests come over and look down into the coffee table to see all of your watches ticking away inside.

James, thanks for sharing your approach to displaying / storing your mil watches. I rather like the industrial approach, which would suit a games room etc. I have two young children, so at the moment, I have to store my timepieces up high, out of reach of two curious monkeys!

quote:

Jim Hester Posted October 04, 2010 22:09
Very nice, James! I like the idea of recycling and it has even become fashionable these days so hopefully you can convince your better half that she should welcome them in other parts of your home.

Or, if she still won't go for that you might take your nice wooden shadowbox idea a step further and have a large, long one made and have the maker put low legs on it to make a nice coffee table. You could then fill it with your nicest looking watches, wind them all up and it would be a real conversation piece for your living room when guests come over and look down into the coffee table to see all of your watches ticking away inside.
Posts: 497 | Location: Baltimore, Maryland USA | Registered: September 20, 2004

Thanks Jim. I am perfectly happy to have my little corner of the house. I am in the process of building a new house that will allow me to have a slightly bigger allowance of space, so there is that to look forward to, LOL.

With respect to the wooden shadowboxes, those I had made especially so that I could display some of my watches in other parts of the house. They are currently residing in my study/den. I do have plans for a "map" type table with glass top. It will be about 36" wide X 24" deep with 5-6 sliding drawers 18" wide X 24" deep. They way it will be made is that without having to open anything up, you can slide the drawers to one side of the table or another and view the different drawers through the glass top. I've drawn up the plans and now have to have the thing built. It won't be cheap, so I am planning on selling some watches in the near future to fund it. Once finished, I'll post some pictures of it on the forum. It will give me plenty of room to show watches and other things I collect, all in one place.

quote:

Ken Gordon
IHC Member 1434
Posted October 05, 2010 06:09
James, thanks for sharing your approach to displaying / storing your mil watches. I rather like the industrial approach, which would suit a games room etc. I have two young children, so at the moment, I have to store my timepieces up high, out of reach of two curious monkeys!
Posts: 21 | Location: Geneva in Switzerland | Registered: April 27, 2010

Thanks Ken. I have already been contacted asking more information on my set-up so I guess it is not too industrial for some folks. I personnaly like the look and will actually be doing a room in an industrial style in the near future and these will fit right in. They don't have locks on them so I guess you still need to keep your stuff up high!