I have to confess that one of my weaknesses is wearing vintage watches. It goes back to my grandfather, who owned, but did not always wear, a collection of gold watches that had been presented to him over the years by various organizations and employers who were grateful for his services. I recall with great wonderment going through the safe deposit box and seeing all the watches and wondering about their stories. Several years ago, I stopped in to see a friend who was an auctioneer and antique dealer. He recently had purchased some new, old stock wristwatches. What I mean by new/old stock is that they were vintage timepieces that were in their original boxes and had never been sold. Instead, they were found in a defunct jewelry store. The Longines watch looked great, had an original leather band, and it kept superb time. So I started to wear it. From there, my collection expanded to quite a few Hamilton watches from Lancaster, Pa., as well as Gruen from Cincinnati, Ohio. My grandfathers Girard Perigaux became another favorite for me to wear, and I could literally rotate among several watches all week long if I wanted to dress up or down. My tastes also began to shift in this period, as I was not interested in modern battery watches. I moved to self-winders and then, eventually, to my true favorite, the rectangular winding watches from the 1920-30s. I loved the deco touches to these, and there were/are an abundance of them in circulation so that I can go with almost any look. In the process, I have learned a lot about the durability of certain watches versus others. My Gruens all stopped operating after a few months of regular wear. They just could not stand up over time. However, the Hamiltons took a licking and kept on ticking. I purchased most of the watches online, as I found a huge price disparity with examples in antiques shops. It seems any winding watch in an antiques shop brings $150 or higher. Yet that same watch online is typically around $49.95. It is an amazingly consistent price disparity, so eBay became my haunt for them. Early on, I purchased watches that were not working only to discover that finding a good repairman was nearly impossible today. I recall taking a $40 watch into a jeweler in Cody, Wyo., for a cleaning. His price to clean the watch was $450. Not worth it for sure! It is much easier to go find inexpensive examples that are actually running. My biggest challenge has been in finding straps. When we lived in Williamsburg, Va., I spent a small fortune on what I was told was a fine leather band. Said band started coming apart within a year of having started to wear it. The leather stitches hid that it was in fact cheaply glued together. This past summer I asked my wife to find a new one for me as a birthday present. What a nightmare, as leather bands seem to be going, going, gone in the marketplace. Lots of Apple watch bands, but none for a 1920s vintage wristwatch. She finally found one, but it does not look to be of the greatest quality. Still, it is better to be wearing it than to have the watch get pitched into the corner of the jewelry box. So, if you are looking for that fun gift for the man in your life, I would suggest a vintage wristwatch. Classic, elegant and guaranteed to start a conversation. Born to collect should be the motto of Peter Seiberts family. Raised in Central Pennsylvania, Seibert has been collecting and writing about antiques for more than three decades. By day, he is a museum director and has worked in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Virginia and New Mexico. In addition, he advises and consults with auction houses throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, particularly about American furniture and decorative arts. Seiberts writings include books on photography, American fraternal societies and paintings. He and his family are restoring a 1905 arts and crafts house filled with years worth of antique treasures found in shops, co-ops and at auctions.