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Time+Tide’s year-end selection of the best watch memes of 2021 is a lighthearted look at collector life—not a ranked contest, market study, or complete archive. Its jokes land on familiar hobby tensions: expensive tastes, hard-to-find watches, theft worries, household budgets, and the urge to keep prized pieces pristine.
Published on December 25, 2021, Zach Blass’s Time+Tide roundup gathered favorite memes from the outlet’s Friday Wind Down column. The nine principal themes below are editorial picks, not evidence that every collector shares these experiences or that the memes were formally ranked.
Why watch collecting can feel expensive—even at Christmas
The “Merry Watchmas” joke turns gift-giving into a collector’s budget dilemma: what if a watch is more tempting than the household appliance under the tree? Its punchline is the tension between a discretionary hobby and ordinary responsibilities, not a recommendation to return gifts or spend beyond one’s means.
The theft anxiety of wearing a valuable watch
Another meme plays on the unease of taking an expensive watch out in public. The underlying joke is familiar to anyone who has wondered whether the pleasure of wearing a prized piece is worth worrying about it being stolen. The roundup uses that anxiety for humor; it does not quantify theft risk or offer security advice.
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Waitlists, scarcity, and “Unobtanium”
The scarcity meme gives an imaginary element—“Unobtanium”—to the frustration of wanting a watch that is difficult to get. The article contrasts the small output of independent makers with its own estimate that Rolex produces between 800,000 and one million watches annually. That range is the roundup’s estimate, whose origin it does not cite; it should not be treated as a verified Rolex production figure.
The joke also points to queues that can become so long that a maker stops accepting new orders. Grönefeld is the example in the roundup, described as being transparent about a queue it could no longer take. A separate Everest Bands July 2021 roundup likewise joked about Rolex authorized-dealer stock and long waits, while its January 2022 retrospective identified “no stock” and waitlists as recurring meme subjects. These are editorial observations, not market data establishing why scarcity occurs or how widespread it is.
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Leather versus rubber, fabric, or metal straps
One practical aside argues that leather may look good and offer plenty of customization, but is a poor match for water, heat, or sweat. The writer suggests rubber, fabric, or metal for those conditions. That is editorial advice rather than a universal compatibility rule: a strap must suit the watch and its intended use, and fabric can feel uncomfortable when wet.
| Material | What the roundup says | Consider |
|---|---|---|
| Leather | Style and customization; a poor choice for aquatic settings, heat, or sweat. | Better suited to use where water and heavy perspiration are not expected. |
| Rubber | Suggested as an alternative when water or sweat is expected. | Check fit and suitability for the specific watch and activity. |
| Fabric | Suggested as an alternative, with the caveat that it may be uncomfortable when wet. | Consider how it feels during the activity and after getting wet. |
| Metal | Suggested as an alternative when water or sweat is expected. | Check the watch’s fit and the wearer’s comfort. |
The “safe queen”: a watch kept too safe to wear
A safe-queen meme asks whether to wear a treasured watch or leave it protected in a watch box. Its humor comes from the contradiction of buying a watch to enjoy it, then being reluctant to expose it to ordinary wear. The roundup does not claim that keeping a watch unworn is financially wise or that watches generally gain value.
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Cleaning a watch without assuming every watch is the same
The cleaning meme nods to collectors who clean their watches according to their depth ratings. That is not a cleaning procedure: water resistance and safe care methods depend on the individual watch and its condition, so the joke should not be read as blanket permission to wash any watch.
Changing a strap: a small job with scratch potential
Blass recounts struggling with tight tolerances and spring bars while changing straps on his Tudor Black Bay 58, including the use of Bergeon pliers. The anecdote jokes about scratching the lugs or putting a bracelet back on the wrong way; it is not tested tool guidance or a step-by-step repair method.
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When relationships and finances reshape a collection
The roundup’s “watch mine is yours, and yours mine” framing makes shared collections and household tradeoffs the joke. A collection may shrink when major responsibilities take priority, just as the Christmas meme imagines an appliance competing with a watch. These are comic snapshots of discretionary spending, not financial advice or evidence about how couples generally manage money.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Date windows: does the placement bother you?
Date windows can prompt surprisingly intense collector scrutiny, from their position on the dial to whether the date color matches. The roundup describes 3 o’clock as familiar, 6 o’clock as a symmetrical option for some, and 4 o’clock as controversial. Blass prefers 3 or 6, while noting that caliber design can constrain where a manufacturer places the date.
| Position | How the roundup frames it |
|---|---|
| 3 o’clock | A familiar placement and one of the writer’s preferences. |
| 4 o’clock | A controversial choice among some collectors; the layout may reflect caliber constraints. |
| 6 o’clock | A symmetrical option for some and another of the writer’s preferences. |
So, does it bother you? The more specific question the meme raises is why manufacturers keep designing calibers that require a 4 o’clock date window. The roundup offers no universal answer: taste differs, and movement design can play a part.
Used-watch prices and the temptation of nostalgia
A resale-themed joke looks back at prices collectors remember paying and compares them with higher second-hand asking prices. It captures nostalgia—and perhaps regret—but does not establish a general price trend or show that watches are reliable investments.
Squid Game meets an F.P. Journe render
The final meme borrows the shape-carving challenge from the South Korean series Squid Game, released on September 17, 2021, and applies it to a render of the F.P. Journe Souverain “Remontoir d’Egalite.” The humor comes from imagining the delicate watch design as a challenge to carve. It is a pop-culture reference from the year the roundup appeared, rather than a claim about the show’s enduring popularity.
What the roundup captures
The selection’s appeal is its recognition of small, specific collector preoccupations: getting the watch, keeping it safe, choosing the right strap, and debating details most people might barely notice. It is best read as a set of affectionate jokes about watch culture—not as a survey of collectors, an objective ranking, or a guide to buying and caring for watches.
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