As most Rush fans know, Geddy Lee is an avid collector of many things, including bass guitars, baseball memorabilia, fine wines and more. He also has amassed a collection of 40 vintage wristwatches over the years, and was recently interviewed for a piece in Worn & Wound magazine to discuss his collection and how he became interested in the hobby:
... I didn't have a whole lot of interest in collecting watches, but I always admired certain old watches. I think the very first old watch that I ever owned was a Rolex a guy in England sold me years and years ago. It wasn't anything remarkable or particularly collectible, but it was from the '30s and I just thought it was a cool watch. It was a couple hundred bucks and I still have it.
Rolex made some stuff exclusively for the Canadian market through the years, and one of them was this Tudor Oyster Regent, and I picked that up. I thought it had a cool shape to it and I love the sort of Art Deco vibe of those watches. So, I had a few cool watches over the years and enjoyed them, but I didn't take collecting seriously or anything.
A few Patek Philippe Calatravas - photo credit: Richard SibbaldHowever, I was in Switzerland many years ago and I happened upon this cool watch shop, and a great conversation with a very nice chap there led to my leaving with a black bezel Rolex GMT from 1968, and that was really my gateway watch. I kept that watch for many years. Over the years, I'd received a few great watches as gifts, including a solid gold Universal Genève Compax. Later I picked up a '68 Jaeger LeCoultre Speedbeat, and it was then that I started threatening an interest in really collecting watches. ...
You can read the entire interview online at this location.
