Just another meetup” is what they called it. But if you’ve ever been inside a room full of watch people, you know there’s no such thing.
On an ordinary Sunday in Cebu, collectors, hobbyists and the simply curious gathered for a show-and-tell session hosted by local watch enthusiasts Adrian Teh and Peter Cantillas at Swiss Perpetual in Banilad Town Center.
The theme was simple: off the beaten path. It wasn’t about flex pieces or the watches you see on billboards. Instead, it was about the odd ones, the sentimental watches — the “this makes me happy even if nobody else gets it” pieces. And honestly? Those are the ones that always tell the best stories.
“Unique,” as the group puts it, isn’t about price or prestige. It’s about nuance. Even within a shared hobby, everyone collects differently. Some chase heritage. Some chase design. Some just want something weird enough to spark a conversation over coffee. That day, the tables looked less like a showroom and more like a personality showcase.
One piece that stood out to me was a watch titled “A Perfectly Useless Afternoon” — a quirky creation from Mr. Jones Watches featuring a swimming pool design on the dial, with a man lounging on a floater and a rubber duck telling the time. There was a turntable-themed timepiece and even a Chinese watch that once took home honors at what collectors call the “Oscars” of watchmaking.
To make things more engaging, the hosts asked everyone in the room to pick a watch and share either: 1) why they liked it, or 2) what made it unique. The prompt encouraged people to open up, connect and feel heard. It was proof that this hobby doesn’t have to be serious to be meaningful — being present is more than enough.
The atmosphere was unpretentious. No one apologized for their price points or hid their “quirky” pieces. You could bring a grail or flex watch, sure. But you could also bring something affordable, nostalgic or plain strange — and still have people crowding around your wrist asking, “Uy, what’s the story behind that?”
Because that’s really what it was about: stories.
Teh shared that hosting meetups has become just as important as running the retail side of the shop. Selling watches may be transactional, but community isn’t. “Being together in our shared passion for the hobby can make us appreciate everyone’s take on what a weird timepiece is,” he said. The shop only soft-opened last October, but if the energy in the room was any indication, it already felt less like a store and more like a safe space where enthusiasts could chill and hang out.
Just another meetup, they said. But sometimes “just another” meetup turns into the kind you go home smiling about — with your appreciation for the hobby a little deeper. Because in the end, the watch people who gathered that day weren’t just collecting timepieces. They were collecting timeless moments with a community they felt they belonged to.