OK folks, so for those who have been around this forum for a while, you know that I've been looking for a
VERY SPECIFIC type of watch box for quite some time. My requirements were the following:
- Glass top
- Single level, so the entire collection could be seen through the glass top
- High quality cushions (pillows preferred, but hard cushions are fine if they're good quality)
- A nice dark finish as it's a presentation piece of furniture and needs to aesthetically fit into the environment
- Needs to hold minimum ~25 watches - I'm tired of always running out of room ? ? ? ?
The closest thing I ever found was from AceTimer, but they never responded to me and now seem to have gone out of business. Also, their product was clearly a mass produced one, so no idea on the quality...... Over the years, I've ended up with everything from a 6 watch box, to a 6 watch + ring storage box, to a 12 watch box in carbon fiber, to a 36 watch box across three levels, etc etc etc. Despite owning more than a half dozen boxes, nothing has ever met exactly my wants and desires.
One day, I see a post from N&N Watch Case (this thread, if you're curious:
N&N Watch Cases - Design solutions for Watch storage ). Immediately I think "yes, I've found my box". Now, the term "box" is actually a disservice to, what is really, a custom made high end small piece of furniture. I think about this for a while, even chatting with the brand's owner,
@nikitanaz (who is a member here on WUS).
I mention this idea to my wife (who is actually rather supportive of the timepiece obsession, even if she doesn't really understand the point of it ( ? ? ? ?)), who tells me not to buy this as
maybe I'll get it as a gift one day.... ?♀
Fast forward to my birthday which was a few days ago, and check out this parcel I had waiting for me:
The fragile sticker written in Russian and the N&N sticker gave some hints to what's inside ?
The packing job was pretty nuts on this. I don't know of any other company I've ever ordered something from where the packing job (the effort spent on ensuring the packaging was done in a way to protect the contents from damage in shipping) was this good. Ironically, the box and the peanuts ended up as a perfect play-toy for the kids that were present, as they pretended it was an indoor hot tub ?♀
The presentation box is superb.
Wow. I mean, my expectations are usually pretty high (perhaps even unreasonably high) for things like this. A custom box that requires pre-ordering and custom manufacturing taking ~3 months lead time - I'm expecting something that's exceedingly better quality than in-stock, mass produced, cheap, basic stuff made in China. But this was a level beyond what I was expecting. One thing I immediately noticed was the
weight of this thing. This is a serious chunk of wood. No fiber-filled MDF pressboard junk here. The latches are smooth operating and feel high quality. The hinges look and feel high quality. I will follow-up on this post with better pics of those, as I haven't gotten the time yet to really get into the details, so these are just initial first impression thoughts.
The material used for the cushions and the lining of each watch cubby is superb. I don't really know how to describe it at the moment, but it feels like a quality fabric. Not the cheap stuff that's kind of smooth, kind of grainy, that you get with the cheapo boxes. For what it's worth, as mentioned, I've owned a lot of boxes and not a single one has had material that "felt" like high quality. Admittedly, this is a completely anecdotal observation on my part, but I do believe that I've had enough experience with different vendors and products to objectively make a comparison.
So there you go, my initial impressions on the custom made N&N Watch Case for 30 watches. As mentioned, I didn't get to spend a lot of time with it yet, so I will be updating this thread with some follow-up replies. I'm especially interested in looking closer at the glass top - apparently the glass is museum-grade refined, which makes it give off less reflection, and offers better visibility through it. I'm also curious how well the cushions fit my watches, as 99% of my watches are on sized metal bracelets.
For this first part summary, I'll say this - so far, this is an absolutely stunning watch "box" (again, it's not a "box", it's a custom made small piece of high quality furniture). I know some people will look at this and think it's ridiculous. I've seen comments on other threads like "who cares about the box, save your money and buy more watches !". Personally, I enjoy high quality accessories and I pride myself on how I store / display my luxury goods. I use the analogy of not bothering to build a garage for your Ferrari, because you could use that garage money and buy a Porsche instead. I won't argue with someone who chooses to do that, but I don't agree with that train of thought. Where my watches "live" is something that matters to me, and I want to use something that I feel is deserving of the high quality timepieces that are going into it.
Anyways, questions, comments, throw them out there - happy to chat ! ?
Also just for clarity - this is not a paid review, I haven't received and have not been promised anything for this review, nor does N&N / Nikita (the owner) know I'm writing this review.
