Nick Lowe is to music what a great character actor is to the movies – he’s always there, practicing his craft, standing just barely outside the spotlight. Even if you don’t recognize Lowe’s name, you can probably hum one of his tunes. And for those who do know him, the multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter is a voice of a generation with timeless songs, like “Cruel to be Kind,” and “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” (originally written for his band Brinsley Schwarz in 1974, and later made famous by Elvis Costello).
Lowe’s been writing songs and playing shows for more than 50 years now, and at age 73 he continues to emanate rock-star energy. This week he set off on tour, covering ground from Cincinnati to Los Angeles before he finishes up a European leg to round out the year.
We caught up with him at home in London, in the house he’s lived in for more than two decades, to chat not about music, but about his little-known collecting passions: Art and watches. Even if you’re a Nick Lowe super-fan, you may not be aware that he’s something of a horological connoisseur. Over the years he’s developed and subsequently liquidated quite a collection of luxury UK Omega replica watches. “I’ve rather let my watch interest lapse in recent years,” Lowe says. “I used to have an extensive collection but one by one, I’ve given them away in some cases, most cases, and I’ve sold a couple of them.”
His collection used to consist of all manner of brands, from Rolex to JLC, and even some diamond-encrusted Longines. So why downsize? “I suppose I felt guilty about not wearing them.” Now he wears and uses all – okay most – of what he’s got.
Some of his watches, like an old California dial Rolex bubble back, left him through the wildest of circumstances. In the midst of the renovation of his London home some 20 years ago, the contractor – apparently keen on his high quality Omega fake watches – made him a proposition. “You’re supposed to pay me a fee for doing this,” she told him. “Let me have that watch and we’ll call it quits.” You can see how a collection can be whittled down slowly with stories like that one.
Lowe’s taste is centered on a fascination with the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s, which can be seen in his now-small collection. “I suppose I liked all kinds of things from that era,” he says. “The designs were clever, and it’s nice when you want to know what the time is, and can look down to something that cheers you up.”
What remains is a rather focused collection of vintage best replica Omega watches – what he calls his “paltry” four – that run the gamut from pawn-shop pocket watches to heirloom wristwatches. Here are the timepieces that Lowe cherishes today, along with a piece of art of considerable sentimental value.
Grandfather’s Omega
Sometimes we don’t realize the Swiss made Omega copy watches we cherish the most until enough time has passed. In this case, Lowe received this heirloom, a watch that belonged to his WWI-veteran grandfather, who went by the name Major. However, this wasn’t a treasured gift Lowe received when he was young, but rather when he was in his 40s. His father and grandfather had never gotten along well, and so there was little pomp and circumstance when it came time for him to take ownership of this piece.
As Lowe put it, “It wasn’t a situation of my dad handing it off with a trembling voice, saying ‘Son this belonged to my father, I want to pass it on to you,'” he recalls with a chuckle. “Instead, he scooted it along the table to me and said, ‘I found this, this is the old man’s watch, you like old 1:1 Omega replica watches, is this any good to you?'”
Lowe describes it as both plain and entry level for the time it was made (in about the late ’40s or early ’50s). “It’s the kind of entry level watch you would give to a young boy on his 13th birthday – his first grown-up watch.”
But apparently that was very appropriate for his grandfather, who despite his rich-sounding, officer-like moniker was not a man of means. “He wasn’t wealthy but he had good taste,” Lowe says. “He always had really good suits and found himself a cheap tailor – and he knew AAA Omega super clone watches was a good make but he could only afford a boy’s entry level Omega.”
In any event, despite the red carpet gift-giving experience from his father, Lowe put the watch away and didn’t wear it initially. “The watch was too square to me,” Lowe says. “I liked replica Omega watches wholesale from pawn shops that had a bit more zing in the design. Occasionally I would dig it out and think ‘What am I going to do with this?'”
Eventually, he decided he would get it refurbished by Omega fake watches for sale because the condition was quite poor. “When I looked at it, it looked like it had been left out in the garden for a few months, but it was still running,” he says. “The dial was all covered in mold, water had gotten into it, and it made a very loud tick – though it kept very good time. But you could barely see what the time was because the crystal was all buggered up, as well.”
Getting it back from Omega changed his entire perception of the watch and made it a mainstay of his collection, though he never forgot the price. “It cost a fortune to service, especially when you consider it’s kind of an entry level watch.” Now, in a way, it’s priceless.
The Omega From Los Angeles
Sometimes the story behind the Omega replica watches shop site is nothing more than walking into a store and buying one because you need it. Such was the case with Lowe, who had arrived in L.A. in 2006 to begin a tour, and had forgotten to take a watch. “I always wear a watch and I felt quite bereft without one,” he remembers. “I walked into the shop and picked out what I suppose was one of the plainest ones there. It still had style and a little showbiz about it, but it wasn’t too shouty or the kind thing I would be worried would be stolen.”
But his plain watch has really grown on him over time, which is evident in the fact that it remains in his pared down collection. “I love the dial, and the rose gold markers,” Lowe says. I also love the sort of grasshopper-leg lugs, those appeal to me, as well. Plus, it was extremely reasonably priced. I think I paid $1,500 for it.”
This one was also sent to Omega fake watches online store for service. “This is the one that inspired me to send off my grandpa’s watch,” he says. “And now it runs like a dream.”
For many, refurbishing a watch can be something of a frightening experience. But Lowe maintains that his pieces were handled with extreme care. “Omega sent all the original pieces that they replaced back,” he recalls. “It was very sensitively done and they asked me exactly what I wanted.”
