Omega Speedmaster Hesalite

For Sander, watches have been a fascination for almost as long as he can remember.

Based in the Netherlands, Sander lives with his wife and two young daughters and works in software. Outside of work, he enjoys running, playing tennis, and, as he puts it, “diving a bit deeper into the world of watches.”

That interest started early.

“When I was young, I was triggered by watches, and I got a watch from my dad when I was 12.”

He still owns it today.

From there, the interest only grew. Sander started reading watch books and magazines and became active on local watch forums, following new releases and learning more about the industry.

About two years ago, he took another step in the journey and bought his first major luxury watch, a Rolex Datejust.

But for Sander, acquiring the watch was almost as memorable as owning it.

“The journey is as fun as just owning one.”

He loves that a watch can bring all of those memories back every time it goes on the wrist.

“Every time when you start wearing it, it recollects you on the whole journey which also comes as part of the watch.”

Sander eventually came across Wolf Watch Club while exploring the watch world online.

At first, he was cautious.

He had seen other watch competition platforms before, but had never felt comfortable enough to enter. What made WWC different was seeing winners from different countries, including people from the Netherlands.

“I saw that some of the winners are coming from the Netherlands,” he explained. “That made me just, every now and then, checking in, buying a couple of entries and seeing what happens.”

He did his homework too.

Sander looked into the independent random draw process and even searched previous Dutch winners on LinkedIn to make sure they were real people.

“I started to believe that this might be interesting to at least give it a try.”

He entered without expecting much.

“Of course, not expecting to win anything, but then it’s a great surprise to see if you can actually win one as well.”

And he kept coming back.

For Sander, it was simple.

“It’s like the same as playing the competition. You feel like if you keep playing, then you just increase the chances.”

It also helped that many of the watches being offered were exactly the kind of pieces he already loved.

“That makes you believe that maybe one time you can make it.”

Then came the Omega Speedmaster Hesalite.

Sander had always liked Omega, although he admitted the Speedmaster was not necessarily at the very top of his wish list compared with something like a Daytona.

Still, when he logged in near the end of the competition, he noticed there were only around 10 or 11 entries remaining.

So he made a last minute decision.

“Okay, just going to buy the last 11. You never know what happens.”

One of those entries was the winner.

The purchase had been made only around 50 minutes to an hour before the competition closed.

Sander was on holiday at the time and did not watch the competition live.

Instead, he went to sleep without expecting anything.

Then, sometime around two in the morning, he woke up and decided to check the result.

“I saw my name, so that’s a great experience.”

After months of checking in, entering competitions, and hoping that maybe one day his name would appear, it finally did.

And fittingly for someone who believes the journey is part of what makes a watch special, his Speedmaster already has a story attached to it.

A lifelong fascination with watches.

A last minute decision.

The final 11 entries.

And one of them happened to be the winner.