Among the watch enthusiast community, one camera seemingly proves inordinately popular. Horophiles, or those who love timekeeping devices, gravitate toward the Ricoh GR IIIx. Why?

As GQ‘s watch editor, Cam Wolf, wrote today, watch collectors have more in common than their passion for watches. Many of them have the same camera, the Ricoh GR IIIx.

Wolf’s run-in with the GR IIIx started on the recommendation of Craft + Tailored founder Cameron Barr.

“He recommended a digital point-and-shoot that would help even a terrible shot like me create passable pictures: the Ricoh GR IIIx,” Wolf writes.

Nearly a year later, Wolf finally took Barr’s advice when a book advance came through.

“I didn’t realize it at the time, but that purchase instantly made me part of an elite club of watch insiders,” Wolf says.

Wolf was far from alone in his new purchase. Watch industry colleagues from Rime & Reason, Hodinkee, and Unpolished all made the same choice as Wolf, joining the GR IIIx club around the same time.

There’s no question that the Ricoh GR IIIx is a great camera. It’s also very popular, routinely landing on best-sellers lists, years after its release. Although the Ricoh GR IV and its variants are achieving similarly impressive commercial success, Ricoh has yet to launch an “X” version with a longer built-in lens. For now, the GR IIIx remains the best option in the GR Series for photographers seeking a bit more reach.

Tony Traina of Unpolished told Wolf the GR IIIx is “the official camera of the watch influencer.”

The Ricoh GR IIIx, like the rest of Ricoh’s extremely popular GR Series compact cameras, is built from the ground up to be a high-quality, compact shooter. It is built to be easy and enjoyable to use, without sacrificing image quality or overall photographic capabilities. Its 24-megapixel APS-C sensor holds up, and the GR IIIx’s 40mm f/2.8 equivalent lens is versatile.

But even still, there are a lot of good cameras out there, so how has one specific model achieved a monolithic status among the watch-obsessed?

“But it’s the GR IIIx, first released in 2021, that’s especially ideal for watch photography — thanks to the addition of a 40mm focal lens, which is far better for capturing close-ups than the 28mm lens on the GR III,” Wolf explains.

“If you’re trying to do watch stuff, to me the X is the only real option,” adds Rime & Reason’s Stephen Pulvirent.

The GR IIIx’s prowess has spread like wildfire through the horologist community. Wolf and his colleagues recount first hearing about the camera at a watch retailer or speaking with their peers.

Although it’s difficult to pinpoint “patient zero” of the Ricoh GR IIIx evangelism in the watch community, there’s a strong candidate.

Traina says he first saw it used by lawyer-turned-watch-photographer James Kong, who co-founded up-and-coming watch brand Fleming.

But Kong tells Wolf he was turned onto the GR IIIx by photographer Ming Thein, who in 2017 was named Hasselblad’s Chief of Strategy. Thein, a frequent contributor to PetaPixel over the years, then launched a very successful watch venture.

Thein tells Wolf he has been using various Ricoh GR cameras for 20 years now, and grabbed the GR IIIx as soon as it arrived in 2021.

Then there’s the GR IIIx’s style. It’s minimalist, classically inspired, and ultimately nice to look at and touch. As it happens, watch enthusiasts care a lot about form and function. They value mechanical soundness and aesthetic appeal.

The Ricoh GR IIIx may very well be the perfect camera for people who love watches and want to take photos of them.

Thein says the GR IIIx is a “well-built, tactile object, which should resonate with a lot of watch collectors.”

If Ricoh ever launches a GR IVx, it’s a safe bet watch collectors will be all over it, too.

Image credits: All photos by Ted Kritsonis for PetaPixel unless otherwise noted.