Would you rather have a lot of inexpensive watches or a handful of expensive watches?

I changed my vote a few times haha tough decision

I seem to have both (though many might dispute my idea of expensive.) So I guess it’s A… 🤔

A lot of inexpensive watches, followed by a handful of expensive watches....

Scratch that, watches, just watches...😜

I have both. I couldn't be without my large collection of inexpensive watches

I believe quality over quantity more time than not. But I buy what I like so I can’t be all quality. And when everything works right quality doesn’t have to be expensive.

C. a set of cool watches. Cost may or may not be correlated

C. Every one that I lay my eyes on.

"Err...what do you mean?"

I asked this question about a year ago…quantity won over quality:

https://www.watchcrunch.com/JBird7986/posts/the-eternal-debate-1-expensive-watch-or-many-cheap-watches-11821

As much as I really enjoy the several marquee watches that I own I can't really see me giving up my collection of vintage Seiko tool watches. Grateful this is just a mental exercise!

We've all hot different ideas as to what is expensive, mine I'd above the thousand mark. I've got a handful of those and a lot under that. So I've gone with A, because I love variety and there's a lot of beautiful well made watches out there that give a lot of pleasure without breaking the bank.

It won barely.. also your question was one expensive watch vs many inexpensive ones. Not sure if I can have ONE watch, so I went for many inexpensive ones.

This poll is a bit easier for me, so I chose quality over quantity.

I don't care about the price but I think from experience and addiction keeping your watch box at less than 10 max 12 watches is key. Having more than that you start to ignore pieces you fell in love with.

I don't think purchase price is terribly important. I feel if a watch truly brings you joy, its worth the price.

Depends what you consider a lot. Regardless of price, I personally wouldn't want too many watches, and for me 10 would probably be my maximum limit (atm have 5) but I also wouldn't be satisfied with 1 or 3 watch collections either

As for price, I would rather have a range, like afordable casual/beater watches, mid everyday/dress watches, and an expensive sports watch, but everyone is different and there is no correct answer

The way I've witnessed it, over the years, many collectors get stuck in a rut by buying a cheap watch to get going, then another, and another, and soon they think, "WOW! Look at this COLLECTION!" and they buy some more, and make a SOTC video or SOTC post on a forum like this one - like they've seen other people make - and think they're onto a winner. But, at some stage, they sit back and realise they have so many watches, that they never touch half of them, and the rest get rotated so much, they don't have any feel for "a favourite" and they start to question their choices. Especially, by that time, they have been around watches long enough to know they'd really like x, y, and z expensive watches and, over time, have actually spent enough to at least buy one or two of them but, instead, have bought a whole lot of stuff they're not even wearing. That becomes a real 'come to Jesus moment' and many sell up, and downsize into more expensive offerings. Some, however, remain in a rut because they aren't confident with selling up. And some still retain the cheap collection because they genuinely enjoy it. Horses for courses, really.

A mix of inexpensive and expensive watches. Variety is nice.

What gives me more pleasure collecting watches is finding those inexpensive or fair priced watches that can go on par with more expensive watches on the spec department.

cool story bro. but as you can see this poll is having a very different result than your poll with quality having significantly more votes. i’m not saying one is right and one is wrong. the way the question is asked can lead to vastly different results.

in the end both of our questions are imperfect and lead to synthetic results. it’s because we’ve forced the respondents into non exhaustive options. but given the limited polling functions in WC, this was the most effective question i could think of to ask this topic. in a previous life i used to do both qualitative and quantitative consumer research, so i know a thing or two about this. 😜

Actually, both! And make that a bunch of expensive (> $1000) watches and a pletora of cheapies. 😜

I would rather have a lot of expensive watches. In reality, I have a large collection of inexpensive (Casio, Seiko, Orient, others) and I guess what some would consider mid-tier watches (Oris, Longines, Doxa, Bucherer, Tudor, Omega).

Started with A and hope to end with B.. 😃

Great question. I suppose if I made a $100M a year I would buy a Patek now and then. Ha!

You don't need to spend a lot to get a lot.

So many variables aren't there. The way my watch box is filling up, it's multiple "inexpensive" watches (my average price is <£1,000) and I think starting again, this is the same thing i'd go for.

Think you should just buy and wear what you like as others have said. However, I think people myself included often find that “what you like” tends to get more expensive as you spend time with watches in higher & higher price categories, because you become used to some of the luxuries expensive watches often provide (e.g. superlative level of quality & finish, many touches of artistry and craftsmanship, the feel of a low-production handmade piece, exotic materials, etc.) and you realize that while you may love the designs of some pieces at much lower price categories, it may be a waste of money as you’ll end up not wearing them much. For example a Rolex feels much nicer on the wrist than a seiko, a Moser feels nicer on the wrist than a Rolex, and I imagine a VC feels nicer on the wrist than the Moser. Of course price and quality are correlated not causally related - I.e. I would probably take the Rolex over a RM or a gemstone bezel Hublot, ex-resale.

And you still need to have space in the watch box for the Tudor you love, the Panerai that might use an eta but that you would never live without, and so forth. I think we are all learning to balance variety with quality in our collections.

I have a bunch (~90) of inexpensive but nice-looking watches from which I can choose every day. Glorious.

A collection curated of eight watches all the culmination of many years of buying , selling and financing and finalising my polished collection finally knowing my refined tastes . ( I sound snobby huh ) 😂

I would rather have a few inexpensive watches (less than 10) than a lot of inexpensive watches (over 20), let alone few expensive ones. I prefer not having too much stuff...

I voted B, but of course it must be something i can afford without breaking the bank (or annoying the wife) too much...

I definitely prefer inexpensive watches, primarily because I don't have a lot of money at the moment, I can't say if I would vote different if I had.