Controversial Watch Opinions Round 2

Owning way too many watches results in all of them having little to no wrist time.That can be a problem especially if youd own a rare watch and it just sits in the box almost all the time while there might be somebody dying to get one.

I kinda have that dilemma now, I own like 7 watches or so and only wear 3 of them regularly.

Also watches cant really be a waste of money,you can re purpose them as a gift 👍🏻

there isnt anything as too much as long as you wear it😂

I think quality over quantity always, I just see people posting their collections of 50 sub €300 watches and can't help but think "mate you wasted so much money there". That could be as much as 15k spent. For that money you could buy like 3-4 amazing watches that will have some residual value, but 50 Citizens 😬. 

True but 20+ watches is a little excessive. 

"Too much of a good thing can be wonderful" Mae West.

Do not have a limit in mind, but if I look into my collection and found a watch hasn’t been worn for 3 months, that watch needs to go. I think once you reach 10+, likely you’ll find a watch that you just ignoring most of time.

Just to play Devil's Advocate, I am going to offer a different take. I would say that it depends on the reasons for the individual collecting watches. For me, and I suspect a few others, it is not only watches that are the hobby, it is the act of collecting itself that is the hobby. I have other collections beyond watches (comics, games, action figures, movies, books, etc.), and I enjoy adding new pieces to each of my collections. Yes, I do wind up with watches in my collection that see very little wrist time, but that does not mean that I don't enjoy them. I have books that I have not read in years and movies I have not watched in a long while, but I still enjoy having them as part of my collection, and I never play with my action figures, but I still enjoy having the collection. It is the same for me with my watches.

Over 130 and counting. All different brands. From Casio to JLC. I’m all over the place, including micro and fashion brands. The way I see it, I have a watch for multiple occasions. Some to toss around and some to dress up and everything in between. Just my 2 cents, though. My philosophy is, if you like it, buy it.

Damn, how much money have you sunk into it?

This… although I’m probably coming up to around half that number. I just like choice, and I see myself as a collector of watches who are no longer loved.
A collection is a collection - be it 3 or 300. 

Fair point, and yeah if you have the dough to spend on that by all means. Personally I just think it gets to a point where most watches get neglected

Again, going to disagree as beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 

You would be surprised what you can get on the grey market for under 300, and that kind of makes things fun as well.

That is precisely why I just sold 5 watches on eBay and plan to sell another 4 in the next month. Nothing wrong with them but don't wear them. 

I do understand Candide3693's point of view on the topic for some the joy is in the curation of the collection not the wrist time. 

I have #14 of 1750 of each. Luckily, they contacted people who purchased the Lord of the Rings, which was first, to see if they wanted to get the same number on the Hobbit and the Silmarillion. I believe I paid about $750 for all of them. Of course, they are worth much more than that now. Last time I researched them, a full set was going for over $3500. Even though I never would, I could probably auction them off and get more than enough for a crown jewel for my watch collection! 😂

State of the collection photos are requested!

I am also this kind of collector, and with watches that worries me a bit, because I have just started and that could escalate quickly... I do curate my collections to an extent, but my hoarding instinct is stronger than my will to curate. The only collection I am still on top of are my movie lobbycards, apparently I own 6219 of them.

I am at 12 watches now, which TBH is more than I would wear on a regular basis. To some extent I'm still exploring the space of watch complications and other technical features, so I recently got a GMT and a watch with a power reserve indicator, and sooner or later I'll add a solar watch. I'll probably consider a chronometer and a perpetual calendar, perhaps a titanium case watch, tritium loom, that sort of thing... Not moonphase, I am not a werewolf.

All of this I do currently in the space of entry-level watches, sub £300 and mostly sub £150.

At some point I intend to go up the ladder to slightly pricier watches, to basically upgrade on the style of watch I really like. Not crazy upgrade, I mean brands like Sinn, Montblanc, Mühle Glashütte, Certina, Longines.  So, faffing about with many cheaper watches is a way to inform myself what is out there, so that I only go upmarket for the right kind of watch for me.

It sounds like we have very similar approaches to collecting. I began at the entry-level with most of my watches costing less than $200, but after a while, I found myself moving up the ladder and have added Hamilton, Certina, Tissot, and Seiko Presage and Prospex watches to my collection more recently.

I also added specific types of watches to my collection. I wanted to have a field watch, a pilot watch, a chronograph, a diver, a dress, a GMT, etc., and I also added different types of movements; hand-wind, automatic, quartz, solar, and even kinetic. I ran into an issue with this that I would caution people about; I started adding mini-collections within my collection! 🤣 I have mini-collections of solar watches, hand-wind watches, kinetic watches, GMT watches, etc., and even a mini-collection of Islanders. I am currently in a digital phase and am building another mini-collection already. 😂

Good idea. I'll organize them and update the inventory list since I've acquired a few more since the last time I did it months back. It'll give me a chance to share photos with y'all.

Hold on to those babies forever! The crown jewel will come up regardless. 

I somewhat agree 🤭

So here's the other part to my collection. A lot of the pieces were gifts. My wife knows I love horology and she'll gift me pieces for holidays and birthdays.

And I also have some that were given to me by best friends. Those I'll never get rid of, obviously. The caveat is, that because they are gifts, I don't wear them as often so as to not ruin them. 

For the longest time I worked in the oil & gas industry and I couldn't wear the nice pieces nor the gifted pieces for fear of breaking them on the job site or the shop. 

Now that I work in aerospace and in a much cleaner environment, all the pieces are going to get steady rotation. Iove all the pieces I have, from the Nixons and LCD watches I've been given, right down to the vintage pieces I looked for and restored. 

So the state of the collection consists of 25% gifts and 75% purchased. Yes, some have left as I've sold some off. However, those were ones I truly never wore more than a handful of times and that I picked up at flea markets or garage sales for very little money with the intent to sell them in the future.

Too many watches will result in less wrist time for them.  Also, they are simply not as special because there are so many.  Yes, a person can own too many watches.

To be honest, I think it is even more basic: What do I care how many watches other people have? That number will most likely not influence my life in the slightest. I largely care whether somebody has an interesting story to tell about a watch, or whether the watch itself will tell such a story.

I saw myself in your description here!  I wear a few watches a lot, including the Omega world timer and sporty watches.  For the rest, I would take them out just for enjoyment as you mentioned and take some wrist shots.   The most important thing is to enjoy the watches in the collection, wearing them daily or not.   

Well ive never seen one irl not even like a homage.I do like how it looks but its way too basic of a watch to purchase even if i had a lot of money

My hot take: pocket shots and food shots are annoying af. Show me the damn watch.

I agree that ”you can have too many watches.“ I understand that watches can be like clothes where you match them with your outfit but I think it’s too much money to spend to have 4,5,6 or more watches. As it is, I’m stuck to my Apple Watch and don’t get to wear my other watches much. 
 

My hot take? 39mm and 40mm is not the perfect watch size. I’ve tried on watches that were 39 - 40mm only to realize that their 42-43mm equivalents look and feel better on my wrist. I think that there are a lot great Instagram watches; they look good on social media but when you get them on your wrist they underwhelm (cough cough, Tudor Black Bay 58).  

The one fewer is not always perfect as in my opinion (and I presume many would agree) owning no watch is far from perfect.

So one fewer, but no less than one.