What do you do to keep yourself disciplined when it comes to our watch hobby?

Unfortunately, not much. This month I’ve bought 4 watches, which is more than I bought in the precious 6 months. None were expensive and at least 2 of them have a specific purpose. I’m not completely off the rails yet, but I think it’s time to slow down.

I am definitely hurtling towards the territory of "you are really going to affect you're future in a bad way" If I don't pump the brakes. 

I've been doing this long enough to have a pretty good sense of what I like (I refuse to think about how much it has cost me to get here).  

Best advice I can give is to sit on a decision for a couple of weeks before you buy.  If you still want it, great!

I’m limited by budget, but even if I weren’t I’d still think about every other hobby I have that requires money 😂 I always have the thought “could this buy climbing gear that you need more?” Or “would you rather spend this while on vacation?” And the answer is usually that I don’t spend money on watches just to buy and to have 🤷🏽‍♂️ 

The rule I've set for myself is to always buy whatever watch I want immediately, without thinking about the money.  It's been a...  disastrous rule!

I only buy watches that have consistently interested me for at least a few months. By that point I've forgotten about 95% of the watches that I had fallen in lust with and what remains are those that I'm relatively certain I will not regret. 

I’m going to adopt this, problem is there are too many watches.

I live by a golden rule for purchases, of all sorts, not just watches. That is, if I want something enough to buy it today, I purposefully wait 24 hours before pulling the trigger. This gives me time to think and say, "if I get this, what does this mean? Will I be as happy with this as I would be if I kept saving for something better?" or I contemplate if buying something will divert me from a bigger financial saving goal (like a vacation). 

99% of the time, I end up NOT buying anything. And that makes the eventual purchase that much more gratifying. This is hard to do, especially when something might be in short supply or limited edition, but it has served me well over the years. Typically, a month later, I don't feel like I have missed out on buying anything. Maybe that makes me a minimalist, who knows? 

I'm really good at talking myself out of buying things, to the point where I find it difficult to buy anything for myself (even small, useful things).

Quite often my wife has to literally talk me into buying a watch I've lusted after for months or years.

I'm getting to that point. I've worn my Omega Aqua Terra more each year since buying it in 2020, than I did the year before. It's gotten to the point where I wear the watch 80% of the time and any future purchase means less wrist time for the AT. I typically can't justify that, so I go without. I'm gravitating towards a one watch collection, LOL.

For the longest time, I thought variety was the important thing... many watches, many styles or colours, and / or unique appearance or feature. Plus, it had to be on sale or heavily discounted.

As a result, I have 11 Citizen watches, most acquired at their local warehouse / scratch&dent sale. They're great - Eco-drive, no batteries required... and I only wear about  5 or 6 of them on regular rotation. The others - I have to make a conscious effort to CHOOSE to wear one of them just so I don't feel bad that they're sitting there unused.

I ended up with an Invicta that has a spinning wheel inside (to mimic a car's wheel turning around a brake disc)... it's my first Automatic watch (seiko nh35)... I never wear it - it's a gimmick and the novelty wore off pretty quick. Plus, it's giant and heavy.

I recently acquired my first grail-level watch (my engagement / wedding gift from my wife, 12 years later). Now I look at ALL my other watches a little differently, and any other watch I see online. This is because I had to be CAREFUL and RESEARCH things! This could not be a throwaway watch, nor something that I would want to flip / trade in a year or three. It had to be a 'forever' watch.

Moving forward, that's how I'm going to look at my potential watch purposes:

Could I use it multiple times per week? Will it work with most of my outfits? will it last? how much maintenance will it require in 3, 5, 10 years? If I were showing someone my collection, would I be excited about this piece and sharing what I know about it?

My goal is to purchase mid-tier watches only moving forward (think, $1000 - $3000) range... I'll have to save up for them, rather than purchasing an inexpensive watch online just for retail therapy. I'll have to be choosy, think harder about them, do my research and try things on. This means maybe only one watch / year, rather than filling the shopping bag at online retailers with discounted, entry-level stuff.

(For the record - I'm not knocking these brands... Brands like Invicta, Aragon, Spinnaker... I like their stuff. There's a Spinnaker Cahill on Ebay that is such a good price and I am so tempted... but NO!) 

I don't really have any set rules per se. The wife and I invest heavily, so as long as we do that and cover our financial bases, that frees me up to buy a new watch from time to time. I think as long as your financial affairs are in order, indulging in the hobby is totally fine. My main interests are watches and whiskey, so I figure if that's really all I spend money on and I'm not irresponsible, I'm doing alright.

A repost from the earlier thread.

Rules 

1. No debt.
2.  5x to charity what I spend on watches annually.  So far I've managed to keep to this for about 6 years.
3.  Ten max.  Once the box gets full, one in one out.  I've gone down the 30+ watch path before and i found that I ended up hoarding watches I had no intention of wearing.  Which is silly.

Every rule I have is basically creating a behavioral speed bump to buying more watches.  If I like I watch, I better also like it at 5x the price!  You'd be surprised how many impulse purchases get avoided when you start stripping the "value" idea out of your head in watch buying.

Let me know please when you find all of those questions out !! Please ! 😂 

Curious to know how long this rule has been in place? 

What's a "Donor" watch?

It's definitely a struggle for me. Fortunately, I'm limited by my resources, I'm not rich or even "well-off". I have to be careful with my finances if I want to enjoy life. So I can't buy watches whenever I feel the urge and I have do discipline myself to buy only occasionally. I just purchased one in early Oct., so now I feel I have to wait at least 6 mos., if not more, to feel justified that I'm being responsible. I have a secret wish (not so secret now, is it?) to wait a full year, but I've never quite made it that long yet. 

I reverse the "one in one out" rule and make it to the "one out one in" rule. I only buy a new watch WHEN I have sold one or sometimes two pieces from my collection. 

bought for the parts.

I will admit, I am easily seduced by youtube reviews, and have purchased a few watches based on the reviews.  Not that I wanted the watch before watching the review, but thought afterwards I really wanted it. 

Now I have a new rule.  If I feel I must have the watch, I'll wait a minimum of one month, return to the idea of said watch and ask myself do I really need or want the watch, have I felt that I have missed out by not having the new watch?  Nine times out of ten I realize I don't need the watch.  A new rule that has saved me some coin for sure.

I am in the midst of my one month wait, and I still want the Breitling Chronomat 40 GMT in Green.  I am not in the clear on this one yet.

Thank you

I'm guilty of being swayed by videos (Particularly Teddy Baldassarre ones)

I’ve looked for other ways to enjoy watches, like writing and photography. It’s been pretty effective so far. It also helps that I’ve gotten most of the watches I want, and the other pieces I’d like have 2-7 year waiting lists. I’m also cheating a bit because instead of watches, I’ve moved my compulsive shopping over to other forms of self-expression such as jewelry and clothing. 

Watches are definitely an addiction. It’s been 3 months since my last purchase and my mind is clear. I don’t regret any of the 12 purchases I made in the last year, but I definitely don’t need any of this shit

I don't, uh, I don't understand the question 😜

I think being an undisciplined watch collector is sort of a phase that all/most watch enthusiasts go through.  At least I did.  On the upside it helped me learn a lot about watches in a hurry!  And the more I learned the more discerning I become.  Which has helped keep me from buying watches that earlier in my watch journey I would have jump on.  Of course my wife will tell you that's total BS, I'm still undisciplined when it comes to watches 🤣 

When I get the itch to buy a new watch I'll usually buy a new strap/bracelet instead.  It's generally cheaper, and can make a watch, or several, seem like new again.  Which helps me get past buying a new watch, that I would certainly enjoy but would only get minimal wrist time given the size of my collection.         

welp, at least there's a plan!

I've sort of done the same.  Lusted over the Sinn 104, the Seiko SPB143, the Tudor BB36, among others, for months.  Read and watched everything I could about them, until I found just enough to dissuade me.  All great watches, BUT...the Sinn 104 - all polished, no brushed surfaces; the SPB143 - my experience with terrible Seiko movement accuracy; the BB36 - too expensive for an ETA/SW movement.  Even though I'd (still) love to have them all, I don't.  

Given enough time I can talk myself out of a watch purchase.  Although that's sometimes because I bought another watch instead, so it's not foolproof!  

Happened to me with the Bulova Lunar Pilot. Got super caught up in the emotions when seeing the price tag and history, but after a few days I realized I didn't even want it. I've been eyeing a Steinhart Ocean One 39 Ceramic for about a month and still want it, so that's a good sign!

I think we've found the cardinal rule: Buy another watch to talk yourself out of your current watch. 

Good idea with thinking about watch accessories as opposed to an actual watch

Look at my bank balance and then shut down the all browsers on my laptop and go for a walk.. have Saved me from going bankrupt