Trading Luxury for Affordable

I have 4 luxury watches and a few beaters (g shock / SKX). I love wearing them, yet I always keep thinking about buying a Seiko Captian Willard and Hamilton Khaki Filed mechanical. Love these watches even though I have no real "need/purpose" for them in my collection. That's why I haven't bought them yet, scared that they'll just sit around and not be worn. Not completely your situation but i understand the wish to change from Luxury to affordable

I totally get it, I also own a collection that I wear 

Makes sense, whilst I would like to one day get a luxury watch I also have small wrists which somewhat limits my options.

Currently all of my watches are under £300. But at the moment I am actually able to rotate between all of them depending on situation.

I started buying my own watches at 16 when I got my first job, so they'd be sub $20 Casios, which totally spoiled watches for me for years. I'd think, yes a Rolex is nice, but it doesn't even have an hourly chime, ha ha ha! It wasn't until recently that I upgraded on price and quality, but most of my watches are under $100, and I switch them around all the time. That way it's not a big deal if I manage to break one. 

I have a small wrist as well. whatever the value of the watch, to me it is to be worn and not kept in a box. So if changing your inventory to ensure that more of them get to see the sun, it’s  great! 

I started with affordable and intend to stay as such. I cant stomach spending more than $1000 on a time piece. Sure I'd love to own a Grand Seiko or Omega but its not likely to ever happen until my mortgage is paid off and my child has grown up.

I find myself going the opposite direction actually. I started my collection with a Bulova nearly 13 years ago, then bought a quartz micro brand. Then had kids so watches kind of took a back seat... In the last 3 -4 years I've resumed purchases. While my collection is mostly micros, I've begun selling those. I have a couple vintage watches, one a Casio the other a 22 year old Omega that I wear almost everyday. The only other luxury watch I own is my Nomos. While i do have a micro on preorder I'm also planning to buy another Nomos later this year and potentially a GS.. I think that the ever changing interests we have is part of the fun. I was heavy into sports watches for the past few years and now I find my self drawn to dress pieces. Your collection is great, and I hope you continue to wear them all!

I came to the conclusion that a $5K watch wasn't going to make me feel any better than a $100 watch, so now I buy what I like the look of, and what fits my lifestyle. 

I am the same, started with Seiko but saved and bought an Omega and eventually a Rolex. I do wear them all but find I am worried about bashing my Rolex so don't wear it much. I am certainly not wealthy but put around £15 a week and save up for something. The last few years that would be an Oris and a Seiko Alpinist. Lately design and function is more important for me, so I have tended to gravitate towards Casio etc and my last buy, the good old Casio Duro I absolutely love. Next watch, well I have enough divers but must admit tempted by a Citizen eco- drive promaster, oh and a Moonswatch of course when the hype has died.

Def wear what make u comfortable. I have very few watches but one of my fav is an orange casio that my wife gifted me. it looks total killer with a suit (orange f91w). Everyone asks about it. and it weights nothing.

I think it is quite reasonable to jump down a level, so to speak. However, who is to say that the higher level actually represents any additional benefit other than perhaps prestige. The good thing about the market right now is that you can pretty much find your sweet spot at a variety of entry points, so just do you. There are some excellent brands and micro-brands where your money can go further. 

I seem to spend my days trawling what I can get for pennies at vintage, but I have my showstoppers as well for when I want them. I also do not subscribe to brand hierarchy and having set pieces to make a collection - it is what you want it to be. If you want a collection of Casios, go ahead (it’s quite a noble idea). If you want watches only beginning with the letter P then fine. If you want to strap a sundial to your wrist then fine, just pray for good weather. 

I went through a Luxury phase for some years before I realized that I got as much pleasure,sometimes more, from some "affordables" , than I did the "luxury" watches. Now I only own about 5 watches that are more than a thousand bucks . The rest are between 17.00 and1,000 and I enjoy them all equally.

My Armitron Griffy is right up there with my Ebel Discovery.

The turning point for me was realising that I got more pleasure out of the value proposition of my gshock than my Tudor. I found myself constantly talking about how the Tough Solar feature worked to strangers.

I love this discussion! 
I'm just starting to collect watches, and am realizing that the idea of wearing something different on my wrist daily (though I'm not there yet) is a big part of the fun and excitement for me.
I've worn a Casio Waveceptor Solar for years, and it's kind of the epitome of a worry-free watch (no batteries and no setting the time) so sometimes high-end watches out there feel a tradeoff in terms of functionality for beautiful looks.
As I start learning more, the lure of more expensive watches is compelling, but I realize that I can have multiple looks (often with really good quality) for a pretty reasonable price, so the idea of five $200.00 watches is more appealing to me than a single $1,000.00 watch.
This is the first watch forum I've joined, and I see a lot of high-end watches posted, which is great, but this is the first post that's helped me see that more affordable watches are also collected and treasured.
And that makes me feel really good....😀

Any watch that attracts you to it has a more important value than the monetary value. In boats there are work boats and gold key boats. one you enjoy and the other you don't use for fear of damage or theft unless your pride gets the better of you and you show it off with that fear in the back of your mind.

I haven't gone down the luxury route yet, and may never go that direction. Who knows? Maybe some day. I'm happy right now in the under 1k range and there are a couple watches I'd like that are in the 1k - 1.6k range. Above the 2k mark is where the value starts to lose me. At that point, I could purchase a new high-end camera or a couple killer lenses. I know it's not a 1-to-1 comparison, but I can't get it out of my head that any one watch simply isn't worth paying that price, especially when I consider my watches to be part of my daily gear and less of a fashion accessory. Honestly, I'm perfectly happy with my $200-600 tool watches because don't care too much if they get a little (or a lot) banged up.

Edit: And that's not to say I'm judging luxury owners. We are all different and like different things.

I tend to enjoy the finer things, nice clothes, nice watches, fantastic beef. I won't stay in a hotel that isn't at least as nice as my home. 
 

But most of the time I run around in Champion sport shorts and old Amazon t-shirts instead of the nicer clothes. 
 

Watches are the exception. I do enjoy well made more affordable watches for weekends and yard work. In my relaxing times and at work, I prefer to enjoy mid-tier "luxury" watches because they are so well done. Is a nice distraction from work. 
 

But watch collecting is to a large degree, subjective. And no one should spend more than their budget allows. As long as people understand what they get and aren't being taken advantage of my BS marketing and falsely inflated MSRPs, I am looking at you Invicta/DW/Filippo Loreti/Watchgang, then more power to each of us in this pursuit. 

There is a lot more on here championing the lower end, even from users slapping up Rolex and VC.

You might like this photo, because I think it kind of sums up everything I say on here and to anyone who listens - it doesn’t matter. The VC is proper vintage, it cost much less than you think, but the movement is immense (incredibly thin hand-wound AP/VC colab) and I have been told they only made a small number a year when they were producing these (they are certainly not common). It sits next to a Timex Snoopy Space Mission, which I will argue with you, until the end of days, is the greatest watch ever made. These belong to the same collector (me). They both get worn regularly. It’s not about the cost, it’s not about the brand, it’s about what makes you happy. 

Eventually it dawns on you that prestige value isn’t really worth anything.  If people are judging you as a person by your wristwatch, that says more about them than about you.

I had a Tissot with a solid gold case that I rarely wore for fear  of damaging it and later a big, bold and beautiful (to my eyes, anyway) Swiss automatic with a retail of about $2k that, again, I hardly wore for the same reason.  
 

When a drop of a few inches onto hardwood meant sending it out of the country for repair, I realized that the word “sport” in the name didn’t guarantee any degree of toughness and sold it for $700.  The buyer and I were both happy.

Now I rotate through 3 quartz watches on the lower end of the price scale; an everyday Seiko, a dress Seiko and a beater Timex, and until I see a watch I just have to have, they’ll do.

I view my watches the same way. A $5K watch isn't outside of what I could buy with some saving, but it is outside of what I will buy for the foreseeable future. I'd rather buy a nice watch between $50-1000, and a better kayak, Greenland paddle, new tent, etc.. 

I’m in a similar situation. Money can be better spent elsewhere.

@KristianG Exactly! You're speaking my language. Outdoor equipment can be crazy expensive, just like photography equipment (and really anything these days). I wouldn't have any money left over for my other hobbies if it all went to luxury watches. That's no fun. I like my other hobbies too. 

I like how you went on the "watch journey" that everyone usually talks about, only in reverse in terms of value! Honestly, good on you man. 

You went from watches that you literally can't wear to watches you can wear all the time, and in the end, that's the purpose of the watch. To be something fun to wear and tell the time with!

Awesome perspective and wonderful watches. I'd like to learn more about both of those, and I'm sure I'm not alone.  Please post more details if you're so inclined (especially about why the Timex Snoopy Space Mission is the greatest watch ever made...) 👍

I really love Casio watch's. I have a pretty good cheap collection. Im Starting to branch out a little bit to other brands now. I want to have like 5 nicer watches to rotate into. I do find the vintage stuff cool too. 

Sorta off topic, but I noticed you have silica packets in your watch box. What’s up with that? Does it do anything? Just curious.

Very nice watch collection you have. I'm kind of the same way I have a small wrist I have certain watches that I own and like I don't  go over more than 43mm for me.

Yeah this Casio is perfect size for me I tried various watches. looks, style and brand is a factor is almost like certain shoes. I'm almost a year into this hobby and I love it.