Responsible collecting!

I have too many for most, but I’d like to think as the collection grew my tastes became more refined. To your point, it is a sliding scale based on income, savings, how much one cares about how often they wear, or don‘t wear a piece.

Holding my collection presents no serious financial risk as they are a sliver of total assets. If it placed a burden on my ability to save or spend, that’s a different story.

It's a good question as it's something I've recently been debating with myself. I only really started getting into watches at the start of the pandemic, and in that time, I think I've acquired a collection of 9 watches (12 if you include a few gifted pieces from before I started looking to purchase watches for myself).

To curb my purchasing, as it's lately started to feel a bit excessive, I had a talk with the wife and we agreed to set aside a monthly "watch allocation"(based on a percentage of the amount of disposable income we saved) that I could use to fund any new watch-related purchases. Any annual bonuses I get will also have a similar percentage allocated to the watch fund (so we can still plan for trips and other such things). 

I think it's working out ok so far, and it's been helping me be more choosey in evaluating all the latest new watch releases. I'll probably look to downsize the collection a bit and sell a few of my less worn pieces in the near future tho to help expedite getting the funds for a new watch purchase (cuz what better feeling is there than peeling off the wrapping of a new watch, amirite?)

If your watch habit expenditures come from your discretionary income and isn't affecting paying your bills, saving for retirement, etc... then it isn't too much.  There is no formula, IMHO.  If you have accumulated over many years a lot of watch assets, the same as above applies, it isn't too much.  There is no formula for that either.

I don't look at my collection as sequesterd money or assets at all except for insurance purposes. 

And it is possible to enjoy watches at every price point, I enjoy my Vostoks just as much as I do my higher end pieces.

I can think of worse ways to burn through money than building up something you truly enjoy.

Responsible??!!!

I do spend more that I should, but less than I could. I have solidified my collection now and cannot se myself spending any more except from straps and some service costs in the future 😊

So what if I live in a van in the Walmart parking lot.  I got a half dozen nice watches.

I didn't start this madness until the Pandemic hit.  Although I only collect mostly Timex and other budget watches I still spent a pretty penny because I'm approaching 90 watches.  Do I regret it, yes and no; will I dwell on it? Definitely not.  Passion is not always rational and neither is addiction, this collection is a combination of both.

Watches are mostly consumables instead of hard assets. They wear out and depreciation takes value , also the store profit comes off too. The secondary market value for anything but the grail watches is dismal. Collect because you love doing it and you do not have to justify it to anyone.

I have always spent as little as possible bc, unless it is a real collector piece, in the end the value will be near zero.  So, expendable funds only.  For that though, I want as  much watch as possible.   20 year life, no quartz, and only time worthy pieces.  No fad/designer units.  

Like you said, they aren't investments.  They also aren't food, shelter, education, healthcare, or transportation.  I think the best category for them might be entertainment.  We buy them because they make us feel good, and that's it.  

You should feel comfortable spending as much money on watches as you have after you take care of all the important stuff and save money for the future.  After that, if you want to buy a watch instead of going to see 44 movies, then you should do that.  

I've heard financial advisors say jewelry and art should be 5% of your net worth, and I believe a factor in that suggestion is that precious jewelry/art can act as a hedge against inflation (part of why timepieces were so hot these past few years). This 5% recommendation probably only applies if you are buying pieces from Rolex, AP, PP, F.P. Journe, etc. and 80% of my watches drop in value like a rock, so I don't think I could ever properly enjoy watches and treat them as a real asset allocation. Regardless, I am limiting myself to 5% of my net worth.

Similar to @KevinK I think it's smart to go by "the total value of your watches should be less than 10% of your liquid cash" (probably fine to include non-retirement brokerage). That way you leave enough flexibility for unexpected expenditures or economic turmoil + save responsibly for retirement

I prefer to finance my watch purchases (0% interest). Not because I can’t afford them but I don’t like to put thousands of pounds size dents in my bank account. I just take away the monthly payment from my disposable income and it works well for me. 

I’m terms of overall value of the collectio, I haven’t ever thought about that. I’ve got a wish list and once I’ve acquired all or most of those at least, I’ll ease up on watch buying. Bear in mind I only bought my first watch in the pandemic. 

Your financial advisor will  have one opinion. Your inner watch demon will have another. The answer is somewhere in between. But if you find yourself searching for reasons to justify another purchase or to trade in on a more expensive piece - you’re probably going too far too soon.

Advice I was given is - it’s not a sprint and it’s not prepping. Savouring the journey to enjoy each piece is perhaps the best brake on excessive spending.

Good luck

Responsible collecting? No idea what that is 😆😆 im reckless  obsessed and addicted ....... need more 🤪🤤