Why do we do it?

Psychosis.

Plus I’m a collector at heart. Guns, guitars and watches are my mains.

I just love watches. And I love the fact there are so many out there to chase!

They're something useful and interesting to collect that doesn't take up a ton of room, unlike something like sneakers, hats, cars, etc.

I've always been fascinated by watches since I was six years old. I don't think there's much of a logical reason other than that

Awesome!

A functional, useful momento mori & guess it's a subconscious desire to control the passage of time. More watches = more control (?)

Never really analysed it... Maybe it's just coz I like 'em 🤣

I feel you man.

I must have loved watches when I first fell into the hobby but after more than 4 decades, it might just be a carefree habit that I cannot and choose not to break. Years and years ago I even took a watchmaking course but now I just put down my credit card when the urge becomes strong for something new.

Exactly. Its the thrill of the hunt. I collect knives, ukuleles, and watches.

I just like the look of them and I find them handy to use for telling the time then getting my phone out my pocket and then getting distracted from all the other things on there and for the watches I buy it’s just simply the ones that catch my eye and I can afford it’s only recently that I’ve started learning about all the history behind all the brands what I find interesting

There are some great episodes of the Two Broke Watch Snobs podcast examining exactly this question.

I think for a lot of us, it's a way to showcase who we are, like interchangeable tattoos. Our watches share our journeys and become part of our stories. Stories we can include with others, and gift them to continue a legacy.

Not my watches though, they're all probably going to break in a few years.

I grew up in an era when a watch was an essential tool for being able to be aware of the time, so part of it is probably a holdover from that. Even though time displays are ubiquitous today, I still prefer to simply glance at my wrist to find the time rather than taking out my phone. I realize that I could use a smart watch instead of a traditional watch, but I dislike the less than stellar battery life and more importantly, the obsolescence factor. My collection includes pocket watches that are more than a century old which still keep time accurately, and can be easily "charged" in 20 seconds by winding them. I also have 2 old smart watches that are essentially useless based on the technology used, even though they were cutting edge when I bought them and lasted only a day or two at most on a single charge (which required an hour or more). I also appreciate the fact that my watches aren't constantly nagging me with alerts. Finally, I really appreciate the design elements, and enjoy wrist watches as part of my "style". I have to admit that I struggle with the justification for having the watches I do, since a single watch would provide the basic functionality. It can't be logically justified - it's more of an emotional thing.

I have an affliction for gadgety things.

Watches, knives, flashlights, firearms...

The variety is amazing too, from $15.00 Casio's to 6 figure grails & everything in between.

We all realize how precious time is…

As the saying goes, “yesterday is a canceled check, tomorrow is a promissory note, the only cash you have is today…so use it wisely”.

Watches reminds us of the passage of time, the importance of events in our lives, the ability to convince ourselves of the illusion that we can control or manage time.

But most importantly, it gives us these great mechanical adult toys to play with everyday without people thinking we are weird or juvenile.

Funny, I was doing research on this and found this article. It explains the psychology of collecting in general.

Collecting: An Urge That’s Hard to Resist | Psychology Today

For me it’s the same as cars: the intersection of engineering and design.

I second this

Totally right answer!!!

Started wearing watches at six years old ✅

Attractive collection that doesn’t take up a lot of room ✅

Garage and parking limit me to 4 cars (probably lucky there!) ✅

Watches fill so many categories. I’m a tinkerer by nature. Interest in automotive and motor sports, space, exploration, history, design. Watches just are apart of so much.

there are many reasons, but the most compelling is that it's the only thing i spend my money on that I carry throughout my life... people come and go, tech gets old, cars, everything else just fades away, but watches are always with you...

I love the history, mechanics, design, and fun of collecting. My son also loves it. We are having learning about watches and starting our collections. https://youtube.com/@user-FatherSonWatchTalk?si=umaDYKFeA2tHC6w8

Watches are my home full of art, my shelves full of mechanical wonders, my assortment of jewelry, and my box of sentimental keepsakes, all packed into something I get to strap to my wrist, drag through the adventure of life, and engage with and admire whenever I wonder what time it is.

Plus, I appreciate their resilience, little stoic machines, going through my ups and downs right there with me, isolating their inner selves from the environment around them. They might stumble here and there, but they're ticking along a lot more steadily than I am, respectable nonetheless.

Collecting watches can be like collecting art. You know what you like when you see it and not everybody will see a piece of art the same way.

Watches are industrial art that combines technology with material science, colour, texture and design, all on a remarkably small "canvas" where a few millimetres here and there can make the difference between something that is "meh" and "oooh ahhh".

Watches are (these days) wearable art with some utility, some have more utiliity than others.

When I was growing up, everybody wore a watch. It is what adults did. A watch was a bit like a car, it gave some clues to others about the owner's prosperity and taste. As collectors we can alter what we project by changing our watch. Just wearing some sort of mechanical watch these days is some kind of statement that sidewalk psychologists can debate.

It's a sickness, once that bugs in you it's there for good. It's starts when you realise the beauty and intricacies in the making of a watch, I did for me anyhhoo. When that happens you just want to be part of it, for most of us that means owning one, or two, or three, or four..........................................................

When I was growing up it was something we all needed. Today you have a watch because we want it. I am not sure why I collect watches. I have more than I need. I love it and I wear all my watches. If they didn't collect watches, many watch companies would be out of business. The quest continues.

This is a great question… I think it’s a combination of design, craftsmanship and historical significance. It’s also (along with firearms) one of the only consumer items of michanical engineering that existed before us and will out live us. Personally I find something fascinating about that aspect of stewardship as opposed to ownership.

Time’s long been my foe…so I feel a need to measure it so my anxiety of its constant passing is minimized.

Good question,when I was younger I was into jewellery,Big gold chains matching massive bracelets,then thin chain cross smaller bracelet armarni watch,then liked the diamond bling era never took the leap into it though,natural evolution growing up maturing to leave all that and just wear a watch.collecting is in me,if I buy a brand of clothing and like it my wardrobe ends up full of it,if they have trainers shoes to go with I feel its necessary 🙄same with watches I'm on seiko and GS path right now may change.same with my children they like something I collect it for them.my sons room looks like lego land but only marvel 🙄😬🤣

Im addicted

My psychiatrist told me retail therapy would be good for my mental well-being. I'm not sure Mrs Yonder (she who holds the purse strings tighter than I do) totally agrees with him.

On a more serious note, check out the essay called My Obsession by William Gibson (author and watch collector). https://www.wired.com/1999/01/ebay/

I like this quote from it.. "Mechanical watches are so brilliantly unnecessary. Any Swatch or Casio keeps better time, and high-end contemporary Swiss watches are priced like small cars. But mechanical watches partake of what my friend John Clute calls the Tamagotchi Gesture. They're pointless in a peculiarly needful way; they're comforting precisely because they require tending".

Because we all have that void in our lives that need filling, to justify why we burn our souls everyday doing things we hate…just joking, it’s probably because we like having fancy trinkets. :)