Define "Watch Collection"
"I bought it because I like it" said my wife and a million other watch buyers defending their choice. To be honest, I don't think there is a better reason to buy a watch. What do you call numerous purchases like this one. Is it a collection or an accumulation?
Years ago I would purchase estates. Many of them had saved stamps and coins. I would say that in 99% of the estates they saved stamps off of envelopes that friends sent from vacation destinations and coins that they removed from their pocket change. Every once in a blue moon I would come across someone who went to the post office and bought full sheets of stamps and protected them and saved them or someone who bought quality graded coins in plastic protectors. We would distinguish the difference as collectors vs accumulators.
My watch collection differs from my wife's because I have a theme. I am attempting to procure an example of every major complication. I will look right past a beautiful GMT watch because I already have one but I need a perpetual calendar and a chronograph.
Do watches need to have a certain value to be a collection? Do they have to be the same type? Do they have to be from the same maker? Do non running watches count? Is a pile of old used watches a collection?
I certainly don't expect anyone else to be as obsessive and compulsive as I am but I would like to know in your mind "What defines a collection?"
My name is Rich and I am building a collection of unique complications. I know it sounds more like the way you start a watch museum and not a personal collection. So far I have a Tourbillion, Retrogra...
I think there are as many definitions as respondents.
Before I decided on a theme, I didn't consider my group of watches a collection, but now I do.
Still, I could see how an accumulation could be considered a collection and I'm not gonna yuck someone's yum over a label that doesn't ultimately matter
Mine is an accumulation. And when I die, my kids are going to look at my pile of watches and say, "WTF?" I mean, they'll go through several stages of WTF...
E: Why the hell did dad accumulate all these stupid watches???
T: Well, they must be worth something. Maybe we should sell them?
E: How can we sell them? They were dad's. Shouldn't we hold onto them to remember him by?
T: You mean, remember that instead of spending time with us, he was on his computer all day long posting idiotic comments on WatchCrunch?
E: Yeah, you're right. Ebay it is.
I have an accretion of watches, each one old enough to remember that proper records are made in 154 game seasons.
3+ watches of any kind is likely a collection.
I agree with the OP (as does Miles Collier) and personally detest the haughty term "collection." Also, I associate collectors with crazy old ladies with Hummel figurines, Beanie Babies, or tea spoons.
Despite being an amasser, I do have what I believe to be a complete collection of ancestral watches left in my parents' home. Well, except for my great aunt's diamond-studded retirement Bulova. Otherwise, I have no desire to be a completist. My theme is "watches that I consider worth keeping or haven't gotten rid of yet."
I daily garner a gaggle of thoughts that seep into my brain like an indelible ink spot…which like it or not…leaves a mental mark. Such is my motley collection of watches. Sometimes haphazard…sometimes deliberate. Though always mine…and a great source of satisfaction!
I see myself as an "avid enthusiast" rather than a "collector" because let's be honest... It doesn't matter how many (or how few) I possess or how much (or how little) they're worth, there's nothing particularly notable about them that thousands of other schmucks aren't also in possession of and I'll be really really old before any of them MIGHT matter to someone decades from now.
Nice to see a cuervo y sobrinos on here 💯
Since its so hard to draw a definitive line between hoarding and collecting, I would suggest that it becomes collecting the moment you start thinking about the watches you own in a critical, evaluating manner. On that note: Maybe it's actually selling (or: giving away) your first watch which makes your accumulation a collection.
I see myself as an "avid enthusiast" rather than a "collector" because let's be honest... It doesn't matter how many (or how few) I possess or how much (or how little) they're worth, there's nothing particularly notable about them that thousands of other schmucks aren't also in possession of and I'll be really really old before any of them MIGHT matter to someone decades from now.
This is me
I struggle with the terminology, and often question whether I'm a watch enthusiast with an accumulation of watches, or a watch collector. I suppose that it's really just a matter of semantics.
The Oxford dictionary defines a collector as "a person who collects things, either as a hobby or a job". Further, it provides multiple definitions for "collect", including "to buy or find things of a particular type and keep them as a hobby". Finally, they define "collection" as "a group of objects, often of the same sort, that have been collected". Based on those definitions, I'd consider myself a watch collector, even though my "collection" doesn't have a specific theme, as the OP alluded to.
I tend to agree with @Konsalik that the line between accumulating and collecting may be based on whether or not a critical selection process is involved, or whether an indiscriminate approach is taken. In addition to that, perhaps some degree of interest or passion is also required. The walls of my home are filled with original abstract paintings, mostly from local artists, but I don't consider myself an art collector in any way shape or form - I simply happen to have several paintings that I like, and which I feel help make my home look more inviting. I also have a small accumulation of pocket knives, but I don't consider myself a knife collector either, primarily because my interest level in them is marginal.
Based on that, I suppose I consider a collection to be a curated accumulation of a group of items by someone with a strong interest in those items.
I think a collection is what you make it. I buy watches I like, and I have a few that really have no value, but they have value to me. I do have watches that, if sold, could fetch some extra cash above retail but that is purely by coincidence. I buy the to enjoy them. When I shed this mortal coil I hope they go to someone who will value and appreciate them as I do/did.
I would define a collection as a group of watches owned by a person to which said person wants to add more.
Mine is an accumulation. And when I die, my kids are going to look at my pile of watches and say, "WTF?" I mean, they'll go through several stages of WTF...
E: Why the hell did dad accumulate all these stupid watches???
T: Well, they must be worth something. Maybe we should sell them?
E: How can we sell them? They were dad's. Shouldn't we hold onto them to remember him by?
T: You mean, remember that instead of spending time with us, he was on his computer all day long posting idiotic comments on WatchCrunch?
E: Yeah, you're right. Ebay it is.
That’s funny!
Nice to see a cuervo y sobrinos on here 💯
There is no better watch to wear while eating Cuban chicken with rice and beans. 😊
I don't collect watches, any more than I collect shirts or trousers.
I have a selection of watches I can choose from when deciding what to wear each day.
My collection consists of looks, style, affordable quality, proper personal wear, and far most variation. I found it fun and satisfying kept me out of trouble from other things. I have a decent amount of watches. (No more than 20) Where I can wear them different rotation and once I'm no long want them I get rid of it or give it away.
I don't collect watches, any more than I collect shirts or trousers.
I have a selection of watches I can choose from when deciding what to wear each day.
So can I assume that you are a shirt and trouser enthusiast as well. Do you belong to ShirtChunch and PantsCrunch sites too?
A collection or group usually has a name. A gaggle of geese. A herd of cattle . A murder of crows. A fluck of watches? ( A F### beautiful disaster)😀
Your welcome
I think it doesn’t matter whether we/others call ourselves/us as collectors, enthusiasts, or accumulators. What matters most is we enjoy what we are doing regardless what the definition is. 🍻
Having said that, mine is probably an accumulation 😂
It’s becomes a collection, rather than an accumulation, when you buy a watch box and admire how they look on their little pillows.
We all have our own quirks or rules, boundaries.
Mine collection spans most categories of watches. I have 40 watches with room for 5 more. Some are family non negotiable pieces, divers,chronos,dress,unusual (Xeric),gshock/digital. Last 5 slots are my future grails. I'm in my 60s and like my mix.
Well that's mine collecting madness lol!
Enjoy all those watches!
Cheers!