Fatherhood and heirlooms

I honestly think it’s a great tradition. It’s a peice of you and your story that your kid will have for life.

Under my dead body literaly

I'm passing my collection down to my daughter. Most of them. Some I'll pass down to other people. However, I would not care what they do with the watches. My daughter doesn't care about my watches so she can do whatever she wants with them. Sell them, keep them, give them away, use them for bat swinging practice, whatever. The watches are hers to do as she will. I'll be dead I wouldn't care and whatever she finds use for them she should do without guilt.

So it’s a tradition in my family and I think at least for us is very special. My baby girl knows which one is her watch and often comes to tell me to wear “her watch” 😍. It’s not about the watch to us it is about the person who wore it and the memories that come with it

I said pass it but depends if the kids will appreciate it If they dint they will sell

It and such

Well the plan was to buy a rolex and pass down to my son. Maybe when he turns 21. I have 20 years to go to buy that Rolex (or two if I have another kid)🤣

I think i would do both, and/or offer to get something to their taste maybe at a later point.

In my mind, they are his and he is free to do what he wants with them.

Right now, I am just stoked he takes an interest and “helps” me choose what to wear each morning.

Recently he chose a watch for himself. A Flik Flak with construction vehicles. As far as he is concerned, it is a significant improvement on his other watches I purchased for him.

I wouldn't worry about it too much for another couple of decades... You might not even be into watches by the time your kid is 18.

"Heirlooms" that have high monetary value will likely be sold, and there is no guarantee your kid/kids will care about any of the same things you care about.

My suggestion regarding heirlooms is always this, don't try to force them unless it's something specific, and low monetary value. eg. family bible, knife for cutting the wedding cake, an old pocket knife, etc...

I'm hoping to pass down a (more expensive) watch and also buy one not exorbitantly expensive watch when he turns 18. Kind of sort of why I'm thinking of getting a 'luxury' sports watch next.

I hope the people in my nursing home steal all of my watches and sell them at a pawn shop for pennies on the dollar

It depends whether the children have an interest or not. If they've always liked a particular watch, or have expressed interest in having it to remember you by, or are just sentimental types... then, sure, it makes sense. But to just thrust a watch on some kid who's really uninterested, not sentimental in the slightest, or sees no point in watches... why bother?

It's like parents who are into, let's say, Star Wars. And they "inflict" Star Wars on their kids, whether the kids are interested or not. I always find that quite stupid behaviour. Let the kid make the call. And it's the same with watches. If they don't care, just sell it, and enjoy the cash. At the end of the day, none of us are demi-gods, and these aren't our holy relics.

My older daughter was always a troublesome kid, when she was still in elementary school, I received a page to arrive at her school, long story I decided to sign her out of classes that day and the rest of the week. It was middle of the day so we went shopping for a new watch. She was in grade 1, I allowed her to pick the dial from the Breitling Chronomats at the shop. Just before covid she alarmed her mom and me with news that she had resigned her job, was flying to Kenya for Safari with a high school chum assigned there by the Canadian government, before returning to a new more risky position in finance. I gave her the Breitling that we had purchased together made her promise to return safely with our watch. We didn’t meet again for almost 3 years but she kept her promise. Just had dinner with her earlier this evening the watch still looks great fits her perfectly. I have already passed along watches to other family members, two close friends but the majority will be my wife’s problem since she is a full decade younger than I am. Honestly I do not give my watches and other material stuff much thought.

My suggestion is to pass one 1 watch when your child is 18 to see if they have any interest. And in your Will or when you pass you can hand down the rest of your watches so it will still be in the family.

I have a 1 year old girl. I pray she wants the smaller babies in my collection. But my opinion is DO NOT pass down at 18. I think about all the stupid shit I did from 18-24. Just being wasted at college parties. Waking up with no shoes on. God forbid I did it in an Omega or a Rolex.

My idea is do it for a wedding. Give one during the birth of a grandchild if you’re lucky enough to have one. Maybe even with the intention for it to be the grandchild’s one day. If your kids show interest later in life will them specific ones with a reasoning behind it.

That’s just my mindset. Might be thinking too deep, but that’s where my mind goes.

I have two girls and they are very petit. If they can pull off wearing my big watches, and they appreciate/value/like the watches, then we’ll see when the time comes. I don’t think it will be when they turn a specific age. Instead, I’ll pass them down when I feel is the perfect moment. If they don’t give a shit about the watches, different story. Maybe I will pass them down to my grandkids or whomever I create a meaningful bond with. What I am sure is that I am not passing down anything to any husbands. I rather leave these for my girls to sell. Too early to tell, but that’s what I think today.

I thought about it and concluded that my kid would appreciate 10-15.000 euros more than a watch. It could be aimed at starting a bussines or some education. If he starts liking watches I can buy him a Seiko to start with.

Just to emphasise, an avarage salary in my country is around 1000 euros per month so a rolex is a huge investment.

I’d spend some time finding out what is his favourite and pass that down as an 18th birthday present.

I consider just pass on one watch for him when he turns to an age where he is financially independent or his interest in watches becomes so big. However not before 18.

Who knows what will happen with my collection. Maybe I will sell most of them? Or wear them myself. If I keep them for sure they will inherit them.

He'll get my watches when I'm cold in the ground⚰️

Let it clear itself over time. Maybe your boy gonna love your collection and ask to use together or maybe he will not be into watches at all.

I say pass down one or two pieces when they hit 18 and the rest as inheritance when that time comes.

Pass down, but when you (sadly!) pass on. 18 should hopefully be too soon with you actually still wanting to wear them yourself! 😄

Nah pass it down. Everything I do is for my child. I stopped owning property, objects, or money the second my child was born. Everything is theirs now. All you have in this world is your family anything material is an illusion. If my daughter sells them or does whatever she will do with them than so be it. You don’t take them with you when you die and on one’s death bed they won’t think man I’m glad I held onto this watches. You will reminisce about your memories with your family

Passing down can be great, but find out if there are any in particular that have meaning to them. Are there any watches that they specifically want, or think of when they think of you. Pass those ones down. Then work on narrowing down the rest collection (ie any watches that you don't particularly enjoy anymore or or could live without).

Passing down things can be good, but it can also be a burden. I've seen it with my grandparents and my friends' grandparents. It's a lot of work to go through someone's stuff when they're gone. Especially when you're grieving them. And doubly so if there is any confusion as to what things are worth (personally and monetarily), who should get what, and what people think they deserve or has meaning to them.

Have a very clear will, and setup a good plan for how things should be handled according to your wishes. And make sure you discuss with your children so that they can understand.

I've seen way too many family feuds because of people arguing over how to handle things like property or valuables. It's especially difficult when one person places sentimental value on someone and another person does not, and then there is a fight about how much it's worth, how much it could be sold for, and how to fairly split it.

Congrats on your new addition! My Son is 9 months old and loves fiddling with my watches.

Some of my earliest memories of my father are of his old seiko dive watch, which he wore for decades. It became a deeply ingrained memory for me so when he eventually gave the watch to me, it was a really really special thing for me. Not just because I got a cool watch, but because it will always remind me of him.

It's hard to know what the next 40-50 years might look like, but for me, I will be following in my dad's footsteps and passing down my favourite watch to my son when he's old enough NOT to swap it for a hoverboard.

The other watches in my collection would be his to do what he likes with. Keep, sell, give away, I certainly won't have much use for them.

Pass it down via your will. My best advice.

My dad offered me to pick any watch from his collection when I graduated from college. I think it's a good compromise between passing down and the collection being too tailored to you. Also 18 may be too soon, I didn't take good care of that watch and I couldn't afford getting it serviced, and I was already 23 years old by then

I’d give them one of them when he’s old enough, and the rest when I’m dead.

Pass down when you are done with it, or earlier if someone had earned it.