Aggressive Paring Down
As passionate as I was last year at buying watches I've been just as aggressive at trying to let go of watches. Since November, I've sold 7 watches, none of which I had any real regrets (maybe just the JLC) despite ultimately losing money over the sales. The goal is to let go and pare down, not to make a profit. It would've been great to at least break even but it is what it is.
Here are the watches that left my collection so far:
Favre-Leuba Eclipse manual wind from the 1970s I think.
A 1940s Gruen Veri-Thin rectangular watch. I really like this one but felt I have too many rectangular watches that I love more.
1950s Wittnauer. I thought this one I would keep for a while. But I just have too many of these kinds of watches and the buyer chose this one specifically to buy so... I have to be brutal with the cut. No mercy.
Seiko SKX003 from 1997. Great dive watch. Used it maybe once or twice. Not really my style. I lost money on this one.
Seiko Cronos from the 1960s. This one I actually made money on. Sold it at the first WatchCrunch Manila Meetup. An outsider saw our table and all the watches and probably felt the need to participate. A conversation later his teenage son decided he wanted the watch to bring back to the US.
Westfield 1940s military watch. Didn't lose money, didn't earn a profit. Break even.
Finally, I had to let go of my 1940s JLC Aviator. This is the first "luxury" vintage piece I ever bought. I love this watch. But my vintage girl agreed to get it back from me as trade for part of the cost of the Reverso I recently got. I'm okay with the trade. I prefer the Reverso. Also, it's not like it's my only 1940s JLC. I have that art deco non-Reverso rectangular. Maybe I'll buy this one back someday. Probably not.
There you have it. I have a lot of watches left to sell. My goal is to pare the collection down to a manageable 13 pieces.
I've got a god-shaped hole in my life that I'm trying to fill in futility with watches.
I like your Zenith watch. That’s hopefully a keeper in your top 13.
So basically reducing to 1 box of 12 & 1 on the wrist?! 🙌🏻
I did a similar purge a few years back and I couldn't be happier. I maybe broke even but probably lost some money, it wasn't enough to be significant, I'm happier with the watches I don't wear gone to better homes. I moved around a dozen pieces in a year or so. I don't miss any of them exactly, it was all stuff I rarely wore anymore, but I do miss being able to play with them when I'm going through my watch box even if they never made it to my wrist.
I like your Zenith watch. That’s hopefully a keeper in your top 13.
I like it too. It's not going anywhere.
So basically reducing to 1 box of 12 & 1 on the wrist?! 🙌🏻
2 boxes - 1 10-slots, 1 3-slots. Maybe you're right. Maybe I need to keep 14 so I have something on the wrist while the boxes are full.
I did a similar purge a few years back and I couldn't be happier. I maybe broke even but probably lost some money, it wasn't enough to be significant, I'm happier with the watches I don't wear gone to better homes. I moved around a dozen pieces in a year or so. I don't miss any of them exactly, it was all stuff I rarely wore anymore, but I do miss being able to play with them when I'm going through my watch box even if they never made it to my wrist.
I like seeing my 24-slot container full, that's for sure. But it's really getting to be too much. I need to figure out what I'm going to do with that box if I ain't using it anymore.