Do you keep your watch boxes?
How many of us have a box or cupboard full of boxes?
What do you do with your watch boxes?
What are the reasons why you keep or throw away your watch boxes/packaging?
I'm keen to know!
Having recently moved houses, I realised half of my wardrobe was empty watch boxes - but I wasn't sure why I was storing some of them!
When designing the packaging for @hzwatches, I thought to myself that there has to be a better way - I don't want to have to increase prices by offering a nice watch box, which will sit in a wardrobe and offer no utility.
What else could we do that will still create a pleasant unboxing experience, but reduce clutter and provide utility?
How about custom watch rolls matched to each colourway?
How did we do?
Should more brands consider alternative watch packaging?
Thanks,
Matt
Australian watch collector, and microbrand owner. Would love to chat and connect with you - please reach out and I look forward to getting back to you!
I keep them but I only have something like my 12 most recent, most of which are really nice. Also, I have the space.
Yes, and I don’t know why.* They’re all in other larger boxes on the floor of my bedroom closet.
*This is a lie. I know exactly why. It’s because I’m just enough of a pack rat that I can’t bring myself to get rid of them even though they no longer serve any practical purpose.
The watches
The boxes
I keep them but I only have something like my 12 most recent, most of which are really nice. Also, I have the space.
Nice! What do you like to see when it comes to watch packaging?
I have a Rubbermaid tote completely full and am starting on the next. It’s a sickness. There is no known cure.
Yes, and I don’t know why.* They’re all in other larger boxes on the floor of my bedroom closet.
*This is a lie. I know exactly why. It’s because I’m just enough of a pack rat that I can’t bring myself to get rid of them even though they no longer serve any practical purpose.
That's exactly my situation with my collection of obsolete watch boxes!
That's exactly my situation with my collection of obsolete watch boxes!
Solidarity, friend.
I have a Rubbermaid tote completely full and am starting on the next. It’s a sickness. There is no known cure.
What would you like to see brands do differently when it comes to watch packaging?
Make it recyclable - so that you don't have to worry about keeping it and are motivated to throw it away?
Allow it to be repurposed - so you can use the box for other types of storage?
Keen to hear your ideas!
The watches
The boxes
The classic box of boxes!
The watches
The boxes
And lovely collection I might add!
And lovely collection I might add!
Thanks
Haha topical! What do you think about our solution to watch box clutter?
Haha topical! What do you think about our solution to watch box clutter?
It would make mine even worse since I have nearly 200.
Ok thank gos this image is AI generated. I keep them if it’s an important watch or if I plan to sell it
That’s not necessarily true, if you ever do decide to sell your watch, it helps with value retention. If you ever do plan on possibly selling it, then you should definitely keep it.
Watches are perhaps the most over-packaged category of consumer good I can think of off-hand, certainty once you're above the "cheap/utility" category of watch. Rightly or wrongly, the packaging has become part of the expectation and experience, probably because the watches we're talking about are, by any rational measure, so unnecessary and outmoded; ££££'s for an obsolete, anachronistic and inaccurate way of telling the time. Something so absurd no longer falls into the category of a functional good and instead must account for itself as an indulgence. The packaging therefore "has" to support this (the market expects it) and in fact is responsible for establishing this notion of indulgence at the very beginning of the ownership experience - it's the first thing we encounter when receiving a new watch and starts the bonding experience. So for me the boxes are not just the utility, they remind me of that very first experience of the watch. That's why I keep mine.
Yes - I keep all my watchboxes and everything that comes with them.
I store them in these Sterlite containers. Keeps the boxes safe from mold, dust, etc. and the containers are easily stackable.
Gotta get me one of those for this!
It depends on you desire to sell or keep the watch. Considering that with a box and original papers you can get a better offer on your watch, why discard them?
I keep them all in case I want to upgrade later on and fund the upgrade.
I tend to keep them (for no good reason), but there are some I like better than others.
It's good to have them stackable and smallish, but large enough to keep, say, spare links and a replacement strap - and instructions if the watch is complex enough to warrant instructions.
I really like the box Merkur watches come in - but the instructions are useless for plain three-handers, and they made that booklet huge and generic. Without it they could have made the box slimmer.
A really bad example of a watch box is Pagani's fancy box - that is both huge and has very little storage space at the same time.
My wife purchased me a California Closet system (I only say this to offer context, not to brag as it's not a huge one). I collect other things other than watches and she designed the system around that.
Behind my shirts and pants for some reason it's very deep. I can actually stack/store all of my watch boxes behind my clothing that's hung up. You can't even see them.
My wife purchased me a California Closet system (I only say this to offer context, not to brag as it's not a huge one). I collect other things other than watches and she designed the system around that.
Behind my shirts and pants for some reason it's very deep. I can actually stack/store all of my watch boxes behind my clothing that's hung up. You can't even see them.
That's a claver use of space @drcarter13
I keep mine for hoarding reasons, honestly it is best to invest more into the watches than the boxes themselves, unless you wanna throw in a nice pouch 😉
I clicked 2; however, for me it is not like I plan on selling, rather if I decide to sell or need to sell - I have a full set. I also keep boxes only from pricier models. No sense in keeping a metallic can from g-shock 😂
Unfortunately, I even keep many cheap watch boxes. Like plastic Swatch boxes. Not really sure why but I have gone back and put dead quartz watches away in their original boxes.
Of course the nice presentation boxes are kept along with papers. Both of these things add to resale value if you ever do sell.
That's a claver use of space @drcarter13
Thx Dev. Perfect hiding place for new watches too. Wife still has no idea 🤣. Unless she's incognito on WC 🤣
I do not only keep all the packaging of all my watches, but I store my watches in their boxes. I do not a a watch box for the collection.
Gotta get me one of those for this!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F18D847/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
Link to Amazon.com
I try and keep all boxes for all my collectibles and watches for sure. Through experience I’ve learned it helps with resale. Keep receipts too.