Side-effects of watch collecting
Hello, everyone, hope you have a great summer day, hidden under the holy winds of AC, away from unbearable city heat, infused with gas, oil, smell of concrete and obvious lack of green plants around.
There was a post here a couple of days ago, from @anonman asking Crunchers to show their other collections and I must say, I've seen a lot of cool stuff. Well done, fellow Crunchers, for having taste and means to project it.
But I started to think, how much our consumption is influenced by the watch bug in our heads? I've heard that people who are into watches, also indulge in other finer things too (not counting that fine meal of instant ramen to recover from that one watch purchase). Is the reason is just a disposable income needed to afford watches, and therefore an overall lifestyle inflation which may come with it, or being in a context of one nice thing (watches) eventually drag you to buying other finer things?
I can say that watch collecting influenced my buying decisions at some degree. I'm not a stranger to luxury/unnecessary products, I have some expensive boutique audio gear and I was playing different luxury instruments - guitars, basses, vintage synths, etc, but other than that, I had little interest in hand-made/boutique/niche products until I dive deep in watch collecting.
I can't say for sure that somehow watches made my taste more "refined", because taste will change naturally over time, just like my taste in watches changed from G-Shocks to big sports watches to smaller vintage watches, but I can't deny the fact, that shift in my perception of what holds "value" in things. I definitely started to think more about how the things are made, which materials are used, and how this factors affect quality.
Also, I've never had any interest in precious metals before, and I thought that this is complete douchery, but maybe it's not because of watches, but because I was living with my mates in a shared apartment before we all got married roughly at the same time, and I can say for sure, that living with a bunch of single dudes will make you a lot, and I mean A LOT simpler.) Why bother buying shampoo and conditioner and like fancy soap, when you have a huge size bottle of 3 in 1 bubbly stuff in a bathroom already?
What was 100% affected by watch collecting is my scent game. I've been wearing the same fragrance for 12 years, every single day, but after I got in watches, I was like - "If I have different watches for different days, why do I have one smell for 12 years"? And because my perception of value changed because of contact with watches, I decided to skip department store scents and go straight to niche stuff. Because this fragrances last longer, have more defined and less soapy smell. If it says "grapefruit" it smells like grapefruit and not like cheap artificial grapefruit flavouring.
After all, smelling great, not wearing jeans and hoodies everywhere and finally having a proper shampoo feels nice, that's for sure.
The question is, what was first?
Is this all because of natural taste change, and the watch bug is a part of this change (which is a bit of a reach, because I was interested in watches since I was a kid, I just never had more than one watch before), or it's a side-effect of watch collecting?
A little EDIT from @TOwguy I was thinking about that too, but absolutely forgot to mention the twisted perception of a price.
After getting used to a watch prices, and dropping 2, 3, 4, 5 10, 20, 30, 40k$ for a watch you might start to normalise paying premiums for other products, because of the same reason you pay for watches (craftsmanship, limited availability, brand heritage, etc.). And it contributes a lot to an overall lifestyle inflation.
Musician, sound engineer, software developer and aspiring watch collector. Fan of vintage watches and old-fashioned clothing. Chef of faux patina.
Watch collecting is mostly affected by how easy it is to pay for the damn objects. If you can drop 10k on one watch and feel no remorse, dropping 20-30k may be the unhappy next step.
I'm not so sure the watch bug is solely responsible for this increased attention to detail.
Collecting is collecting is collecting whether we are collecting watches or comic books or guitars or cars or knives or art. All of these require being aware of details so you don't waste your money unnecessarily or get scammed.
Watch collecting is mostly affected by how easy it is to pay for the damn objects. If you can drop 10k on one watch and feel no remorse, dropping 20-30k may be the unhappy next step.
yeah, I've been thinking of this and forgot to mention it( Crazy day, no sleep, lotta work, attention is close to zero.
Would you mind if I edit my post to include this comment?
yeah, I've been thinking of this and forgot to mention it( Crazy day, no sleep, lotta work, attention is close to zero.
Would you mind if I edit my post to include this comment?
If you like. Sadly I speak from experience.
Best
J
I wish it distracted me more tho. I wish.
Yeah, I'm sure that most changes can be explained by getting older and me, being overly introspective to notice those changes and reflect on them, but I'm not the first one kinda linking collecting and perception shift.
Like it's a popular opinion on YT that watches and cars go hand in hand.
I wish it distracted me more tho. I wish.
Yeah, I'm sure that most changes can be explained by getting older and me, being overly introspective to notice those changes and reflect on them, but I'm not the first one kinda linking collecting and perception shift.
Like it's a popular opinion on YT that watches and cars go hand in hand.
But I know car guys who won’t wear a watch watch guys who believe cars will destroy the planet. I love watches but won’t ride in a car unless I am driving.
it has helped in retirement as I was always building or renovating stuff and the scale of the projects now is more manageable. I also look past the branding now and go for the sum of the parts. Making watches is therapy for things I will never sell but give to friends and relatives.
for me it doesnt affect all of my purchase decision on another product. i would choose all of my stuff properly but it doesnt have to be expensive.
It’s a disease…just because we can do it doesn’t mean we should. That being said, we’re all adults so you do you.
Yeah, you guys love your guns.) You gotta have the AR15.
Just in case 41 feral hog would run onto your property.)
My brain is wired to like nice things, but you know, disposable income only goes so far lol.
My only other collection of sorts is an array of photography gear, but that's all self sustained by revenue from print sales/architectural commissions.
I have a lot of things I collect, some by accident, some by intent, some because it was issued. My "collections" I define as items I did on purpose. Watches, golf clubs, challenge coins, firearms/accessories, etc.
Recently the wife and I started backing up our pictures, from before we knew each other thru dating/married up to the present.
Made me realize that through my much aligned "technology-leash" and some dabbling in cameras, my largest collection is photos. And those photos are memories.
Random photos, test photos, pics of things I like, things I don't like, menu shots, people I care about, people I don't, scenery. Good pictures, bad ones, gross ones, funny ones, sad ones, ones that were taken in the spur of the moment during some goofy party or training event and now that person is gone, and it brings a memory of a brief time and place we shared together. Made me start wanting to dig through my dad's albums.
Yeah, you guys love your guns.) You gotta have the AR15.
Just in case 41 feral hog would run onto your property.)
Always. Feral hogs scare the $#!t out of me. Jokes aside have you seen/read Old Yeller...those are nasty.
I have a lot of things I collect, some by accident, some by intent, some because it was issued. My "collections" I define as items I did on purpose. Watches, golf clubs, challenge coins, firearms/accessories, etc.
Recently the wife and I started backing up our pictures, from before we knew each other thru dating/married up to the present.
Made me realize that through my much aligned "technology-leash" and some dabbling in cameras, my largest collection is photos. And those photos are memories.
Random photos, test photos, pics of things I like, things I don't like, menu shots, people I care about, people I don't, scenery. Good pictures, bad ones, gross ones, funny ones, sad ones, ones that were taken in the spur of the moment during some goofy party or training event and now that person is gone, and it brings a memory of a brief time and place we shared together. Made me start wanting to dig through my dad's albums.
What a story man.
In a discourse of consumption habits you are the one who actually produced something. I salute you on that.
Interesting food for thought.
Very nice article and I'm sure there is a correlation in terms of the art of collecting and taste. Instead of using refined, I would use the term mature. For myself personally I started with music then movies, to books and now watches. If I was a smoker and drinker I'm sure I would have gotten into cigars and wine, if I had more capital I'm sure cars would be next... but I drew the line at watches.
The one thing most people that collect need to watch out for (you see what I did there? 😆) is when they cross the line between collecting and hoarding. Some people get obsessed with what they have and how much they spent and become possessive. I struggled in the past but there comes a point where life priorities are on the line and letting go of some is the nature of the beast
I collected unopened Hot Wheels cars as a kid, wasted a bunch of money on modifying and customizing my own cars in my teens & 20's, and now there's this... Watches....
At least I now have a strict budget, am much better with money and I think I have impulse purchased all Casios I will ever need.
WC definitely isn't helping though. I live vicariously thru most of you and have unfortunately found another attainable grail: Baltic Aquascaphe Blue Gilt....
I don't think it will stop, but it has slowed down to a trickle recently. I like using watches as marking milestones or meaningful moments in my life. This is the most personal collection I have ever done by far.
Its a sickness... cant seem to get rid of cars and watches once i got them! Now i need to look for more garages as well... but watch cases are much easier to get by
Its a sickness... cant seem to get rid of cars and watches once i got them! Now i need to look for more garages as well... but watch cases are much easier to get by
Cars are not my thing, because I can’t drive for medical reasons, but I don’t think I got away that easy, because my wife is a car person.
I’ve been looking on this leather travel pouches, which on my opinion seems like most compact way to store watches. Design wise, nothing beats a nice wooden display case, but ergonomically, I guess this is the thing to look for.
Can’t store an integrated bracelet watches tho.)
Watch collecting is mostly affected by how easy it is to pay for the damn objects. If you can drop 10k on one watch and feel no remorse, dropping 20-30k may be the unhappy next step.
It's also affected by the Internet and Amazon. How many watches would most of us have if we had to go out and buy them at stores?
It's also affected by the Internet and Amazon. How many watches would most of us have if we had to go out and buy them at stores?
I am an old timer my bad habits are old school, I only buy from brick and mortar ads who regard you well based on the size of your most recent purchase.