What is your process of buying a watch?

I mostly buy vintage so I use saved search alerts on ebay for certain keywords such as:

Lesser known vintage watch brands which I like.

Technical features. Incabloc is a great one for picking up quality watches from really obscure brands. Electronic and transistorized also good if you're into that sort of thing.

Sometimes I'll also just search for used pocket watches under £30.

If I like a watch and the price is OK I set up a bid for it using an auction sniping site.

I keep an eye on watches listed on online pawnbroker sites. Occasionally something gets listed for a stupidly low price.

I also have some watch-related alerts set up on hotukdeals which lists deals on new products. That's how I picked up my Tissot PRX and Seastar heavily discounted.

In the USA the thread Lee's Pick of the Day on watchintyme.com is also worth keeping an eye on for deals from gray market dealers.

When I find a watch I want, I usually search for some reviews on YouTube to get idea of how it wear and to see some micro shot. That’s pretty much it. I may also get advise on some watches group on Facebook and here !

I buy under $1000 (at least for now), and “micros” only. So it’s a ton of YouTube reviews of people handing the exact model.

Then I try to convince my wife before pulling the trigger online.

Then I freak out when the shipment is delayed by 1 hour. 🤪

I see a watch I like, then I buy it.

With new watches (still in production) I take my time. Comparing between models a lot and search for the best offer. When it comes to vintage I have an idea of what I like and when the ”right” watch pops up I pull the trigger as fast as I can. Right- model, condition, price.

Squirrel brain: ooooooh shiny watch!

Man brain: is it neat?

Muscle memory: pulls out wallet.

Research, watch videos, take screenshots on my phone, add it to my list of watches I want to get to "complete my collection", try the watch on probably several times.

If a watch is still on the "to get" list after a year and I can still see several photos of it on my watch camera roll then it's probably going into my collection at some pt. At that juncture I'll decide which milestone or future professional/personal success I'll get that watch for.

I have a 6 core box + 2 rule with a cap of 6-8k for any one watch in the box with the exception of one that could go up to 10k (for retirement or another big professional win). I'm playing a slow game associated with life moments even if I COULD buy other watches I wanted I'm trying to be more disciplined as I also want to spend money on things that make memories with my family like vacations/travel etc. That doesn't mean I don't swap/sell (but very little at this pt and can honestly see only two instances where I'll sell).

Left side of my brain says yes & so does the right it’s quite the dilemma 😁

Scroll through r/watchexchange way too much, see way too many things I want to buy, end up with way too many watches 😂

I like to take at least 6 months to think about the watch, if I still want it after that then it needs to either be replacing something I already own or be adding something new to my collection.

For major purchase, I put the watch as wallpaper on my iPhone for a month and see if I still like it or am fed up😉

Well, that’s after I have tried it on my wrist and liked it, of course.

In case of my vintage Preisig it was:

Excitement of finding that watch again, deciding how much to bid, sheer joy of winning the auction, getting annoyed by international shipping and customs.

For my three homage watches:

Finding a dealer with an EU warehouse, deciding the price is right, clicking the "buy" button.

For my Wise Adamascus AD7:

Deciding I wanted a watch for my 50th birthday, agreeing on a budget with my wife, creating a shortlist, getting annoyed because Lorier took ages to release the Astra (which in hindsight sold out so quickly I wouldn't have been able to get one anyway), deciding to get a Wise instead, putting it in the shopping cart on the manufacturer's website, pulling the trigger during their Halloween sale, receiving the shipment and enduring another 6 weeks until my birthday before putting it on my wrist.

I guess the experience with my next watch in December (25th wedding anniversary) will be similar. The last watch I bought at a brick and mortar store was my wife's wedding watch...

How you save for watch?

Wow that's quite some process man... 1 year wait for a watch..but i really like the idea ✨

On the flip side I get zero resistance from my wife since I curate and think about things so much. Like she knows I'm serious about a watch when she starts seeing books about a brand/model, art prints and photos tacked up in my office haha. This time I even wrote in a Reverso into the next novel as a significant object of the main character, so there's going to be a creative/sentimental attachment to this project. By the time I'm ready to pull the trigger she's fully supportive.

Sweating, debating, talking myself out of it, pulling the trigger.