Collector or Enthusiast? Is a watch collection and a collection of watches the same thing?
Its not uncommon for people to self-describe as 'Im an enthusiast rather than a collector' which in turn leads to discussion about collector vs enthusiast which can be kind of fun.
First - I'm not trying to gatekeep here - this is just for fun. If you consider yourself a collector but dont match my description, Im not going to fight you on it - you do you boo.
Second - to be clear, they arent alternatives, you can be both(or neither - not my problem).
That said for me I'd put it this way:
A watch collector has a watch collection. The point of being a collector is to have a thing you call a collection - the collection is the subject here and 'watch' is an adjective.
An enthusiast has a collection of watches. The subject of your enthusiasm is the watch and yeah you might have a collection of them but thats not because you wanted a "collection" but rather because you just love watches, gathered up a bunch of them and a bunch of stuff is often also called a "collection".
Thoughts.
A collector, I think of watches as art where the story and aesthetics are everything and function isn't that important. Into Seiko, Breitling, JLC, German independents , got a Chopard and I think I ne...
Agree.
Did you read these over at Quill & Pad 🙂
https://quillandpad.com/2017/06/04/heres-manual-winding-watches-horological-connoisseurs/
https://quillandpad.com/2017/08/13/automatic-watches-watch-enthusiasts-counterpoint-heres/#:~:text=In%20the%20world%20of%20watches,and%20connoisseur%20of%20haute%20horology.
All collectors are enthusiasts, but not all enthusiasts are collectors.
Did you read these over at Quill & Pad 🙂
https://quillandpad.com/2017/06/04/heres-manual-winding-watches-horological-connoisseurs/
https://quillandpad.com/2017/08/13/automatic-watches-watch-enthusiasts-counterpoint-heres/#:~:text=In%20the%20world%20of%20watches,and%20connoisseur%20of%20haute%20horology.
yes I have - I do find the writing at a few of these places (quill and pad, monochrome and sjx) both excellent and cringy occasionally but I kind of liked both those articles:
disagreed slightly on the idea that manual winds are particularly special - I would through put a great micro or peripheral rotor movement above a manual winder as its mastering both genres.
generally agree on the distinction of connoisseur (head) vs enthusiast (heart).
All collectors are enthusiasts, but not all enthusiasts are collectors.
I suspect thats likely to be true 99% of the time (especially places like here) - however I also suspect there are folks out there that actually care very little for the individual watches but love the idea of the collection.
For example - I would not be surprised to find a number of people with full collections of moonswatches that are not that keen on watches in general.
Collectors collect. So, that is why a high percentage here have at least one other area of collections: knives, pens, comic books, etc.
I think that the collecting urge is also connected to boredom. I am not disparaging boredom. The best games you ever invented as a child were borne out of boredom. Many healthy activities stave off boredom (it is hard to be bored on a mountain hike). When I was young it was stamps, then beer cans, interstices, and then pens and watches. The gap was education and family formation, not boring and often income limiting. Time + money = collection.
Collectors collect. So, that is why a high percentage here have at least one other area of collections: knives, pens, comic books, etc.
I think that the collecting urge is also connected to boredom. I am not disparaging boredom. The best games you ever invented as a child were borne out of boredom. Many healthy activities stave off boredom (it is hard to be bored on a mountain hike). When I was young it was stamps, then beer cans, interstices, and then pens and watches. The gap was education and family formation, not boring and often income limiting. Time + money = collection.
That last bit makes sense. One reason I don't have as much money for watches as I might like is that I also seem to be becoming a "collector" of Lego kits I never have time to put together 😁
Categorization is a bit silly to me one can be many things.
Categorization is a bit silly to me one can be many things.
anything fun is silly
Imho, wrangling about these definitions is simply much ado about nothing. Just enjoy and have fun. No need to over think these things. Cheers!
Imho, wrangling about these definitions is simply much ado about nothing. Just enjoy and have fun. No need to over think these things. Cheers!
The overthinking is where all the fun is, why does it scare people so much?
The overthinking is where all the fun is, why does it scare people so much?
Hehehe... to each his own, mate. I certainly am not scared of these discussions. Just much ado about nothing for me.
The fella who built the Bulova museum did a talk for our watch club recently. His take was:
“Enthusiasts go wide, collectors go deep.”
Generally speaking, I find that to be true. A collector tends to do the deep dive, knowing the references and the history in detail. Buying watches is key to the identity of a collector, otherwise they’re not in your collection!
An enthusiast has a broad range of interests. Perhaps less deep than the collector, in that they may not know their submariner reference numbers but they’ll be able to tell you which submariner they like best based on the dial, bracelet clasp or bezel. They probably can do the same thing for the seamaster. They may not own either though!
I feel more of an enthusiast that way. I buy watches I like and can afford, but I’ve no method as such. A fella on here yesterday is out to get the snoopy Moonswatch to complete his Moonswatch collection. That’s a collection! Clear purpose and rationale.
https://www.beyondthedial.com/post/insight-the-watch-collector-enthusiast-dichotomy-its-discontents-the-phenomenology-of-watches-as-spiritual-practice/
https://wornandwound.com/opinion-watch-enthusiast-or-collector-a-distinction-worth-making/
I think collector has a more focused approach (can be driven by in part a financial angle or other criteria) to building a collection.
Enthusiast is more about the experience of wearing and sharing.
Hehehe... to each his own, mate. I certainly am not scared of these discussions. Just much ado about nothing for me.
so why the comment if you arent interested? im always intrigued by people getting involved in and trying to shut down conversations they say they have no interested in.
so why the comment if you arent interested? im always intrigued by people getting involved in and trying to shut down conversations they say they have no interested in.
That was my comment, mate. There's nothing more for me to say. My brevity should not be judged as disinterest. If I was disinterested, then I wouldn've have made any comment. But I did, albeit a brief one. So, I didn't try to shut down the convo. Just gave my two cents worth.
I’m an enthusiast and a collector. I’m enthusiastic about watches and I collect them. I don’t collect anything super focused like some do(collecting all the vintage King Seikos for example) but I am collecting watches in general.