◇ R U L E S ◇
Do you have any rules for yourself regarding watch collecting? I think this post could be useful to have a different point of view on the way we collect watches. Please share yours, if you have any.
Here are mine:
• I really try to never buy a watch without a meaning or to commemorate something. That keeps me from making choices I could regret later. 🏆
• I respect my budget. 💰
• I try to keep my collection functional: 8-12 pieces, and at least 2 watches for every ocassion. ⌚️👔
• I dont like repeating brands/colors that much. Of course there's nothing wrong with that but I like it to be diverse in brands as in colors. 🔆🔆
• Never ever get in debt because of a watch. 📶
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Robert
Welcome to my WatchCrunch profile.
Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
Member since
Last active: 3 weeks ago
6.50” / 16.51 cm
Wait for a while between two purchases, don't make big price jumps and don't buy similar watches
Research every piece to death. No more impulse purchases.
Nice rules!
The last one is very important.
Really have to love the piece. Always respect the budget. Don't buy similar dials.
Only, keep within budget and buy only when u have budget. Otherwise enjoy.
I set a rule last year of one or none per year.
This year I added that the watch has to be the result of a goal or significant milestone achieved.
Of course, no going into debt.
I also want no more than two of the same type of watch (diver, field. Etc.).
Need to be as color diverse as possible, as well. Blue, black, white, red, green; maybe a yellow.
I set a rule last year of one or none per year.
This year I added that the watch has to be the result of a goal or significant milestone achieved.
Of course, no going into debt.
I also want no more than two of the same type of watch (diver, field. Etc.).
Need to be as color diverse as possible, as well. Blue, black, white, red, green; maybe a yellow.
Your first rule is one that I would like to apply for myself.
$250 limit on any one watch
Quartz or mecha-quartz
Must have Arabic numerals or at least 12, 3, 6, and 9
Must have a date complication
Must have lume or auxiliary lighting i.e. Indiglo
No bezel
Approximately 40mm diameter dial
Analog
Practical and easy to read
That’s all I can think of for now!
Only buy what I can afford, considering the actually important things in life.
Only buy after some deliberation. "Do I really like it? Am I going to wear it?" Higher the price, longer the deliberation.
Keep variety of genre and colour in mind.
Change straps now and then to keep the collection lively.
Consider budgets for random life stuff like food, insurance and kids college
Consider budgets for important stuff like watches
Rule 1 - I need one more watch
Rule 2 - don’t let my wife know how many watches I have
Rule 3 - see Rule 1
I'm just going to keep this on my my clipboard for sharing on threads. Just because it's always true for me.
https://youtu.be/dZM1g5EGUv4?si=XOzsQod_ZH4vntnA
Rule1- Think really hard before you buy the next watch. do I really need it or just want it.
Rule2- How much you willing to spend.
Rule3- And what’s gonna happen to the other watches every time you buy there’s gonna be at least one that’s not gonna get enough wrist time and then comes to reevaluate the collection.
1 don’t trust YouTubers reviews
2 buy with your heart, never the head (far too boring)
3 research, research
4 try not to impulse buy unless it’s something that was on your radar anyway
5 avoid similar purchase I.e. what’s the point of having 12 divers watches? Commit to one and if your not happy swap it out.
The no snowflake hands makes me 😂
He means the ‘snowflake’ hands that mostly just Tudor uses - basically a sideways square on hour hand. Doesn’t resemble a literal snowflake but Tudor has officially adopted the name.
I’m iffy on them as well
Lots of great rules, most of mine have been covered but one.
Only buy if your willing to get rid of one.
Mind you, my collect exceeds 30😳. I’ve stuck to it, for the most part😅
Wow!! Thats an interesting one!
Don’t spend more than 2% of total net worth on collection
Don’t buy a watch new that will depreciate more than 10%
Sell a watch if I have not worn in six months
Don’t buy a watch from a brand I already own until I have obtained all the brands on my list. GO, jlc, GP and VC left to go for me
Don’t purchase any vintage watch I cannot get serviced locally.
Don’t buy any used watch at a price where if it needs serviced I would be upside down on it. This keeps me a pretty keen shopper for price and has lead to a collection with positive equity as I have only purchased five new watches and all were heavy discounts from AD. A new GS snowflake for $4200 and a Nomos metro power date for $2700 are two examples of this.
These are my rules to keep me safe from spending too much and to hit my collecting goals.
Excelente
1- focus on the budget
2- make sure the wife is ok with it (generally I bribe her with something for her)
3- make sure I get the best possible price
That's about it.
So currently we saw a Longines moonohase for the wife..(the bribe)
Now that should allow me to get a watch around the same price OR 2 lower pricing...🤣🤣🤣
Lots of great rules, most of mine have been covered but one.
Only buy if your willing to get rid of one.
Mind you, my collect exceeds 30😳. I’ve stuck to it, for the most part😅
I had the same idea back when my husband was deciding between a 5 or a 10 watch box. My choice was 5 so that every item is purposefully chosen, and that the 6th one would have to be as good as, if not better, than the first 5. That artificial limit could also force him to think of letting go of the “least”, similar to your rule.
Fast forward to today, I am now on watch crunch with him, and we have bought our second box of 10 😅😅😅
Needless to say, I was the one who flipped and actually suggested to get the second box 🤪🤪🤪
Rule number one : if you cannot deal with the idea that 100% of the money you put in a watch is potentially gone forever, don’t buy the watch
Rule number two : people telling you they are relieved after the first scratch aren’t telling the truth. The first scratch hurts. So don’t scratch your watch
Rule number three : learn to enjoy simpler things. Before buying a Rolex Oyster Perpetual, ask yourself whether a Traska Commuter wouldn’t be a better choice for you.
Trying to get started about intentional collecting - this is a good exercise to manage my goals:
Don’t exceed more than 10 watches.
If I purchase a watch, it must replace one in the current collection.
Ensure purchases over a certain $$ amount is only for special occasions.
Like many others, one core rule is to only buy watches to celebrate key days and events.
Unrelated, happy (and I wish I was making this up!) 'snowplow mailbox hockey day' and 'national measure your feet day'. I am sure I don't need to remind you what important events these are.... Clearly two good reasons to buy a watch today!
I had the same idea back when my husband was deciding between a 5 or a 10 watch box. My choice was 5 so that every item is purposefully chosen, and that the 6th one would have to be as good as, if not better, than the first 5. That artificial limit could also force him to think of letting go of the “least”, similar to your rule.
Fast forward to today, I am now on watch crunch with him, and we have bought our second box of 10 😅😅😅
Needless to say, I was the one who flipped and actually suggested to get the second box 🤪🤪🤪
I feel like we would get along just fine. I truly am reaching the contemptwnt phase of my collecting. So the rule has started to take hold. Yet, I am picky as to who is the right person to release one of my watches to….it’s the pain of letting go that has kept me at bay.
Wow!! Thats an interesting one!
Ya, also hard to stick to but I recently started letting go watches in order to make way for new ones. Better that they get the wrist time they deserve with someone who will enjoy them more than I would😅
Many
https://www.watchcrunch.com/benoist/posts/watch-collecting-patterns-304209
Keep the size of the collection to max 12.
Never buy a watch again that you've previously sold.
Try and have all complications covered.
My only one really is to not buy at the first moment I decide I like the watch. I give myself a few days and sometimes realize for one reason or another I’m not convinced.
I have a 5 watch roll. So i can fill the roll + one for my wrist. I never go more than 6 total watches. Also no debt allowed
Not so much rules but a guide I used when I built my collection
1) Only buy what you are realistically comfortable wearing (both style and price wise)
2) 1 watch per brand
3) only what fits in the box (watches for display in their own box aka my spaghetti scametic and moonswatch don't count)
4) no selling (you buy with intent to keep, you keep. Have had 2 break and have away
5) avoid redundancy
In total I now have 7 watches, two of which are display only and I'm very happy with how it turned out for me