How much of your salary do you put into your watch hobby?

I don't really track a dedicated percentage.

No more than $2k a month towards watches is what I usually try to adhere to. If a watch goes over that then I'll hold off and wait a bit.

I allow myself 5.6% of my gross salary per year. But I am old and have disposable income.

I have never used my working income for a watch. I have always had other interests that would make a few bucks and used that fund for my watch collection ..Also, never purchased a watch I could not pay cash for..JMO enjoy the hobby

Over the past five years, it has averaged to sub 1% of my income. Watches are depreciating assets and should be treated like a money losing hobby not a lifestyle.

Single purchase? Annually? "To date" since getting bit by the watch bug?

I can answer the first two. I'm afraid to calculate the third 😬

Less than 1%…probably. I don’t track that. I just know that I don’t come even remotely close to financial difficulties for the hobby.

Hard to say, but definitely <5%. I buy a watch once a year or so. Not saving up for watche specifically, rather seeing how overall budget looks like. If there are positive contributors - like bigger bonus, good performance of investments or unexpected dunk cost returns - I can feel more comfortable with buying pricier watches

99% 🤪

How long is a piece of string?

I chose 5% but imply less than 5%. Well under.

So far it's only been one watch so way less than 5%! But I'm planning to save my Fitbit money this year and make another purchase. It's tough when everything is so expensive these days!

I'm glad there are Crunchers out there who can afford and post nice watches for me to drool over and live through vicariously!

Less than 5% of course

I don't buy luxury (unnecessary) items that are more than my monthly salary. Then, for that segment, I save up 10% of my salary for that. So, it means that if i want to buy a full month's salary I'd have to save up 12 months, which never happens so i usually buy a watch every two years. So... 5% in total if i buy one 10% every two years.

No set amount. I start from zero every paycheck, so after paying bills and contributing to savings, I live my life and whatever is left at time of next paycheck goes into watch savings. Trying for 1 watch purchase per year moving forward. Meh, it works out in the end!

Perhaps less than 5%. Else the difference would be spent on my funeral.

Is this my financial advisor in disguise? ... can't fool me!

I spend far less than 5%, and it’s my opinion that most people can spend 20-30% of their net income on discretionary spending, after dealing with their fixed costs, savings, and investments. If a person likes to eat out, shop, and travel often, they’ll have less money to go towards watches. But if watches are the only thing a person does to treat themselves, then there’s nothing wrong with spending 30%.

Some exceptions are the uber-rich, people with extremely high living costs, and aggressive savers/investors.

I just did the math for the last 2 years and it was an average of under 1% for both. I've gotten over 10 watches each year. My strategy is to only buy a watch when it's a great deal, and if I don't wear it constantly I sell it to fund another one. The hunt for a great deal on a watch I really want makes it fun 😁

I am self-employed, so no fixed salary to base my calculations on, but so far I haven't bought a watch for more than I could earn in a day.

Less than 5%

Absolutely less than 5%. Watches are fun. In order to keep it that way I spend out of what is left over after other, more important, expenses and savings. I also limit myself to one watch per year to make sure I really want to spend the money on it, which also more or less eliminates impulse purchases.

I find limiting myself to 1 watch a year really helps as well! So you have a watch chosen for this years purchase?

Love this, there’s nothing worse than a watch that just sits in a watch box forever- sell it and give it a new life!

Not sure why I would measure it against my salary. Since it's the season: My watch hobby cost me about 4% of my taxable gains last year. A number I'm trying to increase, but not by spending more on watches.

Hey Max,

Good question, I think youâÂÂll find the responses to this question correlates with the personâÂÂs age. If theyâÂÂre a bit farther along in their career/life, the percent will be close to the 1-2% which seems to be quite common in the responses here. For those of us who skew newer, it will be higher even if we buy cheaper watches just bec the denominator isnâÂÂt as large.

@David21 is precisely on point for my situation. I enjoy watches but I donâÂÂt think watch collecting is a hobby for me. Instead, I am on a quest to find my perfect watch for where I am currently in life. Last year, I spent less than 1% and this year I have 2 watches I canâÂÂt seem to get out of my head. The more expensive of those 2 watches is about 2.5% and thatâÂÂs causing me quite the dilemma whether anything is really worth that much.

Good investment advice says to not even put 5% towards volatile asset classes, like individual stocks or commodities.

Putting 5% towards a nonessential depreciating luxury good is just terrifying, and I can’t imagine putting even more 😱

I'm white collar and receive an annual bonus which is the de facto watch fund since it's not factored into monthly expenses so is essentially gravy for me. As a man with no other significant (or at least not significantly expensive) hobbies, that means I can devote a decent chunk of change to a watch or watch fund. I'm at the stage of buying ~1 carefully considered watch a year but I think that might move to bi-annual + since I'm at a stage where I have the patience to wait and I'm looking at some relatively high-end pieces (GS, Zenith, Blancpain, etc.) The wait is good - allows plenty of time for ardor to cool. If I'm still buying a watch I've been researching a year or two down the line I can be pretty sure to avoid buyers remorse.

Buenas, en realidad este hobby no se trata realmente de poseer una pieza en particular, sino el disfrutar como niño en dulceria, ver probar pero rara vez llevarlo a casa 🏡, podrías gastar más del 💯 %de tus ingresos en un año, y en definitiva capaz con dos días de usarlo te defrauda, como encuentras uno que viene con el periodico 📰 y no te lo quieres sacar nunca. Lo importante no cuanto te hipoteques lo q importa es si realmente te agradaria

Te voy a poner un caso, el bullhead de 38 en fotos me parecen divino, en muñeca 19cm, desaparece...

I work in my family Bussiness so my salary is basically like pocket money for going out and buying watches

Can’t answer because it varies. Depends what I’m offered or what I’ve noticed.