Jumping the queue….

Enjoy the journey! If you think there’s an end, you are mistaken. Once the watch bug hits, it will consume you. Good luck in trying to end it! 🤣

Your instincts are correct. You should try to enjoy each step along the way

Why? Because watch lust is an bottomless pit.

I wrote this some time ago and I feel it even more these days.

I started my watch journey with an Invicta and Seiko 5.  The bracelet is a little jangly but the designs are classic and the movements are just fine. I mean a watch just tells the time right? What idiot would spend over $200 for a watch?  Who could want for more?

And then a bought a Seiko.  These are the best dials in the business.  Japanese in house movement just as good as the Swiss.  Alignment is a crap shoot and the bracelets still jangle but  the designs are so good and so on point.  What idiot spends more than $1000 on a watch anyway?  Who could want for more?

And then I bought a Sinn.  Swiss movement, German design. Why pay  for those snobby swiss when you can get 100% of the quality and the movement without the markup? Finishing is for the birds anyway.  What idiot would pay more than $3k for a watch?  Who could want for more?

And then a bought a Grand Seiko.  Yeah, eat it you Swiss snobs!  Spring drive, zaratsu.  You get hand finishing and a high technology in house movement at such a great price.  You won't find finishing like this outside of the Patek HQ (or so I tell myself).  Who needs the stinking Swiss anyway?  What idiot would pay more than $6k for a watch?  Who could want for more?

And then I bought a JLC.  The watch makers watchmaker.  Okay, maybe complications are actually worth paying for.  Have you seen this worldtimer?  As good as the old high horology houses at half the price!  Who needs precious metals anyway.  What idiot spends over $10k on a watch?  Who could want for more?

And then I bought a Daytona (at retail).  Okay, maybe a little bit of two tone is okay and that chronograph movement is legendary.  Yeah, it's a hype watch but I got it at non hype prices....right? Anyway, what idiot spends over $20k on a watch anyway?  Who could want for more?

Anyway...I recently found myself looking at a Parmigiani Fleurier GMT Rattrapante and thinking about that the super high horology movement and hand finishing (@ChronoGuy has heard me drunkenly lust after them on occasion).  I mean....it's just $28k right (I know how absurd that statement sounds)? And hey at least I'm not going down the Patek Phillipe Nautilus 5711 path. I mean, what idiot would spend more that $30k on a watch anyway? Who could want for more? 😂😭😂😭😂😭😂😭😭😭😭

When I first got the bug, collecting watches was not quite as popular as the hobby is today so as long as a guy was making a living, and he did not have other priorities, investigating the passion was more affordable. After my nervous vintage period, I bought Rolex before jumping into AP, Brequet, VC and even a few pre owned PP before buying a rose gold PP Perpetual Calendar moonphase. Sold off my modern Rollies, found Breitling and Cartier. For me there are no grail watches just mechanical objects that over time can sometimes become something more due to situations and circumstances. I have a friend who purchased a 50k cad PP to wear on his many luxury cruise vacations so that other guests on the trips could not regard his usual watches poorly. I said that nobody actually looks at your watches and the low regard might be some other issue. He has found unfettered joy with a ceramic Omega SMP which has not left his wrist for over a year and presently is in Monte Carlo. The hobby is not regulated except by your own impulses. I have a little experience in my own for more than 50 of my 70 years on the planet.

All mechanical watches are obsolete technology. I consider them as the only generally societally acceptable form of male jewelery. Which is great as men would otherwise miss out on all the accessorising fun of jewelery (gross generalisation). There's really very little difference between the three watches you list. They're all very solid Swatch Group options. Yes, the movements of the Longines and the Omega will be slightly more accurate, but if you want accuracy, you've already got your Casios! And the Omega and Longines might have slightly better case finishing than the Tissot, but very marginal (I say this as an owner of all three brands).

The only other differences are aesthetic and subjective - which design do you like, how will it make you feel to wear x brand and how do you think that others will perceive you wearing x brand (if you care about that and, bluntly, hardly anyone will care or even notice your watch in my experience). Personally I'd experiment with a range of styles and sizes to work out what you really like - secondhand modern Tissot is very reasonable and can be resold at minimal loss if you buy it already used at a good price.

Again a personal view, but I don't really believe in a "grail watch" as I find a variety of watches more fun.

If you have been collecting for less than a year, i would definitely say go for the journey w/ the cheaper watches. Your tastes and style are really still building up. Dropping 6K on a watch (when 6K is the TOP of your budget and not just spending cash) this early seems like you will regret it one day as your tastes mature to what you really like.

There is a good chance the Aqua Terra will hold that top spot, BUT also an equally good chance that Grail should have been the Speedmaster!

Just my thoughts.

rb

If all of them are a stretch budget wise, I imagine there are other monetary constraints, so I would make sure everything else is sorted and covered first. That said, this is a luxury hobby as all watches are unnecessary, but that is not why we are here. Start with something that will not hurt your finances and perhaps get secondhand.

My own experience has been that the hunt feels more exciting than the catch. When I was saving up for my grail watch (Moonwatch), I was focused on not spending unnecessary money on other watches so that I can get there as fast as possible. Of course I was happy once I got the watch, but within 2 months I was out looking for my next potential purchase again.

That said, at least for me, while working towards your grail watch, perhaps you can look into the resale market for watches along the way so that you lose less value once you have attained your grail watch and are looking to downsize your collection. While I am saving up for the SMP300, I have bought a second hand Hydroconquest at a nice discount so I can cut any further losses when I decide to sell it off.

That is a really good question, and the answer really depends on you and how you see the hobby as a whole, but also how you see the idea of “watch collecting” itself. I can’t say there’s really a right answer.

Whichever watch you want the most is the one you should go for. If that means saving up and shooting for a bigger one, then that’s what you should do. If you’re more interested in a less expensive piece, that’s the one to get first. I wouldn’t overthink it too much, but what a great question!

This largely depends on your personal circumstances and financial outlook, but I’d personally think a year or two to learn more about your personal preferences and tastes wouldn’t hurt…but the sooner you figure that out and lock in on your goals (I prefer this word to ‘grails’) the better. A lot of us go through the ‘phases of watch collecting’ (look it up) and realize we only really want/are happy with a couple — I’ve personally been consolidating from a 15 to 16-watch collection of Rolexes, JLC, a couple of smaller brands and pretty much every popular Omega in the book, in favor of a small 3 – 4 watch collection of watches I love, not only ‘like’. If I could do it all again, given a safety-net and financial stability, if a lump sum landed in my lap I’d go straight for my goals/grails as soon as I figured out my tastes — but this is such a personal question that no-one response will be the correct one.

Some tips for your journey:

• Focus on quality over quantity, no matter the price point. You seem to be doing this already.

• Avoid fakes/replicas/copies/knock-offs.

• Do not settle; that itch is rarely ever scratched by a stand-in.

• In your YouTube binge, be wary of your sources of information — for every balanced and informative channel like a Ben’s Watch Club, This Watch That Watch, Teddy Baldassere, or Adrian Barker, there’s also nonesense like a Watchfinder or Talking Hands.

• Social media and YouTube reviews are helpful in learning and to figure out what you want, but ultimately focus on what YOU want, not what anyone tells you you should want.

• Always factor in service costs into the equation — this can be a very expensive hobby to maintain, not just get into.

Get the best you can with the money you have. If you’ve chosen right, you’ll never sell it and enjoy it for a long time.