Do you get anxious about not wearing your watches?

Put the ones you don't wear out of sight and if in a couple of months you have forgotten about them, sell them on.  If this works and you don't have regrets let me know and I'll try it myself!

I do this and find that it works quite well. Normally if I Haven’t Word a watch for a while it means I probably won’t miss it, then I confirm that by taking it out of rotation packing it for selling and putting it away. Done this a few times and only once have I changed my mind and put a watch back into rotation. 

Hahaha thanks!

Many of mine have been impulse buys; I think that’s a lot of it. Maybe I should sell some…

I have a couple of my watches that I consider summer watches or winter watches. I swap them in and out of the rotation based on time of year. I then look for opportunities to wear them during that time of year. Helps a little with that desire to wear them. I may sell them off at some point. The truth is though that my little worn watches aren’t worth anything. 

OP, I recently sold off my entire rotary phone collection, other than 3 of my favorites - couldn't let go of my classic Cortelco's!

I'll tell ya, now that I can move around in my house, it's been a game changer.  

Definitely sell off some of your watches.  As they say...

I now have close to 30 watches & bought 20 watches in 2022, all of them on an impulse. Not one had I done research on and decided to get it. 

One of the 20 is a frequent wear. 

I am committed to no more than one watch this year (and all years from now on) and selling or gifting some of the 20. Goal: get down to about 12 watches; including gifted pieces. 

It's not that I feel guilty about not wearing them, it's that I don't really want to own that many. 

I find a lot of folks fall into two camps once collections get too large...Sell everything they get anxious about.  Or power through to the next purchase. 

Anxious isn't the word I'd use to describe my feeling on the subject, but I don't like having large amounts of money sitting in a watch I feel I'm not wearing enough. For that reason, the pricier ones will go quicker than the less expensive ones that aren't being worn enough. I've gotten rid of some very nice watches because of it.

I'm also planning on culling my collection down to eight or nine from the current 14 because of not wearing them enough.  My four or five favorite, and my four gifted ones. Again, I don't think I'm anxious about it, just don't like watches sitting around that others might be able to enjoy. 

I think not wearing a watch for a period of time is a good sign for change. I have 11 watches and plan to cull 3-4 pieces that I just don't wear enough, to make room for highly desired pieces. Unless one of those pieces is rare and/or sentimental, you'd be best 'refreshing' the collection every once in a while.

I luckily don't have 40 watches. The ones I actually wear amount to 10 currently (an 11th one is going to be added soon-ish). I also have some old crappy ones that I have received for free, which I don't really wear, but that's fine.

Sometimes I'll wear a watch that I haven't worn in a while because that can make me want to wear it, but I don't really get anxious over it. 

I am almost two years into the watch "collection/accumulation" journey, with about 18 watches at the moment - 6-8 of which I would say are core.  I did use to get anxious if I was not wearing some of the watches but now I have come to accept that some of the watches I can wear once/twice a month and it still gives me joy.  For example, the Seiko Negroni is a fun watch I wear once in a while and love it when I wear it for a few hours.  The Seiko 5 (SRPD59) I just wear when I am cooking.  Took my Sinn 104 + Seiko Alpinist to a recent trip to Milan as I did not want to take the more expensive watches as a safety precaution.

Seems everyone here has completed their Watches Anonymous 9 step program.  Well I keep falling off the clean out the watch box.

Seriously, I do understand the wrist time dilemma. I have watches that are non negotiable family gifts (uhg)  and heirloom watches. That's one group. The next group rotate on special occasions. The next group are activity groups rotate depending on whats happening that day. The last group are wear and stare and stare..... lol

So I have a base grouping. I may sell or give away a few this year. 

I have 42 slots for my watches and can't add anymore than what I have space for. I have 8 open spots. So.......

Have fun Everyone!

Cheers 2023

This is exactly why I keep my collection fairly lean. I'm at 11 now and I expect to be at around 8-9 by the end of 2023. I honestly could go down to one watch. I wore my Omega Aqua Terra more than half the time in 2022. It was on my wrist over 200 days. I really only wear other watches on the weekends or when I'm doing specific things (like hiking or cycling).

I get anxious when I see someone else wear my watches.

I have about a dozen, and am never going to be a person that sells them. Also, five of them are new to me this year. I was already inwardly nagging that I was ignoring some, and that even though three or four are basically too fragile/irreplaceable to wear out and about, I really should switch about more often.

Now that has tipped into feeling bad, because I really like my new Orient. Even more than I liked my Pagani 1667, and I think the main reason is precisely because it was a gift from my wife. (It’s also a little more comfortable due to the design) 

This is exactly why I can't justify having more watches than there are days in a week.  And why each watch I have is vastly different on brand/complication/use/dial/size etc. I wear rotate throughout the week, a different watch each day. This way they all get used and it keeps things fresh. 

I’m the same way. I feel obligated to wear watches I haven’t worn in a while. 
 

My most guilty is my 45mm citizen Promaster. A gift from my wife for our engagement; but not something I would buy for myself now given the size of it. 

My second worst is my Dan Henry 1962. Looks great, fantastic strap, but the watch itself just doesn’t feel the best. Not bad quality but not as solid as I was expecting. 

I think this is very unique to this hobby.  We put restrictions on ourselves for some reason and it causes us angst.  I'm no different and I think whatever the gene is we all share we eventually experience this.  The way I came to grips with this is to realize, there are no rules, don't feel guilty for being a collector and buying watches.  It really can't be explained but here is the way my tiny mind justified it.  Most collectors who collect art, action figures, baseball cards, stamps etc. don't have the added responsibility of also having to make decisions on which one you will carry with you that day.  They simply collect, hang on the wall, put in display or a collectors book.  We as watch collectors have that added responsibility, so if you stop looking at your watches as something you have to wear and something you want to collect because you are mystified by them, attracted by them and just think they are beautiful, then who says you have to wear them.  Yes, they are meant to be worn and it is better if you do, but that's up to you.  For the record, I own 90 watches and lately have been wearing one or two over and over.  I no longer feel angst and wear what I want for that day.  Another way to deal with this is, simply wear a different watch every day, when you reach your 40th watch, go back to the first one.  Good Luck, this hobby picked us and we have to learn as human beings how to live with this affliction.  lol

For what it's worth, I made a mini watch museum in my office and have them nicely displayed.  That is another way of enjoying this hobby.  It worked for these two guys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2fwnsOrZWc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu1DHt9u94Q&t=516s

The man who collects Omega has 300 and he takes out 7 watches each week and wears one a day and does that at the start of every week and the Billionaire who owns the Oak collection has 600.  They don't seem anxious.  lol

Similar issue here.  

I have a few watches that I only end up wearing a couple of times a year.  You just wear your favorites more, but still enjoy your collection.  Once a week or so I go through my entire collection and wind the manual wind watches, and give the automatics a couple of shakes. At the same time I am enjoying each piece, remembering how I got it and what it has been through over the course of my ownership etc....  You don't necessarily have to wear the watch constantly to enjoy it.

I just wear anything that's been sitting too long for a day. It's not like I'm stupid enough to own anything I wouldn't wear for a day.

Bah! If you're not wearing it, sell it. It's just stuff. I'm not going to pull some Marie Kondo thing on you, but if not wearing a watch is giving you anxiety, then owning that watch is a source of anxiety, not joy. Sell it. If you miss it, buy it again. 

I used to be the same way, but now I'm more anxious when I have a watch on then when I don't. I live in a major city in England and watch crime is rife these days. Better safe then sorry in these times unfortunately. 

This all far too sensible for an idiot like me! :)

Obligated is the word I was looking for, thank you! It's not an anxiety as such, but an obligation. I feel I'm not doing the watches justice if I don't wear them.

I've never seen a Dan Henry 1962 in the metal, but I get you on the Promaster. That's a lot of watch to pull off. I have a Casio Duro, which is 44mm and my largest watch. I rarely wear as it's only the larger side of what I think I can pull off, even though I have 7.25" wrists.

I suppose, thinking about it positively, I do occasionally put a watch on that I haven't worn for a while, and in wearing it I'm reminded why I bought it. That's always fun. :)

I absolutely LOVE this, thank you! It's a mindset thing...stop thinking about them as wearables and enjoy them for the beautiful things that they are. It's a bonus that we get to wear the things we collect.

Seriously, this is brilliant. Thank you.

On a side note, I'd love to see your museum. As my collection continues to grow, I've been thinking about how best to display them - the growing number of display boxes just isn't working. I need a better solution.

I tried to secretly replace it with an Islander Bayport, but I feel guilty doing so lol. Plus it looks too similar with my Baltic. Photos for reference:

Glad you liked it.  It helps when you have the correct mindset.  I always say to myself, hey the hobby is supposed to relief stress not add more.   I'm not that great at taking pictures, so when I feel I can take appropriate shots that do my little museum justice I will.  For now, here is what I call my watch alter, which is right next to my desk.  I work from home, so I'm always near my collection which gives me great pleasure.  

Totally! I try to rotate mine but realize some will just have to feel ignored. Those pieces are for specific purposes like formal events, hiking and outdoor, etc… That said, I’ve been known to cull the herd several times a year. 😉

I have about 20 quartz watches that I got in the 80s & 90s. I don’t use all of them and I’m not sure they are worth anything or the aggravation of trying to sell them. So they sit in the box and get wrist time every so often.