Are your a Watch enthusiast or a Brand enthusiast
I must be careful here, because I don't want to sound either patronizing or judgmental. Following on from another thread. I have been a WIS for many years, I own a large collection of watches, and have a small YouTube channel where I review my own watches and watches a few manufactures send me. I have posted on forums such as this for a long time, and believe I have learned a lot about watches and the people who collect them. In that time I have made a few observations regarding the hobby and the people who are addicted by it. I have come to the conclusion there are several types of enthusiast, and a sub category which I would refer to as brand enthusiasts.
A brand enthusiast doesn't necessarily have to be obsessed with high end luxury watches, but it's important to them that the brands they buy are openly accepted by other like thinking people. Perception of brand means a lot to these people, and even if they know that brand X,Y or Z may be well spec'd and well made, they would never buy them because other brand enthusiasts would not be accepting of their choice. Of course, nine out of ten brand enthusiasts will tell you they buy what they like, and aren't out to impress other people, but this isn't true at all. Oddly enough, and through observation, nearly all brand enthusiasts claim to like Seikos and Casios. I am not saying there is anything wrong with either brand, it just appears as if it's almost like having a membership card.
An enthusiast is quite different. These people tend to like a watch for what ever it is, regardless of brand or country of origin. That doesn't mean they can't own watches from either end of the scale, and like me, many of them do. Only the other day I met a guy who who was wearing a Tudor Pelagos. We got talking and it turned out he also owned an Omega Planet Ocean, an Aqua Terra, and he had also sold a few Rolex watches over the years. My initial thoughts were that he was obsessed with big brand names, and probably didn't know one end of a quality timepiece from another. However, after a few minutes he started to tell me about his small collection of watches purchased from Aliexpress, including a few Steeldives. He explained what great value for money they were and how much better they are than most high street watches that cost several times more. I quickly changed my mind and realised that he was indeed a true enthusiast.
Of course, nothing in life is as straight forward as that, because there are grey areas. I own a Rolex, a Tudor, many quality mid range watches such as Chris Ward, Ball, and Glycine, as well as homages purchased from Aliexpress. First and foremost aesthetics come first for me, then specification and finish, next up VFM, and finally branding. Some people's order will differ. That doesn't mean I don't have limits, and there are brands I won't touch purely because the name is so bloody awful. I am not passing any sort of judgement, but that said I do get frustrated with people who can't respect other people's choices and budgets.
Please let me know what sort of enthusiast you are, but please be honest
I own approximately 30 watches, ranging from budget through to Rolex. I also have a YouTube watch channel
Not sure as each person’s watch journey is different. I’m into watches and would love to live in a world of JLCs, VCs, or even Rolex/Omega, but I have responsibilities and live within my means, which at least for now, means more than half my collection is Seikos/Casios. Does that make me a brand enthusiast? I’m not looking for validation here nor am I in any position to pass judgement. I just want to enjoy this community, hobby, and the journey.
Seiko is my wheelhouse and it's what the vast majority of my collection consists of. I do have a desire to branch out a bit and experience other brands that aren't Seiko and aren't Japanese, but it's more of a nebulous notion for the time being. It'll happen when it happens. There's such a diverse multitude of interesting watches (both modern and vintage) under the Seiko brand that I could easily focus all my attention there and not lose any sleep over it.
That being said, I really enjoy watches and learning about them in general. When I see people getting excited about their Sinn or their Longines, or their Breitling and so on it makes me excited too. I have my bubble, but experiencing what's outside of it vicariously through the interests of other collectors is definitely a major part of what's drawn me to watches in the first place.
I own watches from Omega, Rolex and Grand Seiko to Seiko 5's and even a couple of AliExpress watches. However, there are brands I have a soft spot for.
All watches interest me, but I am an Omega & Seiko fanboy. In my watchbox I've 2+4. I do own other marques but these are my favourite
What I observe is that collectors are often reluctant to admit that branding plays a role in their purchasing decisions. It's more common to justify choices (and prices paid) on the basis of superior mechanisms, materials, quality, craftsmanship, heritage etc. It reminds me of people who claim "advertising doesn't work on me".
Personally I think it's fine to like a brand for the brand name and to admit that I'm paying way more just to get the name on the dial of an essentially identical produce to a lower tier brand. See Tissot, Certina, Mido and Longines. Almost identical products but with different price points to pay for brand image.
I’d say that I’m a microbrand enthusiast. I have a g-shock, 2 Seikos, a Hammy and a Certina. The rest of my 20 watch collection are microbrands. I won’t automatically avoid mainstream brands and I’ve got a Mido coming, hopefully on Monday, but I’m automatically drawn to micros. I would say that if a lot of youtubers that I trust say you should stay away from a particular brand I generally will. It’s why I’ve never looked at MVMT.
SeikoSPB147, SeikoSPB183, Seiko Titanium Quartz , Casio G Shock, Smiths PRS-25 & Tudor Ranger 79950 ! Thats all of them atm , I gave my Seiko 5 and Prospex Pepsi & SNK away to fam when I went back to my wife’s mum’s in Thailand.
I’d say that I’m a microbrand enthusiast. I have a g-shock, 2 Seikos, a Hammy and a Certina. The rest of my 20 watch collection are microbrands. I won’t automatically avoid mainstream brands and I’ve got a Mido coming, hopefully on Monday, but I’m automatically drawn to micros. I would say that if a lot of youtubers that I trust say you should stay away from a particular brand I generally will. It’s why I’ve never looked at MVMT.
Mido make some great pieces , what’s not to love , Nivada , Baltic , Farer , plenty to love out there in Microbrand land for absolutely sure .
I love all watches, and I have my favourite brands (I don't know what it is but Rotary just does it for me at that price point), I own something from a wide range of brands, and love them all
Under your definitions I certainly belong to the enthusiast category. That being said, it doesn’t stop me being enthusiastic about certain brands and collecting lots from such a brand.
Well vintage is a curveball here then… most are variations on a theme from a construction point of view and many of the brands are toast.
While my collection certainly includes some well-known brands, it runs the gamut at this point, and includes watches from every tier of the spectrum. I have a JLC, a Tudor, a Longines, a pair of Glycines, Victorinox Swiss Army, Zelos, Citizen, Cronos, Phylida and Tandorio.
Watches are art. Brands are the identity. Watchmaker works hard to build a brand. There is a certain DNA associated with brands, omega, FPJourne, Grand Seiko each have a unique DNA. You might start off liking a piece and invariably gravitate towards liking the brand. I did that with Omega, Grand Seiko, Kurono Tokyo etc because I liked the DNA of the brand.
I think it's hard to separate out the associated brand values/statements and the physical qualities of a product from the brand. Basically, it's not either/or, but degrees in a spectrum.
For example, I just posted about my new watch from Vacheron and your post got me thinking, do I love the watch or the brand and what it says about me?
It's both. I love the watch, the design, the hand finishing. But, I've always wanted a Vacheron. It's "part of the holy trinity", yes and there's some cache with the brand for some. However, no one would even know it was a Vacheron as it's not one of their iconic pieces.
If I didn't appreciate why the watch was special and I only wanted to impress people with the watch, then yeah I think that's a bit of being a brand whore. I'm not down with that personally, but no shade on others who like brands.
I think most people who claim to adore watches really mean they adore Rolex.
I have Casios, Seikos, an Apple Watch, few micro brands, Omegas, and some other known brands.. I just love them all.. so watch enthusiast.. may be.. though I live Omega more.. like a favorite child.. 🤫
I may be interpreting the original post incorrectly, but I disagree with the premise that there is a significant difference between a brand enthusiast and a watch enthusiast, and see attempts to make such a distinction as a form of gatekeeping. Everyone is in this hobby for their own personal reasons, and we shouldn't judge anyone negatively simply because their reasons for liking watches don't match with our own. I'm personally drawn to watches for a variety of different reasons, and although I have some favorite brands, my collection includes watches from over 30 different brands. I definitely consider myself as a watch enthusiast, but I also consider someone who collects only one or two specific brands as being every bit as much of an enthusiast, regardless of their reason for collecting. I've noticed people on WC whose collections are focused on specific brands (such as Timex, Seiko, Casio, Rolex, etc), but I'm not prepared to suggest that they aren't true enthusiasts.
The implication from the initial post is that if this particular individual hadn't expressed interest in watches from AliExpress, the OP would not have considered him a "true enthusiast". It is entirely possible for a true enthusiast to only be interested in one or two brands, based on what appeals to them. I have a friend whose primary interest in watches is based on hand finished movements. He had previously collected watches from the likes of Patek, Vacheron, Journe and Lange, but has traded those all in order to focus on watches from small independent brands such as Romain Gauthier, as he felt that they took finishing to a higher level. I would consider him a "true enthusiast", even though he has no real interest in the type of watches that I collect. He just happens to be interested in watches for different reasons than I am.
In the car world, there are collectors who are only interested in exotics, and others whose interests lie mostly in American muscle cars. Regardless of their reasons for collecting, I would consider them all to be car enthusiasts. The same holds for watches. Someone whose collection includes nothing but Rolex can still be a "true enthusiast", although they would obviously have a different motivation than I do.
i think those two things can co-exist. you can be a watch enthusiast and a brand enthusiast. one can be a brand enthusiast while being a watch enthusiast as well. by your definition a watch enthusiast is someone who is into all the various aspects of timepieces - regardless of brand or type of movement.
as with most things, it isn’t a binary choice. you’re not one or the other. and as you said, there are other factors at play in each of our own preferences. i rather think of it like a spider graph, with the factors of your enthusiasm around the perimeter.
i think a key dimension i have in my own watch collecting journey is QUALITY. i consider myself a watch enthusiast and (i think) don’t have any prejudice against makers and watch movements. but i do value quality quite highly. and as such i have stayed away from Aliexpress types of watches because they do not meet my criteria for quality.
if money was no object i’d probably buy every watch i come across. but my own personal collecting journey has been about finding quality pieces that speak to me. i have chosen not to have a haemorrhaging collection of watches because i don’t believe in owning so much. and i can still appreciate things without owning them.
but that’s just my personal philosophy on watch collecting. others will have their own. and there’s no judgement. you do you brother.
Definitely a watch enthusiast first but I confess to using brands as a “lazy” shortcut to helping me screen where to focus.
The best analogy I could use is whisky as I am also a whisky enthusiast. I love good whisky and will appreciate it wherever it is from but - in order to help focus my attention - I tend to focus on the 200+ Scottish distilleries that issue single malt bottlings; and within that I tend to avoid heavily sherried whiskies (which I don’t favour) and gravitate towards salty, peaty whiskies and so focus on around a dozen distilleries as a short cut to identifying what I like.
I have had great whiskies from out with that narrow group of distilleries and indeed from out with Scotland so I am not closed-minded but I know where to concentrate my focus to derive maximum return for the effort/input.
The watch world is just as expansive as the whisky world and I keep a few watch brands more closely on my radar as they have proven their appeal for me. But if something else turns my head or catches my eye so be it.
For me it’s the variation in this hobby that interests me. I love it when someone speaks/writes knowledgeably and passionately about one of the many watches that I have yet to discover. It always sends me down a road of discovery and I obsess until the next one comes along. Thank you all.
Definitely a watch enthusiast and not a brand enthusiast as defined. There are some brands that I adore like Minerva and Doxa, but I definitely don’t think owning Doxas or Minervas give any street cred.
You can see from my daily wrist checks that I am all over the map from Aliexpress to the Holy Trinity…just no Rolexes ( Tudors are OK).
Doesn’t matter to me what you wear…I just hate to see people taken advantage of or lied to.
Good article on this topic from fratello
https://www.fratellowatches.com/what-if-you-like-a-watch-from-a-brand-that-you-dont/
In answer to the title question.....yes!
I agree with @tempus and @BillableHours as I feel I fit across both areas with my current collection. While I own 4 Seikos it is not necessarily because of the brand. It started with my 1967 Sportsmatic 5 (which I've had for 48 years) but includes an Arctura Kinetic that I marvel because of its movement design. My newest ones are an Actus (just love it's simple design) and a Sports 5 SRPE79 with a 'Cement' face that really captivated me. I have two by Stuhrling (a Flieger and an homage to the Rolex GMT Master) and then the collection spans names of Swatch, Vostok, Bulova, Telux, Casio, Danish Design, Invicta, Skagen, Guess, and Citizen.
Enthusiast? Yes! I am a dial guy and mostly dislike Chronographs (but was gifted one that I really enjoy). I span 34-46MM case sizes, straps and bracelets, exhibition casebacks, no day, day only, day/date, mechanical automatics and quartz timepieces. Not a lot of money invested and no individual piece valued more than about ~$325, a little bit of everything it seems. I enjoy the watches, I enjoy learning about them and I enjoy the hunt for things that are interesting to have and to wear, no matter what anyone else might think or feel about it.