Originally Posted by
mjgerrard
I spent a decent amount of time considering collecting habits based on observations of others, and figured there was the following:
- Those who love every little detail about a particular model, brand or concept, that that's all they buy. There are plenty of people out there who want to collect every kind of Swatch Watch, Submariner, or Heuer just because they love the little subtleties of each variant of the selection. I often thought about building a collection of something that nobody has thought of, such as Omega Olympic watches or some other ilk. I am rather partial to dual-register chronographs over any other model of watch (Despite not actually owning any at present). Ultimately the cost of such an enterprise, not to mention the service cost, was an interesting concept.
- Those who build a collection of the various types of watches, to have a "balanced" collection. IE, a diver, a chrono, a dress watch, a quartz etc. etc. etc. This was me, but ultimately resulted in failure because the pieces I collected I rather think I bought too quickly because they fit with my collection structure, and didn't really love the pieces themselves enough.
- Those who buy collections of watches that group together. This was also me - I always wanted to assemble my own collection of the original Omega Masters Trilogy (Well before they thought to release the Baselworld selection ;) ) and I ended up purchasing the modern Speedmaster Moonwatch, a 2254.50 Seamaster and the Aqua Terra Railmaster. I remember thinking that I had put them all together with the same font-on-dial and twisty Omega lugs that made the mini-collection work as whole, while at the same time being very different watches. They looked great together in pictures; but again ultimately resulted in failure because I didn't love the watches enough. It was a collection, for collection's sake. The 2254.50 and Railmaster were ultimately destined for Sales Corner...
- The vintage collector. I get the attraction with this but ultimately too much of a minefield for the uninitiated. Too many frankens, redials and conmen - but if you sit in this camp and know what you're doing then there's either bargains to be had, a buck to be made, or a great set of watches to be had if you like the style or proportions of vintage pieces.
I'm sure I could think of many more stereotypes along the way here. Nevertheless, the result of this diatribe is that it made me sit down and think about - who am I? What's my wish list?
I'm pretty much now a two watch guy, despite the watchbox hovering around 15 or so. The BLNR gets all the wear, and the Speedmaster gets a look in when I get bored of the BLNR, or on Tuesdays (naturally). I've learnt the hard way that having spent all the cash on watches that I'm not truly smitten with, or on some quest to fulfill some kind of collection goal, I could have just saved the cash and spent it on what I'm now saving for. I want my collection to be the BLNR, the Speedmaster and a.n.other Haute Horlogerie piece that I have no intention of selling. I will just keep saving and biding my time, until something grabs me (at the moment a Patek 5146 is winning, but its just so far out of reach!). Any other watches in the watch box must be sub-£250 and not get in the way of the 3rd and final watch.
Bottom line is - its hard to sell watches once you've bought them (at least, not for pittance!), and I'm sure many of us have learnt the hard way that Nirvana could have been achieved had the money not be wasted on something that just got in the way.
Food for thought?
M.