I have to admit, this whole "one in, one out" philosophy is a bit new for me (although I seem to have adapted to the situation rather well :) ) - prior to participating on this forum, if I bought a watch I just assumed that I'd have it for the whole of it's useful life, or at least for a number of years. This amazing forum, though, gives us all an opportunity to own and wear watches that we wouldn't necessarily own or wear otherwise in the knowledge that as long as we look after them it's fairly likely that we'll get our money back at some time in the future. (Even the next day, in some cases :lol: )
I have to tell you that I'm impressed. That said, I'm thinking that what I own now are all keepers.
No, really.
I was able to cut down my collection from 15 to about 5 watches in the last year to be able to wear the ones I liked the best more. But in doing that I found myself watching the forums and sales board more frequently which inevitably got me back in the same rut I used to be. So now I've got 15 watches again and cant decide what to wear in the morning :roll:
-V
Phases: I've done them. :wink:
From "This is rediculous, I've got over 20 watches and half are never being worn" to "I've got my collection down to 5 watches and that's enough for me" and then something appears on the SC, I fall in lust, buy it (on the basis "I'll sell one of the others out to compensate") and then something else appears on SC........ :roll:
R
PS Currently at 9 :mrgreen:
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I've been collecting watches for years and it seems to go in phases. I don't buy any for a year or so and then become obsessed with them again. I do rotate wearing them though but I also feel I should de-clutter and try to simplify my life. It's the same for me with fountain pens but I really ought to sell a lot of those! It's a bonkers hobby when the money really should go on updating the bathroom and kitchen..........but, well they are so lovely. The latest foolishness is the desire to acquire a steel GMT ceramic. LIke a child I try to convince myself that the 24 hour hand would be so useful when I don't really "need" it at all. Still, who really "needs" a watch that can go thousands of feet under the sea? I rationalise it by thinking that many other people collect much less useful things than watches. One of my friends collects Christmas decorations and I think that is naff beyond belief. All a matter of opinion. Enjoy collecting!
Are you me? :DOriginally Posted by svenedin
I am exactly the same. I tend to have manic flipping/buying/selling periods, followed by a period of much slower activity when I tend to focus on just a few watches... then it all kicks off again.
Anyone who has raised their eyebrows at my "Jim Banana" threads may have wondered where I get them from and why I have so many. The answer is simple but probably not surprising - when I am in one of my manic periods I buy virtually any watch I stumble across from all kinds of sources - collectors fairs, car boots, bric-a-brac shops, people I know etc - quantity rather than outright quality becomes my obsession. I look at each and every one, wear a few, then flip them on.
It is far from economic as I would be kidding myself if I said I break even. I don't. But somehow for me much of the fun is in the accumulation and then the purge... I must have some deep rooted issues! :D
I've always been the same though, it is part of my personality. I love the chase usually more than the ownership, and there are so many watches it is difficult to get bored. Although, I must confess, at the moment there are not that many watches I haven't owned that I truly lust after.
That will change though....
So clever my foot fell off.
I was a two watch man when I discovered this forum. Now I've got 8. About time I started to consider a one in one out approach I think.
I am fairly new to this watch buying hobby, started out a year ago by buying my first Breitling on Watchfinder and then I recently brought a Rolex Submariner from this forum and then I find myself instantly looking for the next watch. It seems addictive. Does it ever slow down or will I end up with 20 watches like everyone else :?
If it doesn't get worn, it gets flipped.
I'm not a collector.
i tried to rationalise my collection earlier this year to one "quality" piece, a diver, a dress watch and a couple of beaters. my finances are precarious currently and i was doing really well until a big bill meant i had to let my smp go, and since then it's been back to the lunatic flipperitis. currently i am at about 14 watches again but nothing overly expensive. the upside is if i need a sudden small cash injection (which happens quite often)i can flip one without quite so much howling and gnashing of teeth.
recently as per a recent thread i have been thinking again of hitting a ruthless period and flipping as many as i can to trade or buy up to a vintage Rolex air king, or precision, something like that, but the problem is everytime i sell, something catches my eye and i try it for a while, usually to be flipped again a few weeks later :roll: roll on better times when i can keep everything!
Are you me? :D
I am exactly the same. I tend to have manic flipping/buying/selling periods, followed by a period of much slower activity when I tend to focus on just a few watches... then it all kicks off again.
Anyone who has raised their eyebrows at my "Jim Banana" threads may have wondered where I get them from and why I have so many. The answer is simple but probably not surprising - when I am in one of my manic periods I buy virtually any watch I stumble across from all kinds of sources - collectors fairs, car boots, bric-a-brac shops, people I know etc - quantity rather than outright quality becomes my obsession. I look at each and every one, wear a few, then flip them on.
It is far from economic as I would be kidding myself if I said I break even. I don't. But somehow for me much of the fun is in the accumulation and then the purge... I must have some deep rooted issues! :D
I've always been the same though, it is part of my personality. I love the chase usually more than the ownership, and there are so many watches it is difficult to get bored. Although, I must confess, at the moment there are not that many watches I haven't owned that I truly lust after.
That will change though....
ktmog6uk
marchingontogether!
I've never sold a watch, trouble is i've been buying them since I was twelve, often it crosses my mind that maybe a few should go, Trouble is I buy them because I like them not because they are some sort of investment, It's great when you wear one that you haven't worn for ages and you still like it as much as when you bought it.
When I joined here I had 2 Tags.
I bought an oranged faced Orsa to see if I liked Orange before forking out for my Doxa.
A couple of years later and I had 15 watches........
A couple of months back decided to sell the 'safe queens' and rarely worn too buy something I'd wear - so sold 10 and got my Submariner 8)
Then said I wasn't going to buy anymore......... last week picked up a vintage Citizen diver from SC :shock:
But no more now........ really......honest......... :roll:
I recently bought an all singing all dancing Casio. Honestly it has more gadgets than James Bond, and I absolutely love it. It tells me the moon phase the tide level temperature, compass barometer, and loads of other stuff that I will never use!! But its a wooper over 50mm and its been stuck on my wrist since I bought it. My other watches that are stuck in the box and I just cant see myself selling them although its nice to know I can. (Rolex: Explorer 2, and Seadweller, Panerai: 232, 250, Omega: Seamaster co-axial). Anybody want to buy a watch or two??
I always liked watches, used to buy a new one maybe either year or two.
Then a couple of months ago a joined TZ & I've bought 2 watches & 5 spare straps in the last few weeks, and I'm already thinking about what's next even though I can't really afford it... It's a slippery slope, I reckon?
I'm not a collector, I can't afford to be TBH!
I am just a bloke who really likes watches and lusts after them.
I'd have loads if I was A/ Single or B/ Better off but I'm neither so that's that.
You may have noticed my slight tendencey to flip watches? Well I do this because like the rest of us I want every nice watch I see on here but unlike some I can't afford to just buy them. therefore I have to either save up (yeah right) or flip the watch/es I currently have, often before the stickers are even off!
I've owned loads but never usually at the same time but at least I have experienced them and can say "I've had one of those" with pride....and often regret :cry:...and often more than once :roll:
I can't bear having a watch I don't wear or get little to no pleasure from wearing so could never really be a collector as such, more like an enthusiast and wishful thinker :)
I hover around the 20 watch mark, consisting of a roughly 50:50 split between vintage Omegas and more modern stuff. Some never get worn so I`m trying to persuade myself to sell them....but I live in fear of selling then regretting it.
Really should get rid of a few.
Paul
It is nice to see that many of us share the same affliction. I have gone though so many cycles of "I have too many -sell!" to "Ooh, that's nice, I'll have it" that I have lost count. Currently at about 20 or so, with one incoming. My past break point for selling was about 30. I got that down to 20, then 15. Now look at me - back on the way up again.
It is fun though. :twisted:
+1.
I haven't sold since 2001, and have resolved never to sell until I'm tired of the whole watch thing. I guess that probably makes me a collector. I buy what interests me. Usually I justify that on the basis that it's some sort of investment. But they are investments that I can use and enjoy. Personally I'd rather buy rare watches (or even paintings, antiques and classic cars) because the money is not 'gone'. The asset is still in the family and could be realised at some point.
Spending it on exotic holidays and modern watches just gives it all away.
I originally thought funds would be a limitation but then I came here and discovered places which deliver real bang for buck.
Now, I'm limited primarily by space- I have a box which holds 12 watches and I've vowed never to get more than this (though the solar stays on the windowsill... :D ). All are bought to be worn so every few months I have a "least-worn" cull. I then convince myself I'm ok with less than five. And then the box fills up again. I'm now at 11 with one incoming.
However the number of keepers has increased and everything now gets worn- and if i keep to my original rule I'll have to stop buying eventually...
Solution: buy a bigger box.
Moral: all rules fail.
My ratio is about eight in for every one out :D
I regret selling most of the ones that have gone.
my problem also, they all seem to be keepers, I seem to be creating special occasions when I will need them for. I think I'll stop when I get to 365 watches. That seems fair. :wink:but I live in fear of selling then regretting it.
I've only got one keeper and that's my enagagement present SMP but there will always be a current favourite ie my DA36.
With the rest of my watches, about 12 currently, I feel that they will come and go as my tastes and finances change. When I started out on this site I did go through a bit of a "it's shiney so I'll buy it phase" but I have calmed down of late and SC is no longer the first forum I visit when I log in (weird eh?).
At the moment I'm trying to be relatively ruthless and selling some of my lower value watches to fund fewer mid-range watches and trying to find that personal balance of quality and quantity :D . I do wonder if this is going to lead me on an upward price spiral though (the Explorer II does keep catching my eye :drunken: )
Fact is I feel a bit guilty if I have watches that don't get worn regularly so that will hopefully limit the number of watghes I own at any one time.
I have bought and sold a number of watches - and have friends of friends etc who ask me to find them something with budgets and parameter settings.
I love the chase - getting the watch for the right money - and also selling.
I've flipped my own stuff on and off, and sold for friends who have seen something else they want via here as it seems reasonably safe.
Ultimately - and it was bought on a whim, i have my B-1 which i reckon will go to my grave with me - i love it - don't use the functions, just love the feel and look, have sourced a couple for others that have seen inc a beauty off here lately.
I've been BANNED from SC, i have a Breitling Emergency 2010 model that a member on here traded me, has the B-1 looks but does so much more - but it's too light for me - titanium - so it'll be on the Bay shortly i guess.
I can see the alure of the big nmaes - owned SDs, Sub dates, Subs etc - Rolex are IMO too small for me, Omega are envied, and Britlings are my soft spot.
But i now look at eh cheaper end too - Seiko divers look brill - my godson got one off me a few weeks ago - souced off the Bay for less than £40 - it's bloody lovely - i'd wear it as a beater/holiday watch anytime.
My policy is i'll buy it if it's the right money - wear it, sell it back for a little less or a little more if i'm lucky - doesn't make me a market trader, just a wearer and sharer in my eyes.
The main thing is to enjoy the watches - if you don't wear it for 3-6 months IMO sell it.
This is me too. Except my watch box holds 6 so that is the max. And a solar sits on the window sill! But I have owned 2 of mine for many many years so I've really only accumulated 4 since coming here. I have had another 4 but they have all been sold through here to make space for the current contents of the box. I tend not to wear the older 2 watches much and still find that 4 is a little excessive. I basically wear one for a week at a time.
I have a few...but it's not an addiction or problem :mrgreen: ....PS this is an OLD photo.... :wink:
Have you built on since? :lol: :lol: :lol: Well I guess if you move out the books there is still plenty of space
I keep my collection trimmed to 10 and while it went from beaters to very high end, lately I don't care any more for the big brands and tend to buy more good value and quartz.:mrgreen:
Dear Neal
I believe the expression rhymes with clucking bell!
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
I'm clearly a beginner to this game but I've yet to develop the "collecting" urge - I've just five watches (three sailing Casios - two along the lines of Jamessh's with compass, barometer, etc.) one Swatch automatic and one Tissot quartz. Reading this thread though makes me think I should probably back away now before an expensive addiction kicks in!
More generally though it's interesting as a lurker to see that many people here enjoy selling watches and moving on to new ones. I used to think of watches as similar to other collectibles and as something to buy and keep but the idea of rotating them and selling the ones not being used is beginning to make more sense to me.
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