Everyone will have an opinion and there reasons but at the minute I seem to be buying £100-£150 pieces ,I basically see things that I like and think it's not too expensive I'll give it s go , but then something comes up more in the £1000 bracket and I think I can't really push to that ,but then you look at cheaper pieces and think if I sold them bingo there's the money,not really sure what I want but I think it's both cheers mick
It's the recurring dilemma - do you buy the pieces that are easy to buy, and buy a lot of them and often, or do you exercise some patience and try to reach for those more prestigious pieces? I think a disciplined flipper can make the first part of that scenario pay for the second part. You just have to be willing to do the hard work of selling when the time comes.Originally Posted by mk1974
I've had "Quantity" and "Quality",and now down to just two.
5513
G10
CWC diver OHPF
and for now it feels great,in fact I want rid of the 5513 too.
Always go for quality over quantity.
The problem is that trying watches in quantity is the only way to learn what qualities you like the most!
Last edited by Rocket Man; 22nd January 2016 at 21:34.
I think this question raises another that only you can answer. If you sell and buy a single watch, will you soon get bored and want to get something else?
that's true and quality does not mean expensive in my view.
Very true. I start to realise the same on my own skin.
I have another take on this. I normally have a pot that I bung £50min/100max into every month for toys and if I get any unexpected monies (dividends/refunds) I tend to fire them in aswell.
So when the fund is low, say, under £500 I'm always convincing myself to buy cheaper/mid level watches (or equivalent stuff in my other interests).
If I get the fund up over a grand (or even better over 2 grand) I can tend to hold out for something much much better.
Its a sort of threshold this I have.
Consider the 5513 OHPFoh how I wish....
Sell up/Save up, until you can get a watch you love the look of, or better still have seen or tried on.
It's all relative anyway. I can't see myself ever being able to afford a PP, but it doesn't mean my IWC's are crap. Enjoy what you have, but I'd rather 3 watches that I love rather than 10 I think are ok.
Age old debate and am sure there will be differing views.
But,I would get one quality watch over 10 less expensive ones.
But, no right or wrong here- like most watch related matters.
No matter the price or the quality I get bored quickly and have to either sell the watch or put it away for a while.
The cheaper watches are fun because I can put many of them away and get the buzz back again every now and then. The more expensive ones are more of a financial consideration to just leave lying in the unused.
I have one of my ultimate grail watches coming next week, I'm curious to see how long it lasts.
It's taken me a long time to come around to this point of view, but I think it's the wisest way.
I have a few watches I really like and a number I like enough to own and wear.
I'm not sure I love any watch, but I enjoy having a wide variety rather than just one or two.
Each to their own, but if one or two do it for you, fine, but equally if a dozen or a hundred watches provide you enjoyment, then who's to say that's wrong?
I could own one watch, it wouldn't ruin my life, but equally I can't think of one watch I would want to own that would give me more pleasure than the selection I currently own.
Some of my cheapest watches give me great pleasure, so I'm not sure 'quality' is necessarily a measure of the value of a watch to me.
M.
i used to get impatient and buy cheaper watches as i actually quite liked buying watches.
I tend to be a lot more patient now, pick something i want and then save for it.
i thought i had become less interested in "cheaper" watches but actually, the last watch i bought was a victorinox xls mt for a lot less than i thought my threshold had become and i have worn it almost constantly since it arrived, it has quickly become my "go to" watch. The next watch i fancy is a 200 dollar watch from australia.
So, although i would typically advise buy quality, i think it is a good idea to see if you can find quality at any price point
save up and buy the better watch,
My job isnt sitting at a desk but the conditions i work in are variable, wearing something too expensive is (in my eyes) a bit silly so i have a range of cheaper watches that i enjoy wearing and of good quality
I do have more expensive watches (still relatively cheap) reserved for weekends etc that get very little use as sometimes i will still choose a cheaper watch if the mood takes me
In my situation it would not make sense to have 1 'quality' watch, if i sat at a desk everyday I may consider it
although i do believe that quality is not always proportional to value
Do whatever suits you and your lifestyle and enjoy what you have, if you dont get any enjoyment from wearing what you have then there is very little point
Quality doesn't always need to be expensive. I like little pieces of horological history, my favourite being a Seiko 7A28-702A.
Ground breaking movement, still not to be bettered to this day.
I have a few other notable cheap (relatively speaking) watches, but none as note worthy as the 7A28.
Used is the way forward.
I was thinking about this the other day. At the moment I have 6 watches of a combined cost of about £1000. All bar one were bought used and would potentially fetch slightly more if sold off. I do tend to flip watches and put the money back into another.
I love buying watches but I hate losing money. The most I've spent on 1 watch so far was £1000 but I found that watch offered no greater enjoyment than some of the cheapest ones I've had. I think if buying new the £1000 bracket is actually where the biggest potential loss in terms of % can be so I completely avoid that.
I used to stress about playing at the cheap end of the market but for me its personal enjoyment, no regard for status and despite having a strong appreciation for mechanical craftsmanship I just don't get the value of the really expensive watches like PPs etc.
I don't agree there
Yep - and it's been worth it. My collection again got much smaller this week. I am now getting to the point where I won't consider selling or trading any of my collection, even for something 'better'.
I wish.
When I first got into watches and joined this forum, I could never imagine spending much money on this hobby, and I gradually began to build up a modest collection of watches at around the price point the OP's talking about.
My big step up came at the point where I decided to buy my first Breitling, and liquidated my entire collection of Seikos (7 of them) to pay for it. That was a turning point for me and I don't believe that I would now go back to multiple low-end purchases again. I don't however rule out the occasional buy at that level, although my focus now is definitely on a collection of fewer watches at a higher price point.
Simon
Yeah really Lewis... I believe you.
Ideally I'd like a collection of the more luxury brands,and I do also own rolex and omega,but I seem to be drawn to cheaper watches,I think it's all about seeing what's on offer and not being worried I won't like it due to it not being that valuable,I think I'm coming to the conclusion that I wouldn't be happy with 2-3 watches ,but I don't think I'll ever have a great collection of premium brands
I have bought multiple watches, 'Chasing the dream' and a lot of fun it's been. However, after all that I'm down to three. My new Rolex SubC (Daily wearer) A Seiko BFK which I had modded and wear for diving and on the odd days and a watch I bought in 1981 after a Navy diving course, a Seiko 7546 6040 which I wore daily until about 2009 when I discovered watch forums and started to explore. I also have an Omega Electric blue quartz which was my 'Best watch' but I shall be moving that on as I wear the Sub 24/7. The 7546 is still working well but is now a desk diver. I'm glad I saw the light, saved up and got the SubC, it's become my go anywhere do anything watch and I hope I can wear the hell outta it for the next 30 years.
If I had spent all the money I've spent getting to the dozen I have now, I could have bought the watch I regarded as "unobtainable" at the beginning of the process. I much happier to have the dozen I do have than that one single watch. I like a little choice, I've learnt a lot and I've had a lot of fun. Maybe later on I'll begin to long for higher quality and less variety, but if the future is inevitable, why hurry?
this is always an interesting dilemma and your price limits will change with time (one £5,000 watch or 5 £1,000 watches!). I'd be just as pleased with a Seiko monster as a Rolex hulk, when it arrived, and they would both happily fit in with the 'collection'. Do you get 5 times the pleasure from a £5k over a £1k, well yes and no - you clearly wouldn't spend £5k when you would be perfectly happy with a £1k watch would you? The answer is clearly yes, if you can afford it. For the watch collector one watch will never do - accept that then make a balance in your collection that you can afford but don't let price equal desirability, just accept there are watches you cannot afford!
I think buying something lightly used that when new was in the £1000 (€1500) segment of the market is where the best bargains are. I have bought a few watches in sub £200 segment and there is nothing wrong with them either. I prefer variety in my collection, perhaps this will change in the future.
The other related issue is that the higher you go the law of diminishing returns applies. In general, I always try to go for quality rather than quantity, but then I reach a point where I need to sell 2-3 very good pieces just for 1 marginally better piece and the justification becomes more difficult. The most important factor as already mentioned is the amount of enjoyment one gets from a watch.
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