Is there a method to your madness?

[C4L18R3]

We are all collectors here (I only assume, correct me if I'm wrong LOL).  Whether you're a newbie or a veteran you are here because you are into watches.  "Into" could mean anything from looking for that second or third piece, to collecting so you could tinker and breathe life back to old watches, to hogging all the watches from the 60's to present day as is humanly (not to mention, financially) possible!

I've been contemplating on my own collection for some time now, no thanks to the purge of a number of vintage pieces last year.  Here I am, purchasing the same pieces again (i.e. Bullhead, Panda, Bellmatic).  This made me think... Why am I buying these again?  Why did I have to sell in the first place?  How far will I go in "collecting?"  Am I gravitating towards a "theme?"  Are there pieces here that are missing?  Will I sell some of what I have again because I want these missing pieces?

It is important for me to ask these questions simply because -
(1)  I have a huge appetite for certain watches (e.g. 70's chronos, birth year models). There are too many of these, I can't have them all!
(2)  Until I win the lottery, I have limited resources.  I am here to enjoy and not waste time, effort and money flipping or getting the wrong watch.

Like most of you here, 6 or 12 pieces just wouldn't cut it (to some, that's just the number of 6309s they own!).  There are far too many nice watches out there that I just lust after.  So I have to ask myself - How many is enough?  It seems I answered this question long before I even had more than 6 watches.  When I got serious in this hobby, I bought myself a 20-slot watch box.  It was apparently my subconscious that figured this one out way before I got into the deep end.  At the time I thought to myself, I should be able to rotate all the watches I would eventually own.  Made a lot of sense to me then and continues to do so now.

Which watches then?  This one won't be as easy to answer but for sure a bit of time and experience helps.  In my case I have identified one or two grails and I have one of them already.  Next I see a particular aesthetic that is common in the watches I own (e.g. retro, bold and groovy 70s chronos, Bauhaus-like simplicity, military).  Then there are watch brands that I really find very interesting, I don't have any of these yet but I will at some point (Sinn, G.Gerlach and Squale come to mind).  

So there.  I have made myself a guide and I hope it works.  Please bear in mind that I am only 'limiting' the collection because I believe that watches should be worn.  20 is a good number for me, I am able to see, wear and enjoy all my watches yet still have enough variety.  While I remain open to new designs and new discoveries, having this guide now really helps me to focus, develop and enjoy the collection.  This in no way means I won't be selling anything ever again!  It only means I will be making very educated choices, making room for new pieces as time goes by.

I hope that made sense...  

What about you?  What are your thoughts on your own collection?

[lordflagpolecrabtree]

Well, you see it was like this.............. I never wore a watch, even to work. I had a couple of ana/digi Casios when I was at college 30 years ago but they went in a drawer when the batteries gave out (oh how I wish I'd kept them   )

Then I inherited this one:



This led to investigating it's history (failed beyond finding a little about the company) and that led to Seikos from India. Well, I didn't know, did I ?

Then these beautiful vintage dress Seikos kept popping up on Evilbay and I was hooked.

Then I had to see what all the hype was about with the 6309. Like it, can't love it.

Birth year watches ? OK, give me a dozen and a few spares.

I suppose I just bought anything that I could afford (ahem,well, maybe not quite, sometimes) and I now have an eclectic mix of vintage and modern, Seiko and others.

My wife saw me updating my gallery the other day with the latest Eco-drive purchase. Words were exchanged, but she still thinks I've only got about 60 and she rarely ventures in to my man cave !

I am well aware that I have far too many watches but after making a short list of 20 watches I could happily sell, I realised it's probably only really a list of 1.



I love them all too much. :love:


I guess I'll keep collecting whatever takes my fancy for a while yet.This will be at least four more before all the watch boxes are full. Then I will have storage problem. We shall see.

[C4L18R3]

It is so interesting to find out how people get started.  Each person has his own story to tell and their own taste in watches.  And having upwards of 60 (which I suspect most of you guys have) is already a staggering amount of watches for me.  I reached 38 at one point and like you I loved them all but I soon realized it would take me more than a month just to rotate them all.  But I can imagine having coffee on a lazy Sunday morning and just staring at all the watch boxes you have   

Thanks for sharing.

Tristan 

[catkicker]

I bought a 6309-7049 in the 80's for a work watch for twenty plus years I wore that watch everday I wore that thing in to a old wore out looking hunk of steel. Years later I found it in a box. I thought it deserved better. With some luck and research I tripped over Spencer Klein. My 6309-7049 looks almost as nice as the first day I wore it. That was over two years ago. I know have about 15 vintage Seiko divers and chronographs. And a few Citizen's. Oh and 2 very cool vintage Casio's.
my Wife has been involved in finding and helping to get deals on watches done. She says why don't you just spend more and get the restored nice ones.
when I see a vintage Seiko that has been worn down beaten and abused I can't help it I have to rescue it.

[jdmfetish]

last five years have had almost everything 

and in numbers of 15 -25 at a time


last 18 months been trimming all the fat 


decided i only need 3 


watch for work GS SBGX117
watch when not at work 6306-7001
watch for a beater skx007J

i have no 4th need 

[jdmfetish]

contemplating letting the 6306 go and using the skx for a not when at work combo beater 

and dropping to 2 watches 

GS
SKX


really thinking about it 

[Deleted]

I put this addiction, yup it's an addiction, down too my Father, he was a Watchmaker by trade. He used to repair watches for people at home too, so the table was always full of watch parts, i used to sit and watch him with his glass in his eye, working on watches.

When I was about 7 yrs old, he made me my first wrist watch as a Christmas Present. How I wish I still had it, I guess today it would be called a 'Franken' as it was made from different watch parts.

I didn't really take a lot of notice of vintage watches until a few years ago, when I started to collect, not really knowing what I was after.

I now have far too many watches for my own good.

I am now far more discerning in what I buy, many of the watches I bought at the start, have now been moved on, if I were to be pushed, I would have to say out of my collection, I guess there are about 10 that I would never sell, all of those are Seiko's.

The rest I really have no interest in, it's just the effort of listing them on ebay atm.

The only watch I regret selling was a gold plated Bellmatic, I listed it on ebay and from the moment I sold it, I regretted it, I only put it up for sale as I am not and never have been a fan of gold plated watches.

I have however redressed that regret, when I picked up a mint Bellmatic with a 27 jewel movement in SS some time ago.

My WRUW post of today.

[estrickland]

My method is pretty simple: Fall in love with a watch, put it on the wishlist, set up alerts, add it to my saved set of polling searches. Then, every day, run my polling searches, look what shakes out, and if there is a great opportunity, jump on it.

Early on, I didn't know enough to be good at recognizing rare opportunities, so I was sometimes lucky (my 6215 in particular) but not reliably so (reconditioned cases, bracelets that were falling apart, etc...).

These days, most of the watches I don't have, I've been looking for for years, so when one shows up I'll know what I'm looking for and at, and at what price to bail out.

Following this, I've built a collection I'm really proud of, made up of about 60 watches, mostly rare and interesting (to me at least).

From here, I just plan on doing the same thing, with the frequency of adds being less and less as the watches I want get rarer and more expensive. I have started including more books/paraphernalia/schwag in the collection, as the watches get less frequent.

I may let some watches go to keep inside my available box/display space, but maybe I'll just start building a library/annex for bits that aren't worth selling and which become increasingly interesting over the decades. Not sure.

Anyway, I agree there's an addictive element to it, I certainly spend more time on timekeeping devices than is rational.
I like it though, so what the heck. As vices go, it's pretty tame.

[tritto]

I'm not sure if there's a rhyme or reason to my collection. I wore either of two watches gifted to me in my childhood or teens until my girlfriend (now wife) bought me my first adult watch (at age 34) for Christmas in 2007. Knowing me, she let me choose the watch and I did some research that took me to WUS. Although I started in the Tissot forum I noticed the great vintage chronos in the Seiko section and 3 years later (what patience) I bought an outstanding 6139 6005 in blue for a song off eBay. Since then I've picked up another 8 6138/6139 and a few Seiko divers and sports divers from the 70s. My early interest in vintage Tissots is almost gone, but there are still 4 in my collection. I don't find myself looking for more or wearing them often.
I feel like I have all the chronos that I need so now I'm just patiently waiting for one or two desirable grails (Silverwave 30/50 Proof, one button chrono or 6105) to pop up at reasonable prices. Oh, and I keep playing with the idea of giving it all up for a Speedmaster or similar - but I know I just couldn't do it.
The size of the collection is somewhere between 15-20 depending on whether you count those that need a service before they can be worn.

[28A]

I never used to wear watches as a Boilermaker, never had even considered anything to do with watches as my head was full of hot rods and old cars instead.. then i got out of that, went to uni to become a high school technology / design teacher and on my first prac placement noticed half the classrooms didn't have clocks. They just went off a bell.. but it was annoying never knowing what the time was and i didn't like pulling my phone out to look as it could be construed that i was texting or something else instead.

At Christmas last year my Dad had my mums old pocket watch from 1845 sent off to have a crystal replaced. Unfortunately he didn't know anything about it and they used some crap generic plastic crystal but the jeweller who did it also wound it backwards and stripped off a wheel that we now will one day have to get remade. Anyway, researching that watch for Dad got me into Trench watches.. then eventually i found divers.. then Seiko divers.. and i haven't looked back since. 

I've tended to lean more towards the Seiko 7546/8 movements for a daily wearer at school as bashing away on hammers and mallets and general workshop stuff the quartz i would say fairs better.. and the fact it'll always be bang on accurate is nice too.

As far as my collection goes, I guess my method is just to have one of each variation i suppose. I had a quartz black dial 6309-7040 built by my watchmaker out of stuff he had lying around after randomly asking about old Seikos.. and then i decided i wanted an orange version of it so i found an orange one and by sheer luck stumbled onto another cushion case.. then had a spare quartz movement and found a black dial from the same watchmaker who did the orange swap for me. So now i'm looking at collecting parts for a down the track TST mod.

I'm not really concerned with having an original 7548/ 7548 movement and dial in a slim 6309 case so i don't think i'll just leave the new project as is..

I'd also like a 6105-8110 to round out the cushion diver collection. After that i think i'll actually be done finding stuff. Maybe a Pogue down the track but i'm not drawn to them as much as the divers.. and there aren't any other divers i like.

[Adrian-VTA]

My goal was always to have a few examples of my favourites, with parts to last my lifetime, then at least one original excellent example of a lot of the other popular watches, which has been absolutely invaluable for repair work (I refer to other watches in the fleet a lot during repairs).

I've ended up with something like 150 watches and only wear less than 10. I get good deals on flippers, with every intention to flip and they end up getting a home. That means they never get touched, I just don't have the time or motivation for it. It's nuts. If it looks good and is original, I find it difficult to part with.

That said, it has to change, slowly.

[69ChevelleSS]

I've bought what I like and stopped when the 20 slot watch box got full.  20 is more than enough for me as I choose to wear all of mine.  A mix of divers and chronos.  I got started when my Dad got his 6139-6005 and gave it to me years later.  He also bought me two of the 7A28s that I still have and that work like a charm!

[djh584]

I've also bought what I have liked and when the 24 slot box became full, MOH bought me another which has a little way to go yet before it is full. Problem is, I don't have the space for another box!!! But in that eclectic mix are only three brand new watches (err possibly make that four) - everything else is vintage. There certainly is no rhyme nor reason to what I own.

David

[leffemonster]

Personally I don't consider myself a 'collector' as such, but I suppose I must be with about 14 watches. Only 2 are 'vintage', and I've inherited both of them! If I'd kept hold of every watch I've owned and, more importantly, if the old chap hadn't given a load away over the last 50 years I'd probably have about 40, most of them vintage Seiko dress watches.

I didn't really get 'into' watches until my 40s and then only buying stuff (new) that I took a shine to, usually  That changed a few months ago when I picked up my late father-in-law's 6139 Pulsations which had been sitting in a drawer for 25 years. Now, I find myself drooling over the stuff you *serious* collectors own, wishing I had the spare funds to splash out on a GS or KS. Sadly, I don't, but maybe one day the Gods will help me and I'll find that seriously cool vintage dress watch in some charity shop!

Yeah, right... 

[tritto]

That's the dream isn't it Leffemonster. I don't go out looking to spend a wad of cash on a high priced grail, I like hunting through tubs of trash waiting for that moment when your heart rate soars as you realise there's something great there. Quick, quick, take my money...

Ok, so I've never found a 6105 but I've found the odd nice watch - a 6139 7080, pre-Arnie Quartz etc. The fun is all in the chase.

[C4L18R3]

It's really great to hear all your views/stories.  A fun read indeed. And in this addiction I have to agree that a lot of the fun is in the chase but I also believe that the owning and keeping part is where majority of the 'happiness' is.  

Whether based on preference, space or finances, I did notice that only less than a handful of us here have actually set a 'limit' to the number of watches we will be collecting.  Most of the guys here seem to just go on forever... and that's not a bad thing at all!  I would love to do that if I had the skills/finances/space.  Alas the lottery is my only hope.

tritto & leffemonster,
Yeah it would be so cool to find treasures in such places like thrift shops, garage sales and what not.  Unfortunately none of that exists here in HK (well not that I know of, I am not a native).  But I do try and go around looking for small decades old family owned stores to see what type of old Seikos pop up.  You'd be surprised to find all manner of goodies in some of the shops here.


 

[camrok]

I think my addiction started with playing with my dads seiko sports 150 LCD when I was bored in church or at appointments ect.
I bought a Seiko auto as a spare whilst my Tissot was getting serviced and I loved it.
It died so I got a 6309 from the Phillipines and the second hand fell off so I learnt how to repair it and sold it for a profit so I bought another and then and then and then.
My collection comes from stumbling onto something, finding a bit about it and then searching until I find what I'm looking for.
I've picked up many cool watches from Gumtree or vinnies (charity shops) I sell most on eBay at no reserve low price auctions, to fund my next splurge.
I have a grail list that includes
A tuna
An arnie
A Swiss Valjoux. ( sold an airboss I regret)
An Omega Dynamic. (Don't know why)
An Oris of some sort. Like the flying Doctor

I will get there but the chase is just as fun.

I've decided I want an example of many of the more notable movement types.
Eg mechanical, automatic, auto chrono, solar, kinetic, LCD, tuning fork ect, day, day date, ani-digi. I've pretty well got it sorted minus the auto chrono but I have one waiting parts.

For me the search for those grails ends up being part of the joy of wearing that watch.
Every time I wear my 6105 i think of the crazy trade I organized on gumtree for longines that cost me around $200 inc service that bored me.

I sent it with a self addressed postage satchel and got a 6105 8110 in return. I didn't even know its significance back when I got it but I'm so glad the swap was successful.
My 200 cents worth. Thanks for a great thread.
Cam

[scubarob99]

Some method here...started of as mostly divers, after a couple years some LCDs and now a new found love for the 6139's ( I now have 7)
used to buy everything that was a good deal, running or not, now I am much more selective. ( still have a problem selling the ones that I don't wear)
i love watches in general...it could really get out of hand if I allowed myself to pursue anything other than Seiko ( and an occasional Citizen)
its fun and as vices go pretty harmless.

Rob

[doomguy10011]

I first got into watches as a teenager when I was gifted a standard mall Seiko by my dad. Later on as I grew more knowledgeable about watches, I started off with some of the modern Seiko 5s. Then came my first foray into vintage territory and I, like many, started off with with a few duds and clunkers because of my lack of knowledge. 

Now to me, the main thrill is searching for and nabbing a great vintage watch. After many years, I finally know what to look for. As for a guide, I initially thought I'd go Pokemon style with my favourite movements. After a while I found that, while a nice idea I don't think I'd like to have so many watches that I wouldn't be able to sufficiently enjoy each of them. So, I've set myself a limit of a total of 50 watches. I'm still reasonably far from that limit, and actually plan to sell a couple of my current watches shortly to save for some grails down the line.

[C4L18R3]

What we get, see or experience from our childhood/younger days seem to say a lot about how we get into watch collecting.  For me these two more or less started it all - one a 7T32 from '82, the other the first TAG Heuer F1.  



Chronographs did interest me when I was a student but I never really thought of owning one.  I had a Guess watch that was enough for me from a fashion point of view.  Then one Christmas in the mid-80's I received the Seiko from my parents.  To be honest, I was never a fan of anything 'gold' on a watch but it sort of grew on me.  This Seiko I wore for a decade or so.

Fast forward a few years, my Dad got a TAG Heuer for himself.  He bought it not because he was a Heuer fan or a watch guy, he just needed a new watch because his old Casio had died.  At that time I had already developed a liking for motorsport and all things automobile related.  The TAG F1 was then a 'grail' for me because of the motorsport connection but I was still not really into watches at that point.  He eventually passed it on to me when he upgraded to a LINK model 5 years later (gift from my Mom).  When he did pass it on, it looked like crap!  My Dad was an outdoors kinda guy - golfing, swimming, hunting and fishing - and he never took it off!  I took it to the AD to get it restored and paid a hefty sum too but I thought the watch was worth it.  This one I wore regularly 'til the early 2000s.

Looking at the two, I realize that these are the cornerstones of my love of watches.  

And though my tastes have changed, they will always have a special place in the watch box