I often struggle with how to think about watches, and my approach to them over the years likely reflects that fact. Looking back, it’s easy to identify what I like and how my tastes have changed and matured, but it’s less easy to identify why, exactly. To that end, I’ve spent some time reflecting on the anchors of my experience in this space, how they define my collecting, and guide my wearing habits.
There are a handful of pillars that have guided my journey through this space, and while the don’t capture the minutiae, they provide enough structure to keep my collecting in a healthy place. These are the four threads that shape my approach to watches.
The ‘why’ over the ‘what’. May sound strange, but the numbers carry little weight. I honestly don’t care all that much stuff like hyper accuracy, the case dimensions (so long as it’s wearable), number of parts in the movement… all that stuff can be nice and fun to discover, but they almost never end up informing a purchase or wear decision. This means that many of the watches I wear and enjoy might appear suboptimal on paper, but there’s something else I enjoy about it, be it the design or the story it tells, or the era it defines. There has to be something beyond the stat sheet.
Not pigeon holing myself into a single genre, style, or complication. I know there are many collectors driven by a very specific goal of having every type of X or Y, and that’s great – but for myself and my own enthusiasm, I’ve found that my tastes have a pretty broad range from purpose built tool watches and divers, to weird designs that aren’t easily categorized. My watch box may seem full of mismatches, but they each have their own appeal to me personally. Some are hype-y popular type watches, and others are under the radar weirdos.
Buying watches to use, over buying watches to collect. There are a great many watches that I truly love and appreciate, watches that I find interesting and genre defining, and then there are watches that I want to use and wear. I don’t feel the need to own every single watch that I like. I want to own the watches that I could see myself using and wearing.
Being able to separate the public persona of a watch from my own feelings about it. Auction results, IG pics, and celeb spotting can all create their own pull around a watch, all of which can cloud your judgement. Just because there is a fervor around a particular brand or watch doesn’t mean you have to buy into it. Observe and appreciate, but take the time to figure out if I like it for my own reasons, not because it fits in with the prevailing winds.
This works for me because I find that it keeps me the most focused on what’s important, and while it doesn’t guarantee I won’t make mistakes (I certainly do), it ensures I will learn a bit more about myself and my approach with each one. This approach has developed organically, and certainly isn’t set in stone, but again, they’ve helped keep my thinking and experiences in this hobby in a healthy place.
I’d love to hear from you on this. Leave a comment in the video above and drop your experiences around watches, how think about using and owning them, and how that has evolved in time.