The Magic Number: Ideal Watch Collection Size

Arie - Mr Orange · 2017-07-04T10:30:47Z

What's the magic number of watches to own? Arie - Mr Orange sparks a debate on ideal collection size, challenging collectors to pick their ultimate 12-watch lineup.

Arie - Mr Orange

WPS member · Horological Meandering forum

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Arie - Mr Orange reignites a classic collector's debate: what is the "magic number" of watches to own? Proposing a limit of 12 watches to ensure variety and meaningful wrist time, he challenges the community to curate their ultimate 12-piece collection, reflecting on how collection size impacts emotional connection.

What is the Magic Number? Now I realize that we have done this multiple times before, but let's humor us ourselves once more shall we? 🙃

I say the max number of watches to own should be 12. Enough to own something of about everything, but not so many that wrist time is down to what? One or two days a year? When we take 12 as the number we can wear each watch at least 4 weeks a year (4 weeks only if you think about it), but still have enough variety.

Vintage
Modern
Time only
Complications
Plain
Colorful
Beater
Dress
Indie
Mainstream
Weird
Outlandish

There we go. 12.

I do not own that many watches, at least not to PuristS standards...., but what I have noticed is, while the number keeps increasing, is that the emotional bond per watch goes down while the numbers go up. Now I'm not advocating that we should not own a lot of watches (!!), we love them too much, but let's play this little game....:

You are allowed to own 12 watches and 12 watches only. Which 12 watches would that be? Please give me your line up. And how many of those 12 are already in your possession?

Key Points from the Discussion

The exercise of limiting a collection to 12 watches can be a 'mental torture' for collectors, highlighting the emotional attachment to each piece.
Many collectors find it challenging to narrow down their ideal collection to just 12, often listing more or struggling to make definitive choices, indicating that for some, 12 is too restrictive.
A diverse 12-watch collection could include categories like vintage, modern, time-only, complications, plain, colorful, beater, dress, independent, mainstream, weird, and outlandish pieces.
Some collectors already own a significant portion of their ideal 12-watch list, demonstrating a strong alignment between their current collection and aspirational choices.
The selection process often reveals personal preferences, such as a focus on specific brands like JLC, or a mix of vintage and modern pieces, including a practical G-Shock for daily wear.
The difficulty in selecting only 12 watches suggests that the 'magic number' might be higher for some, or that the emotional bond with watches makes such a reduction difficult.

The Discussion

zabreg1 Mr White

Jul 4, 2017

But this is a brain teaser and I have to think before I answer. So, working on less than 3 hours of sleep, and awaiting a flight and typing on a iPhone, I will get back to this when the mind fog clears up.

Rogi

Jul 4, 2017

Vintage - 1956 Omega XVI Modern - Zenith P15 Time only - 1930s Glashutte "G Watch" with the UROFA caliber 58 movement. Complications - Rolex Daytona Plain - Universal Geneve, Tiffany and Co. watch Colorful - Cartier Two Tone Calibre Blue Diver Beater - Grand Seiko Spring Drive (this ones been with me everywhere :O) Dress - Vacheron and Constantin ref. 7813 Indie - Rolex Explorer II (Independently a different type of Rolex) Mainstream - Not really one that fits from the collection, I guess a not

amanico

Jul 4, 2017

After the contest here comes another mental torture... You are right, 1 feel 12 is the good number. Already a crazy number of watches, for most of the people. But for us, an ideal number for the reasons you mentioned. Now to tell you which ones would be part of the fab 12... That's another story. I would say a vintage Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, a Rolex GMT Master 6542, A Tudor Submariner 7924, A JLC Polaris 1965, a Deep Sea Alarm, A Patek 5110P, An Ulysse Nardin Sonata, A Lange 1815 Moon Phase E L

jml_watches

Jul 4, 2017

Hi My initial thoughts are: Futurematic Memovox 914 Poljot alarm (blue dial) Seiko five Lanco Fon Reverso Duo Master Moon Bellmatic Nomos Tangent power reserve date Seiko urushi Swatch Oris big crown And yes if you ask me in a week it'll be different. Though it is interesting ( to me at least) there are two main themes in my 12. The other thing worth noting is I have them already - so might involve some restraint if we can't have more. May work on getting the best available. And finally - yes th

Arie - Mr Orange

Jul 4, 2017

But; very nice list you put in!!

Harry2

Jul 4, 2017

Firstly, my watch box holds 5 watches. Secondly, that's one for each day of the working week. Add in the weekend and perhaps changing watches during the day if necessary, and you have plenty of wrist time while still variety!

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