Watch Market: Second Hand Value & Ownership Impact

Should explained that (better)

The comments section was particularly interesting. I’ve had to grapple with it in terms of rising insurance premiums and being more deliberate about what to wear on certain days and in certain situations. The rising values issue has also led me to occasionally contemplate selling some pieces that I originally purchased with no intention to sell (and still haven’t sold), but I think such thoughts are completely natural ones to have.

So while current market price a marker of an overheated market (in some cases), I derive more satisfaction from knowing that my watches will never see the market again during my lifetime. In fact, a significant part of my enjoyment comes from the feeling that my watches have, for me, transcended anything as vulgar as a price tag. The only time I'll use price trend as a tool is as a prompt to look elsewhere for value. It works: far from the madding crowd one can occasionally find fine and sometim

That’s where I’ve looked more and more, of late. If you don’t have a Rolex/Patek/AP/Journe itch to scratch (which, some of us do, understandably), then there are lots of other great offerings.

Traded up a couple of watches when I first started collecting… and occasionally wished I hadn’t done that.

... at the same time, like you, I use what the market is saying to look elsewhere for watches that seem to be good value propositions in my eyes. It's obviously not a scientifically precise method - just hunch work but I'm okay with that. We all have our own motivations, and mine include enjoying watch collecting as a quiet pursuit without noisy clamour. I understand entirely if folks have other drivers of behaviour. Horses for courses.