patrick_y[PuristSPro Moderator]
28046
WatchProSite Mini Debate: Quantity or Quality?
Sep 27, 2022,20:22 PM
What would you rather own? A collection of 2-3 very expensive watches that total a specific dollar/Euro/unit amount or a collection of 20 watches that total the same dollar amount?
There are two trains of thoughts here...
1. Advocates for Fewer Timepieces. Some people like to only own heavy hitters or pieces with significant cultural impact. They can only wear one watch at a time, so fewer is sometimes better. Plus, fewer pieces to keep track of and maintain. Thus, one person I know has a Patek Philippe Nautilus (his former daily watch), a Bulgari Octo Finissimo (his current daily watch), a Panerai (his sporty weekend watch and he's a Scuba diver although he never dives with his Panerai), and a truly beautiful Breguet tourbillon as his dressier watch and special occasion watch. He bought the Breguet used from a friend and all the other watches he bought new at retail. He didn't buy any new watches for several years except for the Bulgari Octo Finissimo. He's extremely content with his watch collection. Does not plan to buy anymore watches. And is now considering only extravagant art pieces that he thinks will have a significant future impact. He'd like to own a Lange, but he's very content and he feels he's got a watch for every occasion. The gentleman is a corporate professional.
2. Advocates for MORE Timepieces. Some people are complete-ists and they really like to own a lot of the same things. Another person I know owns several Rolexes that he rotates on a regular basis, one beautiful Vacheron Constantin sports watch that he uses as a dress watch, some small independents like a MING watch, two Omega Speedmaster Moonwatches, multiple Panerais, about a dozen micro-brand sporty watches on steel bracelets that cost around $500 to $1000 each, and a steel H. Moser. Overall, this person owns probably somewhere around two to three dozen watches! Yes! 24+ watches! And he's spent over the years about the exact same as the individual with fewer timepieces over roughly the same timespan. Every time he sees another watch that he likes, he generally eventually acquires it. He's on the list for more watches at his local authorized dealer. And he typically goes after steel sporty watches. He sometimes says he should stop buying watches and whittle down his collection for a few core pieces. But he just can't help himself when he sees another watch he likes.
There's no wrong answer here. And some of us on WatchProSite will think a collection of only 20-40 pieces isn't that big.
But which pattern do you think you best fit into currently?
And who do you want to be in the future?
Do you envision yourself amassing a huge collection?
Or do you see yourself consolidating your large collection to a smaller collection of more important pieces?
Or maybe something between these two extremes?
Looking forward to reading your thoughts! My personal answers will be below.
Photo Credit: Grants Center from Google Images