Modernahab
1151
Good question!
I seem to go in cycles. I'll go for relatively long periods without trading or purchasing any new watches, an then will come a flurry of activity. Then I'll start feeling guilty for spending money on watches, and settle down again. A coupe of things generally have changed over time. I don't really impulse buy/trade. I keep a running spreadsheet of watches that are of interest to me, with a ranked top 10 (among 45 - 50). I typically ponder the watches on that list for years before purchasing any of them. The JLC Duomètre UTT that I purchased recently had been high on the list for close to decade, for instance. The ALS Cabaret and JLC Rose Gold Reverso Chronograph Retrograde for nearly two decades each before purchasing. This may be in part because I've also tended over time to purchase more valuable watches, saving up for them, and considering them long and hard before moving on them. One result of this is that I have fewer watches that I'd ever consider parting with, proportionally, than I once did. Hence, for a while, my total number owned was relatively stable, with things coming and going in relatively even numbers. As I accumulate more "keepers", significantly more come in now than leave.
The Dearly Departed: Watches I no Longer Own, & Why
Maybe there are a few WPS participants out there who have never sold or traded away a watch, but if you’re like me, chances are there were a few dearly departed members of your collection that you let go of for one reason or another. In light of a couple ...
A lovely write-up and journey! 👏🏻
Thanks for sharing! 👍🏻 Like you, I enjoy watches due to the way they look and wear on my wrist. Not much more. I can’t site back catalogues, vast ocean of reference numbers, movements, the technicalities of watchmaking and certainly don’t have a hundred t...
Thanks for sharing!
I find the various perspectives from which we admire watches to be fascinating, and I imagine each of our purchasing, trading, and selling histories will tell a unique story. I also think it's great that the world of watches offers something out there for...
Thanks for noticing and asking my friend
Earlier this year, my income was affected at work. So I decided to part with the GP. The Explorer I was a failed experiment. After a week I just didn't bond with it. Too small, and lost interest in the dial.
Interesting about the explorer. I also have boredom for this piece...great GADA watch, nothing wrong with it..an iconic too.
But somehow it does not make me excited when I put it on my wrist. And my 37 mm Memovox is very similar in style and colour. Now in the process of selling it to fund a white "explorer" (oyster perpetual 34mm white dial with 3-6-9 numeral)
What an amazing adventure. You have a strong memory for the details.
This one had me in stitches. The Zenith Pilot’s chronograph registers on the dial that critics call “cross-eyed,” which you can never unsee and ruined it for you.
Thanks!
It's not often that I'm swayed by someone else's opinion when it comes to watches (or clothing, music, food, art, etc., for that matter) but the cross-eyed pilot watch was just too much. There is a lesson buried there about matching cases to the calibers ...
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post!
I like when collectors don’t take themselves too seriously and are able to have a laugh at the capriciousness of this totally nuts hobby.
Thanks for the story of your collection journey. I am sure many of us have been through these.
I like the ALS cabaret and the Bregeuet 5967...elegant but uncommon. The 40 mm Memovox felt too big for small wrist, coupled with silver dial and silver hands, indeed looks too sterile. That's why I opted for the 37 mm memovox with black dial and manual w...
This is a great post 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Cannot add from my side, as all of the watches I ever acquired are still me. Been contemplating consolidating the collection for a while but so far never got to that point. Maybe one day soon.
See! I thiught there had to be someone out there who had never sold or traded a way a watch!
All I can say is that you've got a whole lot more discipline than I do. ;-D
Thank you for this very interesting post!
Like you — my journey has been so much fun — and consolidating in recent years was slightly painful, in letting one or two watches go, but not unbearable. Thanks again for sharing your insights!
I loved reading through this!
I’ve never had the money to really go for it, but have “tried” many brands/models that I’d read about on “the usual” sites (not too smart of me) been fascinated with throughout time or just flat liked the way they looked. I now have only a few, consisting...
You're not the only one living vicariously through WPS Mark!
Modernahab has gotten rid of more watches than I've owned...and most of them are waaaay out of range for me.
I’ve been through 80-90…
In the last seven years, all the while searching for *the one* (in my price range). Buy, sell, buy, sell, buy, sell…thoroughly unhealthy. I almost killed the whole “hobby” with it. At this point, however, I’ve experienced so much (again, of my price range...
Living vicariously is ever so much more economical...
There's always somebody out there with more and more expensive watches (cars, clothes, etc.) than us. I can daydream about spending without guilt on an ALS Richard Lange Perperual Calendar Terraluna or an early 21st century De Bethune perpetual calendar.
Wonderful walk through of departed watches and why.
Particularly liked where you shared their successors! While I do have some watches that languish unworn for a while, I've not yet sold any. Thanks for sharing Cheers JML
Wonderful of you to make the thread and share this wonderful journey!
Have you noticed any changes or patterns over time as far as how easy or hard it is for you to sell a watch, or how long you tend to keep watches? Or is it pretty random?
Good question!
I seem to go in cycles. I'll go for relatively long periods without trading or purchasing any new watches, an then will come a flurry of activity. Then I'll start feeling guilty for spending money on watches, and settle down again. A coupe of things gener...
Thanks for this. Much of it resonates.
Long periods of nothing, and then suddenly a flurry of activity. That's familiar!
Good idea for a thread and nice post
I’m a bit of a watch hoe and find to really appreciate and get to know a watch I need to wear it for an extended period of time. I’ve gone through 100+ watches but now I know what I really like and what I dislike. One mistake I made was selling watches af...
Wonderful of you to make the thread and share this wonderful journey!
Have you noticed any changes or patterns over time as far as how easy or hard it is for you to sell a watch, or how long you tend to keep watches? Or is it pretty random?