mycroft
91
I usually ...
... Buy or acquire a timepiece through processes that go through my heart and my head or some combination of both. The percentage of either that weighs into the final decision varies with the watch and over time. So you can say that I am right and/or left brain buyer. Those times I use my head, there is a logical and illogical component. And of course, some who know me well also know my total lack of self-control, or deferred gratification and there have been a fair number of accidental purchases where the credit card flies out on its own accord - I swear its true and I for some reason, I'm in a fugue state and cannot stop it!!
Over my 30 yrs of collecting watches (since the 1980s), I have come to live by these axiomatic paradigms:
- if you really like and want the watch, buy it. Don't over-think it and procrastinate
- there is one Law in watch collecting: Prices only go one way - Up.
- I have only regretted the watches that I DIDN'T. Not the ones that I did.. They represent missed opportunities that I would kick myself for. Eg the time I walked away from a Dufour Simplicity priced at CHF35k. Stupid, stupid, stupid!!
- Buy a watch early in its life cycle - once the prices have stabilized
- Buy for yourself and not for investment purposes. You will be sorely disappointed
- Purposeful, focused, theme based purchasing is a good thing, but a bit over-rated.
- I only buy from a trusted watch pimp
- beware vintage watches, unless you really know your stuff
- Never over-extend your credit. It is fiscally dangerous. If you are low on cash, maybe it is not meant to be
- one significant high value purchase is always better than multiple small purchases of watches that may be cosmetically attractive but not horologically significant. Sometimes, however, while waiting for your dream watch to come along, you may have difficulty abstaining from a "fun" purchase. Try and resist this.
- watch collecting is expensive nowadays. Try not to have too many vices unless you are financially sound. But few are nowadays.
What Motivates You to Buy a Watch?
What Motivates You to Buy a Watch? Recently I posed the question of whether celebrity ambassadors help sell watches and received numerous thought-filled responses. The different opinions and viewpoints that arose were indicative of the personal nature tha...
Usually I get the informations of some watches from
magazines or websites like The Purists/TZ (yes, those dangerous scans people post! Lol), and looks like my brain unconsciously processes them and all of the sudden, after some time which ranges from few months to years, I will start wanting some. Friends ...
I think it's more on the pics on forums/twitter than friends :)
Most of my friends just stick to Rolexes/Panerais which to me are getting too common (Rolex vintage, on the other hand, are not haha)
What motivates me to purchase a watch? The watch in itself.
Nothing else. It can be its coolness, its refinement, its originality, its history, its charm, its eccentricity,it doesn't matter, because any of these reasons is a good reason. Don't forget that I am attracted by both vintage and modern watches, so the p...
Pure and simple
as it should be. The watch should stand alone and be able to sell itself. :) Completely agree.
+1, Nico
The time spent researching, hunting and considering The passion shared (i am afraid not much here on PSP...) And mostly, as Nicolas so simply puts it, the watch in the collection, their beauty, their history, etc. No special preference for blondes, brunet...
off course I fully agree, I meant
there is much passion here and many other places. I wrote of my own experience and contribution. Sorry for the possible confusion.
This is a great question
and one to which for me the answer has changed over time. Fifteen years ago I bought my first "high end" watch, an entry level Rolex, because I loved the way it looked and it was a statement that I had arrived. I had just graduated from medical school, wa...
Change is often inevitable...
...and expected. We change so it's not surprising that our outlook on watches changes as well and our actions regarding them. Thank you for sharing how it has changed for you. It's always a personal journey and one that I am continually fascinated by beca...
A few criteria for me
1. Design - looks, comfort and wearability - this is going to be on my wrist and I must like having it there 2. Cost - Obviously 3. Availability and ease of future servicing - would probably rank as high as cost, and this is where the movement is not as i...
All great reasons and some
I didn't think about like #4. I hear this a lot. Sometimes people will pick one watch over another simply because they don't have something like it. #5, do you mean not flashy or do you mean an unknown brand? And #6, what kind of watch usually excites you...
The definitions will be different for each person
For me, #5 is both. An example would be a Rolex in markets (which is most), where they are known by everyone, regardless of whether they love watches or not, and are perceived to be a status symbol and somehow goes to indicate that the person wearing one ...
All great reasons and some
I didn't think about like #4. I hear this a lot. Sometimes people will pick one watch over another simply because they don't have something like it. #5, do you mean not flashy or do you mean an unknown brand? And #6, what kind of watch usually excites you...
Difficult to find an answer to this interesting question
This question helps to find what we like in watches and can even help us choosing the right one (we see from time to time people getting rid of a watch a few weeks/months after buying it). Well, first, I take a very long time studying, trying the watches ...
Thank you Mark...
...for your honest response. I think you have summed up the common criteria (for the most part) of a WIS. :)
Great question ...
Ping, It made me thing and I ended up discovering that I use a lot of negative logic: The brand don't make me ashamed to wear the watch The watch don't have lots of "bling" The brand is not popular among thieves (a serious concern here) No precious metal ...
Actually that is also a very good way to look at it...
...and another good follow up question - What turns someone off from buying a watch. May get some interesting answers for that too. :) Thank you for sharing what you care about in a watch. I like that you don't care about too much an in house movement. It...
Answering the "What turns someone off from buying a watch" ...
Ping, Here is my very personal "turn off" points: 1) Brand image There are brands that I associate with the "nouveaux riches" buyers, meaning excess of bling or because their advertizing focus on social groups that I don't belong. I also put on this class...
I buy..
I buy the watch itself; it has to speak to me and be understated (these days). Then the movement has to mechanical and the brand established long enough to offer proper service in the future (which explains why I don’t buy from the independents). I don’t ...
Hi Stan
Thanks for sharing your values in watch buying. "It has to be understated" this is at the core of Purist values , among other things. The people factor is one of the most fascinating elements in horology. Thanks for pointing it out.
I usually ...
... Buy or acquire a timepiece through processes that go through my heart and my head or some combination of both. The percentage of either that weighs into the final decision varies with the watch and over time. So you can say that I am right and/or left...
The impulse to acquire a watch goes so deep . . .
. . . that it's really not possible to articulate, Ping. I don't know why I'm so drawn to watches (and, curiously, not to clocks). All I know is that the fascination started at a very early age - before I was six - and continues to this day. Art
Usually buy if..
There is a In-House movement. The older the company the better. Can not be made in the U.S.A. and I need to feel the magic of attraction!!
This "magic" is crucial for many people it seems...
...Many have said they simply have to feel something. What exactly initiates this feeling for each person is sometimes a mystery which makes it so interesting. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
If I see a part of me in it...
It has to embody something that I hold important. It can be an ideal that I try to live up to, a state of mind that I am in or struggle to be in, an attribute that I find lacking in today's workplace that is standard in a piece, or a design aesthetic that...
First Time Poster/Longtime Reader
This is an great prompt by the OP (pingtsai), and I'm sure something that many watch enthusiasts spend WAY too much time pondering... :) With limited funds and time for research set against a limitless pool of potential (current and vintage) purchases- so...
Hi Jason! Thank you for your response!
And what a superb one it was. I am so impressed by your thought process and elegant expression in words. Thank you for your detailed and thought provoking response. I believe you have put in to words what so many here have thought about and felt during th...
I'm troubled by this statement "one significant high value purchase...
is always better than multiple small purchases of watches that may be cosmetically attractive but not horologically significant. Sometimes, however, while waiting for your dream watch to come along, you may have difficulty abstaining from a "fun" purchase...
Such a profound answer. ..
All I can say is that I totally get it. And especially the fit. I don't believe in buying a watch unless it fits just right - physically and emotionally.
The watch has to be an extension of myself and my personality
Without both, the watch will never come home with me. If it did, I would have buyer's remorse and sell the watch off in the very near future. - AT
First of all
the N# 1 reason: I need a watch just because I like them. Always have, always will. Why? No idea. It's an emotional primary thing which needs no reasoning. Now When the virus gets lethal (expensive) reasons do come in to play for me. - what model will fit...
For me the motivation to buy a particular watch has changed over time.
At this time there are a number of factors that come into play: 1. The story - every watch that I buy has some kind of story associated with it. The pursuit, the relationship with the watchmaker/company, where I was when I got the watch, what was going on...
Being fortunate enough......
to have the money to buy the watch that makes you happy!
Heart...... and bank balance!!
Hello, If a watch 'sings' to me then that surpasses everything. Some watches just make me smile or go 'oh wow'! How I find out about a watch can be from seeing a post on here, to seeing someone wearing one, to a magazine or book etc but when I've discover...
The Reply to this question could open hundreds of other discussions..
regarding:personal brands awareness,psychological motivations, exclusivity perceptions etc etc....very stimulating.... In order: -WITH KNOWLEDGE COMES WISDOM.... Hence my own personal tastes evolve and adapt to my culture and maturity.....what moved me to...
+ 1 on practically all you said.. Several very well taken points.. And..
.. for me, as you so well have implied also, it often is quite a complex process, but not necessarily so - and definitely not really always purely rational: Allthough not at all in a position, to have ".. tailored watches.. " for myself, and also very oft...