Horological Meandering

In an interview posted in an online journal with a well-known watch collector, he maintained that in order to have a watch collection it needed to represent a range of brands and complications. As my tastes are purely aesthetic and tend toward one brand, ... 

we're all collectors of problems ;-)

Bulgari finissimo titanium Bulgari finissimo steel black dial. In the last 15 years I've bought and sold Rolex explorer 1 Rolex explorer 2 AP RO 14790 AP RO 15202 (white, blue, grey dial) AP RO 14802 VC Royal Eagle Breguet marine BP 50 fathoms Lange 1 RM ... 

Wait, I recall one of the WatchProSite members said he might want to own EIGHT Octo-Finissimos. Was that you? I can't wait to get my titanium one on my wrist!

In my opinion if you have 2 watches or +100 you have a collection. Doesn’t matter if it’s one brand or one complication in my opinion. As long as you enjoy the passion of collecting your a collector 😏

A lot of people collect a single brand, or even a single watch model. However, I'm generally in favor of adding diversity through different brands and complications. I'm currently in the minority here with only one watch, and I do think having only one wa... 

I have found a temporary answer: each time I look at a new watch, I convince myself that my mini collection covers all bases and that I do not need another one - Audemars Jules chrono (dress day to day) - Rolex OP 39 (more sporty, at ease both swimming in... 

Enjoy what you like. No rules. ...  

I can’t call myself a collector to many of the same type as well ...  

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Fram

Trying to reply to Bill's divers.

The way you have these arranged reminds me of the old Star Trek episode “The Trouble With Tribbles”. Your watches appear to be spontaneously reproducing! What a wonderful and impressive collection!!👍

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never knew...so basically your rolex posts were mere diversion ;-) love those Doxa !

Imagine if you're on an airplane and watches start multiplying... That Customs agent is going to wonder what is going on!

And I know you like wine and cars too... Your wine cellar is already tremendous... The garage is overflowing with passion too.

TRF, asking how many watches one needs to earn the right to call oneself a collector... Well, I supported a forum member who suggested: one, provided it has been curated with some level of sophistication, ha ha ha. I suggested one needed to also put toget... 

If there is an explainable logic in what you buy it will become a collection. And then there are perfect collections (i.e. every edition of one model / all editions and models of one brand / all tourbs available)...

...then only wealthy people have collections...the rest of us have watches : )

. . . genres, and eras. The displays taken together are known as its collection. An Arthur Sarnoff Gallery would display works created solely by Arthur Sarnoff. The displays at the Sarnoff (if there is such a Gallery) would also be termed a collection. ...  

They selected me as their keeper for awhile. Most are loved; some tolerated; some on my sh** list. Who cares about these silly definitions? This is my Seiko shelf. The other watches are on separate shelves above or below. Cazalea ...  

& btw i've all reason to show this pic to my wife - i'm still to buy a lot of timepieces isn't it ?! Best, mahesh.,

... and my personal feel is that there are no rules (thanks God!) regarding how to collect but there is a difference between a collection and a simple accumulation of objects of the same type no matter the quantity or quality of objects gathered. That is,... 

I have dozens of ties, but they are certainly an accumulation, not a collection. I can’t imagine ever bothering to be aware of Armani’s latest tie releases, but I excitedly anticipate a new release from FP Journe or Patek, or to learn about a new horologi... 

But that makes me a collector of ties... Can I talk to you about seven-fold ties, eleven-fold ties, how they're constructed, etc.?

... you are a collector of ties. I would love to read a post about ties in our Time Out section. Look forward to that! Best, Abel

I better brush up on my tie knowledge before I make any posts. I still remember when Thomas, Anthony, and Bill read my wine review and told me that I needed to reacquaint myself with the normal terms magazines use to describe wine. I'm now in a wine study... 

... a simple gatherer or a gathering of objects. I feel it is not necessarily to be an expert about the object to be considered a collector but it is the passion (and sometimes obsession) a person develops around the object he chooses, be it pictures, sta... 

It's definitely not easy to define "collector" and "collection" very easily. The study of a collector's mentality and behavior is definitely one for anthropologists to consider with great depth. These anthropologists would have a lot to learn about the be... 

... and pleasurable experience indeed. Regarding collectors, agree with you: I feel historians and anthropologist have been doing researches about this matter as well as psychologists studying collectors. It is such a fascinating subject. Agree with you t... 

Can't wait to travel again!

for me a collection does not need to have a theme but you do need to think of the individual watch in relationship to the whole or it is more of an accumulation. I would be hard pressed to name a simple "theme" but the group is interdependent to the degre... 

... that whole and each fills a place in it. Cheers! Abel

An accumulation would be like a set in set theory--it's simply defined by its constituent members. No more than that. A collection, by contrast, requires *some* internal logic, even if it isn't very clear or precise what that logic is. And we can recogniz... 

Perfect is, if the movement has got an in-house balance spring! I often think that this would be a good theme ...

Besides I really don't care what 'a collector" says anyways. We have 3 cars. I don't collect cars either. If I collected stamps or coins or other passive objects I might heed his advice on variety. Or not.

Let's just collect (or gather, or any other verb) whichever watches we love -- that's the secret to a healthy and happy hobby! Cheers.

I collect watches ,i buy what i like and sometimes its a dial color , case shape , complication etc etc . As long as the watch puts a smile on my face it belongs in my collection

To me it's most important that I really want to wear the watch. I do not by a watch just to own it, but not wear it. I get my pleasure when using the objects. It doesn't matter if it is a car, a watch or something else. I enjoy my watches wearing them, so... 

That may give a person an idea of who I am. When I moved to a small condo a few years ago, I decided that the place should give somebody an idea of who I am. If I pass away and my daughter walks into my little cave, I’d expect her to say something like, “... 

Well said!

approach to collecting. Cheers! Abel

... and it was very interesting to talk and discover their feelings about collecting and the motives which move us to gather things and keep doing it. It has always interested me so much to know that. Best cordial regards, Abel.

Also the Calder Garden at LACMA and the Rodin garden at Stanford. If what you have feels like a collection to you, you have a collection, and nobody should be able to convince you otherwise.

I like it is the best descriptor for what you should have Cheers JML

But to OP’s point, I understand where it’s coming from. Personally though, two or more is a collection for me. There must be something that unifies the two. If anything else, the quirks of the wearer.

We here on WatchProSite accept any and all members. With a collection of zero pieces to hundreds. I still remember the amazing community and how accepting they were when I first joined as a green grasshopper.

My watch collection consists of whatever I want. For some that may focus on a brand, a type of watch, recognizable icons. Personally, I want a limited number of pieces that I thoroughly enjoy. Excess pieces just to fill out some sense of scope or diversit... 

I define "collecting" pretty broadly. It requires a combination of a state of mind and physical acts. The state of mind is any sort of passion or interest. That passion or interest might be aesthetic, it might be technical, it might be historic, etc. It d... 

You can obviously be an *enthusiast* of something while owning just one of them--in fact, you can just as obviously be an enthusiast of something without owning any of them! But to be a collector requires possessing a collection, and a collection means a ... 

Sometimes I wish for more focus, like you mention around a specific theme or even brand. But it’s never been like that for me, I acquire what I like and what I will wear and that range is very very broad. I disagree that a collection needs to represent a ...