Horological Meandering

While I'm currently a little more on the quantity side of things, I'm working slowly towards a transformation to quality along. In a perfect world, I'm a three watch person with one dress watch, one tool watch, and one wildcard/changing watch.

Dress, tool, and a wildcard! That sounds like a great plan!

NT

NT

But in reality, I have been fortunate enough to start with the watch I wanted the most as my first watch. And then another one I really wanted. And then another and another. I never thought I would have more than one. And I never intended to spend a certa... 

We have something in common! I started my collection with the watch I wanted most as my first watch. And then many many years later I got another one I really wanted. And then somehow, the past couple of years became a blur of acquiring and acquiring.

But probably not straightforward unless one starts off with a fixed budget, fixed number of watches to own, and/or a min or max price of a single piece. It is probably something to think about after we accumulated a certain number of watches, after we gai... 

And I ask the ones with large collections... what will you do? Will you give it to your sons and daughters one day? Do your kids want to inherit dozens of watches? Or would they prefer to just have a few each? I'm starting to like the one or two super dup... 

As with a lot of things in life, there is no universal answer. It really depends on individual personality and inclination. Personally, I'm more inclined towards minimalism, and have somehow managed to keep within 5 watches for the past 15 years. The temp... 

But I have to say... When I was limited to just a few pieces (limited by time, money, number of dealerships in the local area) I was very happy. And I only bought pieces that I could not live without. And now that I have been buying more pieces slightly l... 

.... And it's right there in your reply! This watch collecting thingy must ultimately make us happy. My eyes gleam when I wind mine. My wife thinks I'm nuts....

But our eyes gleam when we wind some high quality watches with a great haptic feedback.

I find myself wearing and usually traveling with a core group of 4-5 watches. I rarely wear dress watches anymore and I have let some go. I’ve also let go several vintage watches because I simply wasn’t wearing them because they weren’t fitting my lifesty... 

My core group is down to 1-2 watches. With safety issues, I don't keep much at home. The "famous" and recognizable pieces are all in the bank. Sadly... it's not prudent to wear a Patek Philippe nor a Rolex in my neighborhood. The criminal element unfortun... 

This eventually led me to a collection of around 40 watches. I could instead have focused on one quarter of that number with much more coveted or rarified show pieces but I would have lost out on the thing I enjoy most: variety. As it is, I don't wear mos... 

I'm one of those people who find comfort in the familiar. For lunch, I make a phone call, I say my name and "the usual" and the staff knows what I want. Rarely do I order something else. For nearly ten years, I pretty much stuck to one watch - the first w... 

I admire anyone who can hold fast to a single watch. There is so much connection implied and this is a quality of experience that's lost in the fast-and-loose culture we live in today. I salute you!

But more recently, I've got many many watches. For a decade, I lived with primarily one watch. But somehow in the past two years, the collection has exploded again. But even today, I'd still say my primary watch is just one watch - a Bulgari Octo Finissim...