Staying focused in watch collecting

Avoid distractions, go for the long term game instead

Watch collecting in 2023 is probably more fun than ever. There are what feels like a trillion different brands in different price categories, a ton of great content and information across platforms like Youtube, Instagram, Podcasts etc, and there are great communities on Instagram, Watchcrunch and countless other forums. For this reason it’s easy to stay informed on the world of watches, but also hard to stay focused on your personal watch goals. I hope this blog can help you to filter out the noise and to follow your inner-voice and find meaningful purpose in time pieces.

We want stability

A big topic in watch collecting is the idea of emotional connection to watches. There are countless interviews in which collectors talk about a special watch that was passed on to them by a loved one. These often bashed up, vintage watches hold no financial value, but can become priceless through the stories they carry with them: all the adventures, ups and downs, and milestones in one's life. In the past, people had a completely different approach to consuming products. They bought a watch and often kept it for a lifetime. The watch became an essential part of the person, an object so closely tied to them. Fast forward to 2023 and this sounds like a fairy tale. Products are designed to fail after a few years, and platforms that dominate the web come and go every 10 years. It's a fast-moving world, and this is one of the reasons for the current fascination with mechanical watches. They are built to last and give the impression of stability. 

Social Media and distraction

Social media challenges the idea quite a bit. I started my Instagram channel, "never_watchless" in May of 2022 and was at times overwhelmed by the amount of fascinating watches I came across. The platform is a great place to learn about horology and to connect with watch enthusiasts around the globe. It's definitely a great source of knowledge and ideas, but at the same time, it can be an overflow of input that leads you astray from your own path of watch collecting. The challenge comes with staying true to your ideas while being distracted by all kinds of watches online. They often might have amazing value for money propositions, but are they worth it? Are they keepers?

Rewarding with dopamine highs

It's understandable that it's difficult to stay focused on long-term goals. We are surrounded by small dopamine triggers such as unhealthy food, social media, and impulse purchases. All of these are designed to get our dopamine high, which feels pretty good on a short-term level but eventually makes us feel dull and empty, looking for the next kick. Translated to watch collecting, we could try to make a statement along the lines of: "In training ourselves to stick to our long-term plans, the collection ends up being more meaningful. Every time we fight off the impulse of 'I want something new,' it's a little victory, which paves the way for the original bigger goal, financially as well as psychologically."

The test of time

There is no rush. We have time and there is no need to purchase another watch. Most of us enthusiasts already own multiple pieces, which means everything new is just another non-essential item in our possession. It's crucial not to mix up wants with needs. This happens all the time. It may feel like we need a GMT watch, but if we're hardly ever traveling between time zones, it's clearly a want and not a need. To avoid instant gratification and make a habit of delaying our wants, is a good practice in collecting. Our mind becomes calmer, and the frequency of getting excited about everything we see slows down significantly. With this approach, our choices will have more value. Taking time to think about a purchase is key to making the right decision. After the initial excitement, the desired watch often loses its magic and ends up being just another watch. We don't want just another watch, we want THE watch. Having a few weeks or even months to consider a purchase before making a final decision is a sign of being in control of our impulses. It's possible to find almost every desired watch a few times a year. There is a great video by Andrew Morgan from "Watchfinder & Co", and his new YouTube channel, "Talking Hands", in which he says: "You just want to make sure that you give yourself the time to purchase the watch that's right for you and not just react on an impulse." Let's keep this in mind.

Make a watch your watch

Like with a partner or a good friend, the significance of a relationship to a watch grows with time. There might be a honeymoon phase, but only months and years will reveal if a person is meant to be on your side for a lifetime. This is a pretty similar situation when it comes to collecting watches. There might be some interesting pieces worth trying out, but they will not last long in your collection, while others are meant to stay there for a lifetime. Both are fine - it's important to try out different things. The value of a watch with memories attached to it is on the other side incomparable - no matter how much you paid for it. Every time you put it on, you get reminded of all the adventures it inspired and the moments that came with it. That's why it's important to wear your watch a lot and to have it accompany you on your wrist as a quiet observer of life.

Less is more

Collecting watches is a personal matter. Everybody has to figure out for themselves how many watches are in fact too many watches. Here is where the topic of downsizing comes in. You just have one wrist, so let's be honest, there's no way to develop a deep emotional connection with 25 different pieces. All of us have a different approach to the hobby and what I am trying to highlight here is the importance of the emotional bond we are all looking for in a timepiece. Gaining this bond takes time and will possibly not happen with every watch we have on our list. It might suck to be honest with ourselves about this, but in my opinion, the true value in collecting watches lies within building a true and deep emotional connection with every single piece you own - it's about the stories they tell us whenever we take a glance at our wrist.