Buying your next watch - Part 1 of 2

As a watch collector we are always wondering about the satisfaction with what we own, where we stand with the collection, whats the next watch might be, our grail watch and when do I get my next piece. I do envy the person who is satisfied with one watch or the state of their collection. But that is not who I am. With growing knowledge and evolving taste, I feel the constant need to explore and edit my collection on a regular basis. This particular write up is aimed at the process of buying a next piece, the way I see it and how I go about the process. I think there might be some commonality because I tend to see and/or hear collectors often confess that they learnt the most about collecting during their early purchase days. This is a two part article with items 1-5 covered in Part 1 and items 6-8 covered in part 2. 


"The way I see it, the intent with any collecting journey is to keep regret to the minimum, satisfaction to the maximum and contentment above all."  - themainspringer

Yes, the "Cherry Blossom" has not left my wrist

1. The analog of watch collecting (what is your driver?)

A watch is not really much of an item today, unless of course you have a smart watch. Gone are the days when you needed a watch to tell the time. Today it is a fitness tracker, a notification tool, meant to glance at emails, pick up or make a call. Furthermore, time is almost ubiquitous, you can find it on your microwave, range, TV, smart speaker, phone and almost any gadget around you. And yet no one really has much time left to pursue passions. That's where watch collecting comes in. Similar to listening to vinyl or people who love a film camera, there is something so simple and analog about a watch. To know that the precision of time is being maintained by a machine that was created by artisans with spring and gears and is powered only by mechanical energy is truly a marvel. I appreciate the idea of keeping time with an analog watch. Don't get me wrong, I love a good G-shock watch with its toughness, durability and "anything can do" attitude. By I romanticize the timekeeping of an analog watch. And that is why I collect them. I appreciate the history and I appreciate a good story that goes with the watch, whether it has to do with its origin or someones personal history of owning it. 
It is important to understand why you are pursuing this hobby and uncover the reasons for the deep rooted love. This keeps us grounded and going back to the basics if we get carried away and believe me that happens more often than not. 

2. Knowing your taste, what u like vs. what u feel u like

I just asked the single biggest question of all. If you know the answer to this and your response hasn't changed in 20 years I applaud you. But for most collectors that is not the case. I feel older collectors just had this aspect of taste much clearer and refined in their heads. With the lack of social media these people went in search of knowledge, fell in love naturally and found their inner desires unleashed. But if you were to ask me today, I still have doubts about weather an idea is truly mine or if a social media parade changed my thinking just enough to make me feel something different. For a long time I romanticized chronographs and manual movement watches. However from a practicality stand point, the lazy person that I am, I actually do not like wearing manual wind watches and for some reason the aesthetics of a chronograph that speaks to me in a picture does not feel the same on my wrist. There is really no way of me uncovering these feeling without really exploring different watch styles. I sill own some manual wind watches because when I wear them I truly love them but I really have limited it to a few pieces and go for automatic watches these days. Again, will I never ever by a chronograph? I don't know. Tastes evolve over time. Brand you never though you might like do something amazing. It is good to keep an open mind. But it is even more important to take the time and effort to understand what is it that you truly like to wear everyday. Remember you are going to stare at this watch everyday it graces your wrist. What does it take to be content when you look at your wrist? 

3. The constant buying, selling and trading game

The more you learn the more your tastes might change, preferences on what complications may vary and you start to realize what you really want. These articles are also in most cases aspirational and expensive purchases so one often liquidates an older watch in the intent of funding a newer one. Such is the nature of the game. I have over the years bought and traded over a dozen watches before I stated to get clearer on what I need from my collection. My reasons to trade watches I bought ranged from a whole lot of novice mistakes. Not buying what I love, impulse purchases, not reading the descriptions clearly, buying a watch because others told me to, getting swayed by articles,etc., I have done a major portion of them. However I learnt from those mistakes. Today the last thing I do is buy a watch the next day or even the next week. Price is sometimes not the issue. I really consider if a watch is needed in my collection or when I might wear it. Even if it is a $50 seiko or g-shock, I don't get it because I can. This is really in an effort to minimize the cycle of trading existing watches because invariably, within the price range that I am interested in, my purchases seldom appreciate in value so I normally loose money. Delayed gratification is weirdly the best concept that has worked for me. This gives me time to truly understand where my next piece would fit in my collection, make sure it isn't redundant and adds value to my collection according to my personal metrics. 

4. Know your brands/models and study the market

Ok so you have decided on a watch, Seiko, Oris, Rolex, Patek...it doesn't matter. One might wonder what is the value in studying the brand or the market? I always encourage people to dive in to more that just the appearance of the watch. These brands, every brand has a storied history about how they grew, iconic watches and personalities who wore them. Its great to dig into this history to truly understand the brand. Every watch brand through its time has dealt with time of crisis as well as incredible spurt of creativity and beautiful designs through their history. This process really helps one connect with the watch they are interested in and get more insight into the brand. As far as the market is concerned some people when looking at an expensive watch tend to also look at how well the item holds its value. I do not discourage that. Everyone has a different motivation and when one choses to spend that kind of money on a watch I think it is necessary to understand what you get for it. It is good to look at the pricing of different models, how they changed over time and what they re-sell for in the secondary market. The cost on e-bay vs dealers may also help save some money but there is a word of caution that I will cover in the next section. This really helps you from having buyers remorse and truly understand what you are in for ahead of time in case you hope to trade the watch at a later date. 

5. Knowing your price/budget and think the plan through
Remember that watch collecting is a hobby. Yes for some it can be a serious hobby bordering on obsession but in the grand scheme of things the needs outweigh the wants. Be wise about your budget and what you can afford. Have the budget in place before you start looking for a watch. On one had this can help narrow down the brands and the models you might like to focus on. On the other hand if your mind is set on a higher priced watch wait it out and save for the piece. When we get feverish about the want of a watch, we rationalize ourselves into a corner. The prices might go up or this deal will not last or what if it gets sold out? The one thing I have noticed is I enjoy the piece extensively when I truly do save up for the piece. Most watch brands and models are always available on the market. It is very unusual that a piece runs out unless it is a limited run of less than 500 pieces or it is a rarer vintage model. But in the case of a modern watch typically there really is no shortage of commodity so let this not be a reason to shortcut saving for the watch. In this era if instant gratification it almost feels correct to wait and savor the experience of purchasing a watch just saving for it over time. 
When you are factoring in cost keep in mind aspects such as taxes etc. in your budget. When the cost of the watch is high, the taxes associated with it can also be a good chunk of change. In you are buying a watch at an auction site they typically can add on a buyers premium to the item. If on the other hand you are going for a piece of eBay, remember condition, authenticity and service histories are typically unknown. This can be especially true for a vintage watches where unless you have been thorough in your research you might not know if the watch has the correct hands, bezel, crown or dial. This is where I particularly insist that one does their research. I just recently purchase a 70 year old watch on eBay for dollar X and it looked great external with really great patina. However that watch had not been serviced in 70 years so I then spent twice the purchase price on servicing because it needed a new mainspring and a complete overhaul. That is the risk one might run into with vintage watches. 

So thats part 1. Read these tips, digest them and keep an eye out for part 2. If you have any comments in the items listed so far, do let me know.