Watches

I still find watches hugely intriguing but I'm becoming increasingly unengaged with the 'scene'. Despite wearing one for decades, I'm now completely out of love with Rolex (and all the credit surfing fanbois in London) and I'm now looking for something more interesting (that doesn't happen to be a lot more expensive) daily driver is a Brietling B50 Night Mission and I'm on the hunt for a Carbotech Panerai.

I think you simply crack the dynamic after a while: with almost all watches the novelty just wears off. What scratches the itch is different for different people but the conclusion is the same: You know the brands and the models already, you know what you can afford, and you know what you like. New (or new to you) watches just feel unnecessary. Embrace it, the alternative is the rat race :)

I haven’t bought a watch in 15 years but I really like the ones I have. Wearing my Blancpain Fifty Fathoms I bought in ‘99 right now.

Yes, I've definitely lost interest. Now that I don't buy/sell like I used to, I have less fun inspecting and hunting. Doesn't take away the enjoyment I get from wearing my watches, but I do realize that the hunting/buying/selling was a large part of the enjoyment for me.

I found my perfect watch and since my son was born, I’ve found many more hobbies and things to do with my money than dump it in a box of watches that tell the time. I still enjoy watches, and like a good conversation about them, but find it unnecessary to keep spending on them. Nowadays I like to spend my time (and watch money) with my kid doing active stuff instead, biking etc.

Yes and no. I reached a point where I'm super happy with my current collection and I won't be adding any new watches for a few years. So purchase side of watch collecting is behind me.

BUT the romance of watches for me has been around the concept of wearing my watches through events of my life and being able to say 'this watch has been there with me during that time'. So I'm getting more focused on that now. Living a fulfilling life that's worth remembering and having proper watches from the collection on wrist for it.

I guess if we had to think of it in terms of reddit subs, I transitioning my life from r/Watches to r/ActionWatches.

This is no hobby. Its a marketing ploy

Yeah, I got really into it for a few months, but now I’m totally over it and have been slowly selling off my collection. It’s honestly more convenient to just wear my smart watch than anything analog.

my interest in watches started roughly one year before the pandemic and still goes on strong. honestly i feel very lucky dipping in this hobby. it made my life much more colorful than before. spending time in this very community and forums like watchuseek is always a relaxing experience for me.

I was the same about 7/8 years ago when my income shrank after being into watches for about 10 years. Over the last few years as finances have improved I’m back into buying but much more selective as to what my money goes in especially as things are a whole lot more expensive than in the 00’s and 10’s.

You feel like you do but then you walk into a boutique or shop and you are back just like that! Hehe

I have found my interest in the hobby has changed rather than abated.

When I first got into it I went mad and bought every thing I could, then realised that was stupid and got rid of a load of them. Then I decided that having a few good watches was the way to go, then got bored saving up for them. I now do a lot of browsing on AliX for homages and I can spend hours finding the gems. I can usually get one a month from there and it’s a much cheaper hobby. Lots of fun too as I got over the “I must have a Rolex or Speedy” hype train.

I am also really into micro brands as that is where all the innovation and interesting stuff is. Usually for not much money.

I wouldn't say losing interest is the right word. Its the same with any hobby. Sometimes Im really into movies, then I enter a slump, same with books and video games.

With watches Im ok with not buying a bunch, and don't really want anymore except a dress piece. What I like is seeing other people's collections, and different content. And sometimes I don't even feel like watching that

Count yourself lucky that you can slow down from the rat race of collecting and settle into enjoying ownership.

The problem with a lot of Reddit subs is that people "hobbyfied" things that aren't hobbies! Whether its here, or r/castiron, or whatever.

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Watches are jewelry, you like them? you buy them and wear them. I just find the whole "watch buying journey" and "whats a good starter watch, how should I move up", etc to be such a weird mentality.

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Buying watches is not a hobby, the same way that maintaining your pan isn't a hobby. Don't think of it as such.

Buying watches is like 10% of the hobby for me. One can be an enthusiast without actually owning anything.

I am. Now that my watch collection is mostly complete, I stare at it and wonder what else I could've done with all the money I threw at it, by now totals to 150k USD spent (in total, including ones I sold over time) in the span of a year and a half.

It's nice to be able to pick the watch I fancy depending on mood, but I mean...I just bought a Kawasaki Ninja 650 for less than the cost of one of my watches, and it is INFINITELY more entertaining.

Like you, I started watch collecting during the pandemic. The watches I have, I cherish...but in hindsight, it was quite ham-fisted. As far as priorities go, I've been re-evaluating for sure. Still, I'm most likely going to keep what I have, and leave it at that.

Not me. I keep reading as much as I can, attending events, and keep adding to my 400+ collection. Interest can certainly ebb and flow, but if you're really hooked, you're hooked.

when I had extra time on my hands

I see what you did there.

Seriously though...for me, I love watches, always have. There are so many beautiful watches out there and I keep learning more about them, I can't imagine getting bored with it. I will never be wealthy enough to own all of the watches I would love to own, so I suppose that helps keep the dream alive.

Unfortunately every time I say I am done buying new watches for the year...BACK DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE we go.

Watch collecting is a lot like wine collecting. In the beginning, everything looks great and you buy stuff that you shouldn’t. After time, you learn what you like and focus your $$ on that.

It ebs and flows for me...kind of on a high right now. Selling/buying...just regulated two of my watches.

I feel like i lose interest in stuff when i feel like I’ve absorbed most of what there is out there. I’m trying to be a bit more responsible with how often i get watch stuff and enjoy what i have. I’ll probably end up shifting back to my usual stuff by next year and focus less on this stuff. we’ll see.

I miss having disposable income 😂

It's a self fulfilling cycle , ppl get tired of their awesome watches and sell them on the gray market for other enthusiasts to enjoy who then die and relatives go on Reddit to ask if they are worth anything.

I started in a similar fashion. I wouldn't say that I've lost interest though. I've found what kind of watches I like and I started to narrow my scope towards them. For example, when I started, I thought I needed different styles of watches. Then I saw some of those watches collect dust as I gravitated towards ones I actually wore. It's always healthy to take a break, enjoy what you have, and then add/replace as you see fit.

I have slowed down a lot, but I have also gotten a couple if my grails, so...

It’s not a hobby but consumerism. I’d say it’s only a hobby if you’re making the watches or actively trading them. Just buying and wearing watches isn’t a hobby.

Interests comes and goes. I've been buying watches for 30 years. I bought a lot when I was yuoung; before I was married and had kids. Like when you can walk into a Rolex AD and walk out with a brand new Submariner for $2500.
Then I had kids. Then the kids had expensive private school. Then college funds. Then sports.

I did not buy watches for 10+ years. Now I am older and I have a lot more disposable income. Wife got interested in the moonswatch. Even the kids. And now I am back. I spent over $30K in the last year on watches. So I guess you can say I am back in the game and I'm hunting for an Ed White 321 Speedmaster and Panda Daytona.

So, yeah if you asked me 5 years ago, I would have said eh, whatever, I have enough watches.

I got sick of being a serial flipper. I owned and flipped about 75 watches in a 10 year period and I came to realize, it never ends. Many of them were multiple thousands of dollars, average was about one thousand. I decided to be happy with a comparatively very modest-priced collection of five watches. I’m not necessarily done forever, but I’m done treating reselling and depreciation as no big deal, because if you do it enough, it adds up to a ton of hassle and money wasted. And I may very well be done with spending thousands on any one watch.

I think I’m okay spending a lot of time on looking and reading about watches but I don’t “need” to own watches to have the joy of the hobby.

My wife and I do very well for ourselves earning over $550k per year but the thought of spending $5-10k on a watch does make me a bit weary. I’ll spend $1k on a weekend golf trip, or $3-5k going to a college basketball tournament out of state but the materialistic view of a watch has me hesitating. My wife has a nice rolex datejust that was ~$15-20k but she got it well before we married and now that we are together I don’t think she’d ever buy another.

My most expensive watch was $400. It does what to want it to do. Maybe one day I’ll get another more expensive watch but for now I’m content looking and not buying

I still love watches but since I bought a luxury watch I only want to use it, the other day I bought the Citizen Tsuyosa and I come back to my Cartier Santos, Rolex DJ41 and my Tudor BB S&G then I don’t want to buy another watch because I only use these 3 watches

I got out of watches and into working on my car.

So, weirdly enough, a casio A168 was my exit watch (for now!)

It’s ok to cycle between hobbies. Enjoy what you learned from watch collecting. Maybe someday you will come back to it

Maybe because it isn’t a hobby…

God I wish.

If you're not building, or fixing watches, this is not a "hobby". Just buying things is plain consumerism.