Watches

I bought way too many "high-end" watches in the mid 2000's that are now considered " grossly" oversized. Does anyone remember from 2005 to 2012, where a conservative watch size was 45 mm? I do. Does anybody want to buy vintage brietlings, omegas? Thier vintage!

Modded watches. I got a bb58 homage (seiko dial with nh35) and small things kept going wrong on it. Dial came loose, hands got caught, etc. I got it on a trade for a fancy chefs knife, and I traded it for a cue case. But never again

I would avoid buying cheap watches. It is better to own just one perfect watch than 10 watches where you are happy 90% of the way. Just a single tiny point of discontent would take away most of the enjoyment of owning a watch. So just save up and buy an expensive watch where everything will be perfect.

Breitling B01 Premier. Really liked the watch and it was a great “deal” (25% off), but it wasn’t what I truly wanted and I bought the deal. Wish I’d waited for something I liked more, like a zenith or JLC. It’s also just a bit big for my wrists.

Any micro brand watches that I bought before I realized that they are just fashion watches with an automatic movement instead of a quartz movement.

Bought not one, but 2 G-shocks.

I got a all black G-Shock and then thought it would be a good buy to get a Green and Red background G Shock............

Can't see them for crap at night.

I impulse bought a Seiko Starlight I found on eBay a couple years ago. It being limited edition, FOMO got the best of me, but I’ve almost never worn it. The dial is incredible, but it’s just not really my taste anymore.

Dropping 30k on my first watch. Should have listened to others saying to hold off.

IWC Mark XVIII. I bought it online without having tried it on in person. The long lugs bothered me more than I thought they would. I sold it, and now I make a point of trying a watch on in person before I think about buying it.

None, I like older watches and I buy them for dirt cheap at thrift stores so if and when I do want to sell them I'm making profits.

1. Any watch that was a substitute for the watch I actually wanted.
2. Panerai (PAM 104) bought it when big was trendy and cool, and now they are everywhere … like a upper-middle class Rolex replacement for guys who want to look masculine
3. Should have stopped at 1 MoonSwatch, bought 13
4. Cheap watches I thought it would be cool to wear; while they were cheap it was just wasted money … was never going to select the Mr. Jones watch over the Rolex or Omega to actually wear.
5. Specific occasion watches. Spent big on a formal watch and now I don’t have enough places I can wear it. Great watch but cost-per-wear is not good.

I had a Timex chronograph red wing edition in gray. It was always slow and even when I changed the time, it would take a few days before it was slow again.

Some watches were too big or too heavy. That’s most of my regret.

Love my DJ41 though. Light and stunning

Being a bit older, I realised my taste continued to evolve. also my budget increased over time. With a few exceptions I only bought luxury brands, higher up the food chain, mostly Omegas. I almost only buy pre-owned full sets and mostly in online auctions meaning I rarely if ever overpay. Most but not all are popular iterations of e.g. a Moonwatch or various Seamaster versions, easy. I can flip any of my pieces (and do, currently have 3 for sale) and the key to making this hobby fun for a long time is being a good a price. The last 3 years I made money on every watch I sold, but it got harder this year and watches take time to sell. So in summary: think about what you want to buy and why, then buy at a good price. Right now it is turning into a a bit of a buyers market again so I am trying to liquidate pieces that are not essentially to my collection (mostly Tudor and vintage Omega Seamaster from 1950).

Recently a Sinn 556a rs, I realized I don't like the red seconds, it simply doesn't work for me and I can't unsee it when I look at it.

Ming copper w/ universal bracelet. Just did not at all live up to the pictures and videos. Won’t buy another Ming again; I realized it was largely an overhyped microbrand.

I once bought a triple date moonphase Oris in 42mm. But I have roughly 17cm wrists. It was simply too big for me. Sold it at a great loss

If you don't have money to make mistakes I found a watch I wanted when I was ten years old, made do with one Seiko my entire adult life and when I retired 54 years later bought the one watch I wanted since I was ten. So glad to have finally got a Speedy no regrets relying on my Seiko to get me there.

I had SOME regret buying the Seiko SPB143. It was so good on paper, but the alignment issues, it was running outside of spec before I regulated it, it felt big and heavy on the wrist...it just didn't feel like a $1000+ for me. I paid 900, so I wasn't so sore...but had I waited a few more months the prices would have dropped to $650-700 and I would have felt better.

I bought a Nomos Club for $1100 and THAT is what a $1000+ watch should feel like. Just absolutely lightyears ahead of seiko for the same price point. The customer service from Nomos was incredible.

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edit: Also a Hamilton Khaki Mechanical, cool watch but the mainspring broke instantly and because Jomashop handles the warranty you have to mail it to them and deal with them. Huge pain in the ass

https://preview.redd.it/c9g2c8sk83xb1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4d134406a2bf123c27a198fdbf5ffda568bce1f

I bought this 1983 Seiko 7a48 for the funk factor on Ebay several years ago. It was very cheap, excellent external condition, but the chrono function was not working properly. My intention was to have it fixed up or do it myself, but I never got around to it and it still sits there today in an unworking state. I still like the weirdness of it, but the integrated bracelet is awful!

I disagree with some of the comments about Swatch watches. I’ve had several watches from that brand for many many years. Same thing with my mom. They have a lifetime warranty for the battery replacement. I actually have one of the silicone strap watches that I use daily!

Also I find that wearing metal watches during cold weather (🇨🇦) can make me feel cold unless I wear it on top of my sleeve so there’s no skin contact.

100% the Omega MoonSwatch. I love Omega, probably my favorite brand. I also love space, and in theory (marketing), I loved the idea of a unique watch for each planet. Seemed like an inexpensive way to add an interesting piece.

I don't remember what I spent, but I think it was $1,000 at the height of the price gouging.

I was instantly disappointed with the quality. I don't know what I was thinking. I tend to like heavy weighted automatic watches. This is a super lightweight (plastic) quartz movement.

I bought the Saturn cause I thought it just looked the most unique. And most of my watches are SS and / or black, so I thought brown would be a nice alternative,

All that being said. I'd actually buy another. Like the black or grey ones. As a beater watch if I could get one for less than 250

The first re-do of the Longines Legend Diver, no date. Too big but so handsome.

Rggret is maybe a bit OTT but I'm on the fence about my two tone rolex.

It's just too flash for every day use. Between getting mugged, my job working with children I don't feel I can wear it that often. It's limited to weddings and parties really.

However I don't regret it because it's nearly tripled in price. If it had stayed the value or gone I probably would though.

I wear an omega everyday and kids ask me if it's a rolex, I say no, they have no follow up Qs.

I had a 15-spot box full of $800-$1500 watches. I sold 90% of them and bought a JLC polaris chrono. Now I am definitely a quality-over-quantity guy.

I bought a Pepsi 16710 - was recently serviced, unpolished and bezel had started to fade giving it a really unique colour. It photographed well and I was looking for a statement piece to add to my collection. The reason i regret it is because I don’t like date windows and especially not cyclops but i thought I would get over it finding such a treasure.

It lasted about 3 months until i sold it - ended up losing some money too which made it even worse. The regret wasn’t losing the money though it was not listening to my own set of rules/preferences when it came to watches and fell into the flex/hype of it.

Steinhart Ocean One 39 Starbucks. It’s a quality watch, I wear it semi-frequently, and it’s even a consistent compliment getter. But it’s homage and that’s all it’ll ever be. The last remnant of my “Rolex is amazing” beginner phase. I could have gotten the same value at a much lower price for a small dip in quality.

I’ve pretty much moved to over to smaller, vintage, and gold-toned pieces and for the money I spent on that Steinhart brand new I could have gotten 2-3 nice watches in my collection. Only reason I haven’t sold it is because it’s my last stainless sports watch and I figure it’s always good to have at least one.

Not really a mistake but: Garmin Instinct 2

I wear it more often than my lovely analog ones. Which is a complete shame.

swapping watch right now

I bought two Daniel Wellingtons and later found out how they were Chinese watches just with their branding on it for which they were charging way too much money.

Note: This happened before I got into watches…

Currently - I am proud to own a Tissot PRX and the GOATED Casio A168w 😊

Next one I am planning to pick up is the Seiko SRPD51K1 - Always wanted a diver ! ❤️

So, Hublot hooked up with a cigar maker, Arturo Fuente, and produced a watch. They made 100 of said watch in bronze and I own number 50. I'm not a fan of Hublot and I don't smoke cigars, the absolutely stunning watch box that doubles as a humidor is completely lost on me.

I paid $14K for this watch: https://i.imgur.com/FaZFVUn.jpg. I do love it, I think it's stunning, when it catches the light it looks amazing! But, yeah, I'm never going to be able to find another sucker who will pay so much for a watch with an ETA movement.

Seiko Presage Starlight. While the dial photographs well its boring and underwhelming in person. The quality is very poor and the strap is terrible.

Grand Seiko Snowflake. I wish I could put my finger on it but I never bonded with that watch, no idea why. I think about selling it often

seiko Cocktail time with light dial, so so beautiful in photographs, and just hard to read in person, and nowhere near as impressive either. I sold it after a couple of weeks