Horological Meandering

Lately I´ve been thinking a lot about consolidating my collection to release some funds to be able to buy my grail watch which is a Rolex Explorer 1016. While my current collection status is not unmanageable by any means (currently we are talking about 26... 

especially if it is to buy a grail. A watch being rare or irreplaceable is not a good enough reason to keep it. You have to love it. And if you do, don't sell it. But if you merely like a watch, definitely sell it to help finance a grail. I feel I have to... 

I am still on the fence between 1-2 pieces but more or less I know which ones will leave my collection. In the end it is all about one loving a certain watch or not, for the personal collection terms like "rarity" or "desirability" are overrated IMHO.

I’ve somehow the same challenge, but I’m giving watches that I almost don’t wear anymore to my children ( only the ones they like). And that is irrespective of the watches value , so not making money off them, just giving enjoyment). As long as someone en... 

seems like every watch guy is in this exact situation sooner or later... Well, my daughter is still a toddler so giving watches to her is not an option (yet) but I am working for a very fine collection I can share with her one day, I am already working on... 

It actually feels good. No regrets. Never looked back. Personally , I’d do it.

and I have certain watches with sentimental value attached to them (heirlooms, gifts, etc.) but I will try to make some room in the collection for the aspirational watch that I have been dreaming about for so long...

Otherwise, you’ll forever be thinking about it. And what with how time passes, aging and all…there really is no time like the present. In fact, there’s a perfect specimen out there as we speak (and no, I’m in no way affiliated or associated). Best of luck... 

next year is my 40th Birthday so that would be a great target for a consolidatet collection with a new "milestone" watch added for the anniversary in form of the 1016.

...If I were a billionaire, I'd buy a $20M Ferrari and daily drive it to the grocery store : ) Why not?

...btw, sometimes I see a fairly well-known older multi-billionaire at a local grocery store. He chats with everyone and does his own shopping. He usually drives a Camry Hybrid : )

I have a few that are worn less ffrequently than some of the others. I could sell them, reduce the size of the collection, and add a piece that would see considerable wrist time. Right now my biggest fear is "sellers remorse". What I probably will do is s... 

but so far I have not regretted a single watch sale in the past and I am not planning to rush anything, the consolidation of my collection will be a process over many months and I hope the addition of my dream watch will outweigh the departure of some les... 

I've done that a couple of times over the years of collecting and never regretted it. I haven't had the guts for a *major consolidation* where I cut things down so far that it seriously changes the scope of the collection. But, like you, when I get up in ... 

Selling everything for 1 ultra high end watch is out of question for me as I like a bit of variety and I also have a bit of a "collection" in the classical sense in my watch box around a certain brand/theme - I have for example 3 Polerouters that I don´t ... 

I found myself with a collection of about 25, but have sold off about half over the last 2-3 years, with more to go. It was the realization that about 75% of those watches were never being worn that moved me to start selling. I do have sellers remorse ove... 

Well played 👏🏻

my thoughts exactly. My watch collection is never static and always evolving, with some "fixed" core pieces and watches with sentimental value.

...I'll likely never have the $ for mine (just my luck to not love less expensive watches), but if I only had to sell a few of my current watches, I'd do it in a heartbeat...

You’ll need a really good, trusted service outlet at some point that can help preserve a vintage watch like that and not destroy it in the process.

This is indeed something to consider. I am, however, very very lucky to have a very good watchmaker at hand who is specialized in vintage watches - he has even serviced watches for me with bad parts availability like multiple Universal Geneve Microrotor M... 

to get squares, you have to give squares. Unless one is rolling in dough, we're in the same position with watches. It's gone both ways for me. I've been delighted with getting something I'd wanted for a while and don't really miss the pieces I sold. I've ... 

I was offered a 37mm Simplicity by the manufacture directly but at a very elevated price. I thought long over it because this would mean sacrifices and compromise. In the end I did not proceed with the offer because I think I will enjoy the other watches ... 

sellers remores or buyers remorse, I guess we will always have live with one of these two things either way.

I am in the same process, I already sold a good ten watches, in order to get two. One recently caught, the other before this summer. But for this second one, I will probably have to sell two or three more watches. Both of these two are watches I am runnin... 

You have only two wrists so if you want to give every watch a fair amount of time where you actually wear the thing then the amount of watches in a collection is limited. Of course there are watches with sentimental value and some watches that are the cor... 

but after selling most of the "OK but not great" watches I will shift down the tempo a bit and only try to buy less but better watches for a more upscale collection. On the other hand "hunting and flipping" can also be fun just for the sake of the wearing...