Horological Meandering

Obviously the most likely reason is that you don't like it anymore. But what if you love all of them?

I guess it would then come down to the reason for selling/thinning down the collection?

if it is financially driven, the obvious choice would be to sell the one that's valued the most or the one that's gaining the most against the cost?

Beyond that, there could be various reasons. For me, I just don't feel right pouring in cash in this environment for new pieces, so I'm trying to force myself to sell some pieces to fund the new acquisition. (I've actually done a lot of that in the past, the only trouble is I would always tell myself that I'll get the new one first and sell the old piece later. Of course, I just never got around to sell that piece and decided later that I'm still in love w/ the old piece... same old story

I've heard people citing the actual wrist time. i.e. Any piece that gets worn less than 5 times within the last 6 months will get sold.

I've also seen people categorizing their pieces and getting rid of excess pieces within the same category

What's your thought?

. . . the first being probably the most reasonable and common, that of raising funds for a more immediately desirable watch. I've also sold a watch because I was replacing it with a more complicated model in the same line, and didn't see a compelling reason to keep two aesthetically similar pieces in the collection. Finally, although I suspect this doesn't really apply to your query, I sold a watch that I'd acquired from a friend because he passed away under tragic circumstances, and didn't want to keep the watch as it would have been a constant reminder . . . cordially, Art

I have this excuse: 'Oh I'll just sell this watch to buy that one...  But the new one is SO rare and desirable that I can't afford to wait and I can always sell the old one later!!!"   Then I'll be too busy to follow thru w/ the sale or realized that I'm still in love w/ the old ones then you know the rest... 

Well in all fairness, my lack of discipline has done more good than harm, at least financially over the last few years...  And to actually execute that diligently is not easy, unless you always put up your pieces at fire-sale price or simply trade w/ the dealer.  

Replacing a watch w/ more complicated model in same line or just different metals makes a lot of sense and I've been adhering to that policy.  It's basically true once the new one with different (presumably more desirable) metals or more complicatiions get in the door, the old one quickly gets forgotten but there're still exceptions.  I guess I'm a slut when it comes to watches. 

As to your last case, I've done something similar:  I bought a watch on Sep 11, 2001.   Sold it shortly after for and actually got accused of being a flipper!!!

 

and when the desire is gone or dissolved by dislikes once having the piece... then it gets shunned to the side for me to sell at a later point in time.. once i fall out of love with the piece.. there is really no turning me back in the short term.. but then occasionally long term i have a desire for the piece again and buy again.. as far as selling the old to get the new... i personally have a fixed maximum i will/can spend on watches and if i want something new then pieces must go to accommodate the funds needed..

i guess i am beyond picky, as there are only 2 pieces to this date that i consider "keepers" and will never leave my sights...i am in the process of contemplating a 3rd... but am unsure at the moment..

i used to think very hard on what to wear, trying to be fair to all the pieces... but now i just have X amount of pieces sitting out and grab my first thought and you can easily tell with this method which are the least popular.. and then after short period of time when a few die down you can tell by the dates displayed that they havent been chosen in some time..

altogether its very complicated and i feel every person has different rhymes or reasons to sell. cant really just adopt someone elses method but maybe can adopt idea's that work....

... what are the 2 watchers that you consider like keepers?

K.

1: AP E series 15202 Blue/Grey dial Jumbo,
-E series has my favorite dial finish and date font
-bluegrey dial almost changes color depending on the light
-movement is sublime
-lack of seconds hand is very mellowing..

2: JLC grande date reverso
-8 day movement is very accurate and a breeze to wind
-reverso case is stunning and also mellowing when back displayed
-big date is easily legible
-blued hands compliment the case material and dial very well

to me they are perfect.. not even one flaw that i can think of..

.... read my post below! Reading u reminded me of something... why not buying it back, once then come out with a refreshed version. Mainly with a bigger case.

K.

but new dials displayed last SIHH and out now/soon...

I buy whatever I sort of liked and rid them when the love disolves.   Mostly I tried to buy it at a decent price so that the potential break-up wouldn't cause me an arm and a leg.    Problem is that:

-I paid too much attention to the resale value and often forgot what really trickles my fantasy.   (Please no dirty joke!)

-I quickly realized that the selling business can easily manifest into a full time job, which doesn't quite make sense to me...

So these days I'm trying to be a lot more discerning and don't normally let myself consumate within 1-2 months of 'falling in love' so it's quite rare that I would fall out of love.  Of course, there're always exceptions!

Intersting point that you have fixed a maximum.    How do you come to the figure?   Do you peg it to a percentage of income or networth?   

The problem for setting a limit is that I realized I'm eyeing more complicated/fancier pieces as I climb up the ladder of horological knowledge so that puny limit that I set quickly became meaningless unless I revise it every other day!    

Each watch I own must make it on to my wrist on a regular basis.  I do not own safe queens, nor sentimental watches that I do not wear.  If I stop wearing it, I ship it out.  If I continue to wear it, I generally keep it.  There are, however, exceptions.  For example, if I acquire something too similar and I cannot justify owning both.

Craig

 

there're various external factors contributing to WTF (Wrist Time Frequency!), at least for me.  

-I keep good portion of my pieces in bank safe.   It's just difficult to get there at times and unless I go there every other day to switch watch, you'll still end up wearing one a lot more than the others...

-I go to the gym a few times a week during work so again, I'm confined to more rugged and water proof watches than fancy complicated piece on expensive alligator straps.   So with your criteria, I should only have 2-3 SS basic watches + another 1 or 2 dress watch in my collection.   The mere thought of that hurts!!!  

Generally I would agree your approach should pretty much identify what you really like or not.   There're certain pieces in my collection that sometimes I'm just reluctant to wear, or I would ONLY wear if I will have a chance during the day to switch.   So for those, it makes sense to pass on and fortunately it's been happening a lot less these days...

... Personally, i had a love story with an AP RO chrono steel. I've been wearing that watch for around 10years. Had other watches, but all came and go, while the AP was always my favourite. After a period were i got tired of it, after 1 year or so, strangely, once that period passed, it was a strong love, and it was like its THE watch for me.

Even more strangely, after 10 years of wearing it, i went through a phase where i started to find interest in other watches, and start to completly loose interest in my AP. I heard of similar love stories, but it was between men and women ... lol

When i sold it, i traded it for a IWC portuguese PC. It felt like a rush of adrenaline, like a young girlfriend, and the old mistress was gone.... Now the weirdest part, is when a couple of month later i saw my watch at my AD, a rush of old memories came back to me in a second. All the good moments, the bad ones, the strong moments it was on my wrist during the past 10 years! I realised it didnt deserve to be sold. I should have kept it in my drawer. But then again, convinced myself it was better to give her a second life then to keep it in a box, as i know myself, when i fall out of love, its almost impossible to reverse the process. ( Learned it from real life experiences )
Now, i have never bought as many watches in such a short time. Like a boulimie, and i still want more !... But that AP will always have a special place in my heart.

Karim

But it really can feel like real relationships.  I've found that once the appeal is gone, or you tend to notice its flaws more often, the piece goes on sale. I've got a bad habit of getting worked up about a small detail I dislike about the watch, and then in almost a split second, decide to sell it since I can't bear thinking about the particularity. It's happened many times in the past, and with a couple of pieces, I later regretted the decision and found exact substitutes for them.

Kind regards,
Fred Bonatto

Except I can afford to be a Valentino in the world of horology whereas in real life, I have no chance! 

There're flaws to all things in life so I can't bear dumping them just because they're flawed!   That's what makes life interesting right?    The key is whether these flaws are something you can tolerate or not.   For me I think a good measure is to always take my time to ponder the decision of getting in or out of a relationship.   Trouble is that it's always a lot quicker me to fall in love!   

Wait, are we talking about watches or women? 

This message has been edited by Jester on 2008-12-14 19:23:09

Actually of all the pieces that I've sold, MOST of my seller remorse stories stem from the AP's.   The design is just SO nice but so bloody similar!   I've bitched to AP that they should be making more interesting complications than just plain old Chronographs!  (Ok, complication that I can afford, as oppposed to those concept piece ok?)    Most of my offshores are chronographs so how can I NOT feel bored!   But thten again they're so nice? 

But then again, you have so many strap choices available that everyday you can have a "different" watch. I know there are also many options available for ROOs but it doesn't seem to be as extensive as Panerai!
Regarding your other reply, one must accept and appreciate the flaws of personal things such as relationships, friends, etc...
Our hobby, for the most part, focuses on perfection and excellence in design (disregarding vintage pieces), so when I purchase the watch that has some inherent design flaw, or serious imperfection on the dial or elsewhere that did not come from regular use, I find it difficult to keep it.

Best regards,
Fred Bonatto

I was really not referring to imperfection.  I would have been very annoyed as well...   

but time in the past - maybe not every incident - but at least many of the significant ones that took place with that timepiece.  that is why i think you should always give someone you love watches.  everytime they look at the watch - which is many times in a day - they will remember you and the time you gave them the piece...

But not less easy to sell some of them.

When you're trying to build a collection, it is difficult to sell one without " breaking " the whole collection.

Example: I build a collection of Diver watches...

I spent many time for that.

Then, I want to sell one of them to fund an important piece to come.

Will I break the homogenity of my collection of Diver Watches?

No, if I upgrade my thematic collection with an exceptionnal piece.

Yes, if I sell it for another thematic, like Chronos, for example, or high horology.

That's the dilemma.

There is no general solution, but only compromises, IMO.

I sold some of my Pre V Panerai pieces to fund some heavy watches ( financially speaking).

I regret a few of them, but I had to turn the page.

Good luck, my friend, this experience is not only painful, it may be very interesting!

Nicolas

 

It's a never ending exercise and more often than not I ended up getting pieces that I didn't really care too much for...   

and a logical one that goes thru me is that if the piece is not getting alot of wrist time..  rather than seeing it being left in the watch box or winder, finding it a new home will put the piece into better use...

the other being, keeping special pieces that commenmorate a special event or history.

of course finally, the acquisition of new pieces will mean that the collection needs to destabilize... lol! and this most of the time is a hard thing but a good "hold back" from buying new pieces.

 

I never really consider my collection in stable condition.  It's always yawning for more!

having both the pvds 4 and 9... and then one gotta to make way for something new... due to fund constraints...

so many watches, so little money syndrome

I buy the watches which trigger my desire and I want to have it on my wrist to really know if it is a keeper for me.
It's kinda like dating
After a few dates, I will know if the watch is the one I want to grow old with.
If not, I will sell.
I want a very minimum collection that will grow old with me but to get these collection, I need to try many watches to really feel for them.
Pictures are not enough.
And lucky for me, my BIL is also a collector. Whatever he has , I try not to have the same. So, in a way, we can share the watches
He is more conservative and intellectual type, so I will go for the risky/challenging ones to keep our small collection exciting ;-)
*CL

you're not typing this with your wife next to you? 

For me I found the selling process tiresome unless I dumped everything to dealer or sell them at fire-sale prices, which inevitably results in a rather significant cost for all these 'trying on' and my wife wouldn't be too impressed with that for sure.

My wife already gave up on me regarding this issue ;-)
I remember I once sold a watch to a very good friend of mine....I have to tell him in adavnce honestly that I have to sell
him the watch with a mark up profit.. I need to impress my wife abit...hahhahaha
It's a balance act. I do agree selling watches that you have fallen out of love is tiresome but if you manage to sell
the watch to someone who truly love it or want to experience it, you may just make yourself another friend.
I have a few rather expensive watches that I bought to try but realise it didn't work for me after a week....I sold to my neighbours and friends (usually outside the watch community)
at cost with zero interest installment plan. Some takes about 2-3 years to pay back, I may lose the opportunity to invest those money
but it gains me some friends and the joy in their eyes having those watches are simply wonderful.
Lovesss*CL

You sell your pieces and offer interest-free financing at the same time?    Have you seen what happened to the US auto industry latey? 

Seriously I'm glad you have so many good friends around you that share your passions.   That's probably a blessing in itself.   Wear your pieces in good health! 

Usually I'd lust after some watch or other and save and scheme until I got it.  Then a few months later it wasn't that interesting any longer and the cycle would being again :-(

I think (fingers crossed) my salvation has come with specialization.  Now I'm committed to one marque and trying to collect significant pieces that represent the history and development of the brand.  That includes pocket watches as well as vintage and modern wristwatches.

Of course I appreciate that specialization for others may be along the lines of avant garde designs, movements, independent watchmakers, etc.  Whatever that is, a unifying theme greatly simplifies the decision process on what to sell and what to keep. 

Lust after it for a while and consumate or forget eventually.   Although I've noticed lately I've been cheating a little bit:  I tell myself I want this watch as soon as it was announced so by the time it hits my dealer, I would have technically lusted after it for a while then.   Imagine the love I was spreading around SIHH/Basel!