I had lunch on Monday with a collector that has a truly world class collection, and he brought up the long term goal of liquidating a majority of it, and consolidating into 10 watches, each of which was one of the, if not the, best examples in the world.

While I am a mere mortal, it did get me thinking...am I crazy to sell off a large portion of my collection and go on a grail hunt?

The thing is that if I do this, I will be buying watches are 2x and 3x of my best current watch, and that gets into dangerous territory...will I ever stop? How high is up?

My wife made the point that you should not own watches over $X amount...the cost is just silly, and I kind of agree.

I find myself wearing the same watches, mainly Omega, over and over again, and I want to get my collection as tight and neat as possible, with great examples of the references I own.

Have others done this in the past or have you thought about it? What are the pitfalls?

Here is my plan, and would love to get others' thoughts on this...

Keepers:

165.024 small triangle
165.024 big triangle
166.024 small triangle
145.012
145.022 tropical
1680 Red Sub
1675 Long E (could move if replaced with another 1675)

On the Chopping Block:

1665 Great White
1680 White with boxes, papers, booklets
Ploprof
Zenith a3818
Movado Super Sub Sea
Technos Sky Diver
Wittnauer Calatrava (said it for Dennis' sake)
Enicar Super Jet
16700 GMT

Watches to Potentially Buy:

1665 DRSD
1675 Blueberry
5513 Maxi Dial
5512 Maxi Dial
1655 Explorer II
Cairelli

Now, I could of course temper the plan, and go for some of the obtainable ones like the 5513/12 and 1655s and not fool with the DRSD and Blueberry, or could go for some gilt dialed Rolex, but those don't really tickle my fancy.

Am I crazy? I know I missing a whole slew of vintage Speedies, Railmasters, and Seamasters, and depending on how things go, those may end up on the list...we will see.

As always, appreciate the insight.

 

Not crazy, up to you if it is a good idea.
I did it, sold 12 Speedmasters, various other watches, bought really good examples similar to your list.
The way I looked at it, I can now wear my whole collection in rotation instead of half of it being stored in a safe.

 

Personally I would consider it.
Only if you are dead-set on a watch from your potentially buy list that you truly want. Why not.

The only pitfall I see is that the ones you sell from your 'chopping block' end up skyrocketing over the next few years.
So I would be definitely more labouring over the right ones to chop if you went with this.

But in general am supportive of the idea.
You definitely have the chips in the game to go for it.

 

Do whatever makes you happy and is fun.

 

You gotta do what you gotta do. I strongly believe that watches should be worn and not squirreled away (no pun intended) like nuts for a winter that never comes.... If I find that there's a watch in my collection that I'm not wearing or enjoying enough, that I know someone else will, then I'd rather it went to them and got some mileage on it.

 

im consolidating right now. its not a bad move. just be honest with yourself on what dosent get enough time.

 

It's important to know what you are trying to do with your collection in terms of collecting vs wearables and how much you're comfortable wearing on your wrist.
I tried on a Datograph (1st edition) recently and despite being blown away by it I walked out thinking about this very conundrum. I got in the car and looked at my wife and said "do I really want to wear a $50,000 watch?"
I'm still not sure.

 

If you want me to look after your ploprof Matt...

 

If I bought a $50K watch, I WOULD wear it.....very carefully.....but I would wear it

 

From my perspective, regardless of what level your collection is at, there will always be a void in it. A tweak here and there to be made. A new "must have" or grail that comes along. You said it...."...will I ever stop?". It will not. One thing you can do is focus on your list of "wants" and pick just one of them just to see how much you really want it then go from there. Nice and slow...

Cheers,

 

Maybe another way to think about would be...
If you own 50 $1000 watches is there any difference from owning and wearing one $50,000 watch? Is one more obscene than the other?

 

What's obscene is an empty watch box...

 

I'm simplifying.

His decision is to consolidate or not.

 

What's obscene is the price that empty watch boxes command

 

I guess another way to look at that is mitigating risk, and giving yourself options at the same time... I don't think I'd feel comfortable out and about with a £50k watch on my wrist... heck, £5k would make me feel a little uneasy.

I figure you gotta do what you gotta do Matt.

I have watch box space for 16 watches.

I've had 16 at peak... I've flipped a fair few this year.

As of now, there's nothing I can afford that's screaming at me.

I can't see myself cutting down to a specific set of watches... because I don't yet know what I'd want to end up with...

 

I think about this all the time. I am a fan of consolidating and strengthening.
Today I was trying to trade off 6 watches for one (but the dealer said no ).
This stretegy seems to especially make sense when you really have too many watches, some of which are not part of your "core" collection.

But, to each his own. There is no one right way.

 

In the end, only you can decide what works for you.

If you do go down the route you've outlined, you will certainly need more funds, because "On the chopping block" won't pay for "watches to potentially buy".

 

I left the GTG last month thinking that I am pretty normal when it comes to watches. And that I should not associate with people that are not watch people. This solved a whole bunch of the issues I semi worry about when it comes to the crazy amount of money I spend on watches.

There are enough of us in San Diego that I think we can meet on a regular basis to work though this....

 

But back on topic. Your plan makes sense. I know it may seem crazy to some new members that having several watches that look the same in your collection, but those that have been here long enough totally get it.

As far as the chopping block, those all make sense. I am often on the fence about selling my vintage Ploprof (don't ever see myself selling my modern Ploprof) so I understand why its on your list.

EDIT: of course that means you might want to have @ulackfocus select you a new avatar

 

I have not been wearing some of my older Seikos which are still in excellent condition, so I have been giving them to family.
My goal is to regularly wear the watches I retain...either in rotation or for particular reasons. To not wear a watch is a waste to me. But to attempt to sell them tends to be a frustrating, disheartening, depressing experience. (not to mention sometimes insulting) I therefore very much agree with whittling the collection down to a useful fewer number...either by sales, trades, or gifting.