So, wife and I were having conversation over dinner. She says in times like this; we are seeing whats important (family, love ones, friends etc) and what's considered none-essential (Luxurious lifestyles / watches/expensive cars / houses etc); and how people are beginning to show their true colors.

Don't take this wrongly, i think watch collecting has led me to discover alot about myself and even so; allowed me to make friends from all over the world. This is something i really appreciate.

But when push comes to shove; I know i will be selling everything that I owe to make sure my family is fed, with a roof over my head and i will be wearing my Seiko 5 or G shock without ever feeling bad about selling/losing my entire watch collection.

This led me to think that, perhaps, I am not a "true" in a purist term, watch collector.

Have you guys ever considered selling your grail Ed White, or 5513 or even that pre 1675 GMT?

Share your thoughts.

 

Hopefully every single one of us, if we had to make that choice would do the right thing.....get rid of the wife and kids .....I mean watches

 

Of course. If you asked whether any of us would take a bullet for our kids, who would not say yes?

 

I understand some (well actually quite a few well heeled collectors) here and in my local community would not be affected by this crisis. lucky you.

But there are also many who are affected who might have started collecting recently (3-5 years ago) and are now quite deep into the hobby.

There are retrenchments and job loss Happening across many levels from top management to the frontline staff, I understand our hobby isn't exactly directed at folks who flip burgers for an hourly wage, but I think this crisis is going to hit many of us, across all levels one way or the other.

And when this happens, owning a 15-20k USD watch might not seem so viable then.

My 2 cents

 

This post needs photos. Lets see that collection, man!!

 

I would sell my watch collection for basic necessities and then carry out some ram raids in town to build it back up again.

 

I definitely care less about watches now than anytime since I started collecting. Ironically spending more time on forums though. People matter more in this business. You can lose sight of that hunting grails.

 

At this point both my wife maintain employment but my state, like many others is getting whacked, 100k in new unemployment filings just reported. It’s not like I haven’t experienced rough times in the past so I’m very aware of how this is impacting people. I just had some money together for a watch and was looking at some tudors, two days ago I went to my basement and found water on the floor, hot water heater shit the bed. If it was electric I could do it myself but it’s oil I need to hire someone. My wife suggested I sell a watch since we have to replace the water heater, I couldn’t think of a good response so I walked out of the room pretending I didn’t hear her.

This is just every day life stuff, hot water heaters go but omg the amount of people who are truly hurting now is astounding. My watch collection isn’t spectacular but I have many I truly enjoy. I’ve sold in the past but always just for the fun of getting something new. Of course I would sell off things if basic needs couldn’t be met. So anyway a new or vintage Tudor is out of the running thanks to the water heater but damn it could be much worse perhaps I will put a clock on my water heater to remind me of what could have been.

My heart goes out to everyone getting hit by this

 

We live in an age of equality, so I would expect my wife and children to support me. I wouldn’t be greedy, Just the essentials; Glenfiddich, vintage Aston Martins, fine watches, toilet paper....

 

I guess this is a situation when the "one watch collection" scenario would be the first step in trying to avoid any unexpected complications.
Worst case, obviously sell the "last" watch to feed the family if necessary.

Luckily for me, i already have found the "one grail watch" that i would like to keep, the rest i wouldnt mind selling if conditions become uncomfortable.

This would be my choice:

 

Living in a tent under a local bridge while rocking multiple £k watches seems a bit off to me. So while I’m desperate to never sell a couple of my collection I’ve always mentally prepared in which order they would go if need be - mainly based on sentimental reasons rather than value.

What does sicken me in these times is the fact that there do seem to be a number of businesses taking advantage. Their stock is still over priced, yet my watch seems to have tumbled in value when trade in values are compared. The entire population is in the Sh1t, a retailer’s stock doesn’t and shouldn’t exist in some kind of bubble

 

It really depends on how one was raised and where he was raised. I live in Romania and our GDP in 2019 was roughly 250 billion. The median income here is about 600 euro/month. The minimum legal wage is around 380 euro/month. I've been born into a household that was piss poor for lack of a better term and now we're upper middle class. The fact that I can collect watches is a privilege to me, in a land where some people are scraping by to get the necessities. A new SKX for example, here, costs as much as one month's minimum legal paycheck, mainly due to tax.
Now, I haven't owned any expensive pieces and the max value of my collection was aprox. 1500 Euro(Seiko UFO&Vintage Turtle plus a SKX and some other random watches). Keep in mind that this money was made solely by me, my parents don't support me in this. I talked to my father about this topic and he said that in case of an emergency luxuries are the first to go and I fully agree with him. My dad isn't that much into watches but he is an avid angler and owns a couple of rather expensive pieces of equipment.
People here are tough, I won't go into detail as of what crap our country had to endure. As much as I love watches I keep reminding myself that no matter how expensive a piece is or how beautiful it is or how historically significant it is, that piece is nothing more than an object that is not essential to me. Selling a watch that has emotionally value attached for it is tough, but I'd rather not have a watch than have to neglect a basic necessity
Also, for me 50% of the enjoyment comes from studying about watches. Sometimes the wanting is better than the having
P.s I'm well aware that my family and I will get through this no problem. My parents have been fortunate enough to not be the victims of mass lay-offs. But if my father would tell me that I need to contribute to our family's well being, my watches will be out of the house without flinching.

In these tough times you chose to be true to your family and not to some wristwatches. That means you acknowledge that should the necessity of liquidating your collection arise, you will do it without mumbling about it. In my opinion that makes you a true, devoted, family man as you are able to put your family's needs first.
Also, I don't think "true" watch collector can be defined that easily. What is "true" anyway?
In my opinion that's being able to appreciate a watch for what it is, a mesmerizing mechanical contraption.
Edited for grammar.

 

Well said by a young man.

@ZIELSZIEK i would buy a watch off you and let you keep it until you bought it back

 

Having been through tough financial times back in 2016/17/18 I've already been through the sell some watches to keep paying the mortgage game.

At first it kinda sucked, but it did make me take a long hard look at priorities, which was no bad thing.

Other than a couple of sentimental watches (my dads, and the one my mum and dad gave me for my 21st birthday), everything else could, and would go if it came down to it.

Currently waiting to see if my contract gets extended beyond the end of May... you'll know how well that's going if you see all my watches up for sale!

 

Thank you very much for your kind words, sir!

 

My desire to acquire any more cool stuff has dropped to absolute ZERO. Quite frankly I've been observing our house more the last few days and am pretty embarrassed at the level of possessions. Where did I get all this stuff? (...and it is just 'stuff')

I am spending ALOT more time keeping up with family and friends, more than I have in many many years.

Crisis does focus you to the real priorities in life.

 

I dont think I am the only one with common sense in this forum, i hope/know there are far more folks here with common sense and the ability to see to do what is right and important to those around them

Thank you for the comment; and appreciate everyone around you

 

Family first. Always.

 

This thread is a good reminder not to let your guard down on those "too good to be true" sales that are sure to come. I expect to see scammers using sad stories about illness and debt to justify crazy low prices. In the phishing world, scammers use urgency to short-circuit your otherwise good decision-making skills and they have no shame when it comes to getting you emotionally invested. Be careful out there.