How do you keep track of your collection?

watchmann44232

So I've been pretty pedantic in keeping notes (spreadsheet, wiki) for my watches, scanning service receipts etc. and keeping physical paperwork organised in folders etc. However older I get, what @Duracuir1 is doing is something I've been also tinkering with. I'm finding most of my watches (and recently mostly pocket watches it seems) from local Craigslist equivalents and such. Once in a bluemoon you realise that someone is dumping grandpas watch collection for pennies, which I would rather avoid for mine (although in all fairness this isn't really happening anymore for e.g. Omega or Zenith because people do use Google|AI|etc.).

So in the event I would be ran over by a truck tomorrow, I have in my watch boxes a small note explaining how to access my electronic notes, etc. Then I tinkered around different materials (woods, leathers, thick papers mostly) and have now settled down on these laser cut leather notes for each watch in the watch box (I just drop them at the bottom of the slot).

Obviously simple printed notes would do equally. But thick leather just has a bit more quality and luxury feel to it. I've found these useful also in reminding how e.g. the date quickset works for my own benefit for a particular watch. In any case, I feel pretty good about these (and especially the leather versions).

EDIT: I use Inkscape to create the 'card'(s), store them as an svg, and then engrave/cut using Lightburn sw where I import png export of the 'card' to a Lightburn project layer.

Sorry to have revived old thread. But this is a topic that's been going around my mind lately.