With Covid keeping many people out of retail shops, and more online purchases, there is less opportunity to try a watch on the wrist before buying. I'm curious how people know when they have a "keeper"? It seems pretty obvious, but sometimes the anticipation of a new watch clouds your thinking and maybe you've convinced yourself based on internet pictures. Personally, I've learned that if I simply keep looking down at my wrist to admire a watch then it has a high probability of staying. But, if I keep looking at my wrist and finding flaws or questioning the watch, then it's not a keeper. The doubt can turn into an expensive mistake.
Good question. For me, a keeper is something I look down and say “man this is one of my favorites and I should wear it all the time.” I am fairly picky before something is added so when I get a new addition it usually stays (the only watches I’ve parted with are gifts to family/friends but never buyers remorse). When looking at a watch online, I try to spend a bit of time thinking about it, researching it, and visualize how/when I’d wear it. That way a little bit more time to digest if is right for me and not just an impulse buy.
Totally agree with you on this point once its in the rotation. When I first receive a watch, it's got to be like love at first sight. Just like first impressions. Your mind knows what it likes before your self actually does and it's important to tune into your your gut instinct.
I've actually been debating this quite a bit myself. In letting go much of my vintage - which I kinda went overboard on for a bit - and going into a new area of business, I recently decided to put a large chunk of my funds into the G-A-D-A watch for me...which has caused a lot of this internal debate. I think I reached my decision, but it was based on one I got to try on a few years ago now. So without that tactile try-on 'feeling', I'm still a bit up in the air myself - otherwise I may just have to give in and 'suffer' through wearing a '57 re-issues RM every day! In the end, being such emotionally stirring objects (for people like us anyway), I suspect it comes down to the individual.
What I have found is... when I have the watch for an extended period of time it’s a”keeper” otherwise it is not. Only time will tell. Where is the squirrel when you need him?
When she cooks AND cleans I only buy watches I know I REALLY want. Probably the only reason my only "good" watch that I have bought myself is the Speedy. I want a polar 16570, but just can't seem to pull the trigger. The Speedy is a watch I'll keep forever. Everything else I want could easily be replaced later on.
I always "think" it's a keeper. That's why I buy them...Well almost always, there are a few exceptions. It's not until a bit late that I decide it is not...or another one is more of a keeper.
I have noticed that the watches I ended up keeping are mostly ones that came to me by chance or where I took a punt and it paid off. I find you bond immediately with such pieces and that makes them much harder to let go.
Interesting term...."keeper". I like to consider myself more of a hoarder then a flipper, and, yet, in all honestly, I don't think any possession without deep personal and sentimental attachment could ever be considered a "keeper". A "keeper" implies that I will alway have and cherish, but, we are talking about inanimate objects, watches, and as much as I dearly enjoy my watches, if the choice between keeping a watch or selling it to pay for something that is not necessarily an inanimate object... college tuition, support to a child, parent, or sibling, a needed surgery, start a business, to ease financial stress, or a home purchase... I'd sell the watch. But in a lighter sense, a watch that I intend to hold forever would be one that either has sentimental attachment, such as my father's Ulysee Nardin Marine Diver, or one that has a personal story for me in acquiring. The watch I bought from a friend, the watch that I searched and hunted for for years, the watch that has the character and uniqueness that I wanted. I'd like to think every watch I bought was a keeper, but, it simply isn't true, as my taste has changed over the years and also something I desire more comes along. So, in closing, there are truly very few keepers.
I find there’s no rule at all — except once you have it in hand and put it on your wrist you usually immediately know when you intend to keep a watch. It can be a beat up watch that doesn’t look like much, or a pristine spectacular one. However after two or three years later I have found out I had evolved and there were a couple of « keepers » I no longer felt like keeping. And again there’s no logic. A beautiful one can feel completely dispensable, and the weathered one not.
Personally it's more related to what is surrounding the watch : sentimental value, story, how you got it... rather than the watch itself. With an exception for watches in outstanding condition. None of mines fall into that category
In my opinion it’s necessary to wear the watch before knowing whether it’s a keeper. Aside from that, a keeper is a watch you quickly and instinctively love, not one you keep trying to convince yourself you love.
Great topic! I always have 2 keepers in my possesion. The first one is definetely my birth year Speedy and on the 2nd place is just another great watch I like but it's changing at least once a year.
I think most us will say pretty much the same thing, you just know. You enjoy wearing it and the way it feels on your wrist. You look down at it and smile. Etc. I just purchased, after much debate and a long wait, a Monta Noble. While I've only had it for a week, I know this will be the one for quite a while.
I haven’t found a keeper yet and I got my first watch 46 years ago ! I even sold on the Breitling my wife bought me when we got together, the first present she bought me in fact. ps. I do feel bad about that
My keepers stay in the box only after few months of wearing. Some people call me "flipper" but I am not -> I buy watch, try to get acquainted with it, sell it when it does not speak to me, leave it when fall in love. Trying the watch in the shop, even though it's a must and helps a lot, is too short to know if it's a keeper.
There are rules. All good condition original Speedmaster Professionals, Seamasters and 1950s through mid 1960s Constellations are keepers. Everything else is evaluated on a case by case basis.
None are keepers, it’s all about the hunt. Some days I wake up thinking of selling off my entire collection and starting from scratch, perhaps it’s the ADD kicking in, but that’s just me.