After about a decade of collecting, with a line-up that's been chosen with great care, I wouldn't even call the most modest of my collection a "beater," even thought it's not especially valuable (by which I mean I paid under $500 for it). I have a rotation of four daily wearers; another four I would wear to proper work (e.g. giving a lecture or running a seminar) or on dates; and two, my Speedie and my Ranchero, that leave the case only for special occasions (e.g. TV shoots or media interviews). Most of my pieces are chronos, evenly split between tool watches/dive watches and dressier chronos. And then there's the two Connies, one champagne-dialed, the other black-dialed, both bought from OF members, that are my proper dress pieces, and get the least wrist time (though I do like gazing longingly at them in the case, hoping for some occasion worth their appearance). When choosing what to wear, I think less about value and more about what is appropriate for the occasion and what goes well with whatever else I've got on (totally casual, informal, business casual, proper formal, meeting royalty and/or heads of state). These days, that's as much about the band as it is about the watch, my really chunky dive chronos being the exception, as they will never, in my mind, qualify as dress watches. If I'm out doing yard work or the equivalent, I just don't wear a watch . . .
