You collect vintage watches which you buy to wear somewhat regularly. They become rarer and in some cases more valuable over time. You realize that original replacement parts increasingly are no longer available and even if they are, replacing parts will result in hodge podge patina. On top of this the market goes crazy for what you own and prices balloon to well beyond what you would pay for the watch or maybe even ever consider paying for a watch. How do you adapt to what the passage of time means to collecting vintage watches?

- limit wear to more and more special occasions
- "retire" the watch and buy a less collectible version to wear
- sell it to cash in on what you perceive as a market bubble and use the proceeds to buy something you value more.

 

How about just wear the watches and not worry overly about such things?

On the other hand, some actual conundrums I grapple with:

- Should I buy another watch?
- How am I gonna explain this new watch to her?
- What should I tell her it's worth...?
- How to respond to the observation that no matter how much paper value's increased, she knows I'm never actually gonna sell them...?

 

At 300+ watches I think I passed your conundrum long ago.... My solution to your conundrum was to buy frequently enough for my wife to lose interest in what I was doing.

 

I have a mix of vintage and modern. I have three vintage watches at a watchmaker now, and the bill to get them serviced/repaired is going to cost a fair amount. After collecting 3+ years I am finding that a good portion goes towards maintenance. Further, I can't even recall a time that I have not had at least one watch at a watchmaker. My collection is not that large, considering present OF company.

With the exception of the Speedmasters, and some vintage, my other watches have not really increased in value (I only buy used). Overall I have flipped 15+ watches over the last three years and I would say that I am even. Made a few bucks on some, lost a few bucks on others. (made a few bucks on vintage and speedy, lost a few bucks on the modern. does seem like modern used has been very slightly declining)

I am finally at a point where I feel I have a well balanced collection (about half modern/half vintage). With that being said, I have way more watches than I could possible wear, and frankly I could be completely intent with 5 or 6 watches. How do I get to 5 or 6 watches? Well, I figured if I store them, then they are out of site, out of mind. I just stored 5 watches last week (couple of speedy, vintage JLC, vintage vulcain). These were stored because I really like them and not ready to sell them. In fact, I sold one of them, but then bought it back from the OF member after sellers regret.

So at this point, selling the ones I don't totally love, and storing the ones I truly enjoy.

My watch wearing pattern seems to be a speedy on Tuesday, but most often I am wearing the Ploprof 1200 and then reaching for the beater seiko 5 when I am working around the house.

 

Keep on preaching brother! I am in the same exact spot.

@Ray916MN I hear what you are saying, and even though my collection is a fraction of yours, I grapple with the same conundrum. One thing I have found is that at times it is necessary for the health of the collection to do some blood letting. At 300 watches, I am sure that there are pieces that you will never miss, and the funds raised from their sale will allow you to A) maintain the rare and valuable pieces to the highest degree and B) allow you to seek out new and interesting watches.

No need to sell the best pieces in your collection, when the middle and lower end, when evaluated in groups, still have tremendous value in the market.

My advice, create a spreadsheet with the price paid, estimated market value, and last but not least, whether you consider the watch as part of your core collection. When you complete it, sort by the Core column, and you will be shocked at how many watches can move on without impacting your overall collection. Prepare yourself for the realization that if you do liquidate these watches, you will sitting on a pile of cash to start the hunt for new "core" pieces. Seeing the price paid vs. current market value as a whole, can be a sobering experience, and give you a new focus on how you want to move forward.

I have this master spreadsheet, and it helps me manage collection.

 

I would say it depends on why you have bought the watches in the first place. If you have over 300 then on average you are only going to wear each one once or twice per year (at most), or more likely a large number of them will sit unused and 10% of the watches will get 90% of the wrist time. Now if you have 300 you can’t have bought them all with the intention to get value wearing them, so you must also get some satisfaction from collecting/hoarding. Then it is a simple question of how much you value that. If it was me, then I would figure out which are the ones that will never be worn again and move them on sometime. I am sure we are in some stage of a bubble, so it will pop sooner or later…

In my case I can’t ever really imagine amassing 300 pieces, as I would only ever buy something that can (and will) be worn reasonably regularly. I do have a habit of buying too many “project” watches, but ultimately they are ones that I do want to fix and do want to wear. If I ever reached the stage of having more than say twenty wearable watches then I would have to let something go. For me the pleasure comes from wearing… not from knowing I have something rare sitting in a safe.

 

Already made my choice last year - it was for your last option:

However, there were / are other circumstances that influenced my decision other than money.

 

Care to share a screen shot (with details removed)?

 

I keep it simple, nothing special. I also have a separate sheet that allows me to see where I stand in regards to the "bank", i.e. PP Credit, so I know what pieces need to move, when, and what my target numbers are. If my numbers don't work, I do not make future purchases, and in some cases, a watch that was considered part of my "core" collection goes on the chopping block to fund something new.

 

I actually keep a spreadsheet very similar to Watchknut's, which serves as a very good illustration for how much margin is built into my collection. I've been able to acquire a few pretty desirable watches for 25-50% of their current market value, so knowing that I have some built-in margin with those has allowed me to pay fair market prices for a few rare pieces that I coveted (my 2446 Rindt and 2998-62 being the most applicable examples).

Additionally, I label certain watches as "on the block" and monitor past realizations versus maintenance costs. All of this could be Type A behavior since I work in finance and practically live in Excel, but it provides an extremely practical way to address your points above.

Now, to the most important thing I'd say: if you enjoy a watch and have a bond with it, don't make a decision to sell strictly because of a "bubble" that could be forming. Real assets are certainly cyclical, but with something like a straight-lug Speedmaster, it's not going to be become any more common than it currently is, and the pool of available pieces will only continue to shrink despite an influx of new collectors annually (that maybe hadn't ever looked into Speedies previously or finally have the disposable income to jump into the fray). A simple supply/demand curve gives me comfort that despite economic cycles, a piece with great history and brand recognition will do fine in the long-term. And with that logic (assuming it applies to your collection), it should remove the temptation to cash-in on recent price movements.

 

If I can't wear my watches as frequently as I want (which is every day), then there is no point in owning them.

 

Personally, if a watch does not have some sentimental value (wore it to your wedding, witnessed birth of child, given by parent, etc) or is one of a kind one way or another, it's essentially cash in stainless steel form. Generally speaking, you can buy any watch you want given enough money. When I sell a watch from my personal collection, I make sure that I get at least enough money that will allow me to buy something just like it.

Everything in my collection must be capable of being a daily wearer. If it is something so frail or so rare that it has to be retired or will be too expensive to maintain, it will have to go. Personally, I don't find any joy in the possession of an item that I can't use, or must be extremely careful with.

 

Ah, sell me your Nviada

 

I don't really like any of your three choices. I have no ability to time selling before bubble bursts. I have no interest in not wearing my watches because the parts might wear out faster, or in retiring these watches. I wear them and enjoy them and when something goes wrong, hope my watchmaker can fix it. I don't like to make this hobby too complicated, and certainly don't want it to be about profit/loss. I do enough of that in the rest of my life.

 

This one?

 

Wow, that's cool! but looking for an aviator sea diver

 

There's a pretty cool Paul Newman style chronoking up on ebay right now.

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