What are your watch collecting goals for 2026?

I know.. it's not an easy decision to make. I actually have a lot more than these, at some point these were the 'absolute keepers', but when one zooms out to look at the whole picture, even keeping these many are hard to justify. It's probably to do with aging. Then one day i started playing around with the thought "if i had to reduce to just 3 pieces, what would they be?"
My focus is on historical / iconic pieces, so figured the Speedy, Monaco, and a Sub.
But the 6694 was a heirloom piece, can't get rid of that.
The Fortis is an ultra rare military issue that was worn by Hungarian MiG21 pilot, a result of a 5 year long search, so that must stay.
The CWC chrono is a birthyear watch that was a 40st birthday pressie from the wife, that must stay too. Ok it was my choice & purchase, so she'd probably be ok with that.
Funnily enough I'm not normally huge on Rolex, love their watches, just not the image they carry lately - but still, a Sub is a Sub, especially a vintage one - it doesn't get any more iconic than that.
..and the Doxa, well, wouldn't take much to convince me to keep that one either 😁
Life is so hard 😁

I have several Speedmasters due for service in 2026. That will be my focus this year.
Looking to buy an Ed White. Perhaps a Silver Snoopy. Probably parts ways with a Planet Ocean.

I want to buy a watch with bitcoin just for the fun of it. I know I could just as easily deposit to bank and wire it over, but that's less fun and the wife then sees exactly what it cost.

Maybe another Seamaster this year.

Additional goal besides an Aqua Terra is either the De Ville Prestige ref. 424.13.40.20.02.003 (silver dial, blue markers/hands) or the ref. 434.10.40.20.01.001 (black dial/gold markers/hands).

I'm gonna go with super easy and achievable. I'm going to buy a nice watch winder so that my watches tell the right time.

I find myself grabbing the moonswatches and gshocks because I know they have the right time.

Learn a lot more about vintage watches. Maybe learn some basic watchmaking/servicing skills.

End of 2025 I bought a Speedy 3861 sapphire for me, and De Ville 39mm 18K/steel for the wife. My goals for 2026 is to buy no nmfurther watches and enjoy the ones I have. And maybe to service a Nomos and Poljot Strela - which are now 10+ years old and maybe need it.

Quality over quantity. In 2025 I went a 'bit' overboard with dumpster diving and now I also need to decide which ones of those finds that aren't already serviced to service. I don't have gold watches to speak of, but I'm warming up to the idea of hunting for an unspoiled Omega or Zenith gold watch (1950s/1960s timeframe). Also time allowing, practise and improve on my watch photography.

One 2026 watch related goal for me is to be more active on forums like this 🙂
As many others have mentioned, I'm also trying to be more intentional with my collecting - it's great to know I'm not alone. To that end, I'm also trying to spend more time learning and researching than scrolling eBay and Chrono24. Baby steps...😬

This year, I've got a service backlog to work through. Right now, I'm prioritizing:

- a franken Lemania 239 that I'm working to bring closer to correct (hit me up if you have appropriate Lemania dials!)

- a 1940/1941 Bulova Watertight (not a Watertite) in a sterling case that needs a service which I'm planning to attempt myself

Otherwise, I'm hoping to add a good condition pre-Moon Speedy, preferably a 2998 or 105.003.

I've been "collecting" for about 15 years now. I can say that I've reached most of the watch goals I set for myself throughout the past 15 years:

1) Find a 39MM Speedmaster for daily wear (Ed White Speedy) - my first grail back in 2014
2) Green bezel Rolex Submariner (16610LV check)
3) Omega 3 watch collection consisting of mid-century Constellation, Speedmaster, and Seamaster
4) AP Royal Oak (Dual time)
5) Patek Philippe (Worldtimer)

I'm at a place where I want to maintain and work on a project watch or two. Service the watches that need servicing. So basically, maintenance. Maybe I'll blow it all up and start all over again.