Whether you’re a seasoned watch collector or just starting, the desire to buy as many watches as you can as quickly as possible is probably a feeling you’ve become accustomed to. To help you on your path, we want to let you in on 5 common mistakes watch collectors make so you can AVOID making them.
 There are plenty of mistakes that can be made when adding to your watch collection. Below are the five biggest mistakes I see collectors making all the time. Here’s how to avoid them.
1. Impulse Buying and Placeholder Purchases
I’ve lumped these two mistakes together because their consequences are the same. Impulse buying is a common mistake, one that I feel a lot of people make that can easily be avoided with a little patience. A placeholder purchase is a type of impulse buy. It happens when you’re saving up for a specific timepiece, such as a Rolex Submariner. However, before being able to afford it, you buy an inferior one that resembles it, even though it isn’t the watch you really want.
The placeholder watch you end up buying is never going to do it for you the same way a Rolex Submariner would. In fact, it just sets you back further from the watch you really wanted. This is also true for impulse purchases. For example, when we’re surfing the web on eBay, Chrono24, or Luxury Bazaar at midnight after a couple of Coronas, we’re more prone to do things that we really shouldn’t. Those impulse purchases ultimately have the same consequences as placeholder watches.
This is a principle that really depends on what timepiece you want. If your grail watch is a Richard Mille, that’s in excess of multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars and you just can’t afford or justify it, then I totally understand getting that placeholder watch.
That totally makes sense to me. But more popular watch models, say a Speedmaster or Submariner, can be afforded within a reasonable time frame if you’re diligent and willing to delay gratification. With enough time and a little bit of patience, I think most watches are attainable to the average watch collector. Skipping impulse purchases and placeholder watches goes a long way to getting that watch you really want.
2. Affordability > Patience
The second most common collecting mistake is to buy too many “affordable” watches too quickly. Again, these are two different mistakes, but I’m going to lump them in the same category because they have the same consequences.
The first one is to be wary of affordable watches. That’s not to say they aren’t awesome and provide great value for the money. I personally like the Tissot PRX, for example. The problem is that they are easy purchases to justify because the price isn’t as high as a luxury watch. When you start buying these watches, you can buy them quite quickly and develop a collection, where the sum that you spent might equal the cost of one or two luxury watches that you actually wanted.
At the end of the day, collecting is a journey. Although that might be a clichĂ© thing to say, we’re in this for the long haul. There’s no reason not to wait maybe six months, a year, even a couple of years, to get the watch you really wanted. This also rings true for the principle of buying watches very quickly, which I see a lot of new collectors do. They’re so excited to be part of a new hobby that they buy affordable watches in troves that are easy to justify financially, and end up with a collection that has no sense of purpose or direction.
Most affordable watches, produced at a large scale, have limited resale value, so you might not break even when you try to resell them. This sets you back from buying those watches you really wanted in the first place.
3. Try It On
The third mistake watch collectors make all the time is not trying on new watches. This is something I really just don’t understand. Along the collecting journey, our tastes, style, and preferences will change dramatically. The only way that we can find out what watches speak to us is to actually experience them in person, on the wrist.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m somebody who loves to read blog posts and watch YouTube videos about watches all the time. That doesn’t mean I stop experiencing watches in person because that’s really the best way to form an opinion. How it wears, its profile, how it’s designed, how it looks on the wrist, and how it matches your sense of style and personality.
I’ve seen watches online that I didn’t think were my taste or style, that, when I actually got to try them on, really surprised me. The lesson is to never stop seeking out new experiences with watches, because taste and style develop over time.
4. The Right Reasons
The fourth mistake is buying a watch for the wrong reason. It seems to be very common, especially in the modern watch market. What are the wrong reasons to buy a watch? Among them, because you see it on social media, because someone tells you to, or because you think it’s going to be a good investment. One thing Roman Sharf preaches is that watches are an expensive toy. I couldn’t agree with him more.
You have to buy watches that speak to you personally. I can’t tell you how many collectors have told me, “This is an amazing watch, this person, this celebrity, or this actor wore it. Therefore, it is amazing.” I’m like, “Really? What makes it amazing, other than the fact that celebrity wore it?”
What’s trendy today might not be trendy tomorrow. Take, for example, Richard Mille. There was a brand 20 years ago that actually resembled Richard Mille quite similarly. That is Franck Muller, the predecessor to (and, some might say, inspiration of) Richard Mille. Yet, we see Richard Mille plastered all over Instagram and YouTube, and Franck Muller is really nowhere to be found.
The right reasons to add a watch to your collection include because you’ve grown to appreciate it, because of its history, its heritage, or maybe the research that you’ve done on it. All of these things, I think, should be taken into account when building a watch collection. Whether that watch is worth $10,000 or $100,000, it really shouldn’t matter, because you should be collecting watches that speak to you.
5. Choose The Right Watch Dealer
The last mistake watch collectors make is a little self-explanatory, especially in today’s market, but is extremely important. That is, do not buy watches from an untrustworthy source. Especially with the modern watch market, we have so many outlets, like eBay or Chrono24, that you never know what you’re buying. Do your research and due diligence on what you’re buying and who you’re buying from to ensure what you’re buying is what you want.
Are you buying from a trusted dealer? Are you buying from someone who’s been in the business for a long time? Are you buying from someone who will give you that peace of mind, that sense of security, when you’re purchasing the watch? Whether you’re buying from Luxury Bazaar, or any other grey market watch dealer, there are so many viable options out there for you to purchase watches in a safe and secure manner. There’s really no reason for you to chase that deal that looks too good to be true, because most of the time, it is.
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