Is there an ideal size for your collection of wrist watches?

Your budget? What case size do you like? Leather strap or metal strap? All of these are very personal preferences. But how big should your watch collection be? Is there an ideal size? Much like your salary or stock portfolio, many people keep very quiet about their collection, whereas others will love to tell you all about their collection & knowledge that comes with it.

It could be argued that the perfect watch collection size varies depending on each person. What is apparent is that each individual has an optimum number that brings them the most satisfaction, but be aware this can change at any time. I personally have fallen into the quantity over quality trap in the past, I found myself buying watches to add to my collection because I thought that was what I enjoyed. In reality what I ended up with was some poor-quality watches that when I took them out their case, I soon realised I didn’t actually like them. Instead, I now have 6 watches, each carefully selected and purchased for a reason, whether that be as a memento of a place or as an evening dinner watch. Each offers a different purpose and meaning, regardless of its ‘value’.

Others might argue that an ideal collection size is a limiting mindset. Say for arguments sake you’re browsing the web and see a new style watch that you instantly love, those that act on emotion would buy the watch, regardless of their collection that sits at home. Assuming that finances allow of course. That’s how marketing works, we see something, we want it, we buy it. But what good is it having 30 watches when you can only wear one at a time? Assuming that logic, even if you wore a different watch every day, fast forward 10 years and each watch would have only have been worn 120 times. Expensive hobby then, especially if you have a taste for some of the leading luxury brands out there.

One possible solution for watch lovers out there who aren’t blessed with endless zeros at the end of their bank statement, is to master the art of buying and selling watches. Let’s be honest though, the practice of becoming a watch trader is a hobby in itself. However, the binge and spurge strategy is a great way for people to experience many different types of watches, whilst discovering their own taste. What it does mean is you are not hoarding watches that are gathering dust, once it gets to that stage, its time to do some curation. I would advise anybody to practice buying and selling watches with caution. Often that added stress makes you lose sight of why you bought the watch in the first place, because you liked it right? I don’t see any harm in holding on to a few watches that haven’t been worn for a while. At one point it was exactly what you wanted, maybe in the future it will be again.

So, there you have it, there isn’t really a correct answer to this question. The ideal collection size is whatever you want it to be. One thing is for certain though, even if you think you have enough watches, you will always see another one that you want before too long, all you need to decide is whether to add it to your portfolio!