How To Begin As A Watch Collector

by Watchking

If you've ever entertained thoughts of having more than 2 watches, then perhaps you have an interest in starting a watch collection. Whether your interest is serious or casual all collections have to start somewhere. So where do you begin, and whether you are serious about collecting or not, how do you prepare yourself to collect? Consider a little preparation to buying any watches the way you would insurance. A little preparation will protect you and you could be a lot more secure with your purchases.

A non-collector (acquirer) who wants a dress watch and a sports watch and maybe even a spare watch of each type may end up owning more watches than some collectors, but acquirers may not be collectors at all.  Even so, it's good to be well prepared as an acquirer because there are savings to be had, good relationships to be developed and problems to be avoided that can increase any owner's personal satisfaction with their watches. I will try to prepare both the acquirer and new collector with this series of articles.

While there are numerous types of serious collectors a casual collector isn't really interested in where their collection might end up. Casual collectors are often whimsical or unplanned buyers and often they don't do anything but make an "emotional buy" as their mood strikes them. Even so, a casual collector is a step beyond the acquirer, horologically, and can benefit greatly from some basic preparation before buying any watches.

One other group of collectors might benefit from this series. Those persons collecting things that can include watches may not want to be as focused on watches as seriously as people who only collect watches, but if they are planning on making any investment in watches they should also be prepared. Collectors of militaria or precision instruments, people who recreate historical dioramas, railroad collectors, battle re-enactors, celebrity paraphernalia collectors and many others often want to have a number of watches in their collections for completeness and/or more accurate recreations or displays. Their watch collecting interests, per se, could be minimal but they can benefit from this series because they will be able to better fulfill their own main interests by learning a few watch collecting disciplines.

The first in this series of articles will give beginners a brief overview of what they can read. The fact that new collectors or acquirers have chanced upon this article is a sign that you are already trying to broaden your horological knowledge base. The internet is a wonderful place to gather up some knowledge about watches and it is interactive, so new collectors can ask questions that will often be answered. The amount of information available in just one website can boggle the mind. Try visiting and asking questions in any of the watch forums that discuss the kind of watches you are most interested in collecting. Another good interactive forum source is the usenet group alt.horology.

This being the case it might be better to consider one's watch collecting preferences while diving in. The casual collector or the broadly generalist horologist may just leap-frog from reading one topic or forum to the next as their moods change, but for everyone else who is trying to reach some acquisition or collection goal a little discipline needs to be developed. If you are serious about watch collecting and feel you should narrow the field somewhat so you can read additional materials that will help you most, then I suggest you try to decide what kind of watch collector you want to be.

One of the better books to use to see the relative value of one watch to another (in any given year) is a book called Complete Price Guide to Watches, by Shugart, Engle and Gilbert. I wouldn't recommend that anyone should use this yearly guide as a definitive list of valuations of watches. But with it's thousands and thousands of photos of watches, and dozens of helpful insights, this book is one that every watch collector should own. In addition, this book is published with a new edition each year. Fluctuations in prices are obvious after a few years for any particular brand or model of watch. Again I should caution you to use this guide as a relative measurement of value between brands or years, not as a definitive book of firm valuations. A watch is only worth what someone will pay for it, but if one watch is listed as being about half as valuable as another, then this is a useful measurement of relative values to know.

Click here for Part 2