Watch Collecting or
Putting Lipstick on a Pig

by Watchking

As with everything, there are differing tastes amongst collectors. Using personal flame producers as an example, there are those who collect lighters, those who collect wooden matches and their boxes, those who collect various location matchbooks and those who collect 1-penny matchbooks for their advertising history. They all start fires but the intent of each collector is different.  After many years talking with NAWCC collectors I’ve grouped five different kinds of watch collecting hobbyists into categories.  

The first group collects one of each type of something across brands. A complete collection of 19, 21 and/or 23 jewel railroad certified, American Made pocket watches seems to fit this description, as does a collection of "dollar" Mickey Mouse watches.

The second group collects company, era or models of items. A complete set of every South Bend pocket watch made, repeaters from each of the main eras of cylinder movement pocket watches to a quartz Breitling repetition minutes, or a complete set of all the Omega Speedmasters would be an example of this type of collection.

The third group “collects” for the money. They will study hard and buy anything under the market hoping to sell their finds at or above the market. Roy Ehrhardt epitomized this kind of pocket watch collector and his books helped established the hobby and market values. Sometimes these people stop being hobbyist collectors and become businessperson collectors. 

The fourth group really loves watches in general. They have a favorite of each type whether for diving, flying, astronomy, going to work, traveling or whatever. Unlike the first three groups mentioned who may never wear any (or many) of their precious collectibles, watch lover hobbyists absolutely enjoy wearing a large number of their accumulated treasures. The whole point of collecting to them is to be able to use their precious timepieces. In addition these hobbyists may have a second best watch for diving, a low priced watch for diving and even an expendable watch for diving, depending simply on what they like for the money they can afford to spend.

One of my favorite watches was a $4.95 military style, manual wind Timex that I bought while working in high school at a drugstore. That watch, with it’s black dial and precise looking white, arrow-pointed seconds hand got me on track towards being constantly aware of time. It made me arrive in each school class at least ten seconds ahead of the starting bell and was readable and luminous at night when it might have been possible to lose track of time. This watch worked for 20 years and would still be in my collection if it had lasted longer or been repairable. Would it compare with a thin Audemars 2003 model manual wind watch? Of course not, but its value went beyond mere money, the way a matchbook handed out at your prom could be priceless. 

The fifth group I’ve run across is only concerned with collecting watches for one-upmanship. These elitists prefer to have watches that have been rated superior to other watches of the same function according to an expert or an endorsee. There is nothing wrong with wanting to collect the best of anything. There is something wrong with denigrating other people’s collectibles because for reasons of preference, nostalgia or budget their watches aren’t as expensive or highly rated. Often it is a sign of an inferiority complex and/or low self esteem that these collectors are driven to buy numerous expensive timepieces hoping to make themselves look better or more expert in the eyes of other collectors, whether these big spenders know anything about horology, technically or historically. They just want to say that they have watches that are better than other people’s. If they have to buy their compliments by making other people admit that their watches are superior, one wonders if there are fewer reasons for people to acknowledge that collector #5 is a good person in everyday life? 

Some marketing people in the watch business revel in selling to insecure male watch collectors of this last type. These marketeers claim that their watches must be good because highly paid sports and entertainment stars wear a particular watch and insecure males hoping to better themselves by association, should buy such-and-such a model. That is not to say that if an expert diver like Jacques Cousteau works to develop a watch like the Blancpain 50 Fathoms or Nautilus, they are only overpriced dive watches. On the other hand if Tiger Woods doesn’t even wear the watch model bearing his name "While He Plays Golf" (which is his area of special expertise), what possible input could his highly paid endorsement contribute to the development of a chronograph watch. It is a come-on, by association, for people who lean towards being label lovers. 

In any group of watch collectors there are usually going to be a few of each of these five different types of hobbyists. The first three or four groups can often look at the good points of any watch in each other’s collections. The last type usually can only discuss the negative side of any item owned by someone else, and usually ends each criticism by flaunting a watch that they own, while praising themselves for owning it. These ego-driven acquirers are hoping that everyone else will consider them better in some way for owning certain watches, when in fact, at best, they take the fun out of collecting for many people and at worst they motivate people to hope that these elitist collectors or their collections would suffer some misfortune. Others who collect with their hearts, small budgets, intelligence or luck hope not to hear about how much wealthier (or better) the last kind of collector said he was, simply because he could outspend them. Fast cars, big stereos and rare watches are often used by some to compensate for other "shortcomings". On the last group of these "collectors(?)", a Patek Philippe or Rolex watch seems like "putting lipstick on a pig".