From Blatant Watch Hoarder To Satisfied Possessor

August 17, 2016

When I saw that another Fratello Collector s Week was coming up, I realized that it was perfect timing. You see, recently, I ve reached a state of reflection and calm about my watch-buying habits. After being a blatant watch hoarder for a little over two years, I feel like I m getting better and better at finding the watches that match my style and taste. As such, I ve become more of a satisfied possessor, enjoying the watches I own without constantly thinking about what should leave or enter the watch box. Let me tell you how I got here, and let s also take a glance at what s ahead.I find it hard to believe, but it has only been two-and-a-half years since I bought my first mechanical watch. Last year, before I even thought of joining the Fratello team, I wrote an article on how I became a watch collector in confinement. I almost felt ashamed of myself when I reread that article. I look like a reckless child buying every single watch that passed by on his Instagram feed, only to sell them on after a very short period of time. But I m glad to see that some watches are still with me, and I do think that my hoarding phase actually helped me a great deal in determining the kind of watches I like and, even more importantly, don t like.Put your blinders on and go!Like many watch enthusiasts, I didn t know I was going to be where I am now when I bought that first Oris Art Blakey. But whenever I research a certain watch, there are always other watches that pique my interest. One thing led to another, and suddenly, I found myself looking at a filled-up watch box and a few quartz beaters on the side. Yes, I made those decisions and thought every purchase through. But with the lockdowns as an excuse, it was mostly me, myself, and I, unable to try out any watches unless I bought them. And I guess that s exactly what I did.But that also meant there were some hits and misses along the way. And that s okay because the experience of selling the watches that didn t really resonate with me also taught me a lot. I worked my way into the watch forums. I was confronted with the fact that not all watches hold their value very well. But, most importantly, I got to know other enthusiasts who had already been through the exact same journey I was going through. And those people really opened up a whole new world for me.Meeting other enthusiasts and their watchesIn buying and selling some of my watches, I had a few one-on-ones at people s kitchen tables. They would show me their watches and tell me about their hits and misses. First of all, those encounters were so much fun. But they also taught me a lot about watches and helped me to better determine what I liked and didn t like. I got to know more and more people, and when the lockdowns started to ease up, I started to attend watch get-togethers more frequently. And those were a real revelation for me - a proper rite of passage, you could say.Being at a meet-up with about 40 enthusiasts who put all their watches together on a big table sobered me up quite quickly, I can tell you. There were watches I had dreamed of owning. There were watches I had thought of buying. But, best of all, there were a lot of watches I had never even considered trying on. And again, hearing the experiences of other enthusiasts really helped me to not step into the same traps that they had. I think all these encounters really showed me that the hobby wasn t all about researching, buying, and selling. Most of all, it s about having fun with others who feel exactly the same about watches as I do.Coming to terms with my possessionsI don t know if you ve noticed, but I ve tried hard to avoid using the words collector and collection up to this point. Just like Lex, I don t really see myself as a watch collector yet. Apart from the fact that my watches match my style, there s no real theme linking them together. The watches I have in my possession have been bought quite randomly. And even though I have learned quite a bit about them, I still have so much more to learn. I must say that I ve now been able to get rid of the noise in my watch box, but still doesn t mean that I have a very clear idea about where I d like to go next. For now, it s still too early to call it a collection. Instead, I ll call it my possession, which makes me a possessor, I guess.So where do we go from here?In the beginning, I didn t really have a clear strategy, and I still don t. There s also no clearly defined theme. But I did think about covering some bases. With the Oris Art Blakey, I already had a dress watch, so I also wanted to add a diver, a chronograph, a field watch, and so on. As a result, the watches I now have in my possession are all fairly different types of watches. I ve covered most of the bases. In that sense, I m very happy with what I have. But now I have to find out whether it s really necessary to cover them all, or if I d just like to concentrate on a few types or even one type of watch.For now, I truly enjoy the variety, and I think I can hold out for a while with the watches I currently own. Of course, there are other watches that I might like to add. But I noticed that my acquired taste in watches has become quite expensive. With almost every watch purchase, I ve broken my own record for the highest amount evet spent on a watch. Consequently, I feel like I ve reached a ceiling, at least for now.And that s a good thing because the watches on my wish list often exceed that price ceiling. I don t know whether it s because I now work at Fratello or simply because we always want to transcend what we already have. But honestly, for now, I don t have a clear idea of what my next step will be. So for the time being, I ll call myself a satisfied possessor. I don t know if I ll ever become a serious collector. I m also not sure what the criteria are to become one. But, as they say, I guess time will tell!You can find and follow me on Instagram @fliptheparrot