Can there be too much of a good thing?
A question that every watch enthusiast has to address sooner or later is the proper size of their watch collection. This is a question often debated on watch forums and podcasts and — spoiler alert — there is no one correct answer for everyone. It’s something that each collector has to determine for himself or herself. And for most collectors, the answer will likely change over time.
At the risk of oversimplifying, I believe watch collection sizes can be broken down into four basic categories. Could it also be broken down into six different categories or twenty basic categories? Sure. But I think these are four meaningful categories that, for the most part, provide some value in differentiation.
“The One-Watch Guy/Gal”
The name pretty much says it all, although some would argue that one watch a collection does not make. Nevertheless, this is a category that many find themselves in before or after falling within one of the other categories. For some, the one watch is the launching pad to more. To others, it’s a goal — a singularity to be achieved when the perfect grail watch is found and obtained, serving as the uniting, single object of love and obsession that used to be split between multiple timepieces.
“Dress + Diver” (2 to 4 watches)
This collector usually has different types of watch to round out the smaller collection – dress and diver, dress and field, chrono and diver, etc. Focused on just a few watches that all see significant wear — perhaps one for the workweek and one for the weekend, for instance. Others like to limit their collection to just a few high quality pieces, but buy and sell somewhat regularly to keep a rotation going.
“The Once-a-Week’er” (5 to 9 watches)
This collector has (roughly) one watch for each day of the week. Due to seasonal wear, he or she may not religiously wear each watch once a week, but they definitely do sometimes. (This is how they justify expanding beyond the “dress + diver” category.) When they fall on the high end of this scale, they may regularly opt for an afternoon watch change to keep everything in the rotation.
“The Accumulator” (10+ watches)
Maybe there’s another subcategory at 10 to 15 watches, but by the time you get here (if you stay here), you don’t really care about the numbers. You’d probably be fine with 20 or 200, if you have the resources. You’re not going to be able to wear all of them regularly, but there are things you like about each one you add to the collection, and that’s great.
What Am I?
I’ve definitely gone through three of the four categories myself. While I would love to find the watch that would allow me to be a “one watch guy” in the future, I haven’t run across that watch yet. I think I just like variety in my daily wears too much. Even “Dress + Diver” could be difficult for me to get back to. I currently consider myself in the “Once-a-Week’er” category (although the number of watches under my roof would, technically, still make me an “Accumulator” — the parameters of what watches “count” in the count is probably a topic for a different post). Ideally, I think I’d like to see myself on the low end of the “Once-a-Week’er” category, with five or six watches in what I consider my collection. That’s the current goal I’m working toward, at least.
