Collecting watches is getting uncool.

[FTX I]

Originally Posted by stockae92

My love for watches hasn't change, but I have lost interest in certain brands and certain models from some brands because they are the "flipper special". The ones that got bought up by people mainly for the resell for profit, and I have been enjoying other watches.

Agree. Those with silly nicknames were always on top of my 'never buy' list.

[superdog]

It is not a cool hobby.

No one looks at folks that collect watches and says, “that person is cool”.

That never happened. But sometimes after the fact, a cool person made a watch cool.

Now, today...definitely not cool.

[FTX I]

Originally Posted by superdog

It is not a cool hobby.

No one looks at folks that collect watches and says, “that person is cool”.

That never happened. But sometimes after the fact, a cool person made a watch cool.

Now, today...definitely not cool.

What I meant is that watches now seem to be popular like never before and that makes watch collecting lame in a certain way.

[superdog]

Originally Posted by FTX I

What I meant is that watches now seem to be popular like never before and that makes watch collecting lame in a certain way.

I agree with you.

Very much so.

[FTX I]

Originally Posted by superdog

I agree with you.

Very much so.

[Laszlo]

Originally Posted by Dan Pierce

Boom!
dP

Spot on.

[Laszlo]

Some watches that used to be cool have gotten so flashy and sparkly that they’re nothing but wrist jewelry now. To a point that I didn’t even feel safe walking down the street anymore. I’m back to basics, tools and understated enjoyment. And I haven’t been happier.

[Ruddiger]

Howdy,

Every bubble eventually pops and we are most definitely living in a bubble. Once the market self corrects many of the speculating hipsters who have gotten into the brand for all the wrong reasons will move on to the next big thing.

Take care,

Ruddiger

[SMD]

Nobody goes there anymore. Its too crowded.

[FTX I]

Originally Posted by Laszlo

Some watches that used to be cool have gotten so flashy and sparkly that they’re nothing but wrist jewelry now. To a point that I didn’t even feel safe walking down the street anymore. I’m back to basics, tools and understated enjoyment. And I haven’t been happier.

[~JJ]

Personally agree with a lot of the feedback and have been feeling this way, to a degree, since 2016. I’m a nerd and do a lot of un-cool things in life and like to find communities of similar people and hobbies. Collecting watches started to become popular and visibility into our world became main stream with social media (big players, not fora) and now it feels like high school for lack of a better analogy. Not a fan of being noticed and similar to a post above had kids say I must be rich to buy a Rolex, which is extremely off putting to me.

[BNA/LION]

I got sucked into the watch collecting hobby by simply liking and wanting a YG DD. I never thought I'd keep buying more and more Rolex watches. TRF kind of kept me interested while the enablers and Trusted Sellers made it easy to want and buy.

I don’t think it is not cool to collect watches it has just changed. People are buying to flip and not for the love of the timepieces as much as in the past.

[Burlington]

As a thought provoker

Is it cooler to collect Seiko (grand or regular) or something like ALS/VC rather than Rolex ?

Then everyone knows you ain’t in it for the quick flip ?

[FTX I]

Originally Posted by Burlington

As a thought provoker

Is it cooler to collect Seiko (grand or regular) or something like ALS/VC rather than Rolex ?

Then everyone knows you ain’t in it for the quick flip ?

It's not about brands but watches in general IMO. I was just thinking out loud when I started this thread but lots of interesting posts here.

[Cru Jones]

I like watches. I’m not a collector. I’m not cool.

I tend to think, the more people who like watches, the better. It means we’ll keep getting interesting stuff.

[Jay (Eire)]

Originally Posted by GB-man

To some degree I think he’s right collecting high end watches is so purely materialistic it’s bound to be fraught with wankers.

And this was always true for sure.

But there are infinitely more wankers today. And because of that these days wearing a specific watch (which one may have own for a long time) almost automatically deems you a wanker too in many peoples eyes. Nautilus, wanker. RM, absolute wanker.

I can say for me there are certain crowds in which I will consciously choose a Swatch, Seiko or something else extremely low key.

[AK797]

It's interesting that things have gone full circle, with Rolex they were status objects for the masses and so I and many others I presume joined this forum because we had a deeper interest in the actual watches and wanted to share them with like minded people, but now we have the situation where those status hunters and profiteers are coming onto the forums and SM in general and so we can't escape!

[Dilemma]

Uncool? Can't say. I do think it's shifted from watch lovers to collectors of 'things.'

The entire thing reminds me of guitars. How many owners of a '59 Burst can actually play a guitar? Some of course, but many just purchase them because it's a '59 Burst. They've no idea the history of these guitars nor what made them special. All they do is drive the prices up and keep them out of the hands of the proletariats.

[mrarchiegoodwin]

This question stimulates self reflection. Great. I get to discourse on my favorite subject--ME. But maybe it's not about me because I am not a collector and have never been cool.

I consider collecting and having knowledge about various things (watches, cars, art, music, food, plants, animals, places, history, philosophy, etc.) cool. I admire TRFers who know things about these watches. I think their knowledge is cool. I think their knowledge reflects well on them. So I think some of them are cool. Such as Walter Odets, but he was a paragon. I never thought owning these watches was cool.

Thank you for the posting the question.

[FTX I]

Originally Posted by mrarchiegoodwin

Thank you for the posting the question.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by Jay (Eire)

And this was always true for sure.

But there are infinitely more wankers today. And because of that these days wearing a specific watch (which one may have own for a long time) almost automatically deems you a wanker too in many peoples eyes. Nautilus, wanker. RM, absolute wanker.

I can say for me there are certain crowds in which I will consciously choose a Swatch, Seiko or something else extremely low key.

Very true. I think at the end of the day you have to read the audience and act accordingly. That is, if you even care!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[DudePerfect]

Originally Posted by FTX I

What I meant is that watches now seem to be popular like never before and that makes watch collecting lame in a certain way.

Lame people make things lame. Cool people are subjectively cool and watch collecting is neither cool or lame, like any other form of collecting!

[betterwatchit]

Originally Posted by Laszlo

Some watches that used to be cool have gotten so flashy and sparkly that they’re nothing but wrist jewelry now. To a point that I didn’t even feel safe walking down the street anymore. I’m back to basics, tools and understated enjoyment. And I haven’t been happier.

Yes, fully agree with this.

[MichaelFlash]

The watch craze at this moment reminds me a bit of the cigar craze in the 90s. Back then people were smoking cigars not because they enjoyed them but because it was considered cool then it died. Now I think a lot of people are fighting to get a few certain watches from a few certain brands because they think it’s cool. I think this too shall pass. At least I hope so because I hate the whole relationship, wait list, investment stuff.

[FTX I]

Originally Posted by MichaelFlash

The watch craze at this moment reminds me a bit of the cigar craze in the 90s. Back then people were smoking cigars not because they enjoyed them but because it was considered cool then it died. Now I think a lot of people are fighting to get a few certain watches from a few certain brands because they think it’s cool. I think this too shall pass. At least I hope so because I hate the whole relationship, wait list, investment stuff.

My thoughts as well.

[Calborn]

Originally Posted by RyanJ

Watch collecting is great. Especially if you collect many brands. If you only collect one brand or only "hot" watches then I can understand your issues.

Agreed.

The masses mainly gravitate towards the typical overhyped pieces from Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet. For collectors and enthusiasts who buy what they like and can brush off the peer pressure, everything else is attainable from a supply perspective.

[uscmatt99]

Originally Posted by MichaelFlash

The watch craze at this moment reminds me a bit of the cigar craze in the 90s. Back then people were smoking cigars not because they enjoyed them but because it was considered cool then it died. Now I think a lot of people are fighting to get a few certain watches from a few certain brands because they think it’s cool. I think this too shall pass. At least I hope so because I hate the whole relationship, wait list, investment stuff.

I agree. Fortunately there are brands that haven't fallen to this fate that make amazing pieces you can purchase today or with a short wait if desired.

[FTX I]

Originally Posted by Calborn

Agreed.

The masses mainly gravitate towards the typical overhyped pieces from Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet. For collectors and enthusiasts who buy what they like and can brush off the peer pressure, everything else is attainable from a supply perspective.

Not my case though. I like many brands. If you pay attention to the main subforum you'll probably get where I'm coming from. I thought this discussion was over but one of our members brought it back today and it's nice to read all the posts after some time.

[WatchEater666]

Who cares? The majority of the population is dumber than a bag of rocks.

[Blansky]

As someone who is extremely cool, I find myself questioning even being here surrounded by so many self confessed uncool people.

WHERE ARE MY PEOPLE????