How Has COVID Impacted Your Collection?

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by Nathan_

Covid allowed me to purchase my grail within a year - living in Victoria, Australia we have been locked down majority of the time since Covid started, so my savings basically tripled!

Wow. That’s horrific.

[cascavel]

The astronomical rise in prices and the absolute unavailability of any watches I might want, which actually began before Covid but accelerated as a consequence of it, has completely removed me from the watch scene, kicked me out, to be truthful.
The only way to get anything of interest would be to trade into it and I'd have to leave too much on the table. So, now, all I can do with my watches is wear them, no more calculating what I'd have to sacrifice in order to get into something I lust for.

[GreenLantern]

Originally Posted by cascavel

The astronomical rise in prices and the absolute unavailability of any watches I might want, which actually began before Covid but accelerated as a consequence of it, has completely removed me from the watch scene, kicked me out, to be truthful.
The only way to get anything of interest would be to trade into it and I'd have to leave too much on the table. So, now, all I can do with my watches is wear them, no more calculating what I'd have to sacrifice in order to get into something I lust for.

Yeah, the whole situation is very sad to me.

[ap1]

This is a great topic. There just isn’t the opportunity to wear your pieces as much out of the house, this is starting to turn now for me at least. I did move out of a Lange and patek with strap primarily for this reason. Too much money in pieces that simply sat there. As far, as churn and burn well I still managed a ton of transactions. I sold a few at panic low prices March 2020, unfortunately. As for now, I’m frustrated that nothing is around to buy due to hype, insta or whatever. Gotta just enjoy what I have and hope for those Rolex calls lol.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by ap1

This is a great topic. There just isn’t the opportunity to wear your pieces as much out of the house, this is starting to turn now for me at least. I did move out of a Lange and patek with strap primarily for this reason. Too much money in pieces that simply sat there. As far, as churn and burn well I still managed a ton of transactions. I sold a few at panic low prices March 2020, unfortunately. As for now, I’m frustrated that nothing is around to buy due to hype, insta or whatever. Gotta just enjoy what I have and hope for those Rolex calls lol.

I burned my shit down early on covid but I’ve honestly done that regardless of covid 4-5 times lol

At the time I recall thinking I can’t believe I can still sell these for what I paid and in some cases more. But then as we all know the market moonshot on several references. One being my 15500 blue I sold for 27k lol I don’t miss the watch but would have rather got 55 for it lol

[ap1]

Originally Posted by GB-man

I burned my shit down early on covid but I’ve honestly done that regardless of covid 4-5 times lol

At the time I recall thinking I can’t believe I can still sell these for what I paid and in some cases more. But then as we all know the market moonshot on several references. One being my 15500 blue I sold for 27k lol I don’t miss the watch but would have rather got 55 for it lol

I don’t want to talk about it. Gave 5170p away for a song.

Pepsi jub 14
Batman jub 12

Thankfully was in at msrp on those. I’m an oyster guy decided

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by ap1

I don’t want to talk about it. Gave 5170p away for a song.

Pepsi jub 14
Batman jub 12

Thankfully was in at msrp on those. I’m an oyster guy decided

Same here regarding oyster. I sold my 5164 for 55 if that helps

[Yobrooks]

Originally Posted by _speedmaster_

Obviously trivial in the grand scheme of things, but I was reflecting the other day on how the events of the past year and a half have impacted my watch collection and how I've evolved as a collector. I would be interested to hear all of your thoughts and any changes you have made to your collections in the past year and a half.

For me, working from home had really seemed to highlight watches that I did not click with anymore. Without the excuse to wear a watch (i.e. no longer commuting to NYC or less frequent dinners at restaurants) I was finding the same watches were getting ignored. Additionally, whereas I would have been more gun-shy about making drastic changes in the past, my current post-COVID mindset is to live a little more in the moment.

Anyway, changes to my collection since the start of 2021

Out:
H. Moser Endeavour Funky Blue
Rolex BLNR
First Omega in Space
Omega CK2998 Blue panda
JLC Tribute to Deep Sea Alarm

In:
Urban Jurgensen 1140
Gronefeld Principia (ETA 2022)
Moritz Grossmann x Revolution Magazine Benu 37
Grand Seiko SBGW275

Speedy... Great thread, thanks for submitting. I'd love your opinion. I have the opportunity to purchase either the urban jürgensen 1140 or a Gronefeld Principia but not both. Which do you prefer for more of a daily wearer, movement detail, price stability, etc.. I'm leaning towards the Principia to compliment my collection.

[_speedmaster_]

Originally Posted by Yobrooks

Speedy... Great thread, thanks for submitting. I'd love your opinion. I have the opportunity to purchase either the urban jürgensen 1140 or a Gronefeld Principia but not both. Which do you prefer for more of a daily wearer, movement detail, price stability, etc.. I'm leaning towards the Principia to compliment my collection.

Many thanks! Definitely a tough question. To be clear, I don't have my Principia yet (delivery will be next year). So I only have experience wearing the watch briefly at ADs. I have done alot of research on it and have met Bart and Tim in person, so I think I can speak to it well enough.

Overall : My slightly more details thoughts below. There are pros and cons to each watch when you compare them to each other; it's an extremely difficult choice. If I had to pick, I would go with the 1140. I absolutely love this watch and still get lost looking at the dial every time I wear it. It's basically like having a baby Voutilainen (Kari worked for Urban Jurgesen and took many of his design cues from there). You honestly can't go wrong with either watch though.

Price : Slight edge to the Principia. Upfront, the 1140 is a steal if you get one grey market (might be one of the best values for money in horology). However, selling a UJ is tough. The Principia has a high cost of entry with zero discount nowadays, but will retain it's value.

Daily wear : Kind of depends on which variant of the 1140 you go for. The platinum versions can be dressed down. But, overall, I think the Principia is more suited to daily wear. Both wear incredibly compact and slim on the wrist.

Dial side finish : Edge to the 1140. Both feature incredible finish on their hands and indices/hour markers. I prefer the design of the 1140 hands as they are more complex and feature greater details. Extra nod goes to the 1140 for its hand laid guilloche dial. I like the grenage dial of the Principia, but it's not as special imho.

Case : Slight edge to the 1140. Both concave bezels and stepped case designs. Both compact. Both feature subtle complexities. I personally prefer the tear-drop lugs of the 1140 more than the Principia design. But this is just preference.

Movement : Principia wins. Finishing on the 1140 movement is nice, but not even close to the same level. The Principia movement is also adjusted to 6 positions instead of 5 for the P4 movement in the 1140. 1140 does have a greater power reserve though. But the Gronefeld movement is on a slighter higher level in my opinion.

[zengineer]

Without the commute I had more time to evaluate, sell and buy to tweak the collection in a way I had wanted to for a while. I don't think the plan or end result was covid driven but it did accelerate the process.

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[Yobrooks]

Thanks so much for the insight. It's a tough decision for sure.. 2 great independent brands, 2 great models.

[Chute]

Well, I haven’t bought any Rolex since COVID hit, but that left room for other watches.
I picked up a Calatrava, a VC overseas and the wife got a BB58 and a Lange.
Income went down since COVID, but I haven’t had to spend money on a lot of things so it evened out.
If anything, the boom in watches made me less interested in Rolex for sure, but my collecting of watches is coming to a close. I’ve got all the watches I need for the rest of my life, and nothing much interests me enough to part with the funds.
So, mostly it made be buy less nicer pieces and decide I’m about done.

[watchucallit]

The lack of stock due to COVID --- made me not buy a couple of watches I was interested in and because the gray prices are too high-- decided not to purchase

[David5807]

Start of the pandemic - [IMG][/IMG]


Present - [IMG][/IMG]

I starting wanting pieces that flew a little more under the radar.

[RTG]

I went the opposite direction. Corona virus travel restrictions made my watch collection far less enjoyable. Interests shifted back to vehicles and firearms.

When at home I rarely have a reason to not wear my Explorer II. I used to travel extensively for business and pleasure. When traveling, I would wear a Sky-Dweller, YM, GMT or whatever fit the trip best. When vacationing I would take multiple watches, as would my wife.

Now an Explorer II and Jubilee BLNR are all my wife and I wear.

At the very beginning of the Corona Virus panic I did try my best to land an AP RO as I had contacts at shops that were closed. Came close but no cigar. Lost interest after a few weeks.

Vehicle and machine gun collections have improved greatly since Corona.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by ap1

I don’t want to talk about it. Gave 5170p away for a song.

Pepsi jub 14
Batman jub 12

Thankfully was in at msrp on those. I’m an oyster guy decided

Funny how we all have our preferences. I went the other way and much prefer the jubilee on those references. To each their own

[golfinz]

Pre covid:
Explorer 1 - still have
Tag Heuer Aquaracer - still have
Panerai 183G - gone

Acquisitions during Covid, oldest to newest:
FP Journe CS
Tudor BB58
BLNR
3861 speedy
Green sub (cermit)
VC 1921

[Krash]

No real impact except during COVID-19 pandemic, I started to think I have no real need for a dressier watch.

I was thinking about getting another diver.

However, now that I’m working in the office again, I’m starting to think a dress watch might be nice to have.

Right now, I have a Speedmaster and Submariner.


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[AF_Rob]

COVID made me realize I don’t need what I have currently. I’ll likely move a couple pieces eventually. No plans to add anything. My last add was just prior to things getting crazy.


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[Brew]

Covid made me realize I was adopted.

I added one. That seems inconsequential, but the new one banished everything else to the safe. I tried to give the others away to my brother and sister, but they didn’t want them.

I am alone in the world, now with only one watch I love. #thankscovid


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[ap1]

Originally Posted by Brew

Covid made me realize I was adopted.

I added one. That seems inconsequential, but the new one banished everything else to the safe. I tried to give the others away to my brother and sister, but they didn’t want them.

I am alone in the world, now with only one watch I love. #thankscovid


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Tell us what the collection killer is

[Brew]

Originally Posted by ap1

Tell us what the collection killer is

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[ap1]

Originally Posted by Brew

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Makes sense!


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