How many watches in a collection and still wear them all?

[Mrhenish]

Originally Posted by BraveBold

Have 10 watches. I can see myself managing up to 20.

Have 4 “toy” impractical cars. Find that to be my max, had 5 (too many!) and even with 4 I can’t get mileage on them all. Work from home is part of it as our daily drivers also don’t get heavy use…

Watches are far easier. Less time based maintenance, less space (no kidding) and less value. I also have a similar number of guitars - 10… a couple get played maybe once per year. But they are there and not degrading… similar to watches, require minimal maintenance.

Most people have only one vice, not three! Haha. All of those collections sound great. I have seven watches. Which all get one wrist time. All of fit into my collection and several are “classics” (ss daytona, Pepsi) so I wouldn’t get rid of those. I can see my way to probably 12ish.

[Crashblue]

I have bought roughly 2-3 watches each year for the last 23 years. Around 20 Rolex, 10 Panerai, and a lot of different stuff from big names like Patek to micro brands like MB&F.

I usually wear the last watch I bought plus one or two additional watches I have at home mostly sporty ones. The rest is in the safe deposit box in the bank which I maybe visit twice a year. Most of my watches haven't been worn for years.

[INC]

Originally Posted by Rollieo

How many watches is it practical to have in a collection and actually wear them?

I think it depends on the personal preferences.

I feel watches are meant to be worn, makes me think I should finally let these pieces go.

That's why I tend to sell those that I don't wear and have no sentimental value to me.

[Calatrava r]

I would think 6 watches would be the most someone could each wear often. I have always had a lot, too many.

[JSol1]

I’m currently at 6 Rolex and a couple of others (Casio). I’ve learned to focus on what I like wearing and not the number. If I find myself not wearing something or forcing myself to wear it because it’s been awhile I have finally become comfortable trading it.

Initially I was afraid to move on from something for fear of future regret, but I’ve overcome that…

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by Andad

Nice pair Adam.

Cheers Eddie

[DC116710LN]

3-5 would be ideal for me but I find it difficult to part with pieces I love, even if they remain unworn for long periods of time

[Jacobson]

Currently @ 21 watches. Was a lot more.
The size of my collection tends to fluctuate, but has never been below 20 over the past decade or so.

I count 21 as the main collection.
I do have a few more that I do not really consider to be part of the collection, these include G-shocks & others, all under the current market value of 5K per piece.

Out of the 21, I'd like to say they all do get some wrist time over the year, but if I'm honest with myself, only 10 or so are in continuous rotation.

Funnily enough my current most worn is a Tudor Black Bay Pro.

[alphadweller]

I currently own 12 watches in working order. I wear them all, but not in equal measure, far from it. I love all my watches and bought them for a reason. I don’t see why I should sell the ones that get less wrist time, I would miss them. Each watch has its pros and cons. There's no perfect watch as such, so no single watch can be worn in any circumstances. Drawbacks don't mean I've got to get rid of the pieces.

Some watches are more suitable for the summer, while others prefer the winter (barely water-resistant dress watch on a croc strap). Some are just not meant to be worn frequently, despite being perfect for very specific occasions or needs, so they're well worth keeping.

My only reasons for selling a watch would be not liking it anymore for whatever reason or needing the money (if the watch is worth selling at all).

My current state of the collection:

- Seiko Arctura Kinetic auto-relay: beater, tough as nails, oldest working watch I own (year 2003). Handy grab-and-go quartz with 4 years power reserve thanks to a capacitor. No need to change the battery ever. It’s always on time.

- Omega PO2500 45.5: worn daily 7 years straight at the beginning, but seldomly worn these days (a few weeks in total last year). First Omega and first luxury watch, special piece to me.

- Breitling Avenger Seawolf white dial (“stratus silver”): worn 10 times last year. I really love the sturdy looks of this diver, it’s different from the rest. Chunky case, metal bezel with its iconic rider tabs. Also, it saw the birth of my two kids 3 years apart, so that’s a keeper for ever. Too thick to be worn comfortably under a shirt or jumper (17mm).

- Crepas Cayman 3000: microbrand diver, got worn 8 times last year. My best-looking diver in terms of minimalistic and clean dial layout. However, like the Seawolf it’s also very thick (18mm), so I never wear it under a shirt, only with polo or t-shirt, thus almost never in autumn/winter.

- Rolex Yacht-Master pt dial 116622: worn all year around, several months in total last year. Beautiful shimmering dial and bezel in the sunshine, my favorite summer watch. Can look a bit dull and lifeless on an overcast or rainy day, but I’m cool with that, it’s part of its discreet charm and beauty. The pop it lacks in winter, it makes up for it in summer. Such a classy sports piece.

- Longines pocket watch, half-hunter (modern reissue, anniversary): only worn once or twice a year but several days in a row. When I’m in the mood for it, I really enjoy the wearing experience of this pocket watch and love cranking its massive onion crown for a satisfying manual wind. However, it’s not practical having to pry it out of the pocket when I need to know the time, which is why it’s not worn more often.

- Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Tradition small seconds: affordable dressy watch, taken out of the box 6 times last year (for a total of a month wear time). This is my go-to dress watch for the office in winter. Beautiful hand-turn (guilloché) dial and blued steel hands.

- Kentex Marineman I and II: affordable divers mostly worn at the beach and when snorkeling. Nothing beats the peace of mind of wearing an affordable yet solid and dependable diver in the water. Can be knocked around on a boat without a care. Also, both have unique MOP dials (black and green) which I adore, plus ceramic bezel and sapphire crystal for scratch resistance. Better looking than the typical Seiko SKX it shares the movement with (NH35).

- Rolex TT blue Sub 126613LB: worn a few months in total last year. Went from being a weekender to a daily driver at the office. Fun and satisfying wearing experience, colorful, beautiful dial, bit flashy and loud but I don’t care, I love this thing, ha-ha!

- VC Patrimony 85180 in WG: my other go-to dress watch for the office and also for special suit and tie occasions (wedding etc.). Worn a couple of months in total last year. This is my grail. Find it super elegant and love its timeless design language. High level of manual decoration (Geneva seal). Feels special every time I wear it, oozes class.

- SD43 126600: still unworn as I’m saving it for my 50th birthday next year. My favorite diver overall. I adore it, find it intimidating, it’s badass. I love what it represents in Rolex’ stable and what it commemorates. This could be my only watch if I was so inclined, but I’m not a one-watch guy anymore, ha!

[Black Bay Dan]

Only 3 and they each get worn every third day

Dan

[richard371]

5 here but its hard not toy wear the 116500. Although my others are decent and some might argue nicer I get a bit of FOMO not wearing the Daytona. The struggle is real lol.

[JJGreen]

I sort of agree with you, 4-6 is ideal and I have 12-13 (I'm too lazy to count). I pretty much always have a few on the night stand and then rotate the other 1-2 spots. For instance, Green OP 36, Tudor 54, and then rotate in a Speedy, or AP, vintage GMT, something like that.

[zi464]

16 ， 15 in rotation.

The only one I don't wear is a vintage Seiko crown diashock 21 jewels.
Have no idea what occasion I would wear it.

[DTNSS]

9 total:

4 get the most wrist time most days, 2 Rolex Sub/GMT WG, 1 Omega Speedmaster YG rubber strap, 1 Omega Speedmaster Snoopy.

2 other I don’t really wear for a while, will sell; Rolex solid YG sky dweller, oysterflex WG Yacht-master.

2 other noticed I only wear for sometimes for special occasions only, Patek 5711/5712 SS. Which is weird because in liking PM pieces more lately. But want to keep these.

1 vintage Rolex 5513 SS, wear it randomly, but weekly.

I’m thinking the magic number is 5. More than that rarely gets wrist time.


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[garyk]

I have an embarrassing amount but 6 Rolex and some additional what I call “substantial” watches like Panerai, IWC, Porsche Design, Breitling, Omega, Tissot, and a whole lot of cheaper watches. I try to wear them all!

[yoda888]

I asked myself this as well. I think my collection might be too much now.

Pre-pandemic, I wore a watch 7 days a week. 9 out of 10 times, it was my 14060. Love it on the bracelet and on a NATO. On those rare occasions I would rotate my Ultraman in. I have a Batman as well, but that is rarely worn.

Now that I only go into the office 2x a week, I wear watches even more rarely. Depending on where we go on the weekend I might even be without a watch.

I've also added a 16610LV, a hermes h08, tudor GMT Pro, and a couple of moonswatches.

Honestly, that's a bit much considering I'm only wearing watches half the time now at most. And I've been wearing the LV a lot lately.

I'm not ready to thin the herd however. I do want a 16710 however, but this is getting a bit excessive...

[Jocas712]

I am also in the same puzzle right now. Too many watches that I dont wear. For now this gets the most wrist time

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[Gerardus]

Originally Posted by HogwldFLTR

I had seven Rolex up to last night. I decided that I really didn't have enough time to give them all due time. So I'm back down to four Rolex and a bunch more of other watches.

Which one you kept Lee?

[Gerardus]

Own 3 Rolex, a Panerai and a Tudor at the moment.
3 in total would be perfect for me if I be straight to myself. At this moment I am leaning to keep the EXII, Milgauss and Pepsi Tudor. (And yes, sell my Bluesy which was a long time my grail)

[fskywalker]

Had owned as many as 4 Rolex watches at the same time (Sub, DD, YM, MG), down to 2 right now (Sub, DJ) plus some pieces from other brands (Omega, Zenith, Tudor, etc). Think that 3-5 is a manageable amount, at least on the “expensive watch” category


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[Carguy87]

For me I’ve decided I prefer not to wear my Rolexes at work, so I have my “work rotation” of watches, currently

-Speedmaster Moonphase black dial on bracelet
-Tudor opaline GMT on bracelet
-Tag Heuer Monaco blue dial on blue leather deployant

Then on my days off I wear my Rolex pieces. Lets me enjoy everything in my small collection in different ways. I do want to add a couple more non Rolex pieces for work, and ultimately get up to around 10 total. We’ll see how it goes!

[piratfisk]

I currently have 6 & in reality, I wear two of them, ironically the cheapest & the most expensive one.

In a perfect world, I'd sell 3 of the middle group, as they don't get much wrist time & aren't worth a ton to me (monetarily or sentimentally). I'd love a WG DD36 & maybe a Patek dress watch, but I honestly don't know if I'd wear the Patek as much as I think I would.

[Eagles4133]

5 in the current regular rotation, alternate every other day.

Typically wear my sub 114060 year-round and mix in the following 4 when it suits me.
1. Hesalite Moonwatch
2. Omega Seamaster 300 Diver
3. Rolex Explorer 1 MK1
4. Omega Seamaster 300 Heritage (blue)

[Ferrari308]

I probably have 75 watches.

I wear whatever I feel like putting on that day. Recently it's mostly been Rolex, well, just because. But I have several Hamiltons and lots of other mostly cheaper watches I picked up because I found them to be interesting. I have probably 6-8 Momentum watches - which are what Tom Selleck wore on Magnum, PI for the first few seasons. Since I have an affinity for Magnum PI and Ferrari's I like those watches.

I usually just pick a watch to match whatever I happen to be wearing that day. It could be anything - I just like that variety.

Today happens to be a 16710 day.


PDG

[Zuger]

14 watches currently. Half of them I wear regularly, the other half have unintentionally become investment pieces due to discontinued status. They are in my curio cabinet as display pieces so they are getting used albeit not on my wrist.

[jb335]

I’m currently at 8 and I thought that was a reasonable amount but I have found it’s excessive. I tend to wear the same 4 mostly and the rest get ignored for long stretches. I think I’ve worn my 15400 blue dial maybe 3 times this year.

I’m very close to moving a few out. Not sure if I’ll go down to 4 but I’m going to head in that direction.

Glad to see so many people saying 4-6. I was expecting more to say 3, which feels dangerously low too me. I don’t know why, but 4 sounds more versatile and still reasonable at the same time.


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[Lawman77]

I currently have 4, with 3 being added in the last 3 months.
I received a DJ II, fluted bezel, blue stick dial in 2010....that was my daily wearer for 13 years.
This June I added a 2023 126610LV. I also added a 2023 126710BLNR. Lastly, I picked up an IWC Portugieser chrono.
Now, I struggle with justifying having all 4 and trying to rotate them all. Im sure this is because I was used to only having the DJ II for over 13 years....
I suppose I would consider my 4 a "collection," but not sure how practical it is to have all 4....

[Dukes_06]

i own 8 watches and only really wear 4. Of those 4 i consider two as dailys, one for the office and one as a beater and travel watch. The other two are gold watches that I wear on weekend and or special events, dinners, etc. I am getting the itch for another watch but at the same time I want to downsize to be able to wear them all. AAUGH the struggle, I'm guessing you guys can relate.

[cdm765]

I have 4, but think it is too many. To me I think the maximum number is 3, but like 2 most.

[cardstock]

I tend to have different watches for different occasions. Kind of like shoes. A pair of sport shoes, a couple casual, a couple business, a couple dress, and a formal one. That makes around 8.

My watches are diverse so there is a really good selection to chose from. Nothing shabby though as I tend to wear things that I am very comfortable with. No ostentatious extensive diamond and ruby coverage but also nothing under a Breitling Endurance Pro (yellow with a navy blue nato strap). Did I happen to mention that I like to make watches my own by changing up some straps for something a little different.