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Tom Austin
The watch group is rising at an alarming price, and alongside it, so are our watch collections. If you happen to’re studying this, it’s unlikely you’re a one-watch particular person, and if you happen to’re something like me, to these on the skin, you most likely seem like you’ve got a little bit of an issue. Our passion has grown exponentially during the last decade, with a significant surge throughout the pandemic, a time when many people out of the blue had fewer life problems and extra time to obsess. The watch bug bit lots of people, arduous, and regardless of the whole lot now being again to regular, it appears there isn’t any remedy for this illness.
I’ve owned a number of watches for so long as I can keep in mind. At first, I didn’t contemplate myself a collector — I simply favored watches. However someplace in my mid-thirties, issues began to shift. As with many people, if you happen to’re fortunate, as you enter the early to center levels of your life, priorities change, careers progress, and monetary conditions enhance, that means that the abundance of selection will increase. Inevitably, you’re now not content material with the issues that after gave you satisfaction, and off you go on the journey of looking for the following factor that can give you that heat feeling inside. This is applicable to most issues, however with watches it’s particularly prevalent, in order time progressed, I definitely achieved collector standing, as I’m certain a lot of you’ve got, too.
Accumulating isn’t a product of contemporary tradition; it’s one thing human beings have achieved for 1000’s of years. Proof from the Stone Age has been uncovered of collections of things equivalent to formed stones and animal tooth. These objects weren’t used for survival or had a transparent utilitarian objective, however had been saved merely for aesthetic or symbolic worth. This tells us that gathering issues is embedded in our human nature. So, for anybody who thinks we’re mad for proudly owning so many watches, chances are high they’ve obtained a drawer filled with one thing else, they usually’re simply as mad as we’re.
So whereas we all know it’s tremendous and regular to gather watches in our horological circle, and one may say, “you may by no means personal sufficient”, is there truly an issue rooted in proudly owning too many watches? As psychologist and writer Barry Schwartz as soon as stated, “Too many selections can overwhelm us and trigger us not to decide on in any respect”. Schwartz’s e book, The Paradox of Selection, explores how the abundance of selection in trendy society robs us of satisfaction. That notion resonated with me as a result of regardless of having (let’s be sincere right here) a number of circumstances of watches, I nonetheless discover myself reaching for a similar couple of every day wearers. And but, the itch for the following one by no means actually goes away.
There as soon as was a time when a wristwatch was a instrument. It was a necessity for every day life, and in typically difficult circumstances, these watches needed to evolve to grow to be dependable and reliable, as a result of there was no different choice on the time. However at the moment, we will discover the time in every single place, from the telephones in our pocket, to the dashboard of our automobiles, and even the kitchen oven. Wristwatches couldn’t be additional away from being a necessity at the moment, and as such, are actually extra like objects of jewelry and expression, plucking at our heartstrings as trinkets of need. As collectors, we’re drawn to this distinction as a result of, whereas every watch is constructed with a particular objective in thoughts, we not often use them for that objective. We give you all kinds of justifications for proudly owning them, however the reality is straightforward: we similar to them.
Schwartz factors out one other level in his e book, that “wanting” and “liking” are served by very totally different methods in our brains. For instance, a drug addict will desperately need their medicine, but fail to show a lot pleasure as soon as they really get them. On a maybe much less harmful stage, the identical will be stated for watch gathering, as a result of whereas we might want or like a selected piece, the 2 don’t at all times should go collectively. You may simply like a watch however not need to purchase it – and in some circumstances, chances are you’ll even desire a watch to finish a part of a set, however you will have reservations over whether or not you really prefer it, and but you purchase it anyway. Is that this an indication that issues have gone too far?
My very own assortment is made up of watches I am keen on, ones that I maintain pricey with sentimental worth, ones I recognize for his or her historic cachet, but additionally watches I similar to the look of, however they not often get any wrist time. Typically, these had been purchased on a whim, maybe they had been a steal, or a purchase order made after one too many Negronis on a Friday night, however it’s protected to say that the sensation of chasing these watches most likely outweighs the possession expertise. That’s to not say they’re dangerous watches, removed from it, it simply comes right down to understanding your tastes higher, and recognising that taking extra time and care to curate your assortment will probably lead to a extra pleasant expertise total.
We’ve established that all of us have too many watches, and that as people, we will’t assist it. We additionally know now that we positively don’t want that subsequent watch, however it’s okay to need it anyway. Accumulating watches isn’t nearly including extra — it’s about understanding what issues. As collections develop, it’s straightforward to lose sight of why we began within the first place. The joy of the chase, the joys of possession, the connection to a narrative or design; these emotions can get diluted when the field will get too full.
That’s why there’s worth in stepping again and reassessing. Letting go of items that now not maintain that means can convey sudden readability. It makes room, each bodily and mentally, for the watches you really join with. Those that get worn. Those that also really feel particular. A extra centered assortment doesn’t imply much less ardour; it means extra intention. And that usually results in a deeper appreciation of what you have already got. The urge to purchase received’t disappear, however the causes for doing so may grow to be clearer… As a result of sooner or later, it stops being about proudly owning as a lot as potential, and begins being about proudly owning what truly issues.
