Are there any actual 'for wear' collectors left?

[ArtNouveau]

My GMT, Daytona, Speedmaster, and a couple of Seikos all get regular wear. My late dad’s Omega is kept for sentimental reasons and I’ve got another six or so microbrand pieces that aren’t worth selling.
Going forward I will buy no more watches unless I know I will wear them.

[Kyle3130]

Yes, I have 2 Submariners (14060M & 124060). I wore the M everyday for 8 years until I got the new one last month. It has been on my wrist 24/7 since the AD shipped it to me. I’m still in the “honeymoon” phase with it.

[Bryan81]

I wear every watch I have and I have a good sized collection. I buy them to wear. I have no intention of using them as some sort of investment to sock away. I keep them in good condition, but keeping them mint is not a priority. The occasions when I’m out working on the tractor or cutting down a tree I just wear something else and enjoy them the other 99% of the time.


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[DJ2020]

One watch all day and all night. Wear it 24 hours 360 days a year no matter what my activities. The other 5 days is for special occasions and watches for those occasions.

[inadeje]

I wear all my watches, so yes, I am an avid collector, but I wear each watch, usually in chronological rotation. What I will say though is that like much else I can go through phases in which I’m somewhat nonchalant towards my collection, and this can go on for a few days or a few weeks. Later the passion returns, and all is well. I enjoy rediscovering a certain piece and find that I can fall back in love with it for new reasons. Thats why I think long and hard before selling a specific watch.

I have an array of beater watches I use for the gym, work around the house or manual work usually a casio or skx seiko.

[TswaneNguni]

Back when ADs gave discounts ,all watches were worn .
In current market conditions,much less Rolex are worn .

What percentage white and black ss Daytonas sold are actually worn ? Maybe 30% ? 20% ?

[scooba]

Some great replies here , I am a mixture of lots of the replies wearing new pieces and vintage all price points some SS some PM pieces , I think the forum is mostly still about enthusiasts, Now venture across to some of the Facebook groups 🙄

[BNA/LION]

Buy what I like, it's become a hobby and a collection. Wear and rotate all of them!

[Nairn1980]

Yes 100%

[HL65]

I wear every watch I own and wouldn’t buy them otherwise.

[mountainjogger]

Only keep what I wear. If it gets no wrist time it is gone.

Never had the desire to keep a LNIB collection.

Besides reading about people who claim to put rubbers on their watches to prevent scratches and keep them LNIB, I have never met a person who does this.

And I personally think the non-wearing collector is more rare than the wearer.

[Sisyphus]

I wear my watches daily. My PP 5196 and my Explorer I get the most wrist time.

[Harry-57]

It depends on how people define the term "collector". The "for wear" bit is easy in my case. All of them are bought for wearing.

I have 12 watches, I want at least three more and am likely to get at least two of them. They all get worn in rotation. I don't know if 12-15 watches is considered a collection. If it does, I'm a collector. If it doesn't, I'm not. They are all nicely displayed (in a safe) when not in use .

I keep all the boxes, bags and paperwork. I put little notes, where necessary, in the boxes with a little picture of the watch to remind me which watch came in which box, unless it is obvious. Plus purchase date and price paid. The boxes are securely stored at a different location to the watches. The warranty cards and paperwork are securely stored in a third place. That certainly qualifies me as an anal retentive, but not necessarily a collector.

[Driver8]

I have 5 Rolexes and a few by other brands, and I wear every single one of them and enjoy the hell out of them; there are no safe queens in my collection. Buying a watch to just store away and look at on occasions, would be like marrying someone and not... well.... you know!

That said, I personally don't see the need for purposefully wearing an expensive watch in a situation that could "damage" it. Just because a watch can handle the rough stuff, it doesn't mean you should test that ability at every turn IMO. Or if you do decide to test it, then you have to accept the fact that it will look beaten up far faster than if you didn't, and would therefore need more servicing and more refurbishment more often.

For me, wearing an expensive watch in a potentially damaging situation doesn't make me enjoy either the activity or my watch any more. If anything, it's quite the opposite. I have a car that will do 175mph, but I don't feel I have to validate my ownership of it by doing that kind of speed. Plus if I did, it would need more servicing, get a ton more stone-chips, and generally look pretty beaten up far faster than it otherwise would.

I'm also mindful of the fact that while the Sub (and the like) were undoubtedly tool watches when first conceived, things have changed over the years. Hell, the prices alone have morphed them into something more than that. They are now luxury items that can still mix it as tool watches if needed. The simple fact is that when tool watches were genuinely tool watches, there was no alternative. If you were a diver in the '60's/'70's you wore a mechanical watch to save your life... because there was nothing else. It was the peak of the art at the time - you just need to look at the Ploprof to see how function was infinitely more important than form. But if you're a diver in the 2020's you wear a more robust, more reliable, more accurate, and more functionally adept diver computer. Likewise, while a Rolex is considerably more capable and robust than, say, a Patek, the simple fact is that there are infinitely better alternatives for handling the rough stuff. And by better, I mean cheaper, more rugged and more reliable - I'm looking at you G-Shock.

So basically that's a long way of saying that yes I wear all my "expensive" watches 99% of the time and in 99% of situations. However I do take them off to sleep, and I would either wear no watch at all or something more appropriate (like a G-Shock) to do anything like gardening, DIY, sport, etc. To me, using your expensive watches is a spectrum, with "safe queen" at one end and a "beater" at the other. I fall somewhere in the middle.

[Plebs]

With you there, I rotate my watches throughout the week and make sure each get wear time. Really great way to enjoy them


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[thesharkfactor]

I paid the full grey price for a BLRO, took the remaining stickers off and Ive been wearing it non stop since, this includes gardening, cleaning the car, desk diving, making pizza dough - whatever I do, its there. I took it on holiday recently and it did a waterpark and a theme park, roller coasters and all. It's a watch and it tells me the time..

Now, A colleague has a BLNR, it's still in the box, he's too afraid to use it. I just don't get this mentality at all. Who is he keeping it new for, the next owner?

[huba01]

I wear mine all day long, all kinds of activities, everywhere.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by kip595

Are there any actual 'for wear' collectors left?

Yes. I wear everything I own

[garyk]

Originally Posted by beshannon

Yes. I wear everything I own

Great watch. Might as well enjoy it. The next guy sure will!

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by garyk

Great watch. Might as well enjoy it. The next guy sure will!

Well that will be my son I hope to be around for quite a while yet

[Pw92676]

Originally Posted by mg18

I wear all, and will not buy any piece unless I plan on wearing it regularly.

Agree. I love watches. And I love investing. But I do not mix the two :)

[Spartacus-1]

I wear my ss Sub during the day and my CHNR in the evening, every day of the week. I would only ever buy watches to be worn and enjoyed.

[GST15]

Yes, I have eight (5 Rolex) good watches and I wear one every day, often changing during the day.

[WBaileyii]

No safe queens. I wear them all.

[Drgessler]

Agreed. Watches are meant to be worn and enjoyed. My sub is my daily but I alternate between a datejust (my late father's watch) and a seamaster which was my first "nice" watch. Scratches and dings give them character and personality.

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[Jackie Daytona]

Originally Posted by GoPackGo!

Yes sir, right here in TN. Every day wearer!

That makes 2 here in TN.

They will go to my kids one day and I think it would be a waste for them to not have memories to appreciate them with.

[Token74]

Here is my collection. All get worn, regularly. I tend to have four watches in rotation at any one time (with the rest in storage) and then try to change the watches in rotation with each season change. It’s not an exact science as i have my favourites, with the Nautilus and Offshore getting more time than others.

I will regularly wear two watches in a given day, and sometimes three! For instance, wearing the Dweller to do the gardening in the morning, the Daytona for golf in the afternoon, and the Royal Oak for Dinner in the evening!




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[Oyster Sauce]

I only buy to wear as part of a rotation, as fits my fancy, usually one watch per week at a time. Everyone, wear in good health

[Token74]

Originally Posted by kip595

Thanks guys - after seeing some posts on various forums lately (albeit all centered around the Rolex marque, primarily) I thought maybe I'd lost my mind!

My theory is that a lot of folk are now stretching themselves to buy a Rolex, so tend to be careful about wearing it because in truth it’s really out of their league.

It’s a similar story with cars. Ian Poulter has done incredible Ferraris but he openly admits he does very few miles in them as he can’t afford to run them (factoring depreciation of miles etc.). So they are really home museum pieces for Ian. On the other hand, I know someone who has a similar collection but it is well within his means, so he has racked up tens of thousands of miles in his Enzo for instance. He is able to fully enjoy his collection because it is well within his means.

I’ve previously bought cars that i can afford, and have paid cash for, but are honestly out of my league, so i used to worry about parking them in tight car parks, or leaving them in station car parks overnight. Takes all the fun out of ownership.


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[Goin2drt]

I am a hobbyist not a collector. I buy what I like and wear them all and change when my mood changes. I do not care what the value of them is or is going to be. I put a value in my mind on a watch that I like and then I will buy it at that price. If not then I move along. For example I think the white faced Daytona is nice. I would buy one at MSRP or below as that is what it is "worth" to me. At $35+K I would spend that money on something else that I liked better if that makes sense.

All my watches even my cheapo ones get in the rotation.