My Watch Collection Is Getting Smaller… On Purpose

For years, collecting meant counting. Every exciting release went on the list, anything Rolex included, just to see what might stick. Some did. Most didn’t. At some point it became obvious there were watches I wasn’t wearing and, worse, didn’t really care about.

Now the move is the other way. I’m consolidating. I’m letting go of pieces that fit a moment but do not hold value for me long term. I am not trying to fill every niche or maintain a giant spreadsheet. I want to wear what I like.

From Volume to Rotation

The watches that stayed are the ones I reach for without thinking: my Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, my Rolex Daytona, and my Rolex GMT-Master II Pepsi. They are versatile, personal, and feel like the right answer most days. If I am traveling, one of them is on my wrist, usually the GMT-Master. When I want something I know I will enjoy, I go there.

That does not mean the fun is gone. I still pick up pieces that feel fresh, like a Norqain Wild One Skeleton 39, a M.A.D. 1, or a Girard-Perregaux Casquette. The difference is pace and purpose. If something comes in, it has to earn its spot.

Less Buying, More Wearing

That is the real shift. I am wearing my watches more. Not rotating through twenty. Building a tighter group I actually use. And I am not alone.

“I actually have a few clients with 100+ watches in their collections who have told me that they are currently looking to pare down to a more manageable number,” said Justin MacDowell, Watch Specialist at European Watch Company. “The market is strong right now, which also makes it a little easier and more enticing for collectors to let pieces go.”

It is not just flippers cleaning house. It is collectors who have refined their taste and want to wear what they own, not store it. When asked which watches tend to survive the purge, MacDowell explained, “In general, blue chip watches from established manufacturers tend to make the cut while pieces from independent brands or lower-priced watches that are often bought more spur of the moment usually get sold.”

Even some icons do not make it. “There are many collectors who purchased big-ticket watches simply because they were hot at a given time,” he said. “They have little connection to these pieces and many are looking to move those as well.”

A Shift in Mindset

This is not about stepping away from collecting. It is about engaging with it on purpose. I still like discovering new brands and trying bold ideas. I just know that not every interesting watch needs to live in my box.

MacDowell sees the same pattern. “I think having a smaller, more focused collection is something that just comes with time,” he said. “There are so many options available, that when you first start collecting, you want to experience it all. After a few years (or decades) of buying watches, collectors tend to develop a better idea of what speaks to them and what they like, which then often leads to the consolidation process.”

That is where I am now, and it feels right. The keepers are not just the most valuable, but the most worn. The ones that feel like mine. In a hobby built on the next thing, sometimes the best move is to edit, settle into what brings joy, and wear it.