The watch world is huge. There are thousands of brands, each brand often has more than one range, and in that range of watches will be countless varieties in different colours, materials or with different complications or functions. When you add in the world of pre-owned and vintage timepieces, you’re looking at millions and millions of watches out there for you to think about wearing.

We’ve written about how to get started with watch collecting, and this post will look more into thinking about collecting by genre.

Which watches should I collect?

We say always start with what you like. This may seem simple but many watch enthusiasts don’t have the confidence to do this. They worry that their watches may be seen as uncool, or might fall in value or might be too weird. We want to reassure you that the primary driver of all of the greatest collections in the world is the love of the watches first and foremost. Not the brand, not the value, not the importance. Most watch collectors wear their watches regularly; it’s actually very rare that watches are purchased and then simply kept in their boxes. Almost every watch ever bought is bought first because the buyer is excited to wear it. This is the best reason to collect; simply buy what you like

We’ve met many collectors who’ve got started by adding more examples of the type of watch they like best. In the case of The Watch Collectors’ Club founder Hamish, it was vintage dress watches. He wanted smaller, easy to wear pieces with classic styling that wouldn’t stand out. He was focussed on spending less than £1000 per watch. There are literally hundreds of thousands of very high quality watches of this kind on the pre-owned market. They are easy to buy well if you do a little watch research.

Other collectors might collect a type of watch like Divers watches or Pilots watches, or watches from one brand. We’ve met many Rolex collectors but also Swatch collectors, Casio collectors, and enthusiasts for many other brands, large and small.

Some collectors stick strictly to their favourite genre. The Watch Collectors’ Club has one member who only collects one type of watch from one brand from one time period! Fortunately for him he still has hundreds of options.

We recommend picking a type of watch and collecting only that type, as it allows you to build your knowledge, explore the wide range of that genre, and form strong opinions about why you like what you like. As you do more research, see more examples and wear more, your taste will develop and grow clearer. This will often allow you to find real bargains when looking for a new watch as you are so sure about what you want.

We do not meet many collectors who are interested in watches because they are famous. Owning a famous and noticeable watch like a Rolex or Patek Philippe brings their owners great joy as these really are good watches. However, it is not necessary to own famous watches in your collection. They can often be expensive (although not always if you are happy to buy pre-owned and vintage), and be much more expensive than similar watches of that style. We recommend against buying into hype watches as the hype often dies down quickly. If the fact a celebrity wears a certain watch makes you interested in that watch, we recommend using that as a starting point to research that type of watch, rather than setting you heart on one model. There is always a huge range of choice in the watch world.

We rarely mention collecting watches as an investment, simply because we never think about our watch collections in this way. We can talk about it at length, but broadly advise against thinking about it. If you’re really concerned with the long-term value of your timepieces, buy pre-owned, as pre-owned prices are much more stable over time than that of new watches. Avoid anything that is hyped up by the media or celebrities, as the hype can end sooner than you expect, and remember that quality and provenance trump everything else. The pre-owned watch world is full of fakes, especially of famous models. We recommend you collect because you enjoy wearing the watches, and if you do decided to sell something, making your money back or slightly less is the most sensible expectation. Trying to put together a collection that will specifically form an “Investment portfolio” is likely to be a difficult and frustrating goal, and you might not be able to wear the watches if you want to preserve their value.

We think that the easiest way to start a watch collection is to buy what you like, and focus on the type of watch you most like. Soon you’ll know enough about what makes you smile while you’re wearing it to begin branching out into other areas of the watch world. We’re here to help you whatever stage you are on, whether it’s with our Meetups and Events, our educational resources, or our watch-finding service; The Watch Shortlist. If you have any questions about building your collection don’t hesitate to get in touch.