It can be said that there are three types of watch collectors- the “traders”, the “flippers” and the “accumulators”. Accumulators will never sell a watch, even if it only gets worn once every leap-year. A flipper will buy today with the aim of wearing for a week, keeping the sticker on the back and then selling on at a profit. The trader, which describes how I collect watches, sits somewhere in the middle.
I never buy a watch with the sole intention of making a turn on it (which is just as well as I’d be very disappointed!), but I do sell watches that I don’t often wear- partly to stop the collection getting too large, but mainly to help fund something new.
Trading may be the most sensible way of managing a collection, but the downside of being a trader is the regret that comes with selling a watch that you still like. Often a few months pass and you see the same model up for sale and your mind starts to drift towards buying it back.
I’ve succumbed to this temptation only once- buying back the same model I had owned and sold…and sure enough a few months later I sold it again. Which watch? It might surprise you: a TAG Heuer Microtimer.
Cheers Arno
