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Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Find the HUISABH "big thread of deals" here! Also, other watch and watch accessory deal threads.
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Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by PetWatch »

Not that anyone here has a desire, much less a need, to keep watch purchases under control, but just in case.

This is a long overdue self help support group for those who want to maintain control of their watch purchases, for those who have lost or sense they are losing control and for anyone seeking to make considered, deliberate, wise purchase decisions in the midst of the contagious deal buying frenzy that takes place in the HUISABH thread. Not to mention the constant, endless parade of watches we are exposed to as active watch enthusiasts. I have to give credit where credit is due, this thread was inspired by the WPAC thread on WUS.

So whether you want to slow down your purchasing pace, pause for a period of time, seek dissuasion from a particular purchase, maintain your focus on executing proper purchase decisions, something else along this topic or simply share relevant experience in this hobby, this group is for you.

Watch purchases are an integral part of this hobby, from novices discovering the wide selection available to experienced enthusiasts with a passion for horology. Our wearing habits, activities, collection goals and general objectives or lack thereof, short and long term, all impact and will be impacted by the purchases we make, which make it ideal for a comprehensive approach.

This is not about holding anyone accountable for failing to be in control of their watch purchases, after all, the HUISABH thread is about a full out of control attitude. This thread will hopefully provide a modicum of balance, along with the encouragement and assistance from fellow hobbyist it is up to the individual to decide how much to apply him/her self in order to succeed.

By sharing our diverse perspectives and experiences we can help to reduce costly and unnecessary missteps as we travel through our watch enthusiast journey. But this is not all serious business, being the leisure activity that this is, let's have some fun at it. So if you like some advice from your fellow watch enthusiasts, provide a bit of situational context and we'll see how we can help.
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Re: Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by TheJohnP »

Thanks for starting this group.
Will be interested to see how this develops!
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Re: Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by Stretch44 »

Same here. I may need to hang out in here for awhile.
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Re: Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by flypanam »

This is a great idea, thank you for this post!

I think especially with people either working from home or getting reduced hours, people in various "collectors" hobbies have been having a lot of difficulty in general. Its hard to keep from browsing and being tempted to buy when you don't have much else to do.

Finding some other (cheaper) hobbies is a good way to minimize temptation. I think it would be a good idea to share some other hobbies, interests, or activities that can be used to kind of fill that void. You know, something that's satisfying OTHER than that sense of anticipation when you order a watch, wait for it to arrive, and that excitement as you unbox it.

For example, it might sound weird but I just started to learn to lockpick. I suck at it, but its fun and challenging. A decent beginner set and some practice locks are a small initial investment, and honestly you're almost never going to need anything fancier than what you get in a beginner set (as long as you go for decent quality). Theres no real pressure to keep "upgrading" or forming a collection of tools. Part of what I like about watches is the mechanical aspect. Figuring out the mechanics of a lock is really fun. Also if the apocalypse does happen, I will have a new useful skill 😄

Music is another. If you take the time to look, you can get a cheap and decent quality guitar for a hundred bucks or less. Picks and strings are cheap and last a while. You can easily learn for free on websites or through youtube. Be careful with this one though, because there can be the tendency to keep upgrading and adding to your guitar collection. But you really don't need that $2000 Les Paul to become a confident player, and get satisfaction from that.

Some hobbies to avoid.... car modding.. whether the cars are nice or cheap the parts are still pretty expensive. And you'll always feel the urge to upgrade just one more part. Fragrance/cologne collection. You think WE'RE obsessed with always buying more? Check out some of the collections on /r/fragrance. Whisky collecting... same, expensive but with the addition of health risks as well! These are all from experience. I'd be interested in seeing what other people do as hobbies to get that sense of fulfillment and keep themselves entertained!
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Re: Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by VCheng »

What a coincidence, I am just getting into the "pause for a while" mode, and this post came up. To spend more time on other hobbies, I am picking up books to read again, and get back to the gym more often.
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Re: Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by cortman »

This is definitely a good yin to the HUISABH yang here. I've hung out on the WPAC thread over on WUS almost since I started getting interested in watches, as I immediately realized I was going to need something like that to help moderate my pace in the hobby. Initially I felt a real compulsion to tick off boxes- I need one of this, one of that, one of the other thing to have a satisfying collection. This kind of group helped me get over that and saved me untold amounts of money. It made me realize that as much fun as it is to buy, buying something you're not 100% enthused about is a constant recipe for sadness. Especially in a hobby where there's generally very high depreciation.
Into my third year enjoying this hobby I am pretty happy with the control and routine I've established for collecting, acquiring and appreciating.
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Re: Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by PetWatch »

Good post flypanam. One of my hobbies is traveling but that is obviously out at this time, not about to get on a plane to the few places that are open and generally avoiding hotels and crowds. I homebrew though I only drink on occasion anymore. Once you have a decent setup going it will last for a long time, it's not very expensive and it doesn't take much equipment. It does take the good part of a couple days of work brewing and bottling or kegging. It's fun to research and modify recipe's plus you get to drink the outcome, hopefully a good one. Luckily they've all been good to very good so far.

I also enjoy brewing coffee, and sometimes roast it and grind it myself. Again, not a whole lot of equipment and once you get a good setup it will last. The price of some good machines is in the thousands and some people like to have different types of machines, these can be flipped too just like watches, but there's no need to go top of the line to get a great cup of coffee. Learning what to do and how to do it is more important in achieving a great result.

I enjoy brewing different coffee styles from around the world such as Turkish and Vietnamese using their respective brewing methods, in addtion to french press, drip, moka pot and others methods. It's fun to play around with the wide variety of coffee beans from around the world and the many combinations that are possible. The equipment and supplies needed for these is generally cheap to very reasonable. Espresso and capuccino are two of the most common types I brew. I have decent very capable espresso machine but I suck at latte art, need to practice a lot more, though I can make a consistently good to great cup of coffee, the latter only sometimes, if you ask my wife. lol

I have other interests as well, just not enough hours in a day.
Last edited by PetWatch on Sun Oct 18, 2020 11:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by PetWatch »

cortman wrote: Sun Oct 18, 2020 10:17 pm This is definitely a good yin to the HUISABH yang here. I've hung out on the WPAC thread over on WUS almost since I started getting interested in watches, as I immediately realized I was going to need something like that to help moderate my pace in the hobby. Initially I felt a real compulsion to tick off boxes- I need one of this, one of that, one of the other thing to have a satisfying collection. This kind of group helped me get over that and saved me untold amounts of money. It made me realize that as much fun as it is to buy, buying something you're not 100% enthused about is a constant recipe for sadness. Especially in a hobby where there's generally very high depreciation.
Into my third year enjoying this hobby I am pretty happy with the control and routine I've established for collecting, acquiring and appreciating.
In case someone hasn't seen it, cortman has a great thread documenting his watch acquisitions with detailed evaluations, good for tips on important considerations that anyone can adapt and employ to their style.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1056
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Re: Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by cortman »

PetWatch wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 12:05 am
cortman wrote: Sun Oct 18, 2020 10:17 pm This is definitely a good yin to the HUISABH yang here. I've hung out on the WPAC thread over on WUS almost since I started getting interested in watches, as I immediately realized I was going to need something like that to help moderate my pace in the hobby. Initially I felt a real compulsion to tick off boxes- I need one of this, one of that, one of the other thing to have a satisfying collection. This kind of group helped me get over that and saved me untold amounts of money. It made me realize that as much fun as it is to buy, buying something you're not 100% enthused about is a constant recipe for sadness. Especially in a hobby where there's generally very high depreciation.
Into my third year enjoying this hobby I am pretty happy with the control and routine I've established for collecting, acquiring and appreciating.
In case someone hasn't seen it, cortman has a great thread documenting his watch acquisitions with detailed evaluations, good for tips on important considerations that anyone can adapt and employ to their style.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1056
Thanks for the shout out! I love when anyone enjoys or learns something from that thread.
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Re: Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by Sporkboy »

Great post.

I have kept things under control by keeping things well under the $100 mark, aside from a single pre-order,and then being selective about purchases. I am also focusing on the repair/maintenance side of the hobby, which I get a lot of pleasure out of. That means I am due for another Esslinger order this week, but care and maiintenance of the watches I do have is better than buying a new watch.

I did just order two casios for modding, but those are for family gifts so they hardly count.

[mention]flypanam[/mention] welcome to the world of ‘locksport’. I am very much a novice, but end up using this lifeskill about once a year at work. I am glad that I picked it up. If you ever decide to try and make your own picks, let me know as I have a lot of street sweeper bristles collected over the last 5 years or so.

One of my other hobbies is home confectionary or candy making. I am a bit out of practice, but I will be making some spicy peanut brittle next week.
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Re: Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by PetWatch »

Sporkboy brought up another good point, how to stay interested in the hobby aside from looking for watches. I recently bought a Timegrapher after much hesitation due to hearing all the tales about the accuracy adjustment rabbit hole that it can become. After seeing before and after photos showing all the dust that enters a movement after it's opened, I have no interest in opening it to fine tune unless accuracy is way off my standards. But I do have an interest in movements and like to compare them, so I am measuring their Timegrapher performance when they come up for rotation.

I have an interest in the history of horology and how things work so I spend time reading up on these subjects. Found the article linked below the other day about the part of a movement called the “escapement”. I never would have thought this part that I only casually understood until then would be so interesting read about.

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-m ... t-that-way

Been wanting to try my hand at modding and simple movement maintenance but that's perhaps for another time.
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Re: Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by VCheng »

PetWatch wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 9:58 pm Sporkboy brought up another good point, how to stay interested in the hobby aside from looking for watches. I recently bought a Timegrapher after much hesitation due to hearing all the tales about the accuracy adjustment rabbit hole that it can become. After seeing before and after photos showing all the dust that enters a movement after it's opened, I have no interest in opening it to fine tune unless accuracy is way off my standards. But I do have an interest in movements and like to compare them, so I am measuring their Timegrapher performance when they come up for rotation.

I have an interest in the history of horology and how things work so I spend time reading up on these subjects. Found the article linked below the other day about the part of a movement called the “escapement”. I never would have thought this part that I only casually understood until then would be so interesting read about.

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-m ... t-that-way

Been wanting to try my hand at modding and simple movement maintenance but that's perhaps for another time.
I have been interested in modding as well. I think it should be the other way to keep the hobby apart from buying other watches. Shift the main focus to straps is another way as well. Both will bring the feeling of getting a new watch.

BTW, I am also starting to flip some of my collection. I have never did that for so many years. It somehow ease my mind that you can just let some watches go, which means you can live with the fact that you cant own all the watches you want.

Well, they are hard decisions, provided that the watches were bought after serious considerations. Yet the other way round, it proves that life goes on without them and so also the watches you want.
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Re: Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by TheJohnP »

VCheng wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:37 am
PetWatch wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 9:58 pm Sporkboy brought up another good point, how to stay interested in the hobby aside from looking for watches. I recently bought a Timegrapher after much hesitation due to hearing all the tales about the accuracy adjustment rabbit hole that it can become. After seeing before and after photos showing all the dust that enters a movement after it's opened, I have no interest in opening it to fine tune unless accuracy is way off my standards. But I do have an interest in movements and like to compare them, so I am measuring their Timegrapher performance when they come up for rotation.

I have an interest in the history of horology and how things work so I spend time reading up on these subjects. Found the article linked below the other day about the part of a movement called the “escapement”. I never would have thought this part that I only casually understood until then would be so interesting read about.

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-m ... t-that-way

Been wanting to try my hand at modding and simple movement maintenance but that's perhaps for another time.
I have been interested in modding as well. I think it should be the other way to keep the hobby apart from buying other watches. Shift the main focus to straps is another way as well. Both will bring the feeling of getting a new watch.

BTW, I am also starting to flip some of my collection. I have never did that for so many years. It somehow ease my mind that you can just let some watches go, which means you can live with the fact that you cant own all the watches you want.

Well, they are hard decisions, provided that the watches were bought after serious considerations. Yet the other way round, it proves that life goes on without them and so also the watches you want.
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Re: Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by AndroidIsAwesome »

I feel like I belong in here because I have stupid spending habits on watches lol. I'll go weeks without buying anything then suddenly in 1 week I'll buy like 5 watches in one go. This hobby is a wild ride [emoji41] Trying super hard to resist any more purchases until 2021 and I am trying to sell my older watches now, so I guess that's a start.
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Re: Watch Purchase Control Group (WPCG)

Post by PetWatch »

VCheng wrote:
PetWatch wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 9:58 pm Sporkboy brought up another good point, how to stay interested in the hobby aside from looking for watches. I recently bought a Timegrapher after much hesitation due to hearing all the tales about the accuracy adjustment rabbit hole that it can become. After seeing before and after photos showing all the dust that enters a movement after it's opened, I have no interest in opening it to fine tune unless accuracy is way off my standards. But I do have an interest in movements and like to compare them, so I am measuring their Timegrapher performance when they come up for rotation.

I have an interest in the history of horology and how things work so I spend time reading up on these subjects. Found the article linked below the other day about the part of a movement called the “escapement”. I never would have thought this part that I only casually understood until then would be so interesting read about.

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-m ... t-that-way

Been wanting to try my hand at modding and simple movement maintenance but that's perhaps for another time.
I have been interested in modding as well. I think it should be the other way to keep the hobby apart from buying other watches. Shift the main focus to straps is another way as well. Both will bring the feeling of getting a new watch.

BTW, I am also starting to flip some of my collection. I have never did that for so many years. It somehow ease my mind that you can just let some watches go, which means you can live with the fact that you cant own all the watches you want.

Well, they are hard decisions, provided that the watches were bought after serious considerations. Yet the other way round, it proves that life goes on without them and so also the watches you want.
Yeah, those carefully considered long term keepers are hard to let go, but we can only have so many on rotation. I think this helps to keep the core collection in check, on the other hand watches that I want to try out provided I find a good deal is another matter. They generally don't work out so a good purchase price is essential in order not to loose much or any on the flip.

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