My Journey as a Watch Collector

It started innocently enough back in 2010 when I purchased a Seiko 5 sports watch in Medinah, Saudi Arabia. The reason I bought the watch was because of the exposure on watches that I got from one of my colleagues in office. He was a watch enthusiast.

I was still an ‘infant’ when it came to the hobby and instead of going full tilt on a premium brand, I started small. Even then I knew that Seiko, especially the ‘5’ series were the best entry-level watches to get. 

It wasn’t long before the first purchase became a flood of purchases. Not only did I purchase directly from authorized dealers, also from online merchants. The watch hobby has in fact introduced me to the world of internet shopping. 

Also, I decided on getting new instead of pre-loved watches. I prefer to be the first owner of a watch. To confirm that I don’t have the same passion for pre-loved or vintage watches, I bought a few. Although this batch of pre-loved watches was a fair mixture of high-end and low-end brands, I still did not exhibit the same level of love to them as I do to new watches.

The biggest thing this hobby has done to change my life is the interest in blogging. It is no longer just reading and acquiring the watches but to share what I know to the world. I currently have three blogs. On social media I have created one Facebook Page, a Twitter account, as well as an Instagram account.

It is this part of the hobby, the social media and blogging, which started to make money for me. 

I was ‘discovered’ by an international watch review website and was taken in as a contributing editor. Articles about watches I wrote are uploaded to the website for a token fee. Passive income is also generated via advertisements on the blogs.

The genre of watches I am interested in is mostly sports related. Dive watches are my favorite. Next are military style watches and then pilot watches.

Most of my watches are mechanical powered. There are a few quartz powered timepieces in the collection. Pure battery powered, mechanical and rechargeable battery powered as well as solar and rechargeable battery powered are examples of the quartz technologies I collect. 

I keep my watches standard. Many other collectors tend to swap bracelets and straps with after-market options. I feel it is important to keep a watch in its original state. This helps preserve the authenticity and completeness of a watch for collectors.

To be continued.