Last week, Zach Kazan shared his personal watch related New Years Resolution. This time virtually the rest of the team is getting in on the action. We asked the Editorial team and our roster of contributors to think well-nigh what they hope to succeed in the watch space in 2024.
A theme emerged quickly: scrutinizingly everyone wants to consolidate, buy fewer watches, or some combination of the two. This, it should be noted, is not surprising. Watch collectors tend to indulge themselves, recognize it, and quickly commit to reversing course. Does transpiration overly really take hold? Let’s just say, it remains to be seen.
Even though many of these resolutions sound the same on the surface, the reasoning making tough decisions to sell, or to scale when the purchasing, vary quite a bit, and it’s a lot of fun to see everyone’s philosophies laid yellowish here at the start of the year. And it’s not all well-nigh wearing back: some of these resolutions unquestionably involve urgently buying more watches, and taking on a greater role in local and internet based watch communities. That’s definitely a resolution we can all get behind.
Zach Weiss
My watch resolution this year is a simple one, consolidate. Well, consolidate and focus. I’m going to push myself to make nonflexible decisions, sell off watches I love but don’t wear unbearable (that ways the once or twice-a-monthers), and put them towards something special. Not something that just pops up either. I want to be increasingly intentional. My interests have veered towards the slightly increasingly exotic and self-sustaining as of late (thanks Bel Canto!), so the willpower will be in resisting all of the tomfool micro-brand and Seiko watches that often pull me in, and staying on goal.
This year happens to be a large birthday for me that rhymes with sporty, so I have the perfect “excuse” to splurge a bit, but I really want it to count. I don’t just want flipside watch, I want a watch I won’t want to take off for years. Something new, something me, something special.
Kat Shoulders
I finger like every year I set the same goal: “Kat, don’t buy so many watches. Do. Not. Buy. So. Many. Watches.” And to be fair, last year was a slower year for me in unstipulated with new additions compared to years past, so I do believe I’m making some progress. This year, I’m telling myself the same thing. Slow down. I really tend to get unprotected up in the impulsivity of purchasing a watch. I find something I like and I venery it lanugo until it’s mine. I would love to take a major step when from that mindset this year and be increasingly thoughtful virtually my purchases. I moreover have some other, non-watch ownership goals and keeping new purchases to a minimum will have to be a must. I say this of undertow as I have once picked up a watch this year and have flipside on the way soon (although does it count if I paid for it last year?).
Another goal I have is to be increasingly zippy on social media. I know many folks have set their goals in the opposite direction of stuff on social media much less but I finger that my Instagram feed has pretty much wilt a portfolio of my work at Worn & Wound. Not a bad thing of undertow considering I’m extremely proud of all the projects I’ve gotten to work on and protract to work on. But I can’t help but finger nostalgic for the days that I would stay up late at night and shoot a few watch photos for my instagram page. Just for the fun of it. Stuff in both the watch industry and photography field has somewhat warped my level of enthusiasm when it comes to shooting watches for fun, but I want to play virtually a lot increasingly this year and hopefully bring that passion back.
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Alec Dent
There’s an old writing truism that every writer hates and every editor loves: skiver your darlings. Sometimes in order to make something better, you have to get rid of parts of it you may really like. (Editor’s note: Like with the preceding sentence, which was initially twice as long.) I hope to bring this ruthless vein to my watch hodgepodge this year.
While looking through my watch hodgepodge the other day, it occurred to me there are really only four watches I have that I could never part with: two were gifts from my fiancée, one I bought to gloat a new job, and the other is the first watch I overly owned.
These sort of associations tend to pop up when you ask someone well-nigh their favorite watches. Design, movement, historic significance, all tend to fall by the wayside when someone has the watch they wore at their wedding or the lineage of a child or their grandfather’s vintage watch he wore every day for forty years. I’ve unchangingly appreciated this nostalgic speciality of watch collecting: There’s something trappy and poetic well-nigh the passage of time stuff commemorated with a timepiece. (It can moreover alimony your watch hodgepodge from getting out of control. When you buy watches just based on their coolness there’s no limiting factor other than how much you’re willing to spend—there are a lot of tomfool watches out there.)
So for 2024, I want to trim lanugo my watch hodgepodge just to pieces that midpoint something to me.
Now, I don’t believe in downsizing for downsizing’s sake. I’m doing this considering there are pieces I want to add to my collection, milestones and memories I’ll want to commemorate, that I either need to make room for or that will make pieces I currently have obsolete. The best, as the start of a new year unchangingly reminds us, is yet to come.
Chris Antzoulis
I finger like I’m at the part of my life where promises I make to myself are the most important promises of all, as they typically involve growth of character. I want to be healthy and happy, but these things are just lofty concepts if I can’t enjoy how I segregate to spend my time…or, in our specimen as enthusiasts, how much I spend on time. That stuff said, I have two Watch Resolutions for 2024.
The first is simple: I want to condense my hodgepodge and buy fewer watches. That limited edition watch that just dropped is not going to be the last tomfool watch that I see this month, and probably not plane the last tomfool watch I see today. There will unchangingly be unconfined watches and I have to remind myself that FOMO is not a good unbearable reason to buy a watch. My intake in 2024 must be increasingly deliberate than ever.
How do I plan to unzip this? 1. I will try not to purchase a watch I haven’t seen in person, or has just dropped that day considering I’m wrung of it selling out. Seeing watches in person can be difficult if you love micros and independents like I do, but some brands will send you a watch to try on if you ask, or perhaps you can join a local watch group and find someone who owns the one you want to try on. And 2. Each time I see a watch that I’m tempted to buy, I’ll put that word-for-word value of money whispered to one day put toward one of the “grails” I lust after. It adds up faster than you might think.
My second Watch Resolution is increasingly abstract, but increasingly important to me. I want to be EVEN MORE involved in the watch community. Writing for Worn & Wound and stuff a member of Redbar Raleigh, and now Atlanta Watch Society, have all brought me so much joy. So many of you have reached out to me on Instagram or sent me an email and we’ve built relationships through this hobby. My resolution is to have increasingly of that! Reach out to me. Let’s talk. And please don’t be creepy!
Brad Homes
Each year tends to start with the same loose plan – to be increasingly content with what’s in my watch box, and to make sure any future purchases are increasingly considered. That ways fewer (or no) impulse buys. 2023 wasn’t a well-constructed failure in that regard. I can only think of six watches that were bought and then sold then during the last 12 months, which is pretty good going for me. Ideally, I’d like to restrict any purchases to just a couple that I have once mapped out. One of those is once preordered and slated for wordage in the second half of the year. The other is the subject of a long term hunt, and happens to be a watch that I once owned but sold. I’m well enlightened that it may not resurface in 2024, but I’m unchangingly on the lookout.
I’ve now been what I would matriculation as a watch enthusiast (not a collector) for tropical to 15 years, and some watches have been with me for well over half of that time. I no longer get the same ‘new watch’ thrill when I pick them out of the watch box, but instead have that feeling of familiarity and comfort. Watch events, meet-ups, and reviewing new pieces still requite me all of that freshness without needing to constantly buy and sell watches. Consequently, I’ve started to find myself rediscovering the small details on watches that I’ve had for years and remembering what made me buy them in the first place. 2024 feels like the year I should make some time for some proper introspection. Exactly what I would do with those thoughts is flipside matter.
Ed Jelley
In 2024, I want to wipe up and streamline my watch collection. My watch hodgepodge didn’t transpiration much in 2023, and I think therein lies the problem. There were a handful of watches that I only wore a scant few times, and taking up space in the watch box is no longer justifiable. Simple fix, right? Just sell some watches and pick up something new to spice it up a little. I tend to run on the sentimental side, and moving watches withal is unchangingly kind of tough for me. I do tie memories into watches, I remember places I’ve been, things that happened, and enjoyable experiences with my watches and it’s made some of them harder to move withal than others. But if I’m not wearing them anyway, am I really getting that much out of a quick glance in the morning when I inevitably grab my Speedmaster or Grand Seiko SBGN003? The wordplay is probably not.
Maybe I need to harness my inner Marie Kondo (even if she has admitted to tidying up less in recent years) and see if these things still spark joy, and if not make a concerted effort to move some pieces withal that have just been increasingly or less sitting for the past year (and then some?). Off the top of my head, there are at least four watches that I could hands part with based on how little they’re worn that I could roll up into a nice new watch that I’m sure I’ll wear increasingly than the four combined. At least that’s the hope. For me, 2024 could be the year of the well-spoken and transitory watch hodgepodge that rids me of the pieces I’m not paying proper sustentation to, and move them withal to someone who can enjoy them increasingly than me.
Marc Levesque
I have never been one for New Year’s resolutions, as I do not believe in needing a launching point to make significant changes. I am moreover a relatively disciplined person, so if a transpiration in my life is required, I usually make it and stick with it, regardless of what time of year it is. Having said that, I believe 2023 has taught me something well-nigh myself and I have a feeling this may transpiration how I collect watches.
I have gone on record as stuff a one watch guy. Sure, I own a couple of less expensive pieces, which I wear when doing yard work, or any kind of sport. However, for the most part, I wear the one watch 95% of the time. I then use that watch to trade or sell, to reap the next watch. Been this way for decades. It has been a fun way of having a unvarying spritz of new watches, while at the same time keeping the wifely unit happy by not spending too much on my hobby.
What has changed? I turned 50 in 2023 and I received a milestone watch for my birthday. A watch that has wilt a permanent resident in my collection. One that I refuse to part with, which means, if I want to protract to wits new pieces, I will no longer be a “one watch guy”. In late 2023, I uninventive flipside watch that features tremendous lume and it has wilt the watch I wear at night.
I have unchangingly struggled with how others are worldly-wise to regularly rotate their watches within their collections. I have never been worldly-wise to do it, though I have attempted many times. Perhaps I did not have the right combination of watches? I do not really know, but I do know that this “night” watch has really helped me get over this hurdle and I find myself keeping it on and wearing it through the day from time to time.
My New Year’s Horological Resolution is to wilt a proper watch collector and own multiple pieces. The tough part will be learning how to enjoy them all, while rotating them. The plane increasingly difficult part will be inveigling my largest half that this is a good idea. Can I vituperation Worn & Wound for this? Which Zach should I have her call, should she need to chew someone out?
Griffin Bartsch
Well, like many others, I am not typically one for making nonflexible and fast resolutions coming into a new year. I tried last year, making the unvigilant requirement that I would not buy any watches in 2023 while I saved up for a very particular purchase. That all lasted until well-nigh March when a G-Shock tapped through and opened the floodgates. I’m pretty happy with the watches I widow to my hodgepodge last year, but folding that quickly make-believe as a swift, strong reminder that I’m maybe not built for nonflexible and fast resolutions. That said, I do have a few watch related goals for 2024, plane if it took me three attempts to type the correct year just now.
The first of these is to add two watches to my hodgepodge — one from Tudor, and one from NOMOS. I have commonly cited each of these brands as ranking among my favorites and yet, in 15 years of collecting, I have never owned a (modern) watch from either brand. I’m not saying I know what these watches will be and I probably won’t be too wrenched up if it doesn’t happen this year, but I think there is something to be said for collecting with focus, and this year I want to fill what feels like some holes in my collecting.
The second goal is really increasingly of a continuation. Well-nigh a year ago I realized that, having been a longtime truelove of those colleagues who can pick up a camera and do increasingly than just snap a shot on “auto,” I started working towards rhadamanthine a largest (read: passable) photographer. This year is all well-nigh keeping that train rolling. So with that in mind, I have a camera in hand, some lenses in the mail, and a lot of YouTube Lightroom tutorials bookmarked. I am moreover unchangingly unshut to advice, so don’t hold back.
To alimony myself honest, you’ll all be seeing a lot increasingly from me on my two Instagram finance — sorry Zach, I’m in too deep and merging finance doesn’t yet seem possible. Hopefully, by this time next year, I’ll be posting pictures without caveat on a unified account, though I don’t think I’ll be giving Kat a run for her money any time soon.
Nathan Schultz
Being a watch enthusiast was easy in 2023. In fact, a little too easy. With defended watch publications, YouTube creators, and Instagram giving me never-ending updates on new releases, I constantly found myself asking “Am I going to buy that watch?” And, a few times, I did buy that watch. But ownership a new watch ways selling an old watch, including all the hassles of taking photos, low wittiness offers, and then trying to remember where I put that darn roll of rainbow wrap without finally unsuspicious an offer.
Experiencing ownership of new watches is an irreplaceable and rewarding speciality of this hobby, but that wits doesn’t come without considerable effort. Without myriad hours spent on r/Watchexchange this year and too many trips to the post office, my current hodgepodge is an underwhelming lineup of five seemingly random watches. Six months ago, it was mostly swoop watches. Right now, it’s a lot of field watches. In fact, a Bulova Hack just arrived at my doorstep last week, as if I needed flipside upkeep friendly will-less field watch.
To unravel the cycle, my New Year’s Resolution is to purchase zero watches in 2024. I have two goals with this. First, to simply fathom new releases without the self imposed pressure to buy them. I’ve come to realize, no matter your price range, there will unchangingly be a watch to be excited about. I’m looking forward to sharing in that excitement while enjoying a 12 month hiatus from Reddit when the honeymoon phase scrutinizingly inevitably ends.
And, perhaps this experiment will help me build a versatile hodgepodge with some very intention overdue it. Maybe that ways a archetype three watch hodgepodge tent the archetype bases of field, swoop and dress. Or maybe that ways upgrading my upkeep beaters, or finally subtracting a quartz watch to the lineup. I don’t know my next move now, and I’ve got 12 months to icon it out.
Meg Tocci
I talked with a stranger on an airport shuttle. He was wearing a gold Casio, similar to one I had at home and I asked him well-nigh it. We chatted for the elapsing of the ride and parted ways at our respective stops. You have to understand, until then, “talk with a stranger on an airport shuttle” hadn’t been part of my unstipulated disposition. I’m the introverted type. If I have to make a phone undeniability to order pizza (it’s 2024 – why can’t everything be online?) I will debate skipping dinner.
On many watch forums, it’s well-spoken that collecting can be a solitary pursuit. We love watches, but it can be nonflexible to connect with others considering the hobby is still pretty niche. Yet when I think well-nigh why watches request to me, a large part of it is considering it allows me to connect with friends, family, and, yes – strangers – in a way that feels natural. “How did you get into this?” “What is your grail watch?” “Tell me what you really think well-nigh all these Swatch collabs.” I have conversational fodder and motive in these contexts and I have watches to thank for it.
I was reflecting this past week on my goals for the upcoming year and how quickly my watch polity has grown over the past few months. I’ve been collecting for two years, but really began seeking out experiences in watch circles when in May when I took to Instagram to meet fellow enthusiasts and learn increasingly well-nigh the hobby. It’s a small world, and saying ‘yes’ to opportunities to engage tightly with watches and watch media, has led to new experiences each week. I’m now meeting and collaborating with the people who helped usher me into the hobby at the start.
Pursuing connection within this polity has moreover led to RedBar meetups and happy hours. I’ve toured an Olympic Training Center, sipped pumpkin lattes while watch swapping, and participated in increasingly Instagram wristcheck villenage than I can count. It’s made me realize a watch is just a watch, but it’s the stories that go with them that make them worth collecting. My watch resolution in 2024 is to collect as many of those stories as I can.
Brett Braley
It’s no secret that I’m a relative newbie in my watch journey. And while I’ve been enjoying the ride, I can tell, when looking when on the last year, that I’ve been hands swayed by some preconceptions I’ve had on brands. I went with brands I’ve known with a bit of panache first versus looking at smaller makers, thinking that it would somehow legitimize my hodgepodge quicker.
This year, I’m going to try to tint whispered my own biases and go increasingly towards watches that fit my personal style. I’m the first to shoehorn that heritage brands have unchangingly intrigued me, but that’s a very one-dimensional way to build a collection. I’m recognizing, increasingly and more, that small brands and start-ups have heady stories to tell, too. And not just that – but some pretty unconfined products that I have ignored for the simple fact that I wanted to convey a sense of “luxury” without any sense of personality to my collection.
So in the New Year, you’ll find me supporting smaller brands, micro-brands, and random one-offs from eBay that just happened to reservation my eye. While I’ll be breaking out my Tank for some increasingly formal occasions, there’s going to be increasingly room on my dresser for brands that need a little love – and I’m just the guy to requite it to them in 2024.
Christoph McNeill
New Years is a time for resolutions, so making one for my watch hodgepodge is a fitting task. My collecting of vintage watches has definitely slowed lanugo over the last few years, a combination of having most of the models I want and the ones left that I don’t have stuff too nonflexible to find or too expensive. Also, truth be told, my collecting vintage comic books has taken a front seat, pushing watches to the when seat a bit. As a result, I’ve moreover been less engaged with my @vintagediver Instagram account, posting much less than I used to. So, with that said, I have three watch related resolutions that I would love to implement
First off, I would like to post increasingly watch content on Instagram. Instagram is probably the one place that has had the single greatest influence on my watch collecting (other than eBay!). It’s a place that has a vibrant watch community, and I’ve met so many tomfool folks there, including the good people here at Worn & Wound. I definitely plan to be increasingly engaged there, and it’s really just a matter of not stuff lazy (easier said than done!).
Secondly, I’d like to write increasingly well-nigh watches. W&W gave me my first shot at writing, and it was an out of the undecorous offer that has turned into something that I really enjoy. But as it’s a side gig rather than a primary job, sometimes with a rented life with a full time hospital job, a wife and three teenagers, and now a golf obsession, it’s honestly nonflexible to find the time to write. So, I would definitely like to make the time to get when to doing something that I really enjoy.
Lastly, I’d really like to pare lanugo my hodgepodge to something a little increasingly manageable going forward. I have well-nigh 80 vintage watches, and as we all know vintage watches need superintendency from time to time, and that superintendency ain’t cheap! Also, I have way increasingly watches than I unquestionably wear. I’ve been wanting to sell off a good permafrost (maybe half?) and turn that into one or maybe two big pieces, like perhaps a vintage Universal Geneve chronograph and Seiko 6159 or 6215. Of the three resolutions, this will be the toughest. I’ve bought and sold a ton of watches over the years, but in the process I’ve gotten my hodgepodge lanugo to the pieces that I really like, so deciding what will stay and what will go is not going to be easy. In any case, here’s to a unconfined New Year to the watch fam, and I hope all your watch resolutions come true!