Like a lot of people, I got really interested in watches during the pandemic when I had extra time on my hands, and disposable income that I couldn’t spend on other things. Like many, I dove head first into learning as much as I could from Youtube, websites, books, etc.
But now a few years later, does anyone else feel like they’re losing interest in the hobby?
I still love the watches that I bought, but now I’m more likely to spend my disposable income on trips/restaurants/concerts etc.
How do you keep the passion going when the initial love affair is over? And when I’m not actively buying new watches…
The problem with a lot of Reddit subs is that people “hobbyfied” things that aren’t hobbies! Whether its here, or r/castiron, or whatever.
Watches are jewelry, you like them? you buy them and wear them. I just find the whole “watch buying journey” and “whats a good starter watch, how should I move up”, etc to be such a weird mentality.
Buying watches is not a hobby, the same way that maintaining your pan isn’t a hobby. Don’t think of it as such.
Guess cars are just transportation, and art is just something to decorate walls? And a host of other things people buy and collect - not hobbies either. Ridiculous POV.
Buying mass produced things is not a hobby lol. Surely going to the store, putting down money, and buying things is not a hobby.
Car enthusiasts drive cars, work on cars, and modify cars. There’s a lot more to car enthusiasm than “I went to the car dealership and bought one”
Art enthusiasts make art or collect original artwork. Art enthusiasts aren’t en mass buying reproductions and calling it a hobby. Buying originals from masters require tracking, sourcing, and playing auctions.
I consider building your own watches a hobby, modifying watches a hobby, restoring vintage watches a hobby, but like, going to the store and buying them is not a hobby.
What about researching watches, learning about movements, about horology, wearing them, sharing that knowledge with others, finding lesser known watches, sourcing vintage pieces, buying a model no longer produced, curating your collection in the flux of buying and selling pieces.
That’s a hobby.
Buying an apple watch or a Seiko because you want to wear a watch is just buying a mass produced item. Spending hours learning about brands and movements and the history of different models and having conversations about watches with others who are interested, to me, is a hobby.
There’s is a lot more to watches than buying a watch.
Well said. The “buying things is not a hobby” crowd is so boring. Bc of course it isn’t. They say it like it’s some counterpoint-brilliant-eureka concept. Meanwhile just like the OP stated, I learned and got into watches in 2020 and now even went as far as creating a little work station to unassemble (and attempt to reassemble) cheap watches I own. Connecting to people with a shared interest, learning about it, potentially learning a craft, AND collecting/buying definitely makes it a hobby.
They’re conflating the rich guy who buys status jewelry with no actual interest in horology with people that can genuinely claim it as a hobby. (And, again back to OP, my passion for it has diminished a bit from its peak)
Cheer bud
Right, buying watches can get as complicated or elaborate as one wants it to get. This gatekeeping BS is ridiculous
Yeah i agree.
One potential counterpoint that is a little interesting to me is that coin and stamp collectors seem to be considered hobbyists. Maybe it’s because the consumerism aspect isn’t quite the same or quite as there as it is with more conventional things like buying clothing, shoes, watches, jewelry, etc.
Do people still do that?
Yep
I wouldn’t necessary call myself an avid coin collector, but I’ve been given a fair few by some relatives over the years and have gotten some myself. Personally, it feels like a piece of history i can hold in my hand. And, It’s not often that you can carry around or something from 100 years ago that you don’t have to be super gentle with. They have almost have a feeeling of permanency to them.
Is buying and collecting vintage toya or clothing or antiques a hobby? Seems people on this thread feel that spending a little bit of money on a hobby is ok, but spending too much makes it consumerism. That comes across as reverse snobbery.
Personally, I don’t have a hard stance on it, but I wouldn’t call it a hobby for myself