Don’t worry, I have already identified that I am incredibly stupid for feeling this way, but I am always a little stressed when thinking about building my collection. I want a watch for each outfit look and occasion; and they have to showcase an interesting facet of the watch world (history, design, mechanism). And I have a low budget and 12 slots in my box so I feel like each watch has to be very carefully chosen (and often weighed against knowledgeable collectors’ opinions). Perhaps this is a curse for us collectors trammelled by a low budget. Does this resonate with anyone else or are you a more impulsive purchaser? How do I relax more?
I would focus personally on fewer, higher quality pieces vs trying to fill out an arbitrary number in a box.
Over my time collecting I’ve fallen into the trap a few times of wanting to buy a certain kind of piece because I didn’t have something like that covered off in my collection, without pausing to think that maybe the reason why that gap exists is because I don’t like that kind of watch. Inevitably, every watch I’ve ever bought to fill a perceived hole in my collection has ended up getting neglected and then sold.
If I’m debating between two different pieces I’ll sometimes compare against what I already have and buy the one that has less overlap with my current pieces, but that’s about as far as it goes. Ultimately, I would say you should just buy what you like.
And over time I’ve just learned to have a better and better sense of what that really is.