In my previous post, I already told my stories related to all my the watches in my current collection. I also left a note that I will talk about my ‘Wish List’ watches in the next post.
BUT before I jump into my future watch acquisition plan, I would like to share one of key ideas that, for me, it makes ‘Collecting Watches’ more enjoyable and perhaps more meaningful.
You have to find your “Niche”
I believe, at the beginning stage when we just got bitten by a ‘watch bug’ and entered into the ‘watch world’, most of us are aiming our eyes on those steel sport watches like the Submariner, GMT-Master II, Daytona, Speedmaster, Seamaster, Nautilus, Royal Oak, etc. That’s quite normal because they are beautiful watches that make us interested in watches at the first place and they are everywhere on the Social Media Feeds.
I was in that position before and I felt quite frustrated and intimidated from the price tag and how hard to get one of those watches. I even stopped thinking about the watches for quite sometime because I think it is not an enjoyable hobby anymore. How can I enjoy my dream watches when I cannot get even one of them?
Until one day when I started to open my mind to look at the watches again BUT this time I went even deeper into this rabbit hole. Then I found out that there are many more types of watch beside the Big name Steel Sport watches.
There are Vintage Watches, Independent Watch Makers, Micro Brands, etc. They took me to another side of the ‘Watch World’ where I feel so excited and I feel fascinating when I look at them. They make me want to search more and dig deeper and most importantly, it’s much more fun!!
How to find your niche?
This is a bit tricky. There is no ultimate formula for everyone to use. It relates to individual factors i.e. age, occupation, lifestyle, personal background, etc. As you can see, it’s very personal and it’s very dynamic (that means your niche will change overtime).
Therefore I would like to use my case as an example and I hope that you guys can adapt to yours.
As I mentioned before, I have a passion on ‘Classic Menswear’. I am wearing shirt, trouser, tie, jacket, suit, and leather loafer more than T-shirt, Jean, and sneaker. I prefer ‘Medium Size Watch Case’ approx 36-40mm in diameter. I consider watch size from 42mm and above is too big for my wrist and uncomfortable to wear in a long term (my wrist size is 6.5 inch or 16.51cm in circumference). My educational background is in architecture, art, and design. Ultimately I always gravitate towards watches that not in the main stream.
All the above combined, no wonder why I have “Vintage Rolex Sub” and “Reverso Classic” in my collection. Yes, my Niche is a “Vintage Watch” BUT I am NOT expert enough to be able to authenticate them from the vintage watch sellers and I do NOT want to get hassled on the maintenance issues as well. So my Niche becomes “Vintage (Re-issue) Watch”; when the brands use the classic watch models in their archive and apply new technologies and materials in the modern day to release on their special occasions. Or we can find in “Heritage Collection” in many brands like Longines, Brietling, Grand Seiko, etc.
So…What is your niche?
I hope my case study can give you guys some ideas. And to you some ideas, your niche can be;
- Specific Category of watch such as:
- Diver watch
- Chronograph watch
- Military/Field watch, etc. It can be current model or vintage model. It depends on your preference.
- In each category, we can go into specific Sub-category. For example, Chronograph watch, there are:
- Pilot Chronograph: watches designed for military pilots
- Racing Chronograph: watches designed for motor sports
- Grand Complication Chronograph: high horology watches with many complications like perpetual calendar, moon phase, and chronograph functions
- Specific Period of watch: There are specific design language from 60’s & 70’s period which make watches from that period very unique. For example:
- 1970’s Patek Phillipe
- 1960’s & 1970’s Seiko Chronograph
My Final Thought
There is a phase that I read from somewhere (I cannot recall) which very move me. It says “You cannot have all the watches that you love BUT you should love all the watches that you have”. It really sticks into my head and it got me thinking for quite sometime until I’ve found my niche.
Lastly, what do you guys think? Do you have your niche yet? Please feel free to share your thought below. Any opinion and suggestion are very welcome here. Please also consider to support my works by visiting & following my IG accounts @mickyjicky & @my.six.point.five.inch.wrist
Thank you & See you again on the next post!!