Collector’s Perspective — Do You Share Your Watches?

My wife isn’t into watches that much. I mean, she really likes the Cartier Tank Solarbeat that I got her for her 40th birthday last year. But she doesn’t have any other watches other than that and a Timex that tries to be a Datejust. I do know other couples, though, in which both people are watch enthusiasts. And what I found interesting was that some of those couples share their watches, while others absolutely don’t. Some even have two of the same watch! So that’s why I’d like to ask you today, do you or would you share your watches?

Let’s go over these different scenarios because I think there’s something to be said for both. And I’ll start with the positive side of things.

Sharing is caring

To me, it seems quite smart to share your watches with a significant person in your life. It doesn’t necessarily have to be your partner, of course. It could also be a very good friend, a brother, a sister, or another family member you trust. What matters, in the end, is that there’s a very strong sense of mutual trust. But when you, in the case of a partner, get married (supposedly for life), decide to have kids, and/or sign for a 30-year mortgage, then why not share your watches? This is especially true if you have more or less the same wrist size and you like the same style of watches.

The most obvious advantage for me would be an economical one: it’s a great way to share the costs of this potentially (very) expensive hobby. And when you have multiple watches, you can’t wear them all at once anyway, so why not let your significant other enjoy them in the meantime? You may find that it’s nice to see your partner wearing them too. I always enjoy it when someone else is wearing a watch that I have because then I can better imagine what it looks like on my wrist from a third-person perspective.

Room to explore

Another benefit could be that there will be watches in your shared collection that you would not have chosen to buy yourself. Because even though your tastes can be close enough to share your collection, in the end, everyone’s taste is different to a degree. For example, one of you might be more into sports watches, while the other is more into dress watches. I can also imagine that one might usually wear bigger watches and the other smaller watches. But because you share your watch collection, you’ll be able to wear watches that you would otherwise never have bought.

In other words, it allows you to explore your taste in the world of watches a bit more. Especially if both your tastes are quite far apart, it could be nice to wear a watch that’s way out of your comfort zone every once in a while. For example, your partner could be more into bright colors and diamonds than you are. But why not try wearing one of his or her watches for one day of the month? Be careful, though, because you might actually like it. All right, enough about the benefits of sharing your watch collection. I can definitely also think of certain drawbacks.

They are my watches

First of all, watches are very personal items. You might have bought certain ones at significant moments in your life, or you might have inherited them from a loved one. You also might have received them on special occasions or worn them during memorable events. In that way, watches are like souvenirs of your life. They remind you of important things, especially very personal things. That’s why you might not want someone else to walk around with a token of your memories. That has nothing to do with trust. It’s just that it may not feel right to you.

Apart from carrying emotional value, watches can also be very monetarily valuable. Now, I’m not saying that I “baby” my watches. However, I usually do try to wear them with a certain level of care, just to make sure they won’t look like scratch magnets after a few months. Hopefully, the person you share your watches with will also do the same, but, at least for me, it’s just more comforting to know that it was me who put those scratches there.

Another thing I could imagine is that you’re thinking about handing your watch down to one of your kids at some point. In that case, you may want to be the only one who has worn the watch to ensure that it truly becomes a memory to you. Other than that, I can’t really think of other reasons why you wouldn’t want to share your watches with someone you trust.

My wife’s Tank Must Solarbeat

Which side are you on?

To be honest, I’m all for sharing my watches. I’m not that worried about the emotional value or the scratches, especially when I know that the person I’m sharing them with is also very dear to me. Unfortunately, my wife’s wrist size and mine are quite different. Her small Tank is already rather small for me, so I can imagine that the watches she might fancy in the future will also be too small for my wrist. Anyway, we have both a son and a daughter, so that way, we can each hand them down a special watch of our own.

What do you think? Have you ever played with the idea of sharing your watch collection with someone else? Let me know in the comments below.

You can also find and follow me on Instagram: @fliptheparrot

*Header image by @bwatched