Daan’s Watch Resolutions For 2025 — Adding More Contemporary Watches Into The Mix

Happy New Year, everyone. I wish you all the best for 2025. Have you already thought about your watch resolutions for the year ahead? Are you reorganizing, consolidating, splurging on new additions, or simply going to enjoy what you already have? I think my year will be some combination of those four. However, maybe I should consider more long-term planning because it will take courage, determination, and budget.

Apart from a relatively cheap and obscure vintage Infra (made by Levrette) watch, I didn’t buy any watches last year. That very much reflects my 2024 New Year’s resolutions. Indeed, it was a calm year because of our new house and the fact that we were in the middle of a renovation. I left the door ajar for Thomas’s new VPC Type 37HW but, in the end, didn’t bite. I expected it to get very little wrist time next to my other watches. That brings me to my biggest insight from last year: I’m a watch enthusiast, not a collector. Let me explain and tell you how that influences the choices I’ll make in the future.

Image: @bwatched

Five years in

I’ll admit that I’m one of those watch enthusiasts who went completely crazy when the global pandemic hit. I had just bought the Oris Art Blakey as my first luxury watch in January 2020. A few months later, we were all in lockdown, and I continued reading the forums, blogs, and magazines I’d read before I bought that Oris. I intended it to be my only watch, but that quickly changed. After going to many get-togethers, watch events, and starting to work at Fratello, I now have quite some money invested in this hobby. That’s fine, but in the meantime, life returned to normal, and I wouldn’t want to invest much more than what’s already in my current watch box.

A selection of my watches

I enjoy every one of my watches, but I notice that some get a lot more wrist time than others. Ultimately, I buy a watch so I can wear it, not for it to collect dust in my watch box. Of course, I still enjoy seeing the watches I don’t wear a lot. That’s why I bought them in the first place. But I also think it’s a shame they don’t get the wrist time they deserve, and in some cases, they’re also worth quite a bit. Besides, there are some watches out there that I would love to add and expect to get the deserved wrist time. So let’s talk about my watch resolutions for 2025, five years into enjoying this hobby.

Watch resolutions for 2025 — adding watches with more contemporary designs

The main thing is that most of my watches are quite classic pieces. The Omega Speedmaster, Cartier Santos, Breguet Classique 5907, Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Duoface, and Rolex Explorer ref. 114270 are all amazing watches. Still, they all have designs that have been around for decades. Yes, they differ greatly from one another, but they’re also some of the usual suspects when it comes to watches. That’s not a problem in itself at all, but I feel I’m ready to add some more contemporary designs into the mix.

Think of watches like the SpaceOne Jumping Hour or the recently introduced Ressence Type 9. Those have a completely different style than the watches I own, which I also thoroughly enjoy. However, if I want to add those watches, I feel like I first need to make a bit of space in my watch box and fill my wallet. That means I must make some sacrifices, which certainly won’t be easy.

Saying “goodbye” will be hard

I reviewed the current contents of my watch box (see, I don’t want to call them “a collection”) and put three watches on the nomination list to possibly say “goodbye” to. The first one is my Seiko SPB317 diver. I love its C-shaped case and slim profile, but it’s simply not the style of watch I often choose to wear. That’s why I think it might be better to let someone else enjoy it instead. One reservation is that it’s not worth that much, but I guess everything helps.

The second watch on the nomination list is the Autodromo Intereuropa. I love its stepped bezel, the depth of the dial due to the inlay, and the design reference to classic race cars. However, when the Breguet Classique made it into my watch box, the Autodromo didn’t stand a chance against it. I wear the Intereuropa sporadically, which I think is a true shame. It’s probably worth a little more than the Seiko, and together, they could help me buy the SpaceOne Jumping Hour, which costs €2,057 (including Dutch VAT).

The third watch I plan to part with is my Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classic Medium Duoface. I know; this is going to be a tough one to let go of. Even though I thoroughly enjoy wearing this watch on its lovely two-tone Casa Fagliano strap, something about it makes me doubt keeping it. The fact that it also has quite a high value certainly doesn’t help here. I keep thinking about what I could buy instead if I sold it. Since the Ressence Type 9 came around, I think I know the answer. And because of what the Reverso is worth, it can help me get quite a chunk of the Type 9’s €13,900 price.

Maybe not all this year

These are some big decisions to make. It might be better to make them into long-term plans, but at least now you know what’s going on in my head. I’m certainly not tired of my beloved classics, but I would like to mix things up with more contemporary watches. The watches in my box don’t need to be a coherent collection. They simply need to be ones I thoroughly enjoy and can give the wrist time they deserve. That’s why I don’t think of myself as a collector. I don’t buy watches to look at as reference points; I buy watches because they make me smile when I look at them on my wrist. I don’t see the point of owning a watch I don’t wear (enough).

How about you? Do you have any watch resolutions for 2025? Let me know in the comments below.