I consider myself an enthusiast. I feel like a collector would obtain some watches just for the sake of owning them, not necessarily wearing them. I only buy watches the I intend to wear. To me, it doesn't have to be about price point or level of knowledge at all (although I can understand a price point argument).

 

I think that’s a fair way to describe it. A collector does not necessarily buy watches because they like them, it might be just an acquisition. Enthusiast has an emotional attachment to them and will wear them. I see myself as an enthusiast.

 

I think that's a fair way to describe it. A collector does not necessarily buy watches because they like them, it might be just an acquisition. Enthusiast has an emotional attachment to them and will wear them. I see myself as an enthusiast.

I don't think it is possible to be a collector without being an enthusiast, but I do believe it is possible to be an enthusiast without being a collector. If you spend the time and money purchasing watches, then surely you have to be enthusiastic about them. On the other hand, it's quite possible have a love for watches, but simply can't afford to own the one's you would like. For example, I am an enthusiast of very fast expensive cars, unfortunately I can not afford to buy or own one. A more wealthy person may well own several such cars, and it would be crazy to think that the person was not an enthusiast. I do own the one below, which is quite fast, it wasn't cheap, but I really would love something better

 

I'm an enthusiast.

In my mind, and this is just me rather than an authoritative statement, a collection has a theme; there is an overall objective when you seek out your next watch more than just something you like the look of.

My pile of watches isn't a collection. I loosely refer to it as 'my collection' of the 'State Of The Collection (SOTC)' but I don't really count it as a proper collection, nor myself as a collector.

 

Same. I deleted my response because you said it better.

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Either. I am just a shopaholic.....

 

A collector is an enthusiast but its not vise versa.

A collector sets a journey and sets a target to his acquiring and goes out hunting for them, whether a vintage or new watch, doesn't make a difference.

Enthusiast is someone who gets involved emotionally and goes out after knowledge and enjoys talking to other similar people with similar interests.

I have a friend who calls him self "enthusiast", but he never increased on his knowledge nor he collected what most people will call "Enthusiasts Watches" or "Watch Collector Approved".

Watches is like any other hobby.

What am I? I am someone who spends money for smiles

 

A collector sets a journey and sets a target to his acquiring and goes out hunting for them, whether a vintage or new watch, doesn't make a difference.

Enthusiast is someone who gets involved emotionally and goes out after knowledge and enjoys talking to other similar people with similar interests.

I have a friend who calls him self "enthusiast", but he never increased on his knowledge nor he collected what most people will call "Enthusiasts Watches" or "Watch Collector Approved".

Watches is like any other hobby.

Well said.

Collector sees watches as a hobby, often having good knowledge about parts, movements, and this hobby means certain number of items.

Watch enthusiast is a watch lover, the one who enjoys wearing them, watching them, having favourite brands; knowledge of history, tradition, parts, movements included, but not necessarily.

Collector is enthusiast, but enthusiast doesn't have to be a collector. Both share love for watches.

 

I have always though that a collection must have a theme and a direction. For instance collecting every variation of a Speedmaster, or collecting mid 20th century military watches, or enamel dialled watches.

I think buying what you like, or having a variety for different ‘needs’ or wanting a diver, a chronograph, a dress watch etc are just gathering a bunch of watches.

I think an enthusiast is simply somebody with an enthusiasm. They don’t need to own multiple, or even necessarily even one, watch. If an enthusiast has a few watches and comes across hard times and sells them, or has them stolen, he doesn’t cease to be an enthusiast. If one would like to purchase a nice watch and enjoys reading about them, but can’t afford one, he doesn’t fail to qualify as an enthusiast.

Some (most?) collectors are enthusiasts. Some enthusiasts are collectors. Some enthusiasts are not collectors but do have a bunch of watches.

That’s my view anyway.

 

To a great extent, this is largely a question of semantics. If you consider yourself a collector, then I think you are. Even though I have more than 100 watches, in my own head I consider myself an enthusiast rather than a collector, in the sense that I buy my watches to wear, and I derive most of my pleasure from wearing (rather than having) them. I have collected things before and, in those cases, even though I enjoyed the items, I did put a premium on having a rare x or y, "as part of the collection," which is not something I've felt much around watches so far. So that's how it goes according to my own definition, but I wouldn't disagree with yours.

 

IMO, anyone here is an “enthusiast” even if it’s short lived or focused on what many might call superficial watch aspects. They’re going out of their way to gain more knowledge and interact with like-minded folks.

Collection/collector is a different beast. I think of it as “Collection/Collector” vs. “collection/collector.” A Collector (capital C), like others have mentioned, has a focus, an organized Collection that’s headed in a certain direction.
A collector (small c) might eventually have a Collection, but as yet has a unfocused group watches whose only commonality is that they’re all watches.

Finally, I don’t think the collector’s financial means or collection worth has any bearing on the definition.


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Some great responses here and some good views and i find it useful to hear other opinions as it helps form new ideas. In posing this question, while to a degree it is semantics, I perhaps had not thought of collecting/ collection as taking in a specific theme ie, seeking out a specific brand or type.
I saw collection as the accumulation and knowledge that goes with it as the 'collector'.
If I had to categorise my watches they would fall in to 2 or 3 groups: dive, pilot and sports. The only real common these is they are all 3 handers. So I suppose I could say I collect 3 hand watches...

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I think I'm just a guy with poor impulse control...

 

I think I'm just a guy with poor impulse control...

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Oh dude that's awful. You don't care enough about them to not just pitch them in a box?

 

dilettante

 

This thread makes me want to watch the movie Everything Is Illuminated again.

I'm an enthusiast and an accumulator.

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Don't consider myself as a collector or an enthusiast, since the only watches I'm enthusiastic about occur about as often as a returning comet. Maybe 'connoisseur' would be more accurate!

 

I started out as a guy who just wore a watch. I think it all starts rolling after you buy a 2nd watch. After that it can be tough to control, especially with many watch forums and eye candy so readily available now. I got to a point where I was pulling the trigger on inexpensive watches that I thought I couldn't live without like a green Seiko 5 and a Vostok with a scuba diver on the dial. I've righted the ship a bit and tried to keep the trigger finger at bay for the most part.

So I'd say my journey (so far) has been: Wearer > Inspired > Enthusiast > Collector > Enthusiast > Discerning

 

I’m an enthusiast. Though I have collector/hoarder tendencies that I constantly battle.


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I may be neither-----I am simply addicted! Nothing like a new watch in the mail!

 

I think you're asking for a definition that may be indefinable. Rest assured, if you
have more than two watches, you have a collection. You can be an enthusiast
without ever buying a watch, like being an F1 enthusiast without ever racing
a car.

One definition, but I think it's as accurate as most...

"a group of objects (Watches) or an amount of material accumulated in
one location, especially for some purpose or as a result of some
process"

 

It started out as an enthusiast. I knew I wanted a watch, and a nice one at that. Although at the time, I had no idea what a nice watch was (Swiss, and chrono something something), I knew I appreciated the machinery (some aesthetics more than others), and I wanted something more sophisticated, and socially acceptable, to discern the time without pulling out my cellphone to check.

So I got that first piece, and it was a do everything watch for me. Look around the wrist of some peers, and the watches tended to change for the specific function/activity, or just because. So then I wanted to emulate that, which was a stronger iteration of being an enthusiast. There was not much rhyme or reason, the first "extra watch" was likely to be a Hamilton Open Heart Jazzmaster. However, when buying my wife jewelry from Jared's (don't shop there, it's junk, find a real jeweler in your town, better stuff, better service) I saw the watch I wanted, but could not comprehend the price difference with that of Jomashop. So, from just googling the Hamilton for price comparison, it opened me up to all these different blogs, and lists/reviews of watches that I wasn't previously aware.

My horizons grew to different possibilities than what was behind a department/jewelry stores counter. Then, maybe after I bought two watches near simultaneously that holiday season, I became a collector. There was a motive and direction in what was purchased, filling a perceived need of form and function. Now, I'm at a point where there's one more watch I want to get for myself way down the road, which would be an upgrade over a previous purchase (Raymond Weil jump hour --> Gerald Genta BiRetro jump hour). I want to upgrade a watch for my wife, so we have a more complimentary his/hers pair, and I want to buy a watch for my dad. Aside from gifts for child(ren), my desire to obtain more pieces is pretty moot. There's a passing fancy still for a YES watch, and I'm partial to a lot of the stuff produced by Nth watches, but those aren't essential. It's the difference between not buying any more whisky or cigars for a year, or buying those time pieces.

I'd say the biggest difference between the two, is that a collector usually has a goal in mind, something the collection should amount to (volume, interpretations, value, etc), whereas an enthusiast has no larger scope of accomplishment.

 

I like to think of myself as an enthusiastic collector (or hoarder)

 

Some excellent comments here in answer to the OP's great opening post which actually leads to lots of other probing psychological questions, but I'm going to keep it light.

Personally, I see myself as an enthusiastic wearer of watches, who has collected several - well, okay, 20+ at the last count. I thoroughly enjoy wearing most of my current collection, but more than a few are in the relinquish box. As it is, the SOTC has always thus far been in a relatively constant state of flux; there are potential incomers to replace those off to a new home, but the rate of change is slowing and this will inevitably result in a much more stable SOTC.

The upshot of this inevitable progression is that I will become an enthusiastic and appreciative wearer of a moderately small (say 12) collection of watches; yes, there will still be acquisitions and disposals, but I know that the collecting will be a much more considered and very infrequent process.

Cheers,

Alan

 

I am definitely an enthusiast who is in no way a collector. I read obsessively about watches (here, books, on the usual sites, and through the iPhone app that aggregates watch news from across the web). I research smaller brands that are doing interesting things with movement design (think the Grönefeld's remontoire movement or anything by Ochs und Junior). A couple of times a year, when in Vegas for poker, I spend an entire day visiting watch shops to try things on and see them in the metal. I have even begun to tinker with taking movements apart and repairing them (although mostly clocks as it is easier on my eyes to not have such small parts). I can explain the workings of a movement; I opine on why a tourbillon is a wonderful, beautiful anachronism; I am fascinated by and knowledgable about the relationship between time and space in navigation both historically and today; I have informed opinions about nearly every major and lots of "minor" watch brands while being open to the fact that others see things differently than me. I love what watches represent in terms of historical import, aesthetic and artistic expression, and mechanical engineering.

Funny thing is... I only own two watches at the moment while saving for a third and final watch. You see, I can appreciate something while not needing to possess it. As I have aged and sought to simplify my life, I have no desire to own all of the many watches (and other things) I appreciate and admire. In a consumerist culture, we are often told that owning things is the goal. But for me, I choose to spend my disposable income on experience over ownership (mostly travel, theatre, great food and drink, and supporting charitable causes). In some ways, watches are like beautiful women to me; I can appreciate them from afar without thinking about cheating on my wife. That does not mean I will not look and appreciate.

I am not saying it is wrong to collect. But it is not for me. I would rather agonize about finding the right three watches for me, than having to agonize over which watch to wear from a large collection. In the meantime, I will continue to love what I cannot have (in the case of the really high end watches) or choose not to own. I wish you all the joy of your collections and/or enthusiasms.

 

In honor of Mitch Hedberg, I’m not a watch enthusiast. I’m just a guy who likes watches.

 

In honor of Mitch Hedberg, I'm not a watch enthusiast. I'm just a guy who likes watches.

I am just some fellow that likes mechanical watches. I like knowing what it took to design, engineer, and create things mechanical.
.
I don't have a collection. No focused plan or motive. Just an odd assemblage, a gathering if you will, that changes and morphs from time to time.
Nothing particularly elaborate, just odds n ends.
.
.
I am Not a Collector !
.
It is Not my Fault !
.
.
The blasted things just follow me home sometimes !
.

 

Enthusiast here. I have other hobbies and finite resources to even consider being a collector and I'd never buy a watch that I wouldn't wear.
There was a period, when I was younger, when I purposely and proudly didn't even wear a watch. I still read about them though and I enjoy learning about the technolgy and horological history. I find people are genuinely pleased and surprised when I ask about their watch and can show I know something about them.

 

From the definitions stated earlier in this thread,I think I can be classified as both collector and enthusiast

I started this journey by collecting Panerais (I still have them) but I only buy what I like and can afford,before this I've had Casio,Tags,Rolexes and Cartier

These past few years I've been branching to Seiko,Omega,JLC,microbrand (Athaya)

Even though my main collection is still consist of Panerai,but I'm also interested to learn about another brands and engaged in a conversation about them and of course I'd like to understand further on how a watch movements work

My PAM-ily photo,one watch was worn on my wrist and since then I've added only 1 piece

 

Collector. I am searching all the time for 4 models to complete a collection. I like the hunt to find rare models.
Enthusiast. I appreciate watches that I do not own, and never plan to own.