I just feel like talking about watch stuff (gasp!) so I would like to know your thoughts on the following question:

When deciding to drop some money on a good new watches, how do you go about it: Do you save a bunch of money to buy it ... only start considering it when you have the liquid bucks ... or just slap the purchase on a credit card?

There will be no editorial comments on the answers - just curious to see how real, learned watch collectors go about the hobby. Thank you in advance for your kind consideration.

What I intend to do:
Research the watch, and sell a few to keep the horde down. One in, one out at least.

What I usually do:
Buy it when the itch is too strong to ignore, slap it on a card, and then try to sell some others later. I still however, research the specs to ensure it will get wrist time.
Of late, I save up points on Amazon (assuming that it's there)

I'm in a strange time of my life now....semi-retired and can afford more higher end pieces but no office to go to and wear them. My collection still has too many watches from my earlier days as well.

Great topic!

I save up to buy it. I'm getting too close to retirement to start owing money to the shylocks at Citibank again.

I don’t buy new watches much, I usually go the used route.
I look for watches that catch my eye then look at the movement. I try to learn from reviews.
Example is my Oris 65, I wanted one, but didn’t think the prices were good, so I waited a couple of years until a sale price came up that I was good with. When the sale came up, I already knew all about the watch so it was easy to jump on the deal.
I don’t save, I usually put it on my credit card and pay it off when the bill comes in so I don’t have to deal with interest.
Another example is my Raymond Weil and Harwood , I didn’t know anything about them, I saw an awesome sale, liked the color, size, dial pattern, movement, I didn’t have those brands in my collection yet and the price was superb so I got them.

I could afford higher end watches, but I like what I have. I like spinning my wheels with homages and cheaper brands. That’s fun to me, getting colors to match outfits is fun. Getting watches that I can wear for various occasions is fun to me. I consider most of my newer watches beaters and disposable if they break. It’s fun not worrying about tearing up my watches. For the prices I pay, it’s easy to do that. If I had a Rolex, I’d be very uptight about it.
I don’t feel so carefree about my vintage watches and would be very depressed if something happened to something like my first Grand Seiko. I take my vintage watches safety into consideration a lot.

Until recently I have usually bought watches with extra cash I have from payday or have bought them on credit and then sold off others to pay off the card before any interest could kick in.

The Sinn 104 I actually saved for and sold off watches prior to buying. I have another Sinn incoming that I couldn’t pass up pre-owned. Slapped it on a new CC offer for 15 months no interest, got $240 cash back on the card that I applied to the balance and will use the cash from selling my Olko and two other watches to pay down. Have a bit of extra cash in the bank and on my forthcoming paycheck that, if it doesn’t pay it off, will take it down to a couple of hundred dollars. Despite having fifteen months interest free, I will have it paid off in September or October.

For any “fun watches,” those that I think I likely will flip, looking at you Tissot PRX, if I have the extra cash and can find a good price, I may pick one up to play with.

For the bigger prices, currently have three Sinns on my list, those will be saved for and paid in full at purchase. I do always use CCs to buy for the cash back feature.

Since starting to use cash back cards a little over four years ago, I have made around $9K cash back including $1517 for 2020 and $1260 so far for 2021. Have never paid a penny in interest on the cards or any annual fees. Figure that’s watch play money for Pop.

Cash back cards are king, if you have the credit score and the discipline to pay them off every payday.

As for myself, I have had a philosophy about buying watches for about a decade now: If I don’t have the money, I don’t buy. I have a very odd way of saving money for watches, as I haven’t gone into any sort of debt to buy a watch in all that time. It’s all basically paid for with cash – from a $10 joke Chinese watch on Amazon to a new Rolex.

So how have I done it? I have a hobby: Bowling. Seriously. I’m both a league bowler and also a tournament player, at least several times a year. If I make money at a tournament it goes to watches – it’s found money. If I get money back at the end of a league season – most times, it’s about a grand every summer – it goes to watches. Plus, I save a little money and stick it in a secondary account all the time. Not a fortune, but eventually pennies become dollars.

My watch hobby never, ever affects my household expenses, and I never go as much as a dollar in debt over it. My wife knows what my favorite gift is, too. So I’m usually covered. If I reach a point where I can’t afford new watches, I won’t buy new watches. At this juncture, I’m 99.9 percent happy with my collection and I’m just about set.

Until a new cash windfall hits me, that is. Then all bets are off.