How do you guys manage larger Rolex collections?

[JSCP]

My collection is way way too big. About 75! But Rolex are 8. Since I added the Daytona SS WD last Saturday, I wore it all week. Then yesterday I completed the Rolex collection with a DJ 41 SS w fluted bezel and oyster, blue dial, that was yesterday and today. I wear the most Daytona Everose. But it depends. Office gets to see rotation. For Covid WFH mostly SS Rolex, Patek 5153r (dressier moments), the PP 5167a for understated casual meetings

Tonight for example might be the DJ or a Cartier 1970’s Tank, I know on the opposite side of the spectrum
Pepsi good for office or weekend.
Cartier watches mostly in Fall/Winter.

Definitely PP Rolex and Cartier the most wear.

Sub at the pool or at Annapolis in friend’s boat.

But my goal is to edit more...this year to get a Royal Oak, a VC and YG Patek but all vintage.

Play it by ear mostly....

[RoscoPico]

Originally Posted by RolexRog

Do you have trouble appreciating them all, since you have to divide your time and attention between them?

when i had 25, yes

How do you decide which watch to wear, and how long do you wear it before moving on to another watch?

i just go by what i feel like wearing, if something hasn't been worn i may "look" for an occasion

Do you keep your watches on winders, or do you re-wind and re-set them when you want to wear them? (If you have an Oysterquartz collection, this would be N/A)

cheers
once did, now i just take them out of the safe every month or so for a winding if they haven't been worn

Do you have difficulty "bonding" with any one watch when you have so many?

probably so, another reason why i have tried to keep it under 10. too easy to add to the collection if i bought everything i kinda liked

Anything I forgot to ask that you want to add, please feel free.

cheers

[Bob the brush]

I used to be a strict 'rotate every Sunday' guy, but now not so strict, I will wear a watch for a month, six weeks, or just a couple of days, just depends on how I feel. Don't own a winder, part of the fun for me is getting the watch from the safe, winding it, setting the date, and setting the time to the only quartz clock I own, the one on the cooker, as I'm not that bothered about seconds accuracy. I enjoy all my watches doing it this way. Stay safe.

[tkc324]

I have a small collection of about 15 watches. 6 are rolexes. I def don’t wear all my watches and I don’t own a winder either. Every few months I try to hand wind all of them so they run a bit. I have started to gravitate toward simpler and smaller watches lately.

[Dirt]

I managed my larger(predominately) Rolex collection by down sizing to one Rolex.
Then it jumped up to two of the same reference but with very different dials but technically the same watch.

Being a watch nut I couldn't help myself though and diversified which has my collection in a much better place overall.

[Lamontsanders]

10 currently (8 Rolex, a Casio and Tudor GMT). 2 of the Rolex are vintage and are rarely worn. The Casio is for activity where I don’t want a mechanical on. Everything else gets its fair share of time. I’d like to add 3-4 more and call it a collection, at least for a while.

[007_Omega]

I couldn’t have a large collection because I firmly believe in wearing my watches.

I don’t have cheap pieces, aside from my G-Shock, and I don’t believe in parking that much money in a watch to have it sit in a safe.

I have 2 Rolex right now and definitely see myself getting a third. I really don’t want my collection to grow past 5-6 watches. That is plenty of room to narrow down my taste to the watches I truly love.

I’ve had the Speedy, Planet Ocean, Milgauss, and Sub all leave my collection because they didn’t hit the mark of a permanent keeper. I don’t believe in hoarding watches.


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[GoingPlaces]

I usually switch up every month or so. I'll get tired and then change up. I appreciate the piece more this way.

[Houston77]

5 watch guy here.

Dress: 1980s DateJust on a black leather strap.

Work: TT DJ41 and TT YM.

Weekend/Strapmaster: Speedy

Beater: Seamaster 300m

All get worn multiple times aside from the DJ 36, which I usually wear once every other week or so.

[djyolky]

I keep a simple approach and follow which ever way the breeze blows.


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[BroncoOne]

The only time that I think much about it depends on where I'm going when I leave the house. If it's to the boat or the beach the Sub gets the nod. If I'm getting on a plane (back when that was a prepandemic thing) the Batman GMT goes on. If I'm going to a black tie event, it's one of the white face gold watches on a leather strap (used to be a "rule" but there are no rules about this any more. Just a habit).

If I know that I'm going to be seeing a WIS, the turn-o-graph.
I'm pretty much looking to use it like the toll it is, except for the fun part

[NachoNeal]

Originally Posted by 2x4

Primarily a 4 watch collection, I guess a lot depends on your lifestyle. I’m not a suit a tie guy. May daily attire for work is steel toe leather boots, jeans, and a button down shirt. So,
Daily = DJ41 SS
Weekend = GMT2 (black bezel, sorry I don’t know codes)
Weekend w/serious work = G Shock Rangeman
Dress = TT Black dial SkyDweller

I like your system. Mine is similar.
TT DJ41 for dressier stuff.
Sub for more semi casual.
and seiko skx for banging around.

[tommy91]

Each watch gets a whole month then rotate

[HogwldFLTR]

I kept track of my use in a spread sheet; it drove me nuts so much so that I sold it all and ended with just a few pieces.

[Nav01L]

I tend to be a one watch guy, who owns more than one watch, meaning that I have one watch I wear (used to be a Rolex GMT II LN, now a blue 4500v), and a box of watches I don‘t wear but keep for sentimental reasons or because they’re just beautiful objects (e.g. the GMT, now I‘ve started wearing something else as my „one watch“, my old Navitimer which was my childhood dream and my first real watch, or other pieces such as my Lange 1 that I just like to own for the sake of their masterful craftsmanship and will wear now and then for the eventual special occasion). What doesn’t fit into this system because it neither gets worn nor has a sufficiently deep connection to stay for other reasons eventually gets sold. Pretty simple.

[Nav01L]

Originally Posted by HogwldFLTR

I kept track of my use in a spread sheet; it drove me nuts so much so that I sold it all and ended with just a few pieces.

I really admire the energy and level of organization of starting a spreadsheet in the first place, that must have been quite a collection and a chore to keep updated.

[gentb]

Having plenty of them isn't difficult once you are a watch lover and has a secured home.

[Pongster]

Wear three watches a day. Not simultaneously of course.

[MattyL147]

Originally Posted by Pongster

Wear three watches a day. Not simultaneously of course.

3 a day?

[jgottsman11]

Originally Posted by Pongster

Wear three watches a day. Not simultaneously of course.

That's just too much to keep track of. My two watch collection I find a perfect fit. Each get worn multiple times a week depending on how I'm feeling.

[Pongster]

Originally Posted by MattyL147

3 a day?

One in morning when going to office. Change after lunch. Change again at home.

So all can be rotated. Otherwise, it will take a long time for others to get worn.

[socalwatchcollector]

Originally Posted by padi56

At one time I had around 50 watches in my collection but not all Rolex never felt the need for any sort of machine winder and never will.

Holy smokes! 50? I thought I had a problem with 30. Looks like I need further enabling on here.

[Amochosto]

I enjoy using WatchTracker to test the accuracy of my watches. In that app, you can rank your timepieces by alphabetical order or most recently used. I use this to figure out which of my watches have been unused for the longest, and mix that information with what I feel like wearing to decide what to put on for the next 1-3days. Sometimes I feel like wearing something I have recently worn, but often happy to wear one that has not had any recent wrist time. Right now, my 116500 white dial is up next, followed by my 16710 Coke, but for reasons, I think I’ll put on my Seiko Samurai Save the Ocean after the Daytona, even though I wore it last week.

Ones that I keep on deferring putting on will likely eventually be sold, I’ve never sold one yet but I now have 30 watches in the rotation, and from here I Have decided I will sell one if I want to buy one.

[WatchEater666]

Give me a lot of anxiety having too many watches, so I just try to keep it to 1 to 3 max...

If I accidentally end up with more, then they go in the bank deposit box.

[JPMickB83]

Originally Posted by WatchEater666

Give me a lot of anxiety having too many watches, so I just try to keep it to 1 to 3 max...

If I accidentally end up with more, then they go in the bank deposit box.

Fun fact: safety deposit boxes aren’t insured. If something happens, you’re SOOL.

[AndyWright]

For a collection of 10 I they each get their own wrist time. Each for different occasion, my selection usually depends on what Im wearing.
They are all happy, But we all have our preferences and that one that gets a little too much wrist time

[ny_yeti]

OP, really interesting question, glad you posted this. It has been really interesting to read.

[Gimoozaabi]

Originally Posted by Tools

It isn't difficult.



They are pretty docile and compliant. All of them do what I want without complaint.

Haha, this is a great answer!

I have 25+ (I really lost count!) and enjoy them very much. The ones that I haven't worn for a long time feel like a new ones when I put them baxk on my wrist for few days/weeks/months.. Heck, I even enjoy the ones that I don't wear.

[R_Rated]

My rotation is purely an emotional game time decision. If it's a car day them I'm probably going for my Porsche watch - ETA movement and bought for a reasonable price so no judgement please:) If its working on the cars then its a full ceramic Mont Blanc or Breitling.

[Chester01]

When my collection was larger (7/8 watches) I rotated every 2 weeks. But yes, bonding was an issue and with some, it meant that they got like 6/8 weeks wrist time each year. This on top of service costs for watches that I wore relatively little. I am much happier with 2 main watches, 2 alternates. The watches I love are worn most, and other 2 sprinkled in for variety here and there. The bonding becomes an issue with larger collections too. Watches take on their meaning when they become associated with memories and others in our world associate us wearing a particular watch. When the watch we wear changes all the time, it has little chance to get associated with the deep things in like. For example, in a few weeks when my brother gets remarried, my 16610 will be on the wrist. It was at my wedding about 20 years ago, birth of my son, unfortunately some family funerals, and many other meaningful events.