Why Write About Watches?

With so much engaging video content out there for watch enthusiasts, is there any point in writing about the watch collecting journey?

When I started researching my first mechanical watch purchase, I remember thinking that the concept of watch collecting as a “hobby” seemed strange. All you do is buy what you decide you like and wear it right? Oh man, was I ever wrong about that. Four years later after much obsession, research, new friendships, buying and selling, curating and planning out my collection, I have realized that when one gets into watches, it can most definitely become what we know as a hobby.

Walking down this road into the watch hobby, early on I started writing about my experiences mostly just to organize my thoughts and to reflect on what I was learning along the way. I also started an Instagram profile that I have maintained and while sharing individual photos with a short caption felt natural to the hobby, I was never quite sure if it was worth trying to write about watches.

Watch collecting is highly visual and we experience watch design through very subjective preferences. Video seems like the best way to gather information on a hobby like this since it enables a small encounter with the watches that catch our interest. YouTube videos and even podcasts have been constant companions on the collecting journey and although I love the idea of creating videos, I just don’t see myself having the time at this stage of life.

That brings me back to the question posed in this post. What is the point in writing about watches, a hobby more frequently engaged through the visual senses involved with visiting an AD and putting the watch on your wrist or at the very least, watching somebody else put the watch on their wrist and talk about their experiences with it.

Ultimately, what I’ve decided is that the journey of collecting is intriguing enough to me that I might as well at least write down what I’m learning as I encounter various watches and watch-related experiences along the way. In other words, the point of writing about a hobby is to capture the journey in some small way and to share with others who might have a similar interest with their own experiences to share. We’ll see if this ends up meaning anything to anyone else but I need something else to do in this hobby besides just buying more watches.

So yes, I do think there’s a point in writing about a hobby that I enjoy, even if it’s more for my own reflection than for what kind of audience the writing gathers. Okay, now I need to quit thinking about it and finally start writing about my reflections on choosing and enjoying watches.