There is nothing more effective than the swap of a digit on the calendar to send the whole world into self-reflection mode. As we collectively adjust to a six that replaced a five, many of us have the best intention of making changes that stick around long enough to see that six turn into a seven. Personally, I find there is no better exercise to guide new resolutions than to take stock of the old ones.
Non-watch related, dry January turned into dry 2025, and I’m down two links (normal people measure progress in pounds, but bracelet size has become my preferred watch nerd metric). I resumed progress on that half-finished MBA that’s been hanging over my head, and I spent more time playing board games with my kids than the year before.
Watch-specific, after five years of constant buying and selling, I decided to go an entire year without purchasing any new watches. Even though it was a lofty goal and one that collectors seeking change often fantasize about without following through, I actually managed to spend 2025 without a substantial #NWA (new watch announcement) post on Instagram. In full transparency, I did pick up a couple of cheap vintage quartz pieces. But us watch enthusiasts have clever ways of rationalizing why certain purchases don’t count (I think we can all agree G-SHOCKs fall into this bucket), and I’m pretending like those pickups don’t exist. After all, neither were “new” and one has already found a new home.
During this prolonged period of NWA abstinence, I largely considered the shopping hiatus to be a positive thing for two reasons. First, it forced me to spend more time wearing watches I already owned, forming a deeper appreciation for them in the process. Also, as any collector with an ever-rotating collection knows, selling watches sometimes sucks. Less buying means less selling, and staying off R/WatchExchange and out of sprawling post office lines was a welcome change.
But beyond these relatively minor differences, that’s honestly where the benefits ended. Financially speaking, I’m in no different position than this time last year, which in retrospect is no surprise. People in our community like to joke about the financial pitfalls of collecting, evidenced by the 278 thousand #Watchaddiction posts on Instagram. But from my experience and observing those around me, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Sure, like anything else, watches cost money, but it’s also incredibly easy to recoup most of a purchase price with a bit of planning and minimal effort. In fact, I’d argue that watch collecting is cheaper than many other hobbies if you buy within your financial comfort zone and aren’t prone to indefinitely keeping everything that passes through your watchbox.
I think it’s a pretty normal trajectory to become more passionate about any hobby the deeper you dig. Watches, in all their complexities that are simply too vast to explore each fully in a single lifetime, are no exception. Things that may seem basic now are topics we each spent hours researching in the early stages of being watch nerds. We had to learn what “in house” and “Swiss made” meant before we could decide if we were willing to pay more for them. We had to Google the difference between mechanical and automatic movements to pick a stance on rotors, only to finally make a purchase and learn that hand wind movements may be romantic on paper but are a nuisance in reality.
OK, I may be biased, but I think the point stands: enthusiasm grows exponentially with time in this hobby, and each new watch we own helps fuel that enthusiasm. As much as a cheapskate like me would like to separate that growth from the consumerism aspect, the two are simply interconnected. I’ve considered myself a watch enthusiast since 2019. During that time, my knowledge and enthusiasm grew each year. That growth came to a screeching halt when I stopped buying watches.
Our family has adopted the simplified Christmas present model of something to wear, something to read, something you want, and something you need. A few weeks before Christmas, we ask the kids what they want for each category. My son, (after struggling to identify what a kid in elementary school actually needs but doesn’t already have) decided he “needed” a watch. After an in-store browsing session at Macy’s looking at robust G-Shocks and some online scrolling where he discovered the treasure trove that is the colorful catalog of Swatch, he eventually landed on a Casio A700W-1A. Solid choice, I know.
But even though he’d seen the watch in person behind a display case, when he ripped off the wrapping paper and saw the glistening bracelet and made the screen light up for the first time, he couldn’t help but celebrate. With both fists in the air, he sprinted through the house, proudly displaying his first non-Flik Flak. His uncontainable glee made me instantly nostalgic for that irreplaceable feeling of unboxing a watch that makes you want to skip around the living room in your pajamas.
Over the years I’ve had a handful of pickups that filled me with genuine pajama-skipping joy. Others, I’ve straight up despised. But all of them, no matter where they fell on this scale, left me with some sort of lesson or experience that made me a “better” collector. What did I gain from spending a year without any of those experiences? Beyond a slightly greater appreciation for the watches I already liked enough to designate as keepers, absolutely nothing.
Like many things in life, I’m slowly realizing there is no need to take a hard stance on most things watch related. Are date windows ugly? Depends on the watch. Is Swiss made better? Sometimes. How often should you buy a watch? Whenever it feels right, but certainly don’t sit on the sidelines for an entire calendar year just because you think it’s a catch all solution to whatever you happen to dislike about your current relationship with collecting. Trust me, it isn’t.
After a 2025 that can best be described as an enthusiasm plateau, I want to bottle that feeling of being a kid on Christmas morning opening their first Casio. I want to over-correct for a lost year, even if it means getting lowballed on Reddit and braving long lines at the post office. Fully aware that publicly stating this goal is low hanging fruit for online trolls who like watches enough to post about but still make oversimplified statements like “buying things isn’t a hobby” (which I hope this article is a solid counterpoint against), my 2026 horological resolution is to buy more watches. With my credit card on standby and a handful of contenders already identified, a long overdue NWA post is imminent.
Nathan Schultz
2026-02-11 17:00:00