Midlife Crisis WatchesI bought over 150 watches at one point. Every microbrand was dropping something new, and I jumped on all of it. This one hit the right specs, that one looked beautiful, another one did something clever nobody else was doing. I'd buy it, wear it once or twice, and it would sit in a Rothwell watchbox competing for wrist time against dozens of others that rarely got worn. Over the last year, more than 100 of those watches went out the door.
So I stopped buying watches at launch. Ming launched a collaboration with J.N. Shapiro earlier this year, and I told myself I wasn't chasing new drops anymore. I let it go. I watched a bunch of you post yours on Instagram and felt the sting of missing something great. Then my friends at Shreve called and said look what just came through the door. I walked in, saw it, handed over the card. Got lucky, honestly as the watch was only launched about 30 days prior.
But here's the part that actually matters. I hadn't bought it on launch day. I'd let it sit with me for months. Watched it on other people's wrists, thought about it, and only moved once I actually wanted it rather than just wanting to have it first. That watch has been on my wrist constantly ever since I got it and even got an awesome made-to-order Molesquin strap for it. Compare that to the 100 that went out the door.
That's the whole hypothesis for where I'm at now. I am not jumping on every release any more. In the past, I called this basically having a "subscription" to a watch brand. I do not need that, can't afford it at crazy volumes, and I've learned it is just irresponsible.