Welcome to this watch life. Hi, I'm Lydia Winters and today we're talking about Enthusiast or collector. Which one are you? Wait, which one are you? Well, but that spoils the whole episode. If I say it. Can I say it at the end? OK. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, it would make my my viewpoint like too immediate. But anyway, this came about from a post by Average Watches yesterday where he actually wrote about this. Are you a watch enthusiast or a watch collector?
He writes I have owned many watches over the years, but I'm still hesitant to call myself a collector. I think I have an association in my head that a collector is someone who is knowledgeable and knows all the different references and variations in typography used on the dial. I also feel like the intention behind acquiring watches is a
differentiator. I think a collector acquires watches for the enjoyment of owning them, whereas I just enjoy experiencing them and would be just as happy borrowing a friend's watch. Happier even since I didn't even have to spend my money. Really, I just think calling myself an enthusiast and not a collector takes the pressure off any expectations people may have of me in this hobby. Yeah, so there is a lot here and I also. Borrowing. I well, OK.
You're like it's no you'd be. Happier to not even own a watch. No, no. OK. I can let that part go. Yes but I really do I I understand and feel a lot of these ways especially when he talks about this sort of the association in your head about collector that it can feel like a lot of hurdles to jump like you really need to be and and you know like knowledge knowledgeable is subjective. I'm like if I I guess a good way
to say it is you like. People ask me if I'm a photographer and sometimes I say no. You not sometimes. You almost always. The other day. We're at our local Lovely. Cafe. Medmeg and this really cool woman starts talking to Lydia. She's got cool style. Her kid is dressed in this really like cool kind of hipster little jacket and she notices Lydia's wonderful little cute like AQ3 and says, oh, are you a photographer? And Lydia's like, Oh no, no, I'm just a hobbyist.
I just I just own this thing. It's really embarrassing that I do that. And then and then it turns out she's this really fantastic photographer. So maybe you had that vibe and you get worried about claiming that you are something that you feel you can't live up to that title. Yeah, it is it. It does feel like for me it's born out of insecurity, which I'm like, oh so like. And what did I tell you right away? The. Words like stop saying no because this has happened
before. You're not a photographer, you are a recognized by publications, by camera companies, by all of these things as a great photographer. And also, people don't need to be at the level that you. Have achieved. In order to call themselves a. Photographer you. Got to own that and it's the similar. It's similar with watch. Collecting, it's very similar with with like to how I feel
watch collecting. And especially at the beginning when someone was like, oh, you're a watch collector, I would be like, no. And then they're like, how many watches do you have? It's like 20, you know. And so I think it's when you get down into a community, you can then like within the community you create more of these like categorizations, which is like very psychological.
I was looking at that like, you know, like you want to categorize things and that's that's fun in this case, but it can be like harmful if it creates like exclusion and it's like, hey, you're not a collector. So to me it's really about like for. These reasons, Yeah, you're not a collector, but I I think both in the example of you as a a photographer and claiming that you're a photographer, but also in the example that Average
Watches gives. Here about feeling like he's not knowledgeable enough to be considered a collector comes from real stuff. Oh, yes, because. There are real people who have challenged you as a photographer or you in in your job or you throughout your life as like you're not good enough to be this. Yes, and. People, I I have read, you know, posts and articles and listened to podcasts where people define what a watch collector is. And some of them set a very high bar. Yeah, exactly.
And so if you hear that, then that's going to make you more insecure. Yeah, you never. You'll never reach it. And then you. Don't want to claim it like something that you don't think you are, that that you aren't good enough or that you aren't knowledgeable enough or cool enough, or that your watches aren't expensive enough. Then you're even more insecure. And you don't want to say like, oh, I'm a watch collector and
have someone mock you for that. Because there are people who seem like, based on what they say, that they would totally disagree that you are a watch collector or a photographer or whatever that is. Yeah, and it it is, it's not like that You don't want someone. You don't want to say a label and then someone perceives it as wrong. But then I'm like, it's my label. Because guess what?
The definition of a collector is just a person who collects things of a specified type professionally or as a hobby, And to collect. There are multiple definitions and it's to systematically seek and acquire items of a particular kind as a hobby or just accumulate over a period of time. So guess what I'd be accumulating over a period of time. I'm just accumulating like. So it doesn't actually have to be that you need to like. The specifications could just be
watches. Some people have more of like a niche like vintage watches. Or you know, you can like add another word on to what type of collector you are. But I do think you still are a collector. I think it's also very similar with photography. It's like I am a watch photographer, so it's like I'm adding another word to kind of like make it more descriptive. But that doesn't mean that I'm also not a photographer or I'm
also not a collector. So it's like a vintage collector or maybe someone just has, you know, every reference of one you know? Or like I'm an oyster perpetual. Collector You are definitely a Rolex OP. A colorful Rolex OP. Collector, that's a lot of that's you know then there's very few of us in that.
But the thing I like about the like this term enthusiast is that it And I think the reason it was created I I don't know this for certain, but I feel like the reason it was created is it does create even more like broad categorization and just like hey come on in and. There's a definition in the in the name too. Yeah, exactly. Are you enthusiastic about something? Yes or no. Yes, you are. An enthusiast, and I think that is where Collector could be as well. Do you collect things?
Then you are a Collector. But I think where that falls apart is that people have a different definition of Do you collect like what is a collection? Yeah, I mean, finds that I was thinking about this a lot because I've been like, oh, if you have, you know, a few, it's a collection and you're a collector, you. Said it before. Lower the the hurdle. But then I also think about things like, you know, I have a lot of cameras, but I don't consider myself a camera
collector. I don't consider myself a purse collector, a shoe, you know? So to me, it's like your own mindset and then you get to define it. That's what I think it all is about. Yeah, I really do. OK, so as I thought through this because I I thought through and I I did look some stuff up, but also just from memory I made a list of like where I think different people start to depart from what is a collector.
I think most people would agree if you only buy Rolex explorers from different eras, different sizes you know in different condition like you're a collector. And an enthusiast because, right? You probably probably. Well, and it. Depends, because if you, you may not consider yourself an
enthusiast. Let's say you collect vintage explorers because you want to sell them, but you don't wear them and you're not really that interested in them as what they are, but you see them more as an investment. Perhaps you wouldn't consider yourself an enthusiast. I don't think that's the most likely person, but I. Do think. You could collect without enthusiasm. True. Enthusiast is just a person who is very interested in a
particular activity or subject. Yeah, it doesn't add or take away if you make money off of it. No, I guess it. Doesn't, you know. So if you're very interested, yeah, yeah. But OK, so so I I think most, by most definitions I've seen, they would say if you collect, if you own a bunch of Rolex explorers, then you're a watch collector, right? And then you could even go more niche. What if you only own a bunch of Rolex 10 sixteens, right? Definitely A. Collector you have like.
One, by the definitions I've seen. So then if we go more broad, what if you only collect Seikos? Like just Seiko watches? There's some dive watches, some dress watches, but they're Seikos. Would you consider that a collector? You would. But I think this is where some people start to diverge. They think it's too broad. Or what if you were like, I only collect Japanese watches, Yeah? Still a collector right to. To. Me. And to you, what if you collect
only watches? Because that's you and me. We have different brands, different styles, different colors, different eras, different manufacturers, different price points, like super broad collections. I would consider ours right? But I still consider it a collection of watches because like, you could take this to the next. Like what? If you're like, oh, I only collect things made of metal.
You can do that if you want. It's it's it's weird, but I collect watches so I can't really say much about it. You know, like it's where do you draw the line? And to me, since collector is not something that you go to school for and there's no ploma for it, there's no business license, you don't have to put it on a business. It's not like if I said like, please call me Doctor Lydia Winters would be. Different I I think there's. A. There is a very clear
definition. Definition of what is or isn't a Doctor. That sounds good, but I'm not going to school for it. There's no award, there's no medal you wear, right? So then to be a collector, in my mind, you just have to feel it yourself that you are a collector. It is interesting though when I think about it, the perception of people like I talked about at the beginning of the outside versus inside, inside the community there are different like levels of things.
And you know, we we put ourselves against like we're looking at some of the best, like the the most prolific collections. And so then we're like that is a collector. I have 20 watches that are you know, whatever and all over the place and they have this very specific thing and this beautiful taste and like that can be. So we do that within.
But then like I said, if I'm talking to someone and they're like, oh, you have like some watches and I'm like, Oh yeah, I have 20, they're like, oh, you're a watch collector. Like, no, no, no, no, You don't understand. I haven't put the narrow enough guardrails around my collection to be considered. I wouldn't say, you know, so I do think that's kind of funny too. It's, it's back to me and my like, Oh no, I'm not a
photographer. It's like, well yeah, I obviously AM, but it's the inside definition that I'm like, oh, but I'm not, you know, it's a then the collector word is there as the main descriptor and then you add but. It's because your intention is to collect watches, not to just talk about them, which fits enthusiasm really well when people ask me. I do not call myself a collector
though. Even though I have a fairly broad definition of collecting, I don't believe that the collecting is what I enjoy about watches. I believe it's the enthusiasm. So to me, like when when someone asks me, oh, you own a bunch of watches, like what? What do you do? Like do you work in watches? And I I almost always say, Oh no, I'm just a watch enthusiast and I have a watch podcast. Yeah, again, you're like not a collector though I I actually just say watch nerd.
For me that's the that's the term I use because I think it doesn't even matter. It's more just like it's a because again enthusiast isn't even used for every like community. No. So I just the shorthand is like, I'm a watch nerd and then I'm like, how nerdy? Watch podcast how nerdy. As we know, the most definitive answers always come from AI, so I asked ChatGPT 4. OK. What is a watch collector? OK, tell us.
I'm not going to read the whole thing because GPT 4 is usually quite wordy like me. Yeah, exactly. But just from the beginning, I think you get a sense. A watch collector is someone who actively seeks out, acquires and possibly curates a collection of watches. And then it goes on to say, all the possibilities. I like that it says possibly curate. Possible, and it really doesn't put any limits on like, oh watch collections need to be a certain way and I really like that.
Yeah, I think that if we allow for the definition to be broad enough that each person can like have their own interpretation it, it doesn't create as much like exclusivity and it also just allows it to be open and. And also, who does it hurt? No it doesn't. Hurt anyone? Not saying. You disagree? Yeah, exactly. It does hurt people if you claim to be a doctor and you're not. That would be painful. We. Don't want to see so I am both. I am an enthusiast and a collector I think.
We're going to say Doctor. No, I'm not. A doctor. What are you? Let us know. Bye.