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I have been mocked for sharing this elsewhere, but I figured I’d share it here too
I am a big fan of calculating average cost per wear. There. I said it. Now, some may consider this “dumb math,” but I am a huge proponent. What is it? It’s basically the calculation I use when evaluating a purchase to determine whether or not the price is worth it to me. Whether or not a watch is “expensive” or “affordable” is irrelevant to me. What instead matters is answering two important questions:
1) How long do I anticipate owning this watch? And:
2) How often do I anticipate wearing this watch given my rotation?
From there it’s a simple calculation for me to make a judgment call as to whether or not I feel the purchase is worth it.
For example, right now I’m considering upgrading one of my watches to a $4.5k watch. I expect that I would own this watch for at least ten years and would probably average wearing it twice per week plus a full week per year while on vacation.
So over ten years that’s about 1,100 wears at a cost of about $4 per wear (I’m leaving out whatever you’d get back if you sold the watch eventually). I’ll refrain from indicating whether or not I find that reasonable. My opinion doesn’t matter. The point is that this is a great measure to evaluate whether or not you’re deriving satisfaction that you feel is worth it to you. Different watches have different costs per wear (assuming you have more than one).
This calculation is particularly useful if you don’t hold onto watches a long time or have a fairly large collection. Try calculating your average cost per wear. You just might find it eye opening, be that good or bad.
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The Watchee app will track this for you. For example, my BB58 has cost me $10.25 per wear (and going down).
This has never occurred to me in decades of collecting. The satisfaction I get from each of my many watches has zero to do with money in any way shape or form. Nor is it relevent to how often I wear them. I have a semi-regular rotation and all get worn. Some more than others but I like them all equally.
I hope you don't equate opposing viewpoints as "mocking".
Reducing everything to monetary value is a great way to suck the joy out of it.
I’ve done this for clothing but not watches. Expensive hoodie or trainers? If I can average out £1 per wear I’ll buy (mostly).
This has never occurred to me in decades of collecting. The satisfaction I get from each of my many watches has zero to do with money in any way shape or form. Nor is it relevent to how often I wear them. I have a semi-regular rotation and all get worn. Some more than others but I like them all equally.
I hope you don't equate opposing viewpoints as "mocking".
No offense taken. Just curious what people feel about this.
The Watchee app will track this for you. For example, my BB58 has cost me $10.25 per wear (and going down).
I’ll look into that app. Thx.
I bought them to keep, so consider them to be zero value - I just like the more expensive ones because they are nicer so I wear them more.
Girl math? I thought I heard a lot of dumb shit but that’s definitely a new one on me.
I am scared to know the number. 😬
Girl math? I thought I heard a lot of dumb shit but that’s definitely a new one on me.
That’s what I was told when I explained this to someone else.
When I buy a watch I expect to wear it often.
This has never occurred to me in decades of collecting. The satisfaction I get from each of my many watches has zero to do with money in any way shape or form. Nor is it relevent to how often I wear them. I have a semi-regular rotation and all get worn. Some more than others but I like them all equally.
I hope you don't equate opposing viewpoints as "mocking".
Save your mocking for my posts😉🤣
I have a very similar opinion: https://www.watchcrunch.com/Meglos/posts/it-needs-to-be-said-219720
Girl math? I thought I heard a lot of dumb shit but that’s definitely a new one on me.
I was wondering if one of the Lady's would catch that 🤣🤣😂
If I like a watch and can afford it, I buy it.
Honestly, if I felt I had to justify the purchase mathematically I would probably just wear a Casio.
I like to amortize with the amount of smiles I get wearing the watch rather than dollars I spent to wear it. This hobby is losing proposition when it comes to money but a absolute winner when it comes to my smiles.
If I recall correctly (it was over nearly 30 years ago), this exact method of rationalision was employed by a character in Douglas Coupland's "Microserfs", in regard to an extravagant wristwatch purchase 🙂
Cost per wear is information and easily estimated. Any piece of information you habe access to can be used to make a more informed decision. That isn't debatable.
I don't think much about cost per wear, although I know it isn't very low for me, but I would never dismiss it. Maybe one day I will look at it and decided that it has gone too far 😬 that day is not today!
Well that is debatable, because not all information is actually relevant, or even (in this case) reliable... the numbers are total guesswork. If dodgy sums work for some people to justify doing what they already want to do, though, why not?! Could be worse. 🙃
I’ll look into that app. Thx.
Have you defined what constitutes one 'wear' though? Is there a minimum time for it to qualify?
No offense taken. Just curious what people feel about this.
I 100% sagree with Foghorn and English_archer. OPs approach IMO sucks the life out of collecting. It's not only about the money fellow crunchers.
Like @neloms mentioned, the Watchee app will calculate that for you.
Have you defined what constitutes one 'wear' though? Is there a minimum time for it to qualify?
Lol. Average cost per minute I guess is what OP will now have to calculate.
I like to amortize with the amount of smiles I get wearing the watch rather than dollars I spent to wear it. This hobby is losing proposition when it comes to money but a absolute winner when it comes to my smiles.
Spot on.
Reducing everything to monetary value is a great way to suck the joy out of it.
You are 100% correct my friend.
If it’s all about maths then stick to a Casio F91W for a year…by the way, there’s no cost justification with the watch hobby and if your watch goes up in value is their a calculus formula?
This has never occurred to me in decades of collecting. The satisfaction I get from each of my many watches has zero to do with money in any way shape or form. Nor is it relevent to how often I wear them. I have a semi-regular rotation and all get worn. Some more than others but I like them all equally.
I hope you don't equate opposing viewpoints as "mocking".
It had never occurred to me either, but I’ll admit that using the Watchee app has reawakened in me whatever used to try to make up parameters to track about my Matchbox cars when I was a kid, and it’s kinda fun.
Interesting concept. Though I agree with @foghorn and @English_archer , I can't pretend that knowing the information wouldn't be interesting in the same way that knowing a piece of trivia is interesting.
I've read many a story about the bonds we have with our watches and stories about the exploits of (… better) men whilst they wear them. Those stories, that mystique is a part of what initially drew me to them and judging by how often those stories are re- told, I'm not on my own. I can't recall ever reading anything about a watches cost that excited me to be honest.
I don't mean that in a disrespectful way, I simply happen to think that a focus on money can ruin the hobby. It's inevitable. When watches are primarily judged by what they cost all their other particulars are devalued.
I saw a lot of girls do the same method of falculation for justifying buying her bags and outfit. They call it “girl math”.
Should we call it “horonomics”?
Not dumb at all, but considering my "pay the bills" job is in portfolio analysis, I'm not the right audience. Or maybe I am? The only thing with that stat is it's going to be more meaningful to someone with a larger collection since a watch will be more heavily worn in a small collection (thus lowering the cost per wear). Plus you'd have to normalize the ownership to a fixed set of time, be it 5 or 7 or whatever timeframe to really be able to compare one watch to another. Having said that, if I really wanted a watch I'd do watch nerd math and say I will own it until the day I die and wear it every other day..."yes mr. AD, ring me up, this 50k vacherin is costing me 0.17 a wear". Don't do the math on that, it means I'm a vampire and will live 1600+ years.
Some of my most expensive watches I wear infrequently but when I do they feel special to me. I’ve not thought about value like cost per time worn only how wide does it make me smile
Do you factor in that a special watch may cost much much more per wear and that’s ok or do you need to reach a value per wear ?