Which watches are collectible?
The whole concept of specific watches–or anything else–being “collectible” is a falsehood. People become mindless lemmings because of some mystic significance to items being called “collectible.”
They hear things called that and go out and spend money because they blindly think it is a good thing to buy them. There is a broad public perception that things that are labeled “collectible” are good investments–when in most cases, they are far from it.
Beanie babies are a good example. Trivial little toys that ought to cost well under $1, yet people pay outrageous prices in the tens to hundreds of dollars to get them to complete the collections they feel compelled to build.
If you ever wish to get your money back out of this ‘investment,’ you have to find someone even more driven by the collectibility craze than you to sell it to.
The latest form of this collectibility craze began back in the 1970’s or so when people started discovering that some items they or their relatives had gathered over the years were suddenly in demand by buyers of memorabilia.
This created a ‘gold-rush’ mentality as everyone started hoping that some of the old items in their basements or attics would be worth huge sums of money. The $1 million find: a first edition comic book, a one of a kind early work of a later famous artist, or some other rare, special or in-demand item from the past.
Once people rummaged through all their current family possessions looking for hidden treasure, they were still unsatisfied–because most of it really was worthless junk.
So to continue the gold-rush of trying to get rich off items that collectors desired, people then started buying up things they hoped would magically become valuable.
This has led to a society of people who spend tremendous amounts of money buying items old and new, hoping some of it will become like a lottery ticket, magically paying off in the future.
You should NEVER buy something just because anyone tells you it is collectible. Instead, buy what really appeals to you without regard to whether anyone else is collecting them. The term “collectible” has become a cheap label that sellers will slap onto anything–knowing that it causes people to mindlessly associate greater value–usually without even questioning the validity of the claim.
However, keep in mind that “rare” and “hard to find” (if truthfully applied to an item) are positive attributes that make things interesting additions to your collection.
But anything being automatically or inherently “collectible” itself is a completely meaningless concept. You should be listening only to your own counsel on what is meaningful or interesting to you to own.
The truth is that anything is collectible if someone wants to collect it.
Some of the most valuable collections were items that people had no idea would be valuable in the future. And if your objective really is to try to make money, you would likely be much more successful putting your money in traditional financial investments rather than betting on ‘rare finds.’
For more detail on what aspects make some watches more valuable or sellable, see the section below titled So what makes a watch have good resale value?