Horological Meandering

Care & Feeding of a Watch Collection 3: Documentation & Photos

Mar 01, 2015,18:06 PM

Hello Purists,

Welcome back to this third post in the the Care and Feeding of a Watch Collection.

In this third post I'll be tackling how we document or track our collections in databases and/or photos.

NOTE that this does not include all the boxes and papers that come with the watch; I will deal with those separately (sigh).

Managing the Watch Inventory

Documenting the collection

I believe that one's personality determines the degree to which we document our collections. The less formal among us will probably be happy with a watch on the wrist, a receipt in a drawer somewhere, and nothing more.

The more detail-oriented collector might have all the papers, receipts, email correspondence, photos and service records in one place.

The fanatical among us might turn to a spreadsheet to track the economics of a collection. In addition, spreadsheets can be useful in tracking all the moving pieces that might surround a certain "model" in your collection. You can monitor when you wear the watch, how it keeps time, functions you've used, etc. And furthermore, you can track all the accessories you might own.

Let me give you another example - suppose you have two Rolex Submariners. You buy and sell a few and soon find yourself looking for additional watches. You have your friends and contacts scouring the planet for you too. Now you need to know what you have, what you want, and what is available in the market. You find that there are a number of variants and soon you are looking to specialty data sources to track them down. (Chart from Wikipedia)

Model number	In production
6200	1955
6204	1953–1955
6205	1953–1957
6536	1954–1958
6536/1	1957–1961
6538	1957–1961
A/6538	1957
5508	1958–1965
5510	1959
5512	1959–1978
5513	1962–1990
5514	1972–1978
5517	1972–1978
5513/17	1972–1978
1680	1966–1981
16800	1977–1987
168000	1986-1987
16610	1987–2010
14060	1990–2002
14060M	2002–2012

If you are really fixated on this, you can remember everything. But you might need some help to remember, so you write down what you have and/or what you need - preferably in a handy location, such as the notes section of your mobile. When that list gets cumbersome, you get to work on a spreadsheet or database.

Eventually you will end up with 5 variants of the 5513, with two bracelets, 18 straps (including NATOs), 2 boxes, 3 sets of papers and some clues about a certain collector in your city who you haven't yet met but who's rumored to have exactly the next watch you want to buy. But you've been warned that he will only TRADE, not SELL, so you've got to find one of those rare 5512s that he wants and have it handy, just in case.

You see how it goes?

A very computer-savvy collector might create a database. I am only able to manage a spreadsheet. Of course, there are collection manager software packages you might want to look into. I also keep track of things in my phone's NOTES app.

Keep all documents and conversations if you can

If you are evolving from a watch wearer into a watch collector, you might have a combination of watches with NO documentation, to more expensive pieces with a full dossier.

How can documentation be helpful?

In some cases you can use your information to recall what you paid for a watch, when you bought it, and for what purpose. You can ensure you get warranty coverage. You can identify the seller. You can track the de- or ap- preciation of your watch. This is interesting for designing your future collection strategies, or simply for telling stories at the bar.

You can connect your pieces with memorable events. Here is the first watchmaker I met. His name is Kurt Klaus and he worked for many years at IWC. I was too shy to ask for his autograph and too scared to get a better picture of him.

But there are lots of good pictures of Mr Klaus on the web; his visage is even engraved on the back of some of their watches. I just treasure our conversation where he said "Yah, you wear that perpetual in the ocean, yes?" to which I replied "Uh, no - I don't even wear it in the pool" and he retorted "All that work we did to make it water resistant and I've never met anyone who swims in the salt water with a GST perpetual. Ah well..." (photo credit IWC website)

Here's the second watchmaker I met. Not the lady on the left, but her dad, Mr Gerd-R. Lang. And the iconic Chronoswiss watch I bought to wear for their visit.

A few years later in the Swiss Alps we were just generally having a good time and a few drinks, then this red-faced, balding guy on the left pulled out a pen and began drawing some new watch concepts.

Eventually it seemed the right time to ask for an autograph, and he said "How about inside the Half Hunter back of your BlancpaiN."

Did the provenance increase the value of my watch? I suppose not but it makes another story to tell ...

At first I bought a watch each time a watchmaker came to town that I wanted to meet, as it seemed rude to go without one of his pieces on my wrist. Only a few years into my collection did I realize how impractical and unaffordable this custom would become!

SOTC (State of the Collection) photos

The abbreviation SOTC represents a periodic photo that documents the collection at a point in time. For years I did this photo around New Year's Day, until I got weary of the process. And all the emails saying "Thank you for your photos of your collection. I used them to prove to my wife I'm not the nuttiest collection in the world!"

At the beginning, you may simply place the watches on a counter, try to stay back far enough so all of them are in focus at once, avoid distracting backgrounds and take a shot. Or take a photo inside your watch box or cabinet.

A more useful approach might be taking an individual shot of each watch, using exactly the same location and surface, so you can achieve consistency in the record. This appeals to me, but if consistency is not important to you, ignore the suggestion.

If the watch is running, I don't bother to re-set the hands for the photo. If it's not running, why not place them at 10 to 2, or your favorite time to show off all the hands and complications.

I often use a small dab of museum putty to stick a watch to the counter.

For this series of photos I will use a tripod so I can be more consistent, and faster with the shooting. You will no doubt notice flaws in your watches. For example, was this strap a mm too narrow for the lugs?

Don't forget a clean, soft cloth so you can wipe off each watch carefully before each photo.

Remember to shoot the backs too. Use your photo software to obscure the serial numbers if you wish but avoid doing that if you plan on using these photos for an insurance inventory.

After you have done all the single watches, you may want to group like sets in your collection.

When your collection increases in size, you may have to adopt more creative approaches to photo documentation, such as this way that I squandered away a rainy morning ...

Or this "put them all on the dining room table" shot.

In any case, if you suspect that you are going down the watch collection road a bit faster than you thought, you might later appreciate the ability to look back and remember how the collection began, progressed, and developed. Photos are a good way to track that evolution.

Organize your photo library

After years of messing around with folders and multiple computer locations, various workarounds, backups and grief, I finally purchased Aperture (for the Mac), got a huge hard drive, and put everything into an organized structure.

Here's my scheme (yours will vary, based on your needs). Because I have had many different types of watches, it's mostly, although not entirely, organized by brand. For Seikos I have added projects based on specific movements or models.

My objective is to be able to find things visually or do word searches (I have dozens of other photo categories, so I included watches in the name of each "project"). I don't really add any data to each image, but rely on my project structure to find things. If I keep the contents of each folder under 500 images, I can visually find what I need in just a few seconds. Except when I want something like Jonathan's Uwerk -- that took some searching. I guess I need a new folder called Watches of Friends.

Your photo software should enable you to see views like this:

Your photo management software should allow you views like this;

SAFETY NOTE: I make a point NOT to use the GPS location feature on my phones and cameras. I see no reason to broadcast (in the image metadata) where my friends and I live and spend our watch time.

After the fact, it's great fun to reminisce about where you have been and who you have been with. I just don't care to proclaim where I am at the moment. I know your opinion may vary on this.

(I will award Bonus points for identifying any famous figures in this photo)

I do keep almost all the pictures I take (no matter how goofy), and I sort them into these folders monthly.

Please go to the Photography forum and ask Casey if you need more photographical instruction. I can't help you very much on the subject.

I suggest that if you want to take artsy shots, it's helpful to back up and capture the context as well.

Why is it helpful? I dunno, but I like to remember how I accomplished things (note to the sharp-eyed, yes, that's a Seiko not a Sinn in the time portal).

Thanks for reading along. A new post will appear soon.

LINK TO POST 1

LINK TO POST 2

LINK TO POST 4 (yet to come)

This message has been edited by cazalea on 2015-03-01 18:15:01

Care & Feeding of a Watch Collection 3: Documentation & Photos

Care & Feeding of a Watch Collection 3: Documentation & Photos

Just Epic Mike...

Wow Mike

Ok so far? A big WOW and a big THANK YOU! :) (nt)