The Perils and Pittfalls of Buying Indy Watches

Before I get too far into this topic, I feel I have to point out that your favourite watch youtubers, bloggers and podcasters will have talked more knowledgely and eloquently about what to avoid when first getting into watches. That’s not what this post is about. Adrian Barker, About Effing Time, Watchfinder, Scottish Watches and Just One More Watch to name but a few are the recommendations I’m happy to pass on but there are plenty more. This post is specifically about issues I’ve found with these watches.

Mainstream Vs. Indy

Watch buying is and should be a luxurious pursuit, if you’re struggling to put food on the table, my advice would be to not get into this hobby. Even if you’re able to get a sought after, limited luxury piece (and if you’re struggling to put food on the table my first question is how?), such as a Rolex Daytona you’re not going to sell that at a decent markup quickly. Getting into smaller independent brands, like the ones on this blogg, is even less of a sure thing. You’re not able, in a lot of cases, to try on the watch before you buy it, and even when the brands have authorised dealers to sell their watches these ADs are often not as plentiful as say a Seiko or Swatch Group brand.

Getting Hands On

So as well as being almost guaranteed to make a loss on any independent you buy, you also quite often won’t know exactly what you’re buying. For this very reason my first piece of advice would be that, if at all possible, get hands on with a watch before pulling the trigger on it. If you’re after a microbrand that only makes small batches, don’t give up. Most of the time if you miss the first batch there will be others, and you never know there might be a watch event in the near future where the brand you like might make an appearance, but, especially when you’re still learning about what works for you, it’s normally not a great idea to go in blind. One of my favourite microbrand purchases is my Clemence Photic Diver, and I was able to try that on by getting in touch with the brand owner, another method that I can endorse.

Using Your Network

I was lucky enough to meet the owner of this brand Ton Clemence in Edinburgh and after that I knew what my next purchase was going to be. In my admittedly limited experience with microbrands, I’ve found that more often than not the owners of the best of these brands are more than happy enough to talk about, and show off their watches. And really you have to wonder if they’re not happy to display their work, why? Maybe they’re not that great.

But maybe there’s a watch that’s caught your eye that you just can’t get hands on before buying it. Maybe the brand’s based on the other side of the world. Which may mean as well as having to deal with the previous problems, you may have to deal with high import costs. First I’d say don’t get too dis-heartened even some of the smallest microbrands will occasionally sell through select dealers. I found this when looking for a Vilhelm Prism, that’s a small brand based out of Singapore and I’m in the EU, so the import costs would be very high.

Luckily I found an authorised dealer in the Netherlands that dealt in these. I found this dealer through asking on various forums and watch groups, and that leads to my next piece of advice build your network. This is admittedly quite difficult at the start. There are a lot of trolls out there who love to mislead people. And even if people aren’t trying to mislead you, your opinions and their’s may not match. So try and build your network, and my advice would be not to join a forum, immediately ask for people’s opinion and then take what people say as gospel. Instead start a conversation, discuss interests and likes, you’ll eventually discover whether your likes align and then whether you can trust in what they say.

Watch Out For Youtube

Youtube is another great resource, but, as with the rest of the internet, not all youtubers can be trusted. Some are being paid by the brands they review and some have other personal stakes that can make them either overly positive or negative about watches. A good general rule is if someone only has great things to say about all the watches they’re reviewing they’re probably not being completely honest. Very few watches are perfect, you can generally find something negative about any watch. Anytime someone denies this and can only speak glowingly about a watch my BS meter goes up. Also I’ve never spoken to any true watch enthusiast who has had a time when a non-watch person has approached them to comment on a watch they were wearing. Generally speaking people don’t really care about what we have on our wrists, anytime someone talks about how they constantly get stopped in the street by random people asking about their watch take that with a pinch of salt.

Instead take bit of time to hear what people say about a watch. Does it sound fair and unbiased? Do their opinions of the watches you know about match reality? What does your network think of them? Generally speaking the youtube channels I agree with are: WatchCrunch, where the host Max has created a large online forum where enthusiasts can discuss his videos and anything else that takes their fancy; Andrew Morgan Watches, Andrew also hosts Watchfinder, which I find very entertaining, but I find his personal channel more enlightening; Just One More Watch, hosted by Jody the Scottish enthusiast based in Australia (who still sounds more Scottish than all my mates in Edinburgh); and Teddy Baldasarre, who doesn’t take payments for his videos but does own his own AD in the States. But I would like to emphasise that you need to do your own research and find who works best for you. There are many more good reviewers out there, this is nowhere near an exhaustive list and while I trust these particular reviewers I don’t necessarily agree with everything they say.

Don’t Skip On The Groundwork

As with anything the more research you do, the more informed you’ll be, and you’ll be more likely to be happy with your purchase. As this is a luxurious hobby I do believe it should be fun, and so I don’t go overboard when carrying out my research. Also I don’t buy watches in the expectation that I’ll make my money back, let alone turn a profit. But a picture can only tell you so much and even if you’re told the size of a wrist in a photo and it matches the size of yours that doesn’t mean it will be the same shape. Trying on watches, speaking to other enthusiasts, researching what you’re interested in all can help you learn whether or not a watch is for you before you fork over your hard earned cash.

Another thing I’d recommend is try to find out what works for you. Try on different mainstream or readily available watches to learn what dimensions, materials and colours work for you. You never know you might find some that you really like.

And lastly set yourself a budget that isn’t going to put you in difficulty and stick to it. Remember most of the time even when a brand runs out of stock more will come in. I’ve also found an AD that is willing to accept exchanges as part payment so I can bring watches to under my budget, there’s normally a way, and if not? Remember, it’s just a watch.