Trying on watches is like falling in love. Sometimes you just fall for the wrong watch. There’s some flaws early in the relationship but dazzled by its beauty, or impressed with its specs, you just simply ignore them at first. You splurge, lay out a bunch of cash, then later on as the flaws wear on you and become glaringly obvious, you end up selling. Then, sad and possibly broke, you eventually move on to the next watch relationship. If you are a serial flipper, you may have a broken “picker.”

Learning to recognize the dealbreakers early on helps avoid heart and wallet ache later. Here’s some of mine.

Too big

My wrist is about 6.5 inches and flat on the top. Poor fit for me tends to mean that the watch is too large in some way. Lug-to-lug is the cheap and dirty way to figure it out but the case shape is important as well. A caseback that protrudes a lot and sits with the lugs elevated above the wrist doesn’t sit well. Excessive thickness feels like I’m awkwardly swinging a weight around. Lugs that stick straight out instead of curving down also affect the fit and feel. Not trying the watch on in person and buying it purely based on pictures is bad, especially if the watch is on the larger side. I will say that when I wear a larger watch regularly, I get acclimated to it and then my other watches may start feeling too small. However, too large and awkward never totally goes away.

Too delicate

On the other end of the spectrum, some watches feel too delicate to wear. I find that vintage watches with particularly narrow welded lugs are a problem, especially in gold which is softer than steel. Nothing is worse than finding a broken lug from a vintage watch. I’ve had one welded back on before but it is never the same. I never am quite able to trust the watch after such a spectacular failure. A nearly unserviceable movement has been an issue in the past as well, and it’s sometimes easier to let go than to go on a quest for years on end to try to find the right parts.

Poor condition

This is more of an issue for vintage watches. An overpolished case or a heavily marked dial ends up never being quite totally satisfying and even if I like the watch, I end up searching for a better example.

Collecting with the brain and not the heart

I tend to overthink my watch purchases. I like to obsessively organize my collection around themes as well and tend to want to “fill in the blank.” I’ve definitely bought a number of watches along a theme when the watch was not right for various other reasons. Alarm watches are probably the biggest offender here but I also at one point got into collecting Omega Seamaster Devilles with the date, the no date, the linen dial, the 3-6-9 dial, and so on. To some degree, making mistakes is how you learn, but if you keep making mistakes you’re not learning.

Not appropriate for lifestyle

At some point I realized that radium watches are radioactive and I had a baby on the way so I got rid of them. I also realized that with my job and with young kids I need a certain amount of water resistance so divers turned on to be more handy than I initially thought. It’s not necessarily that I don’t wear my vintage watches but I do need a few tough ones to wear on an everyday basis.

Too good to pass up

I don’t think I’ve ever regretted passing on a watch but I have regretted buying them. There’s always another one. Somehow the tiny voice in my head saying “the dial looks funny” or “you need to research a fair price more” can lose out to the louder FOMO voice. Limited editions and hype watches are prone to this, especially when you don’t have much time to think about it. Cheap watches, though fun, can add up after a while. It only takes about 7 Seikos to add up to a Tudor, and it only takes 2-3 Tudors to add up to a Rolex.

Doesn’t suit my personal style

Rose gold doesn’t suit my skin tone very well. A gold bracelet looks too flashy on me. I bought a wood paneled Accutron “Woody” at one point, which was awesome, but looked ridiculous on me.

Conclusion

I hope sharing some of my faults is helpful to others. Ultimately, it takes experience and experimentation to figure out what you truly like. Enjoy the hunt!