The Death of 2025 | this time it's different.

It's been a year...that's for sure. In a worlds first, I sold more watches than I bought! Can you believe that!? I cannot.

This year I sold 11 and bought just 2 - the Tudor Black Bay Pro and the Nomos Club. That's it, two watches - last year I bought 5, I believe - the year before it was an unhealthy 13. I still have over 40 watches though. Unbelievable.

This is a bit of an anticlimax in terms of watchlife action. But what does that mean? That I'm being sensible or that my flow is ebbing, that I'm falling out of love with horribly illogical hobby. I'm not entirely sure to be honest, there have always been periods of less interest, usually when I've got other things going on - and this has been the case this year. If I'm being honest I have only been wearing watches sporadically for the last few months. It's happened before, and then when the tide comes in, boy does it come in...

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR,

I think both watches I bought are fantastic pieces. The Tudor Black Bay Pro Opaline dial was the proxy for the outgoing Rolex Explorer II, and was a fun summer piece with the kind of heft and design details I like.

The Nomos Club Campus was also bought to fill the void of the Rolex but with a different perspective, one of embracing the skinny wrist - with a lug a lug to of 36mm, it's certainly a downsize from the 49mm of the Explorer II. Saying that, I think this evolution suits me well, and combats the skinny wrist denial that I suffer from.

The Cartier Exhibition at the V&A Mueum in London was fantastic, if extremely rammed - I went twice and it was busier the second time. It did reignite the flame for a while but it didn't last. They had a great selection of watches though I would have loved to see more...

THE DEPARTED

These are the watches that I sold this year. It's quite the list, and I lost money almost all of them.

Rolex Explorer II ref 226570 - 42mm / Purchased 2024.

It looked really great on me, I felt special and lovely. Until, my wrist shrunk and it became ill-fitting. Read all about it - click here

Tissot Squelette - 43mm / Purchased 2016 for £1,100 / Sold £700

These are still sold new for...wait for it...£1,830 - insane. If I'm being honest, it was too big at the time but I didn't care cos I loved the design. As I enslimmened, it became a very silly piece to wear, though it remained very attractive and I enjoyed looking at it. I still think it's the best premium skeleton dial watch on the market and it looks better than many that are priced at ten times more.

Timex x Seconde/Seconde (6 watches all sold together) /

Purchased 2024 for £1440 / Sold £1300

These Rolex related pieces were fun, the designs were cool and I was never going to own the real things. It's a miracle I only lost what I did, they took ages to sell. The first timex watches I'd bought, I was unaware of the trap. The hair trap. I might have kept them if the bracelet wasn't an absolute human rights violation. I'm sure they've got them at CIA blacksites around the world - there is no more-painful way to pull hair out of an arm. I would go as far as to say, I hate the Timex bracelet. It's the only time I considered shaving my wrist.

Certina DS Podium Chronograph - 42mm / Purchased 2017 for £270 / Sold £185

This is a weird one, when I bought it I must have liked it - though it was early days in the watch journey. After a few months I stopped wearing it, and then never did again, ever again. By the end, I thoroughly disliked it. So, I got the battery changed and sold it. The back was scratched to hell from where I tried to open it with a tool...

Spinnaker Cahill 300 x Marine Preservation Society - 42mm / Purchased 2023 for £284 / Sold £200

I love the design and the lume of this one, but by the end of the wrist-slimification it was far too big. It was my intro to Spinnaker, they make decent watches. Also, it was the colours of a few football/soccer teams, which isn't really my thing and I found it annoying when people asked.

Seiko 5 Sports Kosuke Kawamura SRPJ41K1 - 40mm / Purchased 2022 for £0 / Sold £500

While I liked this watch and it fitted well, the new Seiko 5 watches just doesn't have the charm and authority of the original Seiko SKX watches. This one I actually didn't pay anything for (RRP £360), as at the time, I bought the last four that were for sale and sold three of them for a profit, allowing me to keep this one gratis. I guess I didn't buy it out of love in the end, just for profit's sake. It was my hidden shame, and so she had to go.

Will this trend of downsizing the collection continue in 2026? It is quite possible.

WHAT NEXT?

I am going to attempt to continue to post monthly, I'm not sure when I'll get my mojo back but let's see. Thanks to all those who visited the site in 2025, especially those who subscribed and supported The Theowrist. I feel a but bad about my lack of commitment this year but lets hope for your sake that the flame is rekindled in 2026.

Wishing you all a prosperous and wrist filled new year!

Years Endingly,

Alvin

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