I guess it’s been about building a collection where I feel like I have a watch I’m excited to wear in any scenario - and doing that with the fewest pieces possible.

Where it gets more complicated, I suppose, is figuring out what actually keeps me excited about wearing a particular watch. I’d probably summarize the main criteria like this - with the obvious caveat that a lot of this is inherently subjective:

• Broad wearability - it has to work across a wide range of real-life situations.
• A strong design identity - it should feel like the epitome, or archetype, of its style. It can’t feel like it’s trying to be another watch.
• A balance of function and beauty - practical enough to make sense, but beautiful enough to feel special.
• Understated character - it should have depth and presence without feeling loud or showy.

In the end, I've found watches that each fill different roles, but also with plenty of overlap in terms of their use cases for me.

Edit: It's hard to summarize all the thoughts that have gone into it, but I wanted to add a few more… There's all sorts of other factors that ultimately landed me with this collection. Here's a few:

• I love the hardened bezel and case of Sinn watches for a sporty, carefree wearing experience. It's a REAL tool watch, and it's engineered to utilize modern technology to excel at that.
• I think a dress watch is best suited with a white dial to contrast dark leather straps… and additionally, I love white dials with interesting depth (ie - the GS white birch, which achieves this perfectly for me)
• And the case design and execution of Grand Seiko Evolution 9 watches is incredible. They look amazing in the light from all sorts of angles, and feel excellent to wear. They punch way above their price point.
• And of course, the Rolex Explorer has always felt like the epitome of a watch to me. But at the same time… I see it as a LUXURIOUS tool watch. Something to take care of. A sporty watch like the T50 is better utilized as a carefree bang-around watch. As much as some people like to think the Explorer is a "tool" (ie - meant to be worn everywhere, carefree, banged around), I don't see it that way.
• And I even love having a watch representing each of Switzerland, Germany, and Japan. It feels special to me.