Thoughts on watch condition for used watches

OK, apparently no one ever wears a decent watch.

At least if you peruse the sales forums on some of the major watch sites, you get that impression.

BNIB..LNIB...Never worn...Flawless...these terms are on seemingly every post, particularly the Rolex, Patek, Panny, etc ones.

Why is that? Do people only buy watches to resell them, unworn? I am sure some people do, and that is certainly their business; and perhaps it IS their business, i.e. how they make money, and that is cool.

But for me...watches are to be worn. When I buy a used watch, I really don't care all that much about the condition, and in fact I prefer it to be a little "worn", as the price is lower. And once I get it on my wrist, who cares? I know guys who, literally, inspect their watches with jeweler's loupes, and, believe it or not, I have actually seen a guy complain because he got a used watch that, under a 10x loupe, had a small irregularity on one of the lume dots.

Who wears their watch while wearing a 10x jeweler's loupe? Not me...and if not you...then why do you care?

Scratch on the caseback? Big deal - it is the caseBACK and is never seen when you are wearing it!

Swirlies on the clasp? Who cares! No one is going to admire your watch on the subway, ask you to turn it over, whip out THEIR 10x jeweler's loupe and then say "sorry, I was mistaken, it is not a nice watch, it has minute swirlies on the clasp. My bad.".

And who cares what anyone else thinks anyway? If you like a watch, wear it. If you whack it on a doorway, who cares? Just make sure it is still ticking and move on!

Anyway, just my thoughts - sometimes we in this hobby get, in my opinion, a little bit too worried about a scratch and can't enjoy the watch. I can't tell you how many times I have seen posts on a watch forum about a guy who is disgusted with a watch because it has a scratch or two. If a few honest scratches from being worn and loved ruin a watch for you...that is certainly your business, of course, but I think you are missing the point of enjoying a watch. Just wear it, admire it, and make sure it keeps you from being late to something more important!