Do you view a quartz watch as cheating? You may be a WIS (Watch Idiot Savant). Would you identify a mugger’s watch before noticing he was holding a gun? You may be a WIS. Would you rather wear Flava Flav’s Frisbee-sized clock rather than an Apple Watch? You are definitely a WIS. Chances are you need a way to keep track of your watch collection. Enter Multi Collector Pro . . .
Reasons To Be Anal Retentive Pt. 3
As my watch collection grew, this WIS worried about keeping track of his timekeepers. My home owner’s insurance policy requires a list of watches. Equally, if someone be foolhardy enough to break into my digs, I’d want to be able to give the po-po pictures and a list of any stolen watches. And yes, I’m OCD.
I thought about creating an Excel spreadsheet. No doubt I could have found a WIS on a watch forum willing – proud! – to share his watch curating Excel template. But Excel spreadsheets look like spreadsheets. They’re not interactive or user-friendly; as boring as the new Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 mechanical (or so RF would have you believe).
After a bit of snooping around the interwebz, this WIS willfully wandered onto the aformentioned Multi Collector (no commission on link), brought to you by an outfit called LignUp.
LignUp, LignUp, LignUp With Rubber Bullets
The program is designed for collectors of all things bright and beautiful. You can use Multi Collector Pro for an unlimited number of collections. LignUp has a crap-ton of downloadable templates for virtually all conceivable (and inconceivable) categories of collectibles.
People collect sugar packets? Milk cup lids? Furry costumes? Ahem. Obviously, there’s a watch collectors template. Not so obviously, it needed modification. Therein lies the tale (nothing to do with Furries) . . .
LignUp is available for both PC and Apple iOS. Multi Collector comes in three flavors: Free, Pro and Premium.The Free version lacks many of the best features, and the Premium version is for multiple licenses/computers and includes priority tech support. I highly recommend you spend the $40 to Go “Pro.” (Still no commission on link.) Multi Collector Pro enhances the enthusiast/collector experience.
[You’ll be pleased (or disappointed) to know I won’t be writing a tutorial or delving into all the features here. Click here for the online manual.]
Crosseyed and Painless
At first glance, the process of recording a lot of information about each of your watches might seem daunting. It helps to remember you can use as little or as much of the program as you want. You can start with the basics and expand the recorded information later.
Each watch/item entry has a number of preset fields including price paid, source, date acquired, estimated value, features, type, dimensions, serial number, images, and more. There are fields for notes and links, too. Use as few of these as desired, or add as many as you like.
You can edit the template to include more fields such as pdf files of receipts and service records. Or you can add a field for accessories such as additional straps. Your imagination/OCD is the limit. You can also reposition the fields on the template. (Click here to download and use my customized template.)
Within the existing template fields (e.g., Features or Type field), you can add, delete, or edit features and categories.
Filter!
Multi Collector Pro allows the use of filters and tags. If I want to display only my G-SHOCK “Squares,” I can do that. If I want to see only my solar atomic watches, ba-bam! I can filter my collection by any parameter or combination of parameters.
Multi Collector Pro can generate customizable reports and stats for your collection, as well. It is, in fact, infinitely customizable.
WIS Whammer Jammer!
A casual watch owner or hobbyist – who may use only the basic features – will find Multi Collector Pro useful. A world-weary WIS will be well satisfied with the range of features and ease of operation – if such a thing is even possible.
My advice for a WIS with a wide collection: eat the elephant one bite at a time. Discover the depth of features and customization as you go. But don’t be afraid to jump in. Be very afraid, if you know what I mean.
This is one of those things I knew must exist and could sort of use, but never really pursued. Considering how much I underuse computerized organizing capabilities already, I’m not sure I’d follow through and have something akin to the Cher’s Wardrobe program from Clueless.
I use a similar program for my shootin’ stuff. Once the tedious initial set-up (initial data entry) is done, it’s pretty much auto-pilot after that. New entries are easy and quick. It’s just the initial data entry (if you have a large collection) that is a bit laborious.
To see a larger image of the above: https://i.imgur.com/lkKOFr1.jpg
I really like being able to see my “stuff” at a glance. This is particularly useful when I need to see how much 9-mm range ammo I have on hand (or not) before planning a trip to the range. It’s a bit different with watches, but I still enjoy being able to “access” my collection at my fingertips.
On a forum, if they ask, “What is your lightest / heaviest watch?” I can pull that up and play along with the discussion easily. I know that sounds silly and is a silly example. But, I’m a data / information / statistics nerd.
Comic geek and book nerd, and I find a combination of computer app (Goodreads) and good old fashioned paper (a collectors journal) to be extremely useful for tracking purposes.
Never could quite figure out what sort of person would self identify as an ‘idiot’ of any kind. Duuuhr, I’m an idiot savant! Hurrr durrr, me, idiot!
Come on.
Well… not everyone can figure out everything.
WIS: Watch Idiot Savant, derived from the French word “savant” which literally translates into “learned idiot”. Coined in 1927, a savant is someone who exhibits exceptional skill or brilliance in a limited field. Alternatively, a person who is high knowledgeable about one subject, but knows little about anything else…
Some enthusiast communities are having SO much fun, they’ll poke fun at themselves.
Since I have several areas of expertise, I think of myself as a “Renaissavant Man.” Or alternatively, a “Polysavant.”
Come on? OK… where are we going? 🙂
WIS’s UNITE!!! And, to quote a famous rock band lyric “Dude looks like a lady”.
Will definitely check it out. I hope it can spit out the variety of 9mm cartridges I don’t have, or can’t get, after I find someone who’ll input the data.
At today’s prices, I could easily trade my 9-mm ammo stash for a Rolie Sub! Well… maybe I could trade it for a top spot in the wait list for the OPPORTUNITY to purchase a Rolex. 😛
Who could have predicted that the rise in price of ammunition would exceed the price of steel Rolexes?
Looks like their iOS app isn’t on the App Store any more, FYI. If I can’t sync desktop/mobile, that’s a problem for me.
I didn’t think there was a mobile version. There wasn’t anything about a mobile app on their website. Just a desktop app.