I've been developing a massive interest in wristwatches. The history, craftsmanship, and objective beauty are aspects that have truly caught my attention.

I aspire, over time, to build a cool watch collection, but of course, my Catholic faith comes before anything else.

As I delve into a new hobby, especially since it involves material possessions, it's always wise to pass it through the filter of Catholicism.

Searching online, I was not able to find this topic written from a Catholic perspective, so I decided to write my Catholic perspective on watches and owning luxury items as a Catholic in hopes that other Catholics will find this helpful.

Many of the principles shared here will apply to other types of "nice-to-have possessions" that aren't essential to own.

Catholicism offers many principles we can apply regarding material goods, but it does leave room for prudential judgment.

Rethinking Minimalism Through a Catholic Lens

There are these guys online called The Minimalists. They often repeat the phrase:

Love people and use things because the opposite never works.

I think it's an incredible phrase that definitely applies to watch collecting.

Minimalism as a modern philosophy can be really helpful when discussing these topics, but any philosophy that doesn't have God at the centre will always lack.

Minimalism, when it comes to philosophy to guide our lives as Catholics regarding material possessions, is very helpful, but it inevitably has influences from religions like Buddhism, which offer incomplete truths.

Even though I have been a fan of Stoicism for many years of my life, Stoicism is also an incomplete truth. This is why we must rethink life philosophies like minimalism and Stoicism from a Catholic point of view.

Love Belongs to God and People, Not Objects

So back to the quote "love people and use things because the opposite never works." When it comes to watches, we shouldn't love objects. Your watch is an object; therefore, you shouldn't love your watch.

Love is aimed at God and for people. With that said, if you ever use the expression "I love this watch," that sort of expression can be acceptable in the sense that it's a common phrase we use in everyday speech. I think it's wise to aim to use better terms like "I really like this watch," which carries a similar meaning.

Even if you do use the word love when describing an object, it can be fine, but you must make the extra mental effort to realize what you are saying since our love doesn't belong to objects.

Beauty and Catholicism

Catholicism is not against art and beauty. If we look at the most expensive and beautiful churches in the world, they are Catholic because we think God deserves the best. This has been subject to endless criticism from the world and even from other Christians who place less importance on beauty.

Beauty as a Catholic Pillar

The idea that our faith in God is somehow in opposition to owning something beautiful is a Protestant idea. This does not mean every Protestant, but many denominations reject icons and beauty to some extent. Catholicism considers beauty one of the three pillars.

These three pillars are

• the good
• the true
• and the beautiful

These three all point us to God. When something is beautiful, it reminds us that we live in a world made by God.

Why Human-made Beauty Points Back to God

What humans create, whether that is a piece of art or the incredible mechanism of a watch, whether the artist believes in God or not, all beauty points back to God. That artist was knowingly or unknowingly doing the will of God when creating something beautiful.

So when we appreciate a piece of art or a watch, we are recognizing beauty that ultimately comes from God.

The World’s Confusion About Beauty

This is interesting to think about in a society that rejects God. Beauty becomes more and more subjective to the point that ugly things like a urinal in an art gallery can be called modern art by secular people. This is a denial of actual beautiful art that comes from God.

When someone starts arguing that true art consists of ugly things that challenge the standard norms of beauty, run away; they have abandoned common sense.

UGLY PAINTINGS LIKE THIS ARE SOMEHOW STILL CALLED "ART" BY THE WORLD

The world is clearly losing a sense of beauty. As the world becomes more secular, it wants to separate itself from things that clearly come from God, like beautiful art.

Catholic Morality and Expensive Items

Owning expensive items is not sinful in itself.

The morality depends on your motivation, your attachment, and in the case of buying something expensive like a luxury watch, how that financial decision affects other areas of your life.

When Owning an Expensive Watch Is Fine

If you want a watch for craftsmanship, durability, or beauty, that is fine.

Ask yourself this question. If no one could ever see any of the watches I own, would I still want to have them?

If the answer is yes, it shows that your heart is probably in the right place. You enjoy watches for their own sake and are not mainly motivated by vanity.

With that said, we live in a society, and again, art is meant to be appreciated by others. So if the nice watch you wear can open up a new topic of conversation, one that leads to stories and history and so on, this can in turn become a source of connection with others.

What to Look Out For

Things to Avoid When It Comes to Watches

• If you want it for status or vanity, that becomes a moral danger
• If buying watches harms your duties to your family, that is problematic.
  • A clear example is spending money irresponsibly that you would have used to look after your family
• If you have excess money, is some of it going to the poor?
  • This one is tricky. It does not mean that all of your excess money must go to the poor. It is okay to dedicate some of that money to a new watch or things you enjoy, but we must also give to the poor. It is not "either-or." We can do both.

The Important Questions to Ask Yourself

• Ask yourself:
  • Is this watch bringing me in any way closer to God, or is it distancing me from Him?
  • If no one ever saw or knew that I have this watch would i still want it?

Editor Note

I'd like to keep adding to this post as I get more insights, I hope you found this helpful. If this is a topic you are about I highly recommend you watch these videos:

This video is very helpful in putting things in the right perspective. It’s got this cheeky title but above all, I think it has some good lessons on the right mindset:

This video has some really good insights into avoiding common pitfalls of the mindset related to owning watches: