I’ll just come clean straight from the get-go: my watch-collecting journey was heavily affected by Instagram’s influencing power. I most definitely bought a few watches because they looked so pleasing in pictures on the social media platform. I’ll also quickly add that I’ve already sold most of those watches because they didn’t fulfill the high expectations that all those perfect pictures led me to have.I already wrote a story on how I think Instagram influenced my watch-collecting behavior. But the fact that I’m posting pictures of my watches also means I’m influencing others into buying their next watch. And this isn’t something that I’m just assuming. Every day, I get questions in my DMs about my Cartier Santos Galbee XL. People even proudly send me pictures of the Santos they just bought. However, I also get messages from people who eventually regret having bought that watch. Of course, they don’t blame me for that, but I did play a role in the fact that they bought it in the first place. To prevent others from making that same “mistake,” I thought it would be a good idea to write somewhat of a disclaimer on Instagram’s influencing power.Image: A Collected ManThe Instagram trapCollecting watches is an exercise of trial and error. Therefore, buying a watch and quickly selling it isn’t necessarily a mistake. It can simply be another stepping stone in your watch-collecting journey. Now, I do feel that we can avoid most unsatisfactory watch purchases, but if you use Instagram, it may not be easy. After all, it seems that the whole purpose of Instagram is to influence your decisions. It’s like the whole thing is one big trap. As soon as you double-tap on a few pictures of a watch, the app will probably show you more and more pictures of that very same one.But it’s not just the algorithm playing tricks on you. No, the meticulously edited pictures also lure you in. With the perfect composition, color grading, texture, and lighting, any watch can look like something you want to buy immediately. Look, for example, at A Collected Man’s Instagram account. Yes, this UK watch dealer has some fantastic watches on offer. But the beautiful way in which the watches are presented most certainly adds to their desirability. Before you fall for beautiful pictures, always try to imagine what those watches would look like on your wrist or in your watch box.View this post on InstagramA post shared by Daan (aka Tulipan) (@fliptheparrot)