How Many Watches Can You Travel With On A Plane?

If you are going to be away from home you will probably want to bring some watches with you, but I am sure you are wondering if there is a limit to how many you can bring, especially if you are flying.

The reality is you can bring as many as you want, but it’s probably more sensible to ask yourself how many do you reasonably need to bring with you as often it is more sensible to travel with less.

There Is No Limit To How Many Watches You Can Bring On A Plane

There are no rules or limits to how many watches you can bring with you when you are travelling on a plane. So long as they all fit in your bag and are within the size and weight limits, then you can do what you want.

Watches are not prohibited on planes, so you can bring as many as you want.

Ask Yourself Why You Need So Many Watches On A Plane

If you are asking if there is a limit, I would ask you to stop and think for a minute. Why do you need to bring so many? Why would you want to travel with your whole collection?

If you are only going away on holiday, do you really need to bring so many watches? Even if it’s a long trip, you really don’t need that many.

If we look at the majority of travel cases, they go up 3 slots and if we count the one of your wrist, then that’s 4 watches. If you think you need more than 4, I honestly think you need to question that.

You are only going away for a small amount of time, I am sure you can survive with only 4 watches for a while.

Less Is More Less When Traveling With Watches

Travelling can be stressful enough without having to babysit a load of expensive watches. Sometimes it really is more sensible to bring less.

I would just bring one mechanical watch and a G-Shock. To me that is all you need. The G-Shock is a world timer, cheap, indestructible, reliable and highly accurate. My mechanical watch would probably be a GMT, for that traveller feel.

If you are going to a wedding or something formal like this, then I would probably make my second watch a nice dress watch.

Really you could keep it to one watch. Just bring the one you are wearing on your wrist. I have done this for the majority of the time I have travelled. Then you don’t have to worry about the ones you are not wearing and you can just enjoy that one watch for a few days and allow it to be a part of the memories related to that trip.

You Are Opening Yourself Up To Theft and Loss Of Your Watches

The more watches you take, the more likely you are to lose them or have them stolen. Your whole trip is going to be focused around the watches security.

Losing Watches At The Airport

You should never put anything expensive in checked bagging, especially watches. Airports are pretty safe, but the sad truth is that things can disappear and you really don’t want your entire collection disappearing.

Baggage handlers also have a bad reputation for throwing stuff around, which is not ideal for watches, even if they are well protected inside the bags.

I would keep anything expensive, such as your watches with you at all times and bring them in your carry on bags if you are not wearing them on the wrist.

Losing Watches At A Hotels

Hotels are also relatively safe, but again, you can find plenty of stories of things disappearing from rooms so I would be very careful.

Most hotels have safes and you should consider using these although I am sure the staff will have a master key, so my trust levels are not 100% with these.

I have stayed in hotels where they have charged extra to use the safe and I have also been in rooms where the safe is not attached to anything. It’s just sat in the cupboard. Its heavy, but you could just life the whole thing and take it away.

I tend to try and hide things in my suitcase, but usually my most valuable item is my passport and I keep it in a concealed compartment in my bag. 

Losing Watching In The Country You Are Visiting

It is a sad truth that tourists are an easy target for criminals.

They are usually oblivious to what is going on around them and often can’t speak the language. Even if they do report things to the police they will be leaving in a few days, so really the case will not go anywhere and get closed due to them not wanting to return to the country to attend court.

This problem is international, but if you go to a poorer country, or a highly touristy area you are much more likely to be targeted by criminals for having a nice watch.

I like to travel with a cheap Casio, or at most a G-shock. I know no one will care about these. These are cheap plastic watches that aren’t worth stealing. You need to think twice about bringing your Rolex, or other high value, easily recognisable luxury watch.

They may be fine to wear in your own country, but while you are away they may be a huge flag for criminals to target you. If you are in any doubt, just bring your cheap, simple watches.   

Customs Will Ask Why You Have So Many Watches

While  there is no limit to how many watches you can bring with you on a plane, customs may become suspicious, especially if all the watches are high value and in boxes.

Most people bring one watch, maybe a couple at most. If you go through an airport with your whole collection it’s kind of unusual and it is going to lead them to wonder if you are planning to sell these watches. This brings up questions such as tax avoidance; money laundering and even if the watches are legit or not, as you could well be smuggling counterfeits.

While the watches may be yours and you just want to wear them all, customs will still need to make sure your reason for having so many watches is legitimate.

They may ask you to prove when you got them, where you got them from, and why you have them with you.

This can happen on either direction of your journey. The country you enter may ask why you have so many watches with you and even when you re-entering your home country, they might also stop you and ask the same questions. They don’t know that you brought these watches from home and will want to make sure that you are not doing anything illegal. 

If you have a couple of watches, they won’t care, but be aware that this can happen. They will really only start to be concerned when you have a whole bag full. Think about how they stop people with suitcases full of cigarettes, if you have a few packets, it’s fairly normal.

Just Bring More Watch Straps When Travelling

You don’t need to bring more watches; you can easily just bring more straps.

Bring one watch that works well with a number of straps, and then bring a handful of straps. This way you can easily change up the look of the watch and you can also get that feeling like you are wearing more than one.

Straps are small and easy to change. No one will question why you have them and no one is going to steal them and if they do, it’s not the end of the world if they do happen to go missing.

(You can read more about – How Often Should You Change A Watch Strap?)

You Can Buy Watches On Holiday

It doesn’t matter where you go, you can probably buy some sort of watch.

Instead of taking lots with you, why not bring one and then try and buy one while you are away. This can be a fun away to grow your collection as well save the memory of the trip through the watch. Every time you look at it, you will be reminded of the trip.

It can also add an exciting element to the trip, knowing you will have to hunt out a new watch. Maybe you won’t find one and you will be stuck with what you brought, that can all be a part of the fun.

Conclusion

If you are travelling, just take one or two watches. If you have a small case that holds more, well you can consider more if you feel like you need them.

Honestly I don’t think you need many. You can probably survive with just one watch and then when you get home you can wear all of the other ones again. You are going to be okay for a few weeks without them. They will be there when you get back.

(You can read more about – How Many Watches Should You Have Or Need?)