I've got $8M of watches. Their utility to me is just to brag about them. Which is funny, because I'm only met with downvotes whenever I do :). But therein lies the rub. At a distance, people hate, but up close, they love. It's a perceived distance to cooperation. There's ingroup profit in hate at a distance. But when you can join a better in group, or add a new asset to the one you're in, it turns to love. Thus, I consider collectibles of all forms, a combination of social value plus a dash of scarcity mindset. Also, I believe the top is in, and watch values will go down along side equities with rising interest rates.
The frenzied world of rare watches
81–90 of 145 posts
Re: The frenzied world of rare watches
#82What is the allure of these things? They keep worse time that an ntp synced phone, have no internet connectivity and few features. It’s all conspicuous consumption, right? If you know, you know — a way to signal wealth without being too brazen.
and i'm surprised people still want to signal wealth, this day and age. I would imagine you'd be treated worse by the average person, if you're signaling wealth.
Only if you live entirely on the internet.
I've never met anyone in real life that actually hates people with money.
Re: The frenzied world of rare watches
#83What is the allure of these things? They keep worse time that an ntp synced phone, have no internet connectivity and few features. It’s all conspicuous consumption, right? If you know, you know — a way to signal wealth without being too brazen.
Conspicuous consumption and showing off status symbols.
Re: The frenzied world of rare watches
#84So I really like mechanical watches but I've kind of lost interest because it's nigh-on impossible to buy anything new (unless you're a high net worth individual) and the secondary market is utterly insane. Example: Rolex Daytona in steel retails for ~$13,000. You can buy that from the store and immediately sell it on the secondary market for $30,000+. The Patel Phillippe Nautilus 5711A is similar ($25-30,000 retail,…
Bulova has dozens of amazing automatic pieces on their site for under $1000, many under $500.
Re: The frenzied world of rare watches
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am a fan of another Japanese watch brand, Citizen, particularly the Eco-Drive models. Solar powered, very durable, and they look great. Prices range from $100 for basic models to over $3000 for the Hakuto-R (there is some connection to the Japanese lunar mission, https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/CC4016-75E.html ). Most Citizen watches are water resistant as well. I've had one model running continuously fo…
After a search for a perfect watch buying and then selling anything from very cheap to very expensive I ended up with a solar G-Shock square with radio timekeeping. Indestructible, always on and always accurate. The perfect watch.
I do love a G-Shock, had a few but I do break them, straps usually break but the casing gets scuffed and damaged from time to time, however they are the closest I've found to be indestructible which is why I keep getting them, havent found anything better.
Re: The frenzied world of rare watches
#86I've got $8M of watches. Their utility to me is just to brag about them. Which is funny, because I'm only met with downvotes whenever I do :). But therein lies the rub. At a distance, people hate, but up close, they love. It's a perceived distance to cooperation. There's ingroup profit in hate at a distance. But when you can join a better in group, or add a new asset to the one you're in, it turns to love. Thus, I co…
“I have two retirements worth of watches” is obviously the kind of bragging that puts people off.
It’s purely a show of higher social status which reminds them of suffering in their own life — and how they will be unable to retire no matter how hard they work. You’re making a triviality of their entire struggle in life.
That kind of garish wealth display has led to the downfall and deaths of many aristocrats throughout history.
Re: The frenzied world of rare watches
#87I've been a fan of budget Seiko mechanical watches from the 60's and 70's. Most of the time they run well, servicing isn't terribly expensive, and you can get them for usually a few hundred dollars, maybe a grand for a really nice specimen. What's cool about them is you can decipher the serial number [0] to the month and year they were made, so they can commemorate an event, even if it happened a long time ago. But y…
I am a fan of another Japanese watch brand, Citizen, particularly the Eco-Drive models. Solar powered, very durable, and they look great. Prices range from $100 for basic models to over $3000 for the Hakuto-R (there is some connection to the Japanese lunar mission, https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/CC4016-75E.html ). Most Citizen watches are water resistant as well. I've had one model running continuously fo…
Seconding this. Eco-Drive is great. Keeps accurate time, never needs a battery change or winding. Prices are reasonable, and they come in lots of different styles.
Re: The frenzied world of rare watches
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Re: built for a purpose, I think a lot of folks today just see Rolex as a luxury brand, but when Sean Connery walked out of the waves in Dr No wearing a Rolex, it was because it was precisely the sort of robust, fault-tolerant timepiece a super-spy WOULD wear. Moreover, back then, they weren't NEARLY so expensive. Rolex's prices have drastically outpaced inflation FOR SURE. I had thought I'd buy a Subbie, too, but ev…
Spot on. Bond wearing a Submariner with a tuxedo woumd be like showing up to a black tie event wearing a Casio G Shock today.
so funny you say that. I wear a g shock with my tux.
Re: The frenzied world of rare watches
#89I've got $8M of watches. Their utility to me is just to brag about them. Which is funny, because I'm only met with downvotes whenever I do :). But therein lies the rub. At a distance, people hate, but up close, they love. It's a perceived distance to cooperation. There's ingroup profit in hate at a distance. But when you can join a better in group, or add a new asset to the one you're in, it turns to love. Thus, I co…
That's nice. I've got $8M of baseball cards. Says right here in this book.
Re: The frenzied world of rare watches
#90I wore exclusively mechanical watches for most of my life, starting with a Rolex I inherited from my dad in the mid-80s. When he bought it, Rolex wasn't yet as insanely upmarket as they've become. It was kind of the obvious token of upper-middle-class success of the era. Dad's is the two-tone DateJust on what Rolex calls a "Jubilee" bracelet, and you've seen the color scheme and overall look on a million knock-off Ci…
Opposite for me. I don’t like wearing a watch in the evening, and I always forgot to charge the Apple Watch because it would be by the sink where I prepped dinner or somewhere. I never have to worry about charging my mechanical. I wear a brand that people obsessed with watches that appreciate don’t care about (so they lose value) but are mechanically “perfect.” Not a status symbol, I don’t have to worry about wearing…
Have to chime in with my agreement here. As an engineer, to me the beauty of the mechanical watch lies in its embodiment of "form follows function".
I read this entire article as I find the horology and the hobbyists fascinating, but my passion is strictly that of an engineer for his tool. I like robust, well made tools by companies that value craftsmanship and longevity. Status, collectability and such are superfluous in my estimation.
Now, the history of a watch is important, but that is a personal thing which you create with your own watch. Any watch can have its own story, and the most important story is the one you're living with your own watch, whether it be a Patek Phillipe or a Casio.