[bing240sx]

Originally Posted by Maynard

Only nouveau riche losers have to throw their own lobsters.

best comment in this thread

[Webb70]

Originally Posted by bing240sx

best comment in this thread

+1.....lol

[dmk08]

Originally Posted by 320dAsh

People that are not into watches just don't look at your wrist. Even if they did, they wouldn't recognise a high end watch. A WIS will always look at your wrist but will probably not comment incase you're wearing a fake. Tag's are lower end. Anyone who doesn't know about watches but is pretending they do will throw PP into the conversation. Ask them which Gerald Genta models they like best and they will close the conversation quickly. A proper WIS will have a watch collection worth a lot more than a 3 series.

My only thought when I see someone with a watch is "damn dont they have a cell phone".

[Our03z4]

Originally Posted by dmk08

My only thought when I see someone with a watch is "damn dont they have a cell phone".

You say that but some jobs that doesn't work for. I'm have super grungy hands quite a bit with my company so looking at a phone is not an option. I wear a Bulova when working, nothing fancy or expensive but I like it. A friend of mine wears a $10k Rolex when doing the same kind of work, I think that's crazy but his money.

[neverdone]

most of my friends are blue collar. I've been white collar and turned to blue collar, but my attitude has always been an easy going blue collar.

because I did different things than my buddies, I tend to have better things, so I get treated differently when I wear a 2k TAG.

I get " Oh a bmw and a tag, soooooooo fancy. fucking loser" Oh ya, I love my boys haha they keep me at least half grounded, make sure I'm not the snot some people might think I am.

[Banana Hammock]

I was once given the table right by the restroom at a relatively posh restaurant. It was pretty great.

[David70]

Originally Posted by bing240sx

i think if you're wearing a mid level piece like a Rolex sub or a Breitling Navitimer, something with some wrist presence, people will assume you're not an idiot.

Good luck with that. Seen plenty of idiots with a lot of money and assuming some of them buy expensive watches because they realize it.

[Please_reinstate_me]

How you would know it's the watch?

[Benedict1957]

I grew up in a fiscally conservative and pathologically frugal household and so my calibration for what constitutes an "appropriate" amount to spend on a watch is unreasonable by most peoples' standards.

I know this is rarely (if at all) true in reality but in my mind people who wear, say, a $10,000 watch should be making at least $1M per year. As a status symbol, wearing a piece of jewelry that costs $10,000 should signal an income of at least that much. It feels disingenuous to wear a watch of that magnitude making any less than that.

The number $1M is somewhat arbitrary but as an order of magnitude estimate that's generally how I perceive watches as status symbols. In reality, the incomes of people who wear $10,000 watches run the gamut from as low as mid-5 figures to as high as 10 figures, with the median probably being somewhere in the low 6 figure range.

[1MOREMOD]

Sounds pretty accurate. Can't see owning a 10k watch on barely 6 figures. Had rolex SD that I sold. Have several 1k watches and don't aspire for more rather spend it elsewhere

[Alamat]

Procured my first Rolex when I was selling dental crowns back in the day and it made "selling" my product better though I don't know if it really mattered then. One client, after being a customer for several years, however commented that the watch did catch his eye back then and kind of told him, I was doing good in this business which swayed him.

[xQx]

I've been wearing a Rolex explorer almost full time for two years, generally with short sleeves. The explorer is a very under-the-radar Rolex (which is why I wear it) but a Rolex all the same. Only one person has ever noticed who was a fellow WIS. Unless you're sporting a DSSD, Sub, Royal Oak or Nautilus nobody is going to notice your watch. Even if you are wearing one of the easily-recognised high-end timepieces, it is still likely to only be ever noticed by sales reps at Porsche or Armani dealerships and high-end hookers.

Most people think a Tag Heuer is an expensive watch.

[1MOREMOD]

They had a promotion where the sales girl gave me a bj for purchase?

[bing240sx]

Originally Posted by Benedict1957

I grew up in a fiscally conservative and pathologically frugal household and so my calibration for what constitutes an "appropriate" amount to spend on a watch is unreasonable by most peoples' standards.

I know this is rarely (if at all) true in reality but in my mind people who wear, say, a $10,000 watch should be making at least $1M per year. As a status symbol, wearing a piece of jewelry that costs $10,000 should signal an income of at least that much. It feels disingenuous to wear a watch of that magnitude making any less than that.

The number $1M is somewhat arbitrary but as an order of magnitude estimate that's generally how I perceive watches as status symbols. In reality, the incomes of people who wear $10,000 watches run the gamut from as low as mid-5 figures to as high as 10 figures, with the median probably being somewhere in the low 6 figure range.

you have to blend a few things into that calculation...

asset portfolio (of you and your family) and a general optimistic view of near term prospects.

in that sense you drop the $1M/year pretty hard.

subjectively, and i've said this in another post... i put watches, cars etc. into the 'spoils of life' category. watching guys be super frugal just to give it all away at end of life or being too old to enjoy your money is an important point for me.

i prefer, and recommend to others as well, that you diversify and invest some of your money into spoiling yourself along the way in case you run out of time.

[xQx]

Originally Posted by Benedict1957

I grew up in a fiscally conservative and pathologically frugal household and so my calibration for what constitutes an "appropriate" amount to spend on a watch is unreasonable by most peoples' standards.

I know this is rarely (if at all) true in reality but in my mind people who wear, say, a $10,000 watch should be making at least $1M per year. As a status symbol, wearing a piece of jewelry that costs $10,000 should signal an income of at least that much. It feels disingenuous to wear a watch of that magnitude making any less than that.

The number $1M is somewhat arbitrary but as an order of magnitude estimate that's generally how I perceive watches as status symbols. In reality, the incomes of people who wear $10,000 watches run the gamut from as low as mid-5 figures to as high as 10 figures, with the median probably being somewhere in the low 6 figure range.

Just to give you an idea of prices, someone wearing a Rolex will likely have paid between $10k and $30k. A Patek Phillippe, Audemars Piguet or Vacheron Constantin wearer will most likely have spent well over $30k for that watch. As for other brands - If it's made in Switzerland, has a mechanical movement - which you can usually tell by looking at the second hand and seeing if it ticks once per second (quartz) or four-eight times a second (mechanical) and just tells the time it'll be $1,000 - $10,000 (or more depending on the brand) and if it's got a bunch of other dials you're easily talking a $15,000+ watch. What I'm saying is $10,000 is actually a cheap swiss watch.

But a Swiss watch is like a European car. You could've easily got a car that gets you from A to B, and probably even a car just as fast, just as big, just as comfortable as a BMW from Toyota, Ford etc. for $10,000 less than what you paid for your BMW.

When you spend $30,000 on a BMW, you expect you're going to get some of that money back if/when you sell it. It's more comfortable (maybe), it lasts longer (maybe), and it carries more prestige (maybe) than cheaper alternatives. You buy a BMW because to you, a car is more than just getting from A to B. And because it's something you love, you'll spend a lot more than 'normal people' and not see it as a 'waste of money'.

Same with Swiss watches. People generally don't spend $30,000 on a watch to impress others. You can do that buy spending $700 on Bose/Beats headphones, or on an apple watch. Sure, status is part of the motivator, but it's not the primary driving force.

So, I dream of earning $1M per annum. Before tax I earn about 1/10th of that, after tax a lot less. But I have considered buying a $30,000 watch. I don't see it as disingenuous (though, very few of us would ever look at our own behaviour and admit that it is) because 99% of the population wouldn't recognise it as being worth more than about $300.

I justify it by saying I spent more than that on my car, which costs a lot more to run, and will be worth far less in five years time.

Conversely, if you spend $30,000 on a Patek - and look after it - it'll probably be worth about $30,000 in ten years time.

[David70]

I think the only ones that are really impressed by expensive watches are people that are into expensive watches or care that they might be with someone with money. I am neither and I think most people are the same as me on this subject.