Buying high end watches

[Smash]

To some it is apart of their wardrobe. Years ago I worked on Bay Street at a Mutual Fund company. I worked closely with the Portfolio Managers, CEO, CFO and became good friends with some of them. There definitely was a trend by the fact that every PM was educated, good looking and well dressed down to his watch..

When potential clients looking to invest 10mil+ would come in to meet with the PM's they would see this "complete package" type of person.. He had the tailor made expensive suit and tie, nice shoes, he worked out and was in shape, ate healthy and had a quality time piece on his wrist.

All people notice a beautiful watch popping out from under a shirt sleeve. Especially when you are showing them papers/charts/graphs since they are already looking by your hands. I guess its psychological.

Now I know this sounds crazy and unless you worked in high finance you might not get it but the way the CEO explained it to me was... If you want to be successful and aim for the stars "Look the part, act the part on top of performing". If you want to be successful not only do you have to be the elite of the elite and have your funds perform better then everyone else's but also look the part. In these circles where PM's take home $50,000+ every 2 weeks JUST ON COMMISSION'S FOR THE 2 WEEKS it pays off to have the whole "look" going for you and to buy a $10,000 watch is just like buying a new suit. It's all apart of the wardrobe to them.

Yeah, yea I know... What kind of watch you wear shouldn't dictate if a client will invest in your company and you might be right since there's no proof of it being the deal breaker but the way those guys looked at it.. It doesn't hurt to portray the look of success and they didn't want any weak link in their sale. Its a whole different world in these circles as I quickly found out and had to adjust to.

Trust me... There were no Seiko's, Bulova, Citizen, Timex or (cough) Casio G-Shock watches in our office.lol

 

[seoul.otaku]

people with money will always want to differentiate themselves,

whether by the clothing they wear, the house they live in, the car they drive, watch is but another venue they express themselves

and to some, there is more to a watch than a time-telling device,

those who scratch their head on how people could spend thousands of dollars on a watch, I recommend doing some research on the subject,

I think you can find some videos on youtube on the making of high end watches,

some of them are really works of art/engineering genius,

woohoo, my first post since coming back from the other side of the world ... been away for about 6 years, it's great to see terb is still up and running!!
wishing everyone a fun, safe holiday,

cheers!

 

[seoul.otaku]

if I may add, not just art, but engineering wonder,

High End watches are pieces of art.
You won't understand unless you love art.

 

[seoul.otaku]

and if anyone is interested, here's a half hour show that takes you into the world of luxury watches, mind you, it's just scratching the surface, but it's a good watch

 

[Smash]

Love me some Panerai..

http://www.panerai.com/en/watch-col...21-luminor-1950-3-days-power-reserve-pam00423

 

[sweetm]

Is your notion that an "exquisite model" would only be on a date with you because of your watch???

My comprehension of johnbeverley's statement was that the difference in watches is like the difference seen between women we see. $80 sp's is a vastly different experience than a $350 sp for the most part.

 

[johnbeverley]

My comprehension of johnbeverley's statement was that the difference in watches is like the difference seen between women we see. $80 sp's is a vastly different experience than a $350 sp for the most part.

At least someone understands what I was saying.

 

[smiley1437]

Love me some Panerai..

http://www.panerai.com/en/watch-col...21-luminor-1950-3-days-power-reserve-pam00423

A Panerai got the most attention of any watch I'd ever worn so I got rid of it.

 

[Ceiling Cat]

I have a stainless Rolex that I got for graduation years ago. I prefer to wear my Tudor on special occasions, this is a brand that is not well known. The only time people comment on it is to call it a wannbe Rolex......................that is until they look it up on the internet. For everyday use, I like to wear a simple watch. It has gotten me out of 2 tickets.

 

[blackrock13]

+1 with johnbeverly and fallsWOrth. Have just gotten into higher-end/luxury shoes and watches. Both need to be appreciated like good works of art.

High End watches are pieces of art.
You won't understand unless you love art.

My comprehension of johnbeverley's statement was that the difference in watches is like the difference seen between women we see. $80 sp's is a vastly different experience than a $350 sp for the most part.

Somebody gets it, congratulations.

Top end watches are an amazing product of someone's skills, in design and handcrafted manufacturing. The fact that they have a useful function, tracking time as accurately and as constantly as some do 'and' look beautiful is doubly wonderful.

High end watches don't have to be all bling. Many of the best known are very simple in design, check out IWC, and you can spot them across the table. They say a lot about the person wearing them. If the watch is an older model, 20-80 years of age, that even says more; perhaps the wearer doesn't need the latest and greatest, can take care of his/her things and not just throw them out when they break. Not many people look down on someone who can keep a classic car.

The modern world is very much mass production, instant gratification, throw away culture and that is a shame.

Watches can be investments and if that's your goal, you approach the purchases very differently. Sometimes both paths, fashion and investment, cross and you're lucky.

 

[JamesDouglas]

There's a big difference between a 1 or 2k watch and a 33k watch. Paying 1-2,000 is not really that much, but paying 33,000 + tax, which is closer to 40k for a watch is a lot, you can get an Acura TSX for the same price.

 

[smiley1437]

There's a big difference between a 1 or 2k watch and a 33k watch. Paying 1-2,000 is not really that much, but paying 33,000 + tax, which is closer to 40k for a watch is a lot, you can get an Acura TSX for the same price.

You only need to spend a couple of bucks to tell the time (any plastic quartz watch keeps better time than most mechanicals)

Spending any more than that is fashion\art\sculpture. Sometimes, it's to fit in fit in with your social circle, or not look out-of-place in a boardroom. Try making a business pitch while wearing a Dora the Explorer pink plastic watch...that would take balls

Anyways, if you have the means and enjoy it, why not indulge?

 

[blackrock13]

You only need to spend a couple of bucks to tell the time (any plastic quartz watch keeps better time than most mechanicals)

Spending any more than that is fashion\art\sculpture. Sometimes, it's to fit in fit in with your social circle, or not look out-of-place in a boardroom. Try making a business pitch while wearing a Dora the Explorer pink plastic watch...that would take balls

Anyways, if you have the means and enjoy it, why not indulge?

You only need to spend $2000 or less to buy a car to get back and forth to work, so what. Is spending $25,000 on a modest compact a fashion statement?

I'm not interested in wear plastic next to my skin. There's enough plastic in my world.

 

[danmand]

At dinner with the president of one of the major US banks, the president enquired about my watch. I said I certainly hope it is a good one, I paid $59 for it.

 

[Ceiling Cat]

I jeweler told me that people wear watches as a fashion or a status statement. His sales of lower end under $200 watches are 20-30% of what they were 15 years ago. Everybody carries a time piece with them in their cell phone these days.

 

[blackrock13]

At dinner with the president of one of the major US banks, the president enquired about my watch. I said I certainly hope it is a good one, I paid $59 for it.

So did you close the deal?

 

[danmand]

So did you close the deal?

I don't quite remember the details, but I think the dinner was after the deal was done.

 

[afterhours]

My comprehension of johnbeverley's statement was that the difference in watches is like the difference seen between women we see. $80 sp's is a vastly different experience than a $350 sp for the most part.

Strangely the difference between $350 sp and $80 sp is even bigger to me than the difference between a $100 watch and $10,000 watch. Both watches (measuring valuable time) and SPs (spending valuable time) are still very mysterious objects to me even though I am throwing money at them both.

 

[fuji]

My comprehension of johnbeverley's statement was that the difference in watches is like the difference seen between women we see. $80 sp's is a vastly different experience than a $350 sp for the most part.

No watch has ever given me the kind of enjoyment that an SP does, but then, I don't really get people who are into model trains and such either. I am sure there are some who get an absolute stiffie when they finally acquire that rare, finely made, exquisitely detailed, marvel of perfect miniaturization, Pullman locomotive. To each his own.

 

[Imperius]

I'm happy with my $300 battery free Citizen watch, it looks nice and gets the job done.

I'm of the same mind as you, but for us a watch has a "job" to do and if it does it well and looks attractive, we're satisfied. It is a functional tool and is priced accordingly.

As others have indicated, to them a watch is more like a piece of jewellery, a status symbol, an engineering marvel, a conversation piece, etc. In that market, it is priced accordingly.