Reply With QuoteMy psychological threshold raised over the years. I bought an Omega Seamaster about 12 years ago for about £600. At the time I thought that was mental money. In November 2013 my threshold had risen to a Rolex Yacht-Master from my favourite AD.
I've spent the last week umming and ahhing about a potential purchase, sold up half the collection to buy (though a bit will have to go on the overdraft!) but I just can't seem to get my head around spending nearly £7k on a watch. Do you have a psychological threshold and if so what was the price / watch? Did you buy it or back out? It's amazing how much of my time has been consumed with this, thinking, researching, calculating!!
My psychological threshold raised over the years. I bought an Omega Seamaster about 12 years ago for about £600. At the time I thought that was mental money. In November 2013 my threshold had risen to a Rolex Yacht-Master from my favourite AD.
I think mine relates to the residuals rather than the money spent. I could happily buy a used £5k watch as long as I knew I'd only lose less than £500 if I sold it. So I'd say £500 is my maximum loss.
That is why I'm really struggling to get a Navitimer B01...I've wanted one for a year but just can't do it!
I often find myself in this dilemma. Would admit presently going through a similar experience.
Price is a relative issue and depends on personal circumstances. Clearly £7k is affordable to you but is possibly more than you've spent in the past . If you were to spend £7k your next expenditure threshold will probably rise. Possibly until it's no longer feasible to spend an amount on a watch.
Ultimately, we tend to be good at finding good deals which often means you don't end up losing too much on a watch if you sell it on for whatever reason.
I'm afraid I therefore do tend take the plunge in the end. If I then think it doesn't give me the right level of satisfaction or I'm too conscious wearing it because of the value then simply move it on.
Not sure it answers your dilemma but it's how I tend to operate...
You only live once. Buy the watch
Same here. That's why knowing street values is important - and why a used Rolex bought for the right price is a no brainer.Originally Posted by Christian
I think if you don't go for it then you'll always wonder 'what if?' Hopefully your decision will be vindicated and you will enjoy it more than you imagined.
Personally I get twitchy around £5K, and though I've seen a couple of lovely pieces I would dearly love to own (3 on SC at the mo) I can neither justify nor afford them, so will stick to what I have.
I bought my LV for £3010 nearly 7 years ago and it was beyond my psychological barrier, which was around £2.5k at the time. This might sound odd but it's tainted the watch for me ever since and I don't think I've really enjoyed it. The catch 22 is I don't want to sell as to replace it if I ever changed my mind (or wanted another new Rolex) would cost me a lot more. IMHO I you're agonising over it, don't do it - unless the watch is (and remains) amazing it will disappoint more quickly as you're not really comfortable with it.
This is exactly it. A £1,000 watch can be more expensive than a £5,000 watch. The ticket price isn't really important, if you have the money. I recently bought a vintage sub for around this figure, but the actual cost is likely to be nothing. Of course a £5,000 watch can be very expensive. Depends what it is really.
I had a threshold, but then I spent that amount several times in a row on several different watches. And then why not consolidate a few of those into something nicer? Not recommending it, but that's what happened to me.
As above, my barrier was actually wearing and enjoying an expensive watch. I didn't think too hard about buying a £6K+ zenith Daytona, but was too worried about wearing it much out of the house or marking it. Silly really, but I was much happier with my cheaper Heuers.
I agree, there is a definite psychological threshold. I would find it hard to part with over £4K for a watch, regardless of whether it was 'on the money' or not. Maybe it's wrong to think like this; if you want the watch and you can afford it, you should buy it. You only live once and you can`t take the money with you when you depart.
Paul
mmm...yeah, but its raised over the years with circumstance...a months wages is a lot more than it was when I bought my first "nice" watch at 16 :)
actually thinking about it, its always been about a months net salary to me....always seemed about right....but then of course later you get into owning multiple nice watches at the same time for choice and have a few months salary invested......or trade them for one preferable piece....
I think the researching and dilemma phase all adds to the buying process. Knowledge is power! Spending large amounts of money on the right thing is only a positive.
I only know that once your psychological barrier is over that's no turning back. No more barriers will do again.
So some agonise over spending 7K, some agonise over wanting a watch but worry about being able to sell it before even buying it, some try to buy the right expensive watch and probably not the one they want, some are so busy crunching numbers and researching, looking they probably go off the watch in the run up.
Then after all that they can only wear it in the house.
Time for a new hobby lads.
I thought my threshold was around £300 until I bought a watch for a big birthday for over a thousand and then another couple in quick succession. It's really easy to move and justify your threshold and once you've broken one it's easier to build another and another. But I've not spent so highly since so I guess that around a thousand represents my psychological ceiling. It's all relative though, my partner thinks that any watch costing over £20 is a diabolical waste of money.
I'm mindful of what others have posted about buying new expensive watches and not daring to mark them let alone wear them out of the house for fear of damage, theft or loss. I've discovered that apart from my purchases from Eddie, I'm not that interested in new watches, my taste seems to be for vintage. These normally come pre-marked and don't attract much attention at all from a general public for whom Omega, Rolex, Citizen and Seiko are probably the only names they recognise, so I don't tend to worry too much about wearing them out and about.
For me much of my enjoyment comes from researching and hunting for obscure, relatively cheap and preferably forgotten brands or genuinely interesting watches that have some sort of pedigree, history or story to tell. My most recent watch purchases have been a Bulova Astronaut and a Seiko 6105 both from SC (thanks to both vendors concerned). Both fascinating watches with interesting backgrounds and neither cost a fortune. Every now and then I wander down Argyll Arcade and have a look at the Pateks, Jaegers and Rolexes but I'm not crying my eyes out that I'll be very unlikely to own one. Great for those who can but I'm happy with what I've got more or less.
I approach the buying of expensive watches slightly differently. I research the watch and buy it at what I believe to be the best possible price at the time. A watch is a luxury item, so if I were ever to need cash quickly, I estimate what I would get back for it in a fire sale. The difference between the buy and sell is the 'real' cost of buying and owning the watch. If I can live with the differential then I go for it. So in the ops example a £7k watch may only have a real cost of £1000.
My 'threshold' has gone up a few times and now is at what is really a silly amount for 'just' a watch (IMO). However I have done a lot of research and bought carefully (pre owned, great price/condition, popular models etc) and I know what I have can be sold at a very small loss. So I am very much in the camp of those that have mentioned that the key is potential residuals.
Mine changed when getting a watch for my wedding; first gold watch and exactly double what I'd ever spent.
I'd previously considered something similar but worked out I'd have to sell 6-7 watches and couldn't do it (I did do exactly that later). The wedding watch was snuck in on credit card and after that the floodgates opened...
Don't have a psychological barrier now, just an affordability one! I suspect taking a step back and thinking about it could reinstall one but there's no need for that...
I think for some the cost of ownership is a real consideration.
I've spent crazy money on single watches - but I couldn't afford to do that on a regular basis. I'd think nothing of spending £50k on a watch, if I had £50k as spare watch money (I don't!).
So... My level is probably staged; I buy on the spare of the moment watches from £100 to less than £1500, provided all bills are sorted and nothing is expected. Then there is the up to £3k limit, and the same principal applies - but the spare cash needs to have been saved up. I think I probably have a 3rd limit of up to £5k and that takes a lot of consideration, and more often than not I decide not to go ahead with the purchase.
It's just a matter of time...
The 'watch fund' is a new concept to me but is working so far... There's some money lurking in there that will be added to through sales and saving for an important piece later in the year.
However, the danger is always dipping into it... Like I've just done :(
Not much to add really as my feelings have been summed up previously.
My base was the £1k ancient Rolex bought from my 1st bonus in 1988 (29% of that sum when I was only earning £6.5k at the time, so arguably more crazy than where I am today). Once the hobby/madness took hold I have bought & flipped many with nary a thought up to £6k.
Then I started wrestling with the idea of a PP Nautilus, but events got in the way reducing the budget slightly & then an AP RO caught my eye instead. Definitely not a compromise or the "wrong watch" to make up for not going for the PP but still in my mind a big leap up into a region just below £10k. I must have looked at the Blowers web site 100+ times whilst I wrestled with the idea of going for it +/or whether a +50% jump in my previous threshold was ok.
But then, I took the Java route & decided you only live once so got it bought!
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Not much to add really as my feelings have been summed up previously.
My base was the £1k ancient Rolex bought from my 1st bonus in 1988 (29% of that sum when I was only earning £6.5k at the time, so arguably more crazy than where I am today). Once the hobby/madness took hold I have bought & flipped many with nary a thought up to £6k.
Then I started wrestling with the idea of a PP Nautilus, but events got in the way reducing the budget slightly & then an AP RO caught my eye instead. Definitely not a compromise or the "wrong watch" to make up for not going for the PP but still in my mind a big leap up into a region just below £10k. I must have looked at the Blowers web site 100+ times whilst I wrestled with the idea of going for it +/or whether a +50% jump in my previous threshold was ok.
But then, I took the Java route & decided you only live once so got it bought!
I have often thought of spending silly money (£20k ish) on a very expensive watch, and managed to talk myself out of it every time.
So, I have managed to buy several used, but pristine, 'high end' watches for a lot less than they cost new.
SC here is a great source of well cared for, second user watches at affordable prices. Which if you decide to flip one day, should return most of your initial investment. 'Makes a lot of sense, especially if like me you want several to choose from every day.
^
This.
I'm quite content with watches costing not more than 1500,- Euro's.
The more I know about watches, the less I want to fork out for them.
I still enjoy looking at them, bought by forum members that is.........
And the funny thing is, my first mechanical watch was a UN 1846 Marine Chronometer!
Daddel.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
A watch may have strong resale/residual value, but I'm more pessimistic than that.
For me the barrier is the level at which I would "accept" total loss; theft or irreparable damage.
But then I think I'm a glass half-empty kind of person...
Yep.You only live once. Buy the watch
And remember:
- The quality will remain when the price is long forgotten. (Except when you come to pay for the first service.)
- Five years from now, £7k won't seem so much. (It will, it will.)
- Buy it while you can. (You can buy it next week, next month or next year. Or not at all. Watches aren't essential to life.)
- If you don't enjoy it today, today's a lost day. (Not true. Enjoy the sky.)
- Money in the bank on the day you die is worthless. (Explain that to your family.)
In answer to the OP, I chase the watch and then worry about the money later.
So, I don't set a limit, nor is money any primary concern.
For example, at the moment and for the last ten years, I've been looking for a good IWC calibre 87 - the 'formed' movement. When/if I find one, I'll buy it, unless the owner's taking the Mickey and asking silly money.
The watch comes a long way before the price.
Yep.You only live once. Buy the watch
That bit sounds familiar by the way. ;-)
Two types of thresholds. One is set at the 3000 pounds limit (remained fairly stable in the last few years). The other was perfectly expressed by Hsukirk - "the more I learn about horology, the less watches convince purchasing". There very seldom still is love at first sight.
I decide on the watch I want. Then I do my homework to ascertain what I would likely get for it if I were to try to sell it in the next few months. Then I try to buy it for as near to that at possible. It isn't about investment, more about mitigating potential loss. Mostly so I don't feel like a fool.
I am surprised by the number of practical responses on here.
For me, so long as I can see the value (i.e. I like it), I don't have a threshold beyond what cash I have available to me (or the tolerance of my wife who doesn't get watches).
For these reasons, a Patek is never likely to grace my wrist though.
I am always on the lookout for an omega based canteen silver diver, if I find one I will find out if there is a psychological threshold for me.....or not.!!!!
I have a psychological barrier to the LV as I had an opportunity to purchase a new one in 2005 for £2650. At the time although I thought it was expensive, it was feasible. Now however, prices have gone up substantially and could not bring myself to pay today's price for the same watch (even if I could afford to!). Then in 2008 I purchased a new Sub 16610 and decided against the LV and as I thought it would have less wearability. I wish I had known I could have purchased a black bezel and swapped and so missed out again!
As long as I keep buying cars, family holidays and other "middle ticket" items, I have no real tresholds for watches. Especially leisure spend equals watch spend in my brains. 5k for a week in Martinique? Or a watch? My budget / disposable income level mandates making choices, but it is very different from hitting a psychological wall.
When I bought my SMP Bond in 1999, my threshold was how much I felt comfortable putting on my credit card. Charging the SMP was a bit uncomfortable. I really wanted a Sub, but charging that much was outside my comfort zone.
When I bought my 5513 last year, my threshold was how much I was willing to spend in cash, considering all of my other financial responsibilities, and, frankly, how uncomfortable it would make my wife, as there is always something to improve around the house and a retirement fund to feed.
At first I thought $5000 for the Sub would be the most I'd ever spend, but I now find that when I daydream about watches, that limit has grown to $7000-8000. That being said, I don't think I would ever buy another watch on credit, whether it was $50 or $5,000. But of course that scruple is a luxury I can now afford. I agree that it's all a balance between what you want and what you need, and what makes you happy.
My threshold has actually gone down. At its peak, $6,000. Now, under $500. I feel much more comfortable. Strange but true.
That's not to say I don't still love watches, or that my threshold won't change. But as Daddel said, I much prefer to look at the pictures of forum members' watches. Saves me from worrying about the dings , or the cost, or the wisdom of owning something so expensive in relation to my salary.
A lot to think about, but right now, wearing a Seiko SKX013, I'm quite content.
Stay tuned for next week, and pictures of my incoming...
Kidding?
I think my psychological threshold crashed and burned fairly recently.
I realized I had gone beyond my own expectations of what I would "someday" own.
Sold several pieces; it felt good to lower the value of the collection significantly.
I have to say, this time last year I had around 26-27 subs dwellers and Tudor subs in the safe!!, I have thinned the herd, but wear pretty much two watches at the moment, SD For work, and eddies Everest for when home, like a few on here, I get great pleasure in the Friday thread and the watches we all wear.
I'm 71 next week, been a WIS since I can remember, when still at school I was making paper dial for my watches.
My 'grail' since then has always been a PP, coming from an ordinary East London family it was always expected to be a big NO-NO.
About 8 years ago I dropped over £10k on a new PP 5127R, got the little bugger out of it's sealed sleeve, they were sealed in those days, and I cried.
The 'stick' I took from the rest of you lot was unbelievable, I didn't care, I'd achieved my grail.
After 5 years of continual wear and enjoyment it was still in mint condition, I look after my watches as some will now, it was getting expensive to insure and a service was in the distance.
I sold it for more than I paid for it, due to the increase in gold prices over 5 years.
Regrets, none....been there, done that, had the T-shirt.
There is IMVHO, only ONE grail in a persons WIS existance, I've had mine.
If you want it, can afford it, go for it.
BTW.........My wife 70 next week, was in complete agreement in both buying and selling, she would have had no Idea where to sell the watch to get the best value.
In general the first 'expensive' watch you buy the reaction is 'oh my god, I can't believe I just dropped £xxxxx on a watch!' Once you 'achieve' it I found the gloss on the whole high end thing passes. In actuality that first 'expensive' watch is the grail we all search for! Now I simply buy within my means and what I like. I guess I am at peace as a WIS (The whole arrogance of the watch industry has helped to speed this process along....) .
Now photography is another matter....
For me the threshold has nothing really to do with the price I can afford at any given time.
I've always wanted a Rolex sub, and if I saved long enough and hard enough then one day I could have one. The problem is justifying it. I know I'll never save for one when there's always going to be something else that the money could be spent on ie, holiday for the family, paying off the mortgage, new car, ect. I'd just feel selfish and guilty. I know this is my problem and I'm not judging anybody else. When the kid's are grown up i'll make it happen.
In thread's like these there's always a lot of talk of resale value. If I was worrying over selling it on before I'd even bought it I don't think I'd buy because it wouldn't be the watch for me.
SD for work, that's the way to go, they should be used and absed, they can take it
Daddel.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
I've never really thought about a 'threshold' until recently.
I always wanted a SMP, so it was irrelevant what it cost. £1400 at the time was a LOT of money for a watch but it had to happen. Anything below that seemed somewhat 'reasonable' (the cheaper the better) and I have never spent more than £2k on a watch. That was until I bought my Sub. At 5k I had to seriously think whether the watch was worth it to me, and it just about is. I do not intend to sell it, and rarely think in those terms when purchasing, but I would be lying if I didn't admit that good resale was some reassurance if it had to be moved sharpish. So in short, I could comfortably (from a psychological perspective!) pay a couple of grand for a seriously nice watch. But I'd rather never go more than that. £5k is my max. To be honest even that amount is a stupid amount and I do not intend to ever repeat it.
I appreciate some of the comments made about how comfortable one is wearing a watch in relation to what it cost, and I certainly sympathise. I hate damaging my watches, and, being totally honest, I am not 100% comfortable wearing my Sub, even though I know it can take a beating. Similarly my SMP I worry about damaging because they have enormous sentimental value and I loathe refinishing work. I am a bit OCD but I do wear my watches and I do put marks on them. But the watch I feel most comfortable wearing is my Seiko SKX007. It is (literally) my most comfortable watch and for under £150 I'm not afraid to take it anywhere and smack it about a bit. The quality for the money is superb too, something I think often gets lost in translation with more expensive watches.
Maybe when all is said and done, I have and am capable of spending 'silly money' on watches but am probably still very much 'working class' at heart, for lack of a better term. I think I would be more comfortable if all my watches cost under 500 quid, but ultimately I like many that cost more!
Mine is around £5,000.00 I have gone much higher in the past, ie a Patek Nautilus, but ultimately I think £5K is my comfort zone. I also operate a "watch fund" mentaility, its more the TOTAL value of all watches that I have that is the issue, rather than just 1 watch. If i were to increase exposure to my watch asset class, i will have to rethink other priorities also;
The first expensive watch I bought was a pre-owned Patek Aquanaut. I wasn't into watch collecting at the time having just a Tissot quartz chrono for daily wear and my grandfather's tatty 50s Omega sitting in a drawer at home.
I got fascinated with JLC and Patek Philippe and decided that I wanted one steel super watch I could wear everyday. Initially I was drawn to the JLC Master Control but soon headed towards the PP Nautilus. Over time I warmed to the Aquanaut as I thought it was more discreet, the rubber strap was more practical and in my view at the time it's the movement that matters most not the bracelet.
I was going to buy brand new at first, as I knew nothing about the pre-owned market. I just wanted the Aquanaut and didn't give a thought to resale value at all. A started looking into the pre-owned market and after some reasearch I picked up a mint 5165a at a good pre-owned price. I was happy to pay the nearly £10k I paid because it was really what I wanted.
Eventually I ended up selling it (for what I paid) as I found that having so much money held in one tiny thing seemed not the best use of my savings. I suppose I'd also started looking at more watches and the bug had bitten quite hard...
Nowadays I think that if the amount invested in the watch doesn't leave me too short elsewhere and I can liquidate the capital again quickly if I need/want to, then I'm comfortable spending it on a watch I like - like my Speedy or SubC for example. I'd still like to go back to Patek someday but I'd need to balance the cost with other priorities in life a bit more sensibly than when I got the Aquanut before.
So hypothetically I'd have no problem buying a £100k watch if it was from disposable income!
Yeah I agree with this, particularly the "I found that having so much money held in one tiny thing seemed not the best use of my savings. " Exactly what i felt about my Nautilus. Now I am happy wearing watches in the 3-5K range. Liquidated quickly if required.
I remember your thread when you got your Nautilus, I remember thinking you must be over the moon with it!
I don't have any problem with the Aquanaut or Nautilus as a value proposition (afterall they hold resale value superbly), it's just that for me to get either of them again I would need to somehow stop the desire to chop-and-change as I can't feed the new watch habit and own a watch of that cost outlay.
Maybe once I've settled down it'll be a Patek back on my wrist?
Yep I loved the nautilus but i think i didnt love it enough. The resale was superb, didnt lose a penny on it which was amazing.
I still struggle justifying anything over £2700?? My limit seems to have risen steadily over the last 3-4 years as £600 was my limit before!!?? Funny thing is I have the money to spend more now but my heart just sinks at anything above £3000 :-( Having 2 kids seems to have made me really aware of the cost of everything!
Its my 40th this year and I would like to push the boat out and really want a Red Submariner but at £6k plus I just know its going to be difficult justifying that amount to myself?
Ill probably be saying I just cant go over £8k in a year or two!! :-)
Chris
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