Reply With QuoteBudgets always seem be pushed upwards when looking for watches…. Just a few more £ and I can get x… oh and another few £ more and I can get y. Then before you know it you have spent a lot more than intended.
Cars have a similar affect on me.
So following on my thread about possibly getting a Rado or Longines with many also suggesting other brands to look for. Thank you for that.
It started with a budget and then I have upped it another £1k, I then found myself looking at the next tier monetary value of watches and then again found my self being drawn to more expensive watches.
So much so I have been looking at Royal Oak and Nautilus, way out of my price band. But looking at alternate versions from other brands.
So this is what happens but does it ever stop? Do you go for the brand/watch you really want or settle for something else from another brand but still hank after that other, does that then become the grail watch? Or do you get that watch no matter what, within a certain price bracket?
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Budgets always seem be pushed upwards when looking for watches…. Just a few more £ and I can get x… oh and another few £ more and I can get y. Then before you know it you have spent a lot more than intended.
Cars have a similar affect on me.
I think it's always better to get what you really want, rather than something similar for less money. It rarely satisfies and delays you from getting what you really wanted.
Budgets always push, but in my case I won't go beyond where I'm at now, because the next level is a significant price jump and I really don't have the funds or desire to be looking at AP & PP.
I’m relatively restrained with my budgets. I feel the same way about an APRO as I do about a 911. Lovely I’m sure but in my hands, with my lifestyle and needs from a car / watch, it would sit in storage most of the time. I stick to watches I can comfortably afford to buy and service and get huge enjoyment from the absence of stress.
What I’m comfortable with has crept up but not by a lot. There would be no point in buying expensive trinkets I couldn’t enjoy, so I don’t.
I did this a while back, I priced myself out of an upgrade but found myself uncomfortable wearing the watch (AP ROO Diver) so I’ve settled back to my happy spot in terms of number of watches, buying costs and running costs.
You have to go there in order to know the limits...
I got into watches in 2014. In hind sight the correct advice is to go straight to the one you want. Settling for less never works for me and is a more expensive route in the long run. That said, it's all part of the journey and the enjoyment of the hobby and en route to your grail you get to potentially experience many different sizes and styles that may take you in another direction.
As my financial situation has changed since 2014, so have my tastes and what you think you like now may be different to what you may like in future. In short, it never ends! I've massively slimmed my collection down and am currently on a purchase hiatus until I get a property purchase sorted but I am itching to get some pieces back in the collection.
Slight caveat, for those who enjoy buying and selling, the journey is more fun than the destination. I found my tastes changed and I got to try different things along the way. Sure, I lost a bit along the way but there aren’t many things in life you can buy, enjoy and move on without making some loss. If I’d bought the grail at the beginning, I’d be stuck with an expensive watch I no longer like, now.Originally Posted by beechcustom
YMMV.
It's also important to decide what you'd like to own because of what it is as a watch, rather than just because it's expensive.
Stop believing in the false idea that more expensive watches are always better.
For me, I will have a target of the watch I want and will only buy that.
I tend to monitor the values pretty closely and keep my eyes out for a good deal.
Some watches I never thought I would buy due to them being too expensive, but when a good deals comes along, what's a boy supposed to do!
Sage advice
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I think the problem is that I didn't expect to want a really good watch again, sold Speedy, Navitimer, etc to just use the Apple watch I have with my Vitality membership.
Then started feel that I am prisoned with it, started to wear my Grandads watch (it's not expensive just a Memostar, but seems to be rare in good ones and then parts), realised that wearing it I would be gutted if something happened to it, so hence the quest to find a really nice watch at a price point, that price point has moved now something else has taken my fancy on more than one occasion but the price is way more.
It's not the fact I am looking to more expensive brands on purpose but seem to be the type of watches I am liking, this could just be a current thing so might change. But trying to get one watch that ticks everything and done, which seems to be harder now than I had thought with the prices going up for what was in budget is now sometimes outside of that.
I guess I just wished I had kept the other watches and then would be in a better position now!
I agree, this is a false idea. But, then again, more expensive ones can be and often are better (fcvo "better").
OP: sorry to be the bearer of “bad” news - but it never stops. Even when you end up with a Patek or something else - if you stay on forums like this you will not be satisfied. Get out while you can or perhaps it is already too late.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
I find journey of buying/collecting watches quite similar to The Alchemist.
I’ve spent years continually chasing, making mistakes, and learning what I’m actually into, but I’m slowly learning to appreciate what I have and calming down on the chasing front.
On the price front you just have to accept watches for what they are their given price point. Don’t be scared to haggle, use discount codes or buy used.
I too have found myself in a very similar situation recently. Went shopping for a Tudor, and quickly moved onto Omega, although the price difference was certainly significant. Happens to many of us.
The amount I'm willing to spend depends on so many factors, build quality and finish, retained value, whether its likely to be a daily wearer, and one very important one - is there a large discount on offer.
Lots of people seem to have a never-satisfied desire for the 'next' grail.
I was different - For me, there was (and will only be) one grail, a vintage Breitling Cosmonaute.
It was the first 'luxury' watch I bought (In fact, aside from a F71 it may have been the first watch I ever bought myself!).
Of course, I was sucked into the vortex and when I had a well paid, full time job, I did look at the usual suspects (Certainly Rolex and Zenith - The former never really appealed, the latter still do), but I felt there was a level of cost that, even with the funds, I wasn't prepared to spend on a watch (I probably should have bought a few Rolexes in retrospect!)
I ended up just buying watches I liked the look of - I have a few 'luxury' watches, but many more obscure vintage ones and cheaper, but nicer, microbrand watches.
I even have a few outright 'cheap' watches.
It's easy to think you MUST go ever 'upmarket', but I think imagining the same watch with Casio or Sekonda on the dial is a good test of how much you really like it.
If it still appeals, maybe buy it, assuming you can afford it, if not, there's your answer.
Lots of people, though, buy into the value of the 'brand' and if that's important to you, you'll still want to climb the tree.
M
Last edited by snowman; 24th May 2022 at 12:31.
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
There are a couple of things at play when I'm looking to buy things, be it utilitarian necessities or shiny luxuries. To a certain extent, I'm actually not bothered about budget to start with - not because I've got money to burn, or I'm potentially comfortable spending a lot of money for little or no extra benefit.
Part of the fun of a lot of things - at least to me - is the research phase. Getting to know what's out there; what your money gets you; if the one that's 5, 10, 20 times the price of the one on the high street or that everyone else has is worthwhile and discovering the brands/models that folk in the know have been trusting for years is interesting and helps frame later decisions.
Regardless of budget/price point, I think there's scope to learn about and enjoy the technical innovations, but it doesn't mean I feel the urge (or can afford) to get a 1000hp carbon fibre EV hypercar to pop down to Sainsbury's in, but I can marvel at what can be built when money gets thrown at a problem.
At the same time, as mentioned above, you might well come across something that's quite modestly priced and yet knocks the socks off of the well-known, heavily marketed alternative that will turn out to be a piece of crap.
I'm quite comfortable admiring marvels or things way outside of what I can sensibly afford.
With things like watches, I'm not collecting for the sake of collection, but to have a choice of watches I find interesting and can actually wear. There's a limit to just how many watches I "need" to fit that.
If I do have my heart set on something and it's within budget or perhaps just above, then I'll look for secondhand options, bide my time or resign myself to the fact that I don't need it after all.
I do generally try and buy the best I can afford - as others have said, the best isn't always correlated with the most expensive, which is great - as having to buy two or three times is annoying and wasteful, and not having something that does the job well/scratches the itch is a frustration too.
I feel that I am regretting not buying watches, at the time I considered expensive but not are just way above what I thought they could be, so missing out on them.
Yes Rolex features a few times in my wanting, Milguass being the one I was always drawn too, now the Speedmasters appear to have gone up too.
Don’t get me wrong I have 5 lowered end or gifted watches that I won’t get rid of, but wanting to get something that just ticks everything and also feels special
Use does play a part, same as cars. Having sold and then they go up in value, but the use is the main thing now working from home and only doing a school run, looking at EV is just as a minefield with pricing and options etc.
Maybe I am bitter or just annoyed with myself for selling things previously and then as usual wanting them again
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As others have said, if you start upping your budget it will be a never-ending story!
Buy what you like and can COMFORTABLY afford
This is very true, I think I am trying to have one watch and this is the issue of trying to get one that meets everything I am after.
I was able to this with my new bike, custom frame etc, but watches prove a little more trouble in getting one to rule them all.
Or is this my midlife crisis hitting?!?!
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outside this forum, I see contemporaries spending 200-300 on a Seiko that fullfills all the requirements of a watch, typically quartz probably solar powered, easy to read, rugged and looks like a watch. What more do you want?
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Lots of great options under your original budget for a one-and-done watch. The Sinn 556 is the traditional recommendation but I’d personally get a Longines spirit as the crown guards and hand set on the Sinn make it too sporty IMO to make it truly versatile. The longines also has the cache of being a well-known brand, if that matters to you. It does wear large but there’s a midsize version due out soon.
Asper my earlier post, depends on what your needs and wants are. They’re not the most exciting designs but that’s the price of versatility.
As long as you can comfortably afford the watches you're actually thinking of buying, what is the problem. If you can't afford them, then you have a problem, unless you're buying a SS sports AP/VC/PP/Rolex at RRP.
I`ve built a collection over 20+ years, I`m a strong advocate of owning several watches rather than trying to chase 'the one', that would never work for me. Unfortunately, with the increase in prices and the supply issues over recent years it's becoming much harder to do, most people have to sell one to afford another and that creates problems, people end up selling something they like in order to fund their latest whim.
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