Reply With QuoteWell, save your money, invest wisely and you will eventually be free to do what you want. Freedom is the best thing money can buy, far more valuable than any watch.Originally Posted by ataripower
That point of view doesn't, what you wrote does.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Well, save your money, invest wisely and you will eventually be free to do what you want. Freedom is the best thing money can buy, far more valuable than any watch.
That wouldn't be fair on the rest of the cretins. You are of course a c***. Which in turn is very unfair on every other c*** in the world.
F.T.F.A.
OP there are people on here who have wonderful collections some of which cost lots and some of which don't .
I posted a SOTC when I first joined ( this is my 3rd watch forum I have joined )and have added nothing since so we are not all constantly buying and flipping high value watches.
Crafter Blue strap for my MM300 is next to arrive and hopefully should find its way to me in December.
I make less than 20 grand a year, and live in one of the most expensive places to live in the U.K.
Just thought I'd add a bit of perspective.
I've made a ton of money doing a job I hate, or slightly less doing exactly the sort of work that I want. The latter is much better.
Regarding the OP. My family owns one car, a rarity in the USA, and I ride the bus to work. A $30,000 car, plus insurance, maintenance, gas, and parking fees adds up to a couple Rolex a year. I also don't eat out or drink.
OP, for me it took about 3 determined years to scrape together the few pound for my Rolex and it was a big day for me when it came to fruition, I was able to justify the purchase on the grounds of a then recent promotion, the birth of a son and a personal birthday ! Not a flippant purchase for me at that time.
For the decade before that (1990s) I was into watches in the sub £500 bracket but started to do a 'thing' in the early 2000's where I put between £50-100 in a 'toys account' just before I get paid (monthly). So, the day before I got paid, if I still had funds, I put that amount (£50-100) into the toys account. If not, then not.
Now, 3 years in the model above yields about £3k so with modern sports Rolex costing, say, £6k I'm not sure how I would have held out against the missus looking for a new kitchen / requiring a 7 seater car for brats / house repairs & upgrades ?
You are not alone sir amongst the mortals !
Well some bought when the used vintage stuff was cheaper. I got a Tudor Snowflake sub I got for 2000.00 US now worth double my only watch close to a Rolex Sub. Some of us flip stuff when they go up in value and sell 2-3 watches to get one. I got into vintage issued watches before it was collectable now can't afford the hobby that much any more. I worked for a city in Parks maintenance I am no banker retired now. And I am happy with the collection I have but missed the boat on Tornek Rayville TR900 when they were cheaper and could of traded a military watch in the collection once for a vintage Rolex GMT that's how us poor folk trade up. Just don't buy a lot buy quality even if it's just one a year that's what I do now in retirement with less money and save for that one that mite be a Rolex as your next watch.
By the way, when you do buy a Rolex, a lot of people then go onto a Speedy, or some other non Rolex iconic watch. I can think of at least 5/6 colleagues who, when purchased a Rolex, wanted something more 'interesting' !!!
Unfortunately it doesn't appear that money can buy freedom from this degree of sanctimonious rubbish.
I enjoy my watches just as much as anyone else here, and considerably more than some people who treat watches like signifiers of status and achievement.
The value of my watch collection in comparison to somebody else's could never lead to feelings of inadequacy on my part, because no part of my self esteem is derived from my income. I pity people who's self-worth is built on such flimsy foundations.
Edit - I just realised this might be misinterpreted as an attack on the OP. On the contrary, I see nothing in the original post to suggest that person feels inadequate, and I would not care to venture any opinion as to their perception of their own self-worth. :)
Last edited by seikokiller; 7th November 2016 at 02:35.
Which frankly, is the perfect attitude to have.
Also, agree with them costing more every year (kids not Rolex). I've got four of the little buggers and I've never seen money flow out of the household so quickly!
If you really need to "scrape together" the kind of money needed to buy a Rolex watch you are probably better off without one.
Last edited by GrandS; 7th November 2016 at 02:13.
At the end of the day its only a watch. It's a lovely shiny nice aspirational watch, but you already have loads of nice watches. As lots of people have said, 'its all relative'. As long as you have access to clean drinking water, decent health care, a warm secure place to call home, a full belly every night and a few quid in the bank, you're doing very very well. There's alot to be thankful for.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
I'm into vintage and don't have a Rolex.
For example; the cost of a new microtor watch is insane, but in the vintage area, they are more than reasonable. Same with the Vulcain Cricket.
My collection is not up to some standards, but to me, it is what I want and I am very happy with it.
The knowledge I gain, once I identify a movement I want and begin my research, is phenomenal.
Great collection, OP. In fact, take any one of those Seiko divers, pair it with either of those dressier Seiko/Orients, and you've got a great all-bases-covered twosome that a lot of us would be delighted to have.
I have an extensive watch collection built up over 15+ years and varying from a few hundred quid to a couple of Pateks. I can't tell you what is my 'best' watch but I can tell you I get equal joy (and probably more) from wearing my cheaper Aerospace or Glycine Airman than either Patek. A few years back I had a 911 and a (old shape) Mini and I much preferred driving the Mini around London. Easier to park, quicker in and out of the traffic. People would let you out at the lights. I wouldn't worry about it getting scratched.
It is all well and good to be able to afford a Patek minute-repeater. But how much joy can be derived when it is stuck in a safe for 364 days a year?
You have a great collection, enjoy it.
I started considering to buy a "decent" watch when I was earning about £50k in my mid 30s.
It took me about 6 months to end up with a Tag Monaco ( Steve McQueen). In my niavety I thought a second hand oroginal 60s Heuer would have been cheap as chips. So I ended up with the Tag and although I was very happy with it I was incredibly guilty about spending the 1.5k or so it cost me.
Nip forwards a few years and I had a few more. I had a hankering for a rolex but when I bought a 14060m I was a little non-plussed with it. However I had the justification that it was safe as houses moneywise as long as I was careful with it.
Decided after 3 months or so I should start wearing it and it became my favourite after about 3 days.
Nip forwards a few more years and even though my earnings had gone up ( with a commensurate lack of free time that most people would never accept!) the Rolex is gone ( with much regret) and I prefer to wear a 70s F300 seamaster most days. I like it for multiple reasons but not because of its price and that's the key thing.
Money is irrelevant either up or down the way. If you personally like the watches and find them interesting thats the key thing.
Amen to that!
Having read through this thread your comments are disparaging to say the least. Presumably you know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
To the OP I would suggest that the value of a collection is far less important than the pleasure of collecting one. I don't have a collection at all. Just an old Ebel Quartz and what I replaced it with earlier this year. I do enjoy seeing what others collect though but don't feel envious, just curious. This is a great forum with many open minded and pleasant members - with a few exceptions.
Enjoy what you have and retain perspective. You could have been born in Aleppo!
I started off buying Invictas, thought they were good vfm, and I reckon they still are, but then I found watch forums. Discovered all sorts of cheap micro brands I liked and bought a bunch of sub £200 pieces, moving them on as my taste changed and evolved. Each step my purchases went up a level then I sold a load to buy a Rolex, then started again just not with Invictas and built a collection until I sold a bunch and bought another significant piece and so on.
I came home every day and threw my pound coins in a bucket, five years and i bought my first.
With obvious exceptions, most watches have more in common with each another than not, no matter the price. When two people are discussing, say, a pair of Vacherons, the issues that they're weighing up are pretty much the same as those when comparing a couple of vintage Russian watches: same spectrum, just a different place on it. This means that almost any discussion you read between two watch lovers will cast light on your own thoughts about your own watches. I've had more vintage Seikos than any other kind of watch, so in some ways I would be better off belonging to a specialist Seiko forum - but I wouldn't be able to escape any sense of suffering by comparison: the Rolexes would simply be replaced by obscure, rare, hard to locate vintage models. Since I'm not a Collector with a capital C, I've more in common with someone with a handful of Rolexes they wear day in day out than with someone who's got one of row after row of interesting exotic Seikos from 45-50 years ago.
My point is that agonizing about having enough money to buy some watch is a waste of time. If you really really wanted the money you could get it, by hook or by crook. There are actually more important things. Something a few posters above have clearly missed, while others have got it loud and clear.
To me the most important thing in life is good health.
A close second is being able to spend quality time with relatives and friends.
Third is having a roof over your head and being able to afford decent food.
Fourth is having something interesting to do.
Fifth is being able to take time off from work and travel to interesting places.
Sixth is a clear conscience.
I am not sure where being able to afford a Rolex sits, but it sits very far below the above, very far indeed.
I bought many of my watches in the 90s when they were considerably cheaper. I still have them. But if you've been buying and selling since then it's likely you'll have a tasty collection.
It would be great if you could work on number four then as it may slow your post count here
Thanks, everyone
If your friends and relatives find that spending their quality time with you is a treat they don't like to indulge too often, then pass the time waiting for them to build up the necessary strength by being deliberately obnoxious and disruptive on a watch forum.
I've found a very simple solution a long time ago : go to his profile, and on the left hand side, under his avatar, there's an excellent little feature called 'Add to ignore list'.
The only issue is other people quoting him, making his taradiddle still visible.
Maybe if everyone ignored him, he'd finally get bored of talking to himself (although I do think that sociopaths enjoy talking to themselves) and go away.
Gotcha. Done. Apologies for the quotes!
No need for apologies. I was generalising
He was the first person I ever added to ignore. Ah, halcyon days...
I do occasionally open his posts when I need cheering up. Peerless, textbook trolling from the mind of a lonely, socially and professionally incompetent, worthless individual. And a liar.
When he's ignored (as he generally is) he does actually go away. He's had an unusual amount of responses here sadly. Don't quote it. Don't feed it.
Super collection, OP. Haven't added up the value but as others have said you could probably keep a beater and sell the rest to buy a nice used DJ. That would probably be my choice, because some of your watches are quite similar - but only just.
With regard to your original point demography is an important factor. Older members often have fewer outgoings and substantial savings, and with IRs on the floor (for now, and quite probably for a good while yet) they don't mind putting £5k (and often very much more) into watches.
I'm in that category age-wise, but don't do it, because my own view is that new Rolex prices are a bit daft now, and that the collector market looks a bit bubbly. But what do I know? I've rubbished the BTL thing for years, and up until now I've been wrong about that one too...
Life is about choices, opportunity and a bit of luck.
There will always be someone with more money than you, and on a global level billions with less.
Be happy with what you have and follow your aspirations but don't envy others. I have met many miserable wealthy people.
A Rolex will not make you happy for long, great friends and family will.
To the OP.
If you really want a Rolex, you'll find a way, but clearly you didn't otherwise you wouldn't have traded it for an Omega and a family holiday.
I earn a bit more than the average, have no mortgage and my kids are out at work now, but I still don't feel I need a Rolex
I also drive an 11 year old car, because I've yet to find something I'd prefer.
I'd also agree with the poster who commented that the lower value SOTC posts are far more interesting than those full of 10 very slightly different variants of Rolex Subs... (unless the collection is all G-Shocks of course!)
M.
I save. I don't buy on credit - even the mortgage is gone now. FYI looking forward to retirement so may be at a different life stage to the OP. I do drink some, I like holidays I have a few Rolex. Saving ethic comes from my wife else I hate to think where I'd be.
I dont spend what I can't afford - that is the key I think.
I think money is like shit - if you don't let it pass through you end up with a festering mess and end up really ill.
Martyn
I bought my first Rolex, a 16750, in 1986 when I was a fairly impoverished student. My grandmother, by no means a wealthy woman, left me just about enough money to pay for it (£700). I still have it.
My other luxury watches - a JLC, three IWCs, a couple of Omegas, another Rolex, a couple of Breitlings and a few others - were bought when I had a high-paid job but a cheap mortgage and no wife or kids (or sense of proportion). I still have one IWC and a couple of Omegas, but wouldn't spend that much on a watch now. I think my last new watch was a near-mint SK007 acquired for £70 head only on SC. I was happy as Larry to have it and wear it. Like others have suggested, it's not about what they cost.
Nice collection! Thanks for sharing.
Very nicely put and hear, hear squire,
OP - you have a great collection there and enjoy it. Six years ago I wouldn't have dreamed I would have owned some of the watches I have and as others have said I get as much enjoyment popping on a G10 than I do anything else of far greater value in my collection.
Pitch
You have a very nice collection. Recently bought a Citizen and it gives me as much pleasure as my more expensive watches. I'm now at the stage where I'm wondering why I have so many expensive watches. problem is I'm a bit of a horder and too indecisve what to sell and keep. They certainly don't make you any happier.
The buzz of a new purchase is a great feeling and certainly not proportional to the purchase cost. Unfortunately it's rather short lived so the hunt is quickly on for the next irrespective of budget.
Last edited by mylofitz; 7th November 2016 at 10:39.
Correct.
Nice little collection you have there. Like many I started out cheaply and gradually changed to more and more expensive watches, to the point of spending £5,000 on a single timepiece. Since then though other priorities have taken over and my collection consists of mostly sub £50 watches with only a couple being valued over a few hundred. One thing I've realised it's iI'm equally happy with my collection now as I've ever been, and some of my very cheapest purchases are my favourites (I buy mostly vintage).
Just enjoy what you have, the value is how much you like each watch. One bonus mind you having a few expensive pieces is they can get you out of a pickle if times get tough.
I got divorced.
I never realised i had that much disposable income until i started looking after my own financial affairs ;)
i think expecting that a watch enthusiast forum, no more than say a performance car enthusiast forum will be a barometer of what people who earn an average wage do with their disposable income is a little naive.
i would make a couple of assumptions.
The average age on her is in the 40s i reckon,
the average salary is a multiple of 27k
also agree with some other points,
price doesnt equal enjoyment
and most people start with one thing and work their way up (and get more comfortable with the price of things as they go)
I am amazed no-one has pointed out the obvious. People buy on credit, most likely credit cards. And, before anyone claims that is not common, see the big thread of excitement on here in reaction to Jura Watches recent interest free deal.
personally i dont, but even if you did, you have to be able to pay it back eventually
You don't have to be rich to have a 'luxury' watch, the only requirement is to spend slightly less than you earn over a period of time. That's an achievement in itself, especially earlier in our lives when paying rents and saving for deposits. I feel for younger people as it's harder than ever now with spiralling rents and house prices. But eventually as the decades roll by, with a bit of luck there are fewer outgoings. Mortgages decrease, children if you have them grow up, wages hopefully increase and we already have most of the necessities. While some have clearly done well for themselves, others may just be a bit older. And of course really like watches, otherwise the cash would have gone on holidays, going out, a nicer car, or a million and one other things.
As for this forum, I'd say it's (mostly) an open minded bunch of intelligent people who just like interesting and beautiful watches, whatever the price point. I've had as much, if not more interest in good finds in the £150-300 bracket that I've posted than in more expensive pieces. Often they are no less attractive, and may have a more interesting story. Yes, prestigious pieces will always get a few oohs and aahs, but just enjoy the pictures. There's always going to be someone who's got more.
Most "wealthy" people I know live a lie.
Everything on credit. Everything.
Inherited their wealth and pass it off as their own. "False wealth"
"It's better to apriciate things you don't have than have things you don't apriciate"
OP, that is a really nice collection you have.
Regarding incomes, try living with 30% of what you make and pay 30% off that on mortgage only.
If there weren't any Rolexes, Omega or other expensive brands there wouldn't be a goal.
From my point of view you are the lottery winner here. :)
i wouldnt turn down some inherited wealth, and surely if they have inherited it is their own??
You sound like my wife.
I'm probably in a similar position to you, and I don't have Rolex, but I can see that I could have made some changes to get one.
Rather than paying a few hundred a month for a car I could have got something older/cheaper.
I could have a holiday less per year. I've spent a fair bit on doing up the house in the past 8 years. Then there's bikes and camera stuff.
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