I just did a little tot up & the total value of watches I currently own (26) + the value of watches I've sold (137) since 2005 = £328,000
I'm sure it's much larger than that for some here.
I just did a little tot up & the total value of watches I currently own (26) + the value of watches I've sold (137) since 2005 = £328,000
I'm sure it's much larger than that for some here.
Last edited by andy tims; 14th May 2021 at 07:06.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
Sobering indeed that figure is more than my house is worth
Try doing the same thing with houses you own or owned. Now that really is a sobering value, particularly if you’ve moved around a bit!
My 2bed terrace house in Brixton, London.Originally Posted by Dave+63
I bought in 1986 two years after the last riots, it was on the front line. 66 Effra Parade. I paid £46k for it. Rocketing to £120k in 88 just before the Crash. I finally sold it in 1989 for £90k a good profit. It’s now estimated at £800k plus. If only......... that’s just one house, out of many.
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That's a coincidence...until a couple of years ago, my brother used to live on Effra Parade.
That’s not really a hobby then is it, limiting yourself to two brands purely on the residual value.
And you haven’t done anything well financially until you sell.
Cheers..
Jase
Indeed. There's many great watches out there that don't have Rolex or Patek on the dial. As for most hobbies not costing you money, I seriously doubt that. Music lessons cost money, golf club membership costs money etc etc.
Without wishing to sound preachy there is something to be said for buying within your means but that's not the same as expecting it to appreciate in value.
I sold my house to Tom Carver who was a then BBC reporter, he paid £90k and sold it For £70+?
That was a slump.
We had a school opposite, that’s now gone and 100’s of flats.
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Yes, he lived in one of those flats...I presume where the school used to be.
Coke and hookers would be 'cheaper'.
I guess the really sobering number is how much value has been 'lost' in the churn /flipping/ depreciation cf any rise in the price of the assets 'collected' and retained.
I'm lucky in that the value of a couple of Pateks and one or two vintage Rolexes appreciated over the time I had them. The biggest gain was a watch both bought and sold outside of TZ, and I'd be stuffed otherwise.Coke and hookers would be 'cheaper'.
I guess the really sobering number is how much value has been 'lost' in the churn /flipping/ depreciation cf any rise in the price of the assets 'collected' and retained.
Felicidades.
I can still see myself probably buying the right Rolex...despite all their nonsense but only if they've got it in the shop on the day I go in, there's no shenanigans/ extras required of me, just the parting with the cash. Then done.
I'm also a total amateur/dilettante.
Never sell a house, or rather buy and hold until you've at least a 'better' proposition on the horizon, seems another sound takeaway.
That's one not to be divulged.
SWMBO might one day join TZ just to check up on me.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
I think my ‘sobering number’ is firmly in the ‘I don’t want to know’ category!
I went through a period where I ‘churned’ about 70k worth of watches in a year, every year, simply buying and selling. I made a tiny loss so saw the hobby as relatively cheap...compared with stuff like cars. Later, I bailed-out and now am far more cautious. I don’t trade at all.
The daft thing is I sold too early, stuff like the 5711 . I could have made a handsome profit. But never mind, I’m happier just coasting along.
If I tot up the value of watches bought and sold it is easily in 6 figures, but a lot of that is the same money. I think in reality I have never had more than £20k tied up in watches. Even if I look at e-bay and the volume and amount related to those transactions you think where is all that money now, but it was never there in the first place. Use the same £10k to buy and sell 10 watches and on paper you have bought a £100k worth of watches.
I don't see how adding the value of your collection plus the watches you've sold gives any meaningful figure other than creating as large a number related to your watches as you can generate? Surely you could buy a £1000 watch, sell it and buy another ten times over and according to that sum you've generated a figure of £10,000 from only ever having £1000 and not actually making any loss?
I keep a spreadsheet on my current collection, not the ones that have gone, that would be depressing.
i have probably 2 years worth of mortgage repayments in value, I told the wife when the mortgage gets to that point ( quite a way away ) I will sell up and pay it off.
I bet i don't
Cheers..
Jase
If buying and selling watches was putting me into a negative bank balance situation I would change my MO immediately.
If you have a hobby you should have the brains to enjoy it whilst not loosing on it, it is called expertise.
With watches it is dead easy, in the current market you only buy Rolex or Patek and you never sell. Buy them, keep them, enjoy them and finally sell them late in life or give them away to your kids.
I enjoy my watches and I have done well financially, how can you better that.
Well, this scenario risks 10k overall....because each transaction could end in a loss. You would then need to replace the cash to keep trading.
The assumption these days is for a steadily rising market virtually guaranteed to return a profit. So the whole process is close to risk free. Will this process continue.....we can’t know.
For me, the rigid link between the hobby and money has been off-putting. It can read like a hobby of financial trading.
Last edited by paskinner; 14th May 2021 at 09:45.
I’m not sure a hobby can require us to never lose money. After all, many things cost us money....going on holiday, going to the cinema, to the pub....on and on. If you are enjoying yourself, why not spend. Isn’t that what part of money is for? And if you lose money on a watch, so what? Who cares....
Every time you drink a pint of beer you ‘lose money’.
Last edited by paskinner; 14th May 2021 at 11:03.
Exactly, I wouldn’t call only buying Rolex or Patek a hobby, more an investment vehicle. If that’s your hobby though, then fair enough I suppose.
I’ve purchased and sold a couple of hundred watches of varying values over a few decades, the hobby for me is in buying interesting watches, enjoying them, and selling them when I’m done to buy new ones.
It’s a hobby, and like all my other hobbies it costs money. It’s not about breaking the bank, or not having money for food on the table, I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve made any money on anything I’ve sold, so cumulatively it must have cost a fair bit, but I’ve enjoyed them so money well spent IMO.
Last edited by Tooks; 14th May 2021 at 12:13.
That confirms my status as a complete amateur!!!
Watch Collecting Survey:
Q1. Can you afford it?
Yes = it's a hobby, enjoy it, don't worry.
No = it's an addiction, get help, get out.
___________________________________
end of questions
That's it, anything else is pointless self-flagellation that sucks the joy from life
I've got a spreadsheet, I've bought and sold 39 watches in the last 7 years, I've lost roughly 3k in total and spent £435 on postage
I don't think it's even 3k as I still have a few sports Rolex in the collection for heavy lifting
What my spreadsheet does show....never buy a bremont or zenith unless you plan to keep them for life......
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A more telling figure would be the total value of all the watches owned at this time. I'm sure many wouldn't want to contribute to such a thread or dream of telling their other half that figure.
When I tell the wife about how much the value of Rolex has escalated, she wants me to buy more. I get nagged for not buying whereas most men probably get nagged for buying.
My wife knows this exactly. You are correct - I would not contribute that to such a thread. But I am sure anyone could easily work it out from any recent SOTC threads if they wanted.
It is quite a sobering number (but nowhere near the value of a house).
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
I admire your single mindedness Mick.
But be honest, haven’t you always secretly wanted to own a Helvetia, even for a few weeks?
Nope.
Taking this slightly off rails but the house price discussion is an interesting one.
People always seem to fixate on how much houses increase in value, but a rising tide raises all ships. If you wanted to buy a more expensive house than the one you own, then that will be more expensive too. In fact, because the rise is generally proportional, you will be more out of pocket as a result of a growing market. Personally, unless I was planning on downsizing or passing the house on to my children, I would much rather the market contracted over time (I might lose money on the one I own but at least I’ve paid more of the mortgage and could now afford a more expensive home). I guess it’s just a reflection of where one is in life.
As for watches, I spend a very small proportion of my income on them and don’t worry about the loss as it was never a lot of money to start with. Most of the (Edit: non-watch)things I purchase I tend not to sell afterwards, so I see any and all return on watch money as a bonus. Sure, I could ‘spend more wisely’, but then again, I could have bought a more sensible house / car / clothes and I am happier losing a couple of hundred quid on a few seikos / Damasko, which I treat as consumables, rather than concerning myself over what my investment piece is worth now.
Last edited by Idontgram; 14th May 2021 at 15:58.
As regards spending money on watches: I have a separate dedicated account ring fenced for watch purchases - never affecting day to day accounts or spend. Before I retired from paid employment, I had a reasonable disposable income so put money into the account. These days watch purchases have to be self funding.
The throughput is immaterial, though the wife tries to tie me to two or three trades per year - it can be more like five / six per year. I win some / lose some with aim to nett zero over the year.
This hobby has allowed me to own some wonderful pieces from a variety of manufactures. Maybe it occupies too much time but as scaled it does no harm financially or socially. I have gained some physical friends around the country and abroad and without exception everyone I have met in person have been gentlemanly in the best possible sense.
I could dig out my spreadsheet and tally up how much I have spent over the last few years but I can’t see that is relevant.
Martyn
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 14th May 2021 at 16:30.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
I bought my partner an Oyster Perpetual 34mm with olive green dial, she always likes olive green. Anyway, by pure luck, that humble OP, ladies version, now several years old and discontinued, has shot up in resale value. When I told her the watch was now worth a lot more , she grinned; she ‘gets it’ and enjoys the whole situation.
And, sensible woman, she will never sell.
I always knew I was a lightweight on here, but my figure is about a tenth of the OP's.
I certainly don't want to think of the 'cost', although I do have a number of watches which have appreciated (along with the dozens that haven't)
When someone shows a 5 figure watch I always think "I'd never spend that much", but my current watches have cost me easily that.
That said, I think I'm happier with lots of lesser watches than one or two really expensive ones.
M
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Last edited by snowman; 15th May 2021 at 13:18.
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
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