Community Stories

Is this a hobby for the super rich?

T
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Whats interesting with watches these days is for many of us, there is no technical use for them anymore. We have cell phones in our pockets, but many of us appreciate them for reasons beyond getting the time. Its a status symbol for some, for others they just appreciate the craftsmanship.

I got the original apple watch in 2016. Before I got it I didnt think I would ever need or want one. It was a gift and I actually found it incredibly useful. I still think it is, but now its very slow, is worth probably next to nothing, and its still basically just staring at another screen, just like my iphone. I think they are super useful for a lot of people, but it will never be a replacement to a fine handcrafted watch to me, and thats why we are willing to spend this much on them. You dont have to be a multimillionaire to afford an omega at some point in your life.
 
i20rider
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I was following hodinkee and buying watch Revolution magazines for several years before I purchase My First Watch. It's embarrassing to say but I lived paycheck-to-paycheck to paycheck. It was just out of my means to have a watch like that. I started doing piles of research on vintage watches and made a few small purchases. I started flipping and made a little bit of money with almost no investment. The most I have ever spent on a watch was $1500. But already had a buyer lined up ,and had it gone in 2 days. The next highest purchase was only $500 and all the rest are around $100. Or less. .

I have several Omegas , several Zeniths, longines , jlc , some obscure valjoux chronos, love my seikos ,and everything between.

I say if you enjoy horology enough . Let your knowledge work to your advantage, the hobby will pay for itself.

I would like to apologize in advance. This was all done talk text. Please disregard all punctuation errors thank you.lol
 
T
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F FlyingSnoopy
If you buy an Apple Watch in three years time it’s is almost worthless
If you buy a speed master in ten years time it will remain a classic and if you sell it you will get your money back
(But you will not sell it. You will always have a mile on your face when you wear it)
Cheers
Not completely true. Apple has a trade-on program that is actually really good (phones, watches, etc). I recently upgraded and got a $250 trade-in value for my 2.5 year old Apple watch. Now 4 years out or more, yes, almost worthless.
 
T
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P pongster
I read somewhere that an engagement ring should be worth 3x a man’s monthly salary.

Is there a similar metric for buying watches vis-a-vis one’s income or assets? 1x monthly salary? 1% of net assets?

I had always heard a months salary. I like where you are going with this though... I'll talk to my wife about a retro-active watch purchase as my engagement present!
 
T
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mz_cle mz_cle
I agree that there are different entry points into watch collecting or appreciation, but I find the most enjoyment comes from researching a purchase or watch. It's pedantic and detail-centric, but the same research into the different elements that an enthusiast might find interesting are similar whether researching a tool watch in the $3-500 range or a chronograph in the $7,500-10,000 range. The interest the latest limited addition Seiko Alpinist is a good example that a watch doesn't need to be of a particular price to be interesting or desirable.

My interest has evolved, and I've made some admitted mistakes. I have also made a few purchases that give me much pleasure and satisfaction. This journey has taught me about my particular interests, which skew towards modern tool or sport watches, and have increased my confidence in making more expensive purchases, but based on my taste, not a forum or influential website.

I also like to think of it this way. Let's say you have a budget of $5K set aside for a watch (the actual budget doesn't matter, this same thinking applies for most budget ranges). You can get one $5K watch, or ten $500 watches. Same applies to a $1K budget - one watch or a couple of entry level watches. Collecting them over time if you get more than one also adds to the enjoyment, at least, it has for me.
 
Uniqez
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i20rider i20rider
I was following hodinkee and buying watch Revolution magazines for several years before I purchase My First Watch. It's embarrassing to say but I lived paycheck-to-paycheck to paycheck. It was just out of my means to have a watch like that. I started doing piles of research on vintage watches and made a few small purchases. I started flipping and made a little bit of money with almost no investment. The most I have ever spent on a watch was $1500. But already had a buyer lined up ,and had it gone in 2 days. The next highest purchase was only $500 and all the rest are around $100. Or less. .

I have several Omegas , several Zeniths, longines , jlc , some obscure valjoux chronos, love my seikos ,and everything between.

I say if you enjoy horology enough . Let your knowledge work to your advantage, the hobby will pay for itself.

I would like to apologize in advance. This was all done talk text. Please disregard all punctuation errors thank you.lol

Everyone knows about your $6 flip mate))) But, to be serious that is a nice approach. Watch collecting shouldn't be super expensive hobby, if you put realistic goals.

OP make sure your family always have good vacation, every year if possible. Your kids probably want to remember time you spent together over anything else in the world!
 
Dan S
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I think we are mainly in agreement that our young dentist friend is simply cheap ... er, frugal. However, I have a provocative question for some of the senior members, especially those who collect vintage watches that generally hold their value pretty well.

If you add up the total value of your watch collection, and calculate its fraction of your net worth, are you feeling comfortable with that number? Or are you in too deep? ::stirthepot::

I will just say that if I had an investment advisor, I think I would probably be reluctant to tell him how much I have in my watches. Fortunately my wife doesn’t care at all, and she makes twice as much as me anyway.
 
Gt390
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Not sure if anyone else picked up on the 8 figures comment from the OP or not. I am no financial guru and not the best with my gozintas. But last I knew that was 10 million plus dollars. Any watch is within his reach.
 
bucksandreds
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Healthy baby girl born Monday. I’m getting my Wife the Louis Vuitton Azur bag she wants when I get my watch ($1300) the 8 figure comment is projected net worth given current yearly savings and historical market returns if that all holds true when I’m 65 in 28 years. That may be worth $4 million in today’s money. My net worth is probably half a million, today. I want my grandkids college and house down payments covered by me. Come to Ohio. See the difference between the haves and have nots. You prob would understand my concerns. I’m buying the watch in a few months. Want to pay a couple of other things, first.
 
mz_cle
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bucksandreds bucksandreds
Healthy baby girl born Monday. I’m getting my Wife the Louis Vuitton Azur bag she wants when I get my watch ($1300) the 8 figure comment is projected net worth given current yearly savings and historical market returns if that all holds true when I’m 65 in 28 years. That may be worth $4 million in today’s money. My net worth is probably half a million, today. I want my grandkids college and house down payments covered by me. Come to Ohio. See the difference between the haves and have nots. You prob would understand my concerns. I’m buying the watch in a few months. Want to pay a couple of other things, first.

Congratulations for the new baby girl! Don't let anyone get to you regarding your financial decisions; they should be personal.

Having grown up in NE Ohio, moved away, and come back, there will always be a charm to the state and people here for me, but many areas struggle with the transition away from secure industrial economies.
 
Archer
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mz_cle mz_cle
Don't let anyone get to you regarding your financial decisions; they should be personal.

I agree, but the OP has a desire to make them our business as well apparently...
 
queriver
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Dan S Dan S
I have a provocative question for some of the senior members
What do you mean by “senior”? - Years on OF, post count, age over ?, retired (not working), etc.
The provocation might come from where you set the bar. 🍿
 
Dan S
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queriver queriver
What do you mean by “senior”? - Years on OF, post count, age over ?, retired (not working), etc.
The provocation might come from where you set the bar. 🍿

Actually, I was mainly thinking of seniority in the context of watch collecting. But I didn’t express it well.
 
Taddyangle
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bucksandreds bucksandreds
Come to Ohio. See the difference between the haves and have nots. You prob would understand my concerns.

Congrats on baby girl.

I totally get this comment. I suspect more relevant, say if you drive a Porsche out there or wear a Rolex.

One of a few things that attracted me to Omega was that not many knew what type of watch I was wearing. But with all the marketing Omega seems to be doing now, it seems to be a more noticeable brand. Just speculation on my observations.
 
queriver
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Dan S Dan S
Actually, I was mainly thinking of seniority in the context of watch collecting. But I didn’t express it well.
Then I'll happily self-classify as a junior. Can't do that when I look in the mirror so I'll take it wherever I can.

Answering your question as a non-senior but someone involved in investment, I'd be surprised if many experienced collectors of investor/collector grade watches (or "vintage watches that generally hold their value pretty well" to use your words) go in too deep. At the end of the day those types of watches are assets, probably not dissimilar to other alternative investments bought for capital growth or as inflation hedges that don't provide income, such as precious metals and coins and some other collectables. Most of those types of experienced collectors should be able to structure their asset portfolio to suit their risk profile and requirement for income. Therefore they should be able to sensibly invest in watches up to a ceiling as a proportion of their net worth they deem suitable for their circumstances. It's not a bad problem to have if you find out you should sell a few watches because you're overweight due to price increases over the last few years.
 
PhysicsIsFun
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bucksandreds bucksandreds
Healthy baby girl born Monday. I’m getting my Wife the Louis Vuitton Azur bag she wants when I get my watch ($1300) the 8 figure comment is projected net worth given current yearly savings and historical market returns if that all holds true when I’m 65 in 28 years. That may be worth $4 million in today’s money. My net worth is probably half a million, today. I want my grandkids college and house down payments covered by me. Come to Ohio. See the difference between the haves and have nots. You prob would understand my concerns. I’m buying the watch in a few months. Want to pay a couple of other things, first.

Congratulations on the baby girl. Daughters are great - I love mine!
 
WatchWalker
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valkyrie_rider valkyrie_rider
As a result to this new reality, watches prices increased above inflation i.e. a Speedy will cost around 4-5K instead of 1.3K if only inflation corrected.
Aren’t you overlooking that early 80ties $1 valued more than 4 CHF while today it’s closer to $1 equals 1 CHF? In other words, exchange rate plus inflation makes that Swiss made mechanical watches today are not relatively more expensive.
 
R
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Definitely not loaded with money here. I mean... it’s a hobby we do what we like and collect watches that we like. I mean for watches like Patek Philippe you kinda have to have money but watches in general it’s just a hobby that everyone can enjoy. The SMP is a pretty classic choice by the way! Maybe think of the purchase as a reward for an accomplishment. I bet that’ll make the purchase seem more reasonable.
 
fskywalker
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Not rich at all, just love watches. Had flipped a lot as cannot justify a big collection, most times something have to go to try something new
 
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