This maybe the best advice for watch shopping I have heard. For $5-$6k make sure I love it!
Thanks. I've learned it (and mostly live by it) through expensive lessons over the years.
The first hurdle is really
knowing what you absolutely love. What you can't live without. My Explorer 1 is now 4 years old, and the first time I tried it on
(at an AD -- back when you could walk in and find full display cases) it was an instantaneous "OMG... this is it! I've found it!" moment, and there was total clarity in that experience. No internal conflicts. No pro and con list. Just, "This... I
must have this".
The second hurdle is to focus and ignore all the shiny things that compete for your attention. Because unless you have loads of financial resources at your disposal, every dalliance is a financial set-back against getting the piece you know is really "the one". We don't need more stuff, you know? The world is an endless conveyor belt selling us "stuff". (Okay, now I really am becoming my dad!)
You shouldn't have availability issues with IWC. With Rolex the third hurdle is deciding retail vs grey market. Both of these Rolexes were bought grey, and I'm 100% fine with it. With the Explorer, it was at a discount from retail (again, those were
those days!) but with the Sub, it was at a mark-up. Is what it is. That's the market today. I'm glad to have it, and it's a total beast.
Good luck! Stay focused. Seek treasure, not "stuff". Delayed gratification is where it's at.
