Having a philosophical moment here.... I love my new watch, as I'm sure many of you do. I admire its beautiful craftsmanship, the deliberate details, its quality captured in an object just inches in size. But I also look at it and occasionally find myself thinking: "Gee, this thing costs almost 5-digits." I'm essentially wearing the equivalent of a small car on my wrist. Not only could few people afford wearing jewelry that costs thousands of dollars, but is this really who I am? My DSOTM could feed scores of children in the developing world... or vaccinate thousands. Do you ever reflect on that? For some reason I never questioned this when I bought my wife her engagement ring, or spend money on other things...
Sadly, selfishly and ashamedly I haven't thought this before. I have considered that there is a potential house deposit sitting in various drawers around my rented home in unworn watch projects. Making the leap to actually converting them to cash and then into some life changing event is proving hard however. Eight years ago I had no need for a watch. Now there are 30+ easily remembered, possibly more. Two are worn regularly Only I can convince myself to make the change. Time saved not lurking forums/eBay has the potential to make a vast improvement to my life too. Love you all, and all that. But.... EDIT: PS - I thought this was going to be a thread about a Heuer Camaro. Thanks for the kick up the butt.
Well, watches are a completely discretionary item, so of course you'll feel this way. Unlike a Nissan Versa though, your watch will probably be worth more after 5 years than the Nissan. Think about it as an ATM on your wrist. My own collection is starting to get crazy. I'm trying to limit the total value to about 1 year's household expenses. So if for some reason I had to liquidate, I know that I could live off the sales from my wrist junk for about a year without taking money off of other investments.
Presumably you've worked hard to get to a point where you can (maybe easily) afford the DSOTM that you enjoy so much. And you've also had the good fortune of having been born in a relatively stable and prosperous country that gave you the opportunities to do so (and bear the fruit of your labor). There's no shame in either. Yours are humbling - and important - considerations. They speak to your humanity, and may be indicative of slight feelings of shame regardless of the above. But you're in the fortunate position where you can both enjoy the luxuries of life and help others. I'm sure you'd feel better looking at your DSOTM knowing that you're also doing something for the world (rather than "in stead of"). Making a donation, doing some volunteer work, etc. It's about balance, I think. And that doesn't mean wearing a watch on both wrists. But it also doesn't have to mean wearing none.
When it happens to me to get this kind of considerations I simply force myself to think that 95% of people crossing my way don't give a sh*t on what I have on my wrist and 90% of the remaining 5% won't have a clue about how much the LE I have on my wrist is worth. Speedmaster family is comparable to 911's from Porsche to me - only a few people are able to see the important details. Unfortunately too much empathy is only being recognized only once you're not part of this world anymore so, yeah, balance is the right word here. Support a foundation and get yourself another watch if you can allow it - then enjoy. And don't think too much
I think you should celebrate the fact that divine providence has made it possible for you collect watches. Lots of people collect all sorts of stuff. For me it's starting a dialog in my head of how much "stuff" do I really need?
Still unable due to living in the UK during the "mad cow" years. Wonder how long that will continue to disqualify me? Will help an old lady over the road tomorrow. Whether she wants to go or not
Is definitely worth-reading, @Larry S Generally speaking "Less things, more experiences" is something I try to apply as well. But isn't that meteorite dial on your wrist an amazing experience, every day?
I think I own, or have owned, several watches worth more than my Toyota - especially now that it's 8 years old with 114k miles.
Throughout my life I've definitely spent money on worse things than a watch. Watch is a good hobby if you buy the right pieces and you get to enjoy it.
Yes, I've thought the same thing more than once. I remember searching for used Audi A4s that were listed at about the same price I paid for a watch I had just purchased: I was quite surprised at how nice of a car I could get for the price.
Dude I am in the exact same spot. I'm thinking: "Selling my Black Bay could get me a Mark II Supra" "Explorer + GMT Master + Snowflake Sub = Cayman" and so on and so forth.. But to the issue of feeding the poor vs a hunk of ceramic on your wrist, it's a continuum of how much of your own personal consumption that you give up for someone else, etc. Here in the USA, it's pretty hard to see, but life is pretty basic in most other countries. I've been to places where the same ramen joint, or a Sbarros in a food court in NJ is an exclusive sit-down place in the poorer parts of asia. Turn up the guilt dial a bit and if it's not the DSOTM, it's the $4 Starbucks coffee, or even the dollar menu. If things are black and white, then nothing will make the guilt go away save dropping everything and becoming a missionary in a leper colony. Since it isn't black and white, you have to draw the line somewhere and just be thankful about your own existence. In my own business, I've set aside 5% of revenue for charitable causes (mostly disaster relief). It helps a LOT with both guilt, and during the times when you start thinking "well I don't have to work that hard"
This drives me nuts too ... Complete and utter nonsense ... On top of that I'm a somewhat rare blood group
