Whats the appeal of steel sports watches

al128 · Oct 12, 2016

Thomas P.
I've been posting on this forum for a while as well as collecting watches for a while. I don't want this coming off the wrong way but what is the appeal of (very expensive) steel sports watches? While I do appreciate steel sports watches for what they are for the life of me I can't get the appeal of spending over around $500 USD for a steel watch. It's just mind boggling to me especially seeing new steel watches cost over $10k USD. Ingrained in my mind is that luxury (expensive) watches are made of precious metal as in gold, platinum or palladium. What do you all think?

SS sports watch = SUV ...

Nobody NEEDS one, yet everybody has one. Social consumption and do.

Thomas P. · Oct 12, 2016

Bushido
There was actually a very interesting article on Ablogtowatch recently that discussed the price points of steel vs precious metal watches and the steep decline in precious metal watch demand. http://www.ablogtowatch.com/demand-platinum-gold-watches-plummets/

The gist in this article nicely parallels some of my view points:
1) The price jump to precious metal watches over ss is dramatically higher than the actual cost involved to produce said watch.
Example: Retail of a SS Rolex BLNR is $9895 usd. It's 18k white gold counterpart the BLRO is $38,250 usd. (Example taken from linked article)
2) On the resale market, precious metal watches take a much larger depreciation hit than stainless.
Example: Rolex Sub 116610 retails for $8550 and can be found selling used for $7075. This would yield a resale value of ~83% of retail purchase. The retail of a white gold Sub 116619 is $36,850. This can be found used for $24,525. Making resale value of ~66.5% of retail purchase.
Both used watches found on a popular Rolex reseller with similar conditions, all B/P, and both only a few months old. (I just looked up the prices myself for this post).

Point being, from purely an objective numbers perspective, if looking at ROI then precious metal watches are certainly not the way to go.

It's typically not possible to buy any new watch at retail and get any kind of positive return...

BlackTalon · Oct 12, 2016

crap, now you've killed it for me. I was thinking more along the lines of a ss sports watch being more like a sports car, and a precious metal dress watch being more like a grand touring car. I cannot/ will not equate a watch style I like and utilize with a godawful SUV! :whipped:

CajunTiger · Oct 12, 2016

Bottom line- if you want to invest in gold, then just buy gold. Not sure why anyone thinks investing in gold watches would be a good idea today.
Now if you want to take a huge risk on the future....maybe your on to something 😀
I'll stick with stainless.

ulackfocus · Oct 12, 2016

Stainless steel is for sports / tool watches. Precious metal is for dress watches. End of debate.

The Squirrel has spoken.

Jwit · Oct 12, 2016

U ulackfocus
The Squirrel has spoken.

watchdaddy1 · Oct 12, 2016

oddboy · Oct 12, 2016

Well, if you're gonna speculate, you might need some tools .

Frunkinator · Oct 12, 2016

Thomas P.
I've been posting on this forum for a while as well as collecting watches for a while. I don't want this coming off the wrong way but what is the appeal of (very expensive) steel sports watches? While I do appreciate steel sports watches for what they are for the life of me I can't get the appeal of spending over around $500 USD for a steel watch. It's just mind boggling to me especially seeing new steel watches cost over $10k USD. Ingrained in my mind is that luxury (expensive) watches are made of precious metal as in gold, platinum or palladium. What do you all think?

I think a lot has to do with versatility... Sport watches have become desk divers over the years. Many can be dressed up or down and still look fantastic. Dress pieces alone, kinda have one purpose. It's a lot harder to dress down a dress piece then it is dress up a sportier one, IMO.

dialstatic · Oct 12, 2016

Thomas P.
I'm trying to look at the absolute worst case scenerio in making a bad purchase.

Given that the price premium you pay for a gold watch is far greater than the intrinsic value of the gold, that doesn't make sense. Worst case scenario, you'll actually lose less money if your €10k steel watch becomes completely worthless overnight than you would if your €20k gold one becomes worth only its gold content.

It's different if you buy them low on the second hand market (which is possible because no one seems to like gold watches right now ;-). I recently acquired a solid 18k Eterna KonTiki 20 for about $50 over its scrap gold price. That's indeed a less risky proposition, but then we're talking about a different segment.

I think the moral of the story is: buy what you like (preferably with money you have ;-)

STANDY · Oct 13, 2016

Glad nobody has talked about types of stainless steel yet. 😗

Some of the knife forum steel threads go for 100s of pages 😉

meganfox17 · Oct 13, 2016

STANDY
Glad nobody has talked about types of stainless steel yet. 😗

Some of the knife forum steel threads go for 100s of pages 😉

I've decided against having an "Interlectual Intercourse " involving the Bremont Boeing Model 247 proprietary SS as i've a terrible headache Sir...[emoji41]

dialstatic · Oct 13, 2016

STANDY
Glad nobody has talked about types of stainless steel yet. 😗

Some of the knife forum steel threads go for 100s of pages 😉

On that note, I've always wanted a 300-layer pattern-welded 1085 and 15n20 steel Seamaster.

Thomas P. · Oct 13, 2016

[QUOTE="
It's different if you buy them low on the second hand market (which is possible because no one seems to like gold watches right now ;-). I recently acquired a solid 18k Eterna KonTiki 20 for about $50 over its scrap gold price. That's indeed a less risky proposition, but then we're talking about a different segment.[/QUOTE]

And those are the kinds of pieces I like; the ones that don't cost much over spot. 😀

Archer · Oct 13, 2016

Because people collect watches, not precious metals...

bazamu · Oct 13, 2016

The answer is simple for me - I'm a casual guy, even in the office (wear every single watch on "vintage looking" leather strap because I prefer them that way) and I just can't ever see myself strapping on a nice gold watch on a weekend without it breaking from the rest of my general look. Some guys can wear an 18K AP with jeans...I'm not that guy. Think it just looks odd.

As far as platinum or white gold...I can't tell a difference visually from steel, so why pay a premium for it? But again, I collect sports watches and precious metal variations usually aren't in play anyways.

There's no wrong way to do it, though! Some guys love dressy gold/platinum watches, and they're no more "right" than I am.

tyrantlizardrex · Oct 13, 2016

Given the choice between a 911 and a 370z, those nice people from Stuttgart would be taking my money all day long.

Is a 911 worth more than a 370z?

Who gives a damn!

Take my money, and let me loose in some long tunnels!!! 😎

Davidt · Oct 13, 2016

It makes me laugh when you see a watch with 50-200 quids worth of small diamonds in the bezel, with an rrp of several thousand over the standard model, due to the fact that's its encrusted with diamonds.

Perseus · Oct 13, 2016

This sums up my feelings on this thread

efauser · Oct 13, 2016

So, what did we decide? SS>Precious Metal or SS<Precious Metal or SS≤Precious Metal?

Whats the appeal of steel sports watches

al128

Thomas P.

BlackTalon

CajunTiger

ulackfocus

Jwit

watchdaddy1

oddboy

Frunkinator

dialstatic

STANDY

meganfox17

dialstatic

Thomas P.

Archer

bazamu

tyrantlizardrex

Davidt

Perseus

efauser

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