"Men who buy expensive watches are stupid"
Discussion
trashbat said:
Expensive watches always slightly bewilder me. I like the writer's Jag comparison, to be honest. Unlike cars, you spend more than a small figure on a watch, and in terms of pure product and engineering, you get nothing extra.
That's not strictly true, while the difference between a £6k and £600k watch in engineering terms will probably be minimal, there is a pretty sizeable difference between a £60 and £6k watch from a build quality and accuracy point of view. For instance, a Grand Seiko Spring Drive watch will be far better made, more accurate and just better engineered than my Seiko 5.
If you buy a Rolex, you become a sponsor of Formula 1 and Wimbledon, as well as celebrity 'brand ambassadors'. In return for your sponsorship, you get to a nice watch that's worn by celebrity sportspeople.
You're sharing your money round with celebrity 'brand ambassadors' like Roger Federer, as well as helping Bernie Ecclestone with $35m/year to sponsor Formula 1.
Omega is the same, course, and even Hublot paid an estimated eight figure sum to sponsor football's World Cup.
That's where some of your money goes, quite aside from the 50% margin made by the retail store for selling you the watch.
H22observer said:
Pit Pony said:
If you struggle to spend all your money, it's a good way of sharing it around.
Sharing it around with whom? A watch manufacturer in Switzerland that turns over several billion dollars per year, but doesn't pay any tax because it's owned by "A charity" ?Omega is the same, course, and even Hublot paid an estimated eight figure sum to sponsor football's World Cup.
That's where some of your money goes, quite aside from the 50% margin made by the retail store for selling you the watch.
leglessAlex said:
That's not strictly true, while the difference between a £6k and £600k watch in engineering terms will probably be minimal, there is a pretty sizeable difference between a £60 and £6k watch from a build quality and accuracy point of view.
For instance, a Grand Seiko Spring Drive watch will be far better made, more accurate and just better engineered than my Seiko 5.
Right. But in meaningful, measurable terms like 'seconds wrong every year' or 'how many decades the strap lasts', it won't be any more reliable or tell the time better or automatically bio-augment your wrist into the ultimate wFor instance, a Grand Seiko Spring Drive watch will be far better made, more accurate and just better engineered than my Seiko 5.
king machine. In fact it might even be worse. It does a simple job as well as anything else. In that case, 'better engineered' is an intangible thing.Cotty said:
AlexC1981 said:
I do think you are being deliberately provocative. Calling Cotty's vape (which he is obviously fond of) absurd has exposed you as a meany 
I just put that down to the general negativity of people in general. Its like people don't like to see other people doing well even if it has no affect on them. "This person has quit cigs to improve his health and save money by switching to electronic cigs, im going to try put down whatever they are doing although it has nothing to do with me". Sorry but I just don't understand that mentality.
Why buy expensive anything? Get a suit from M&S, a used car from Vauxhall, a cheap house on Moss Side, holidays in a tent on Dartmouth, eat your own home-grown vegetables, shop at Aldi, eat-out at a KFC, and access the internet with a five-year-old Dell through a 14kbps modem.
In fact why bother to do anything except have a minimum wage job? It's not like you need the money any more.
In fact why bother to do anything except have a minimum wage job? It's not like you need the money any more.
audidoody said:
Why buy expensive anything? Get a suit from M&S, a used car from Vauxhall, a cheap house on Moss Side, holidays in a tent on Dartmouth, eat your own home-grown vegetables, shop at Aldi, eat-out at a KFC, and access the internet with a five-year-old Dell through a 14kbps modem.
In fact why bother to do anything except have a minimum wage job? It's not like you need the money any more.
You are missing the point,In fact why bother to do anything except have a minimum wage job? It's not like you need the money any more.
A more expensive house will be bigger, with a better garden or closer to where you need to be, holidaying abroad gives you sun, sea and an experience of a different culture, eating at nice restaurants gives you nicer food that is better for your health, using a modern computer will be quicker and allow you to run programs etc. that an old one wont.
M&S suits are perhaps a better analogy, is a ££££ suit actually tangibly better then an M&S one, i dont know.
But the point the article makes is that a £100,000k watch doesn't do anything better then a £1000 watch, or even a £100 watch. It wont tell the time any better, it wont necessarily look any better, it wont necessarily last any longer or perform any extra functions.
Each to their own though! Spend your money on whatever you like, i wouldn't call you stupid for it
I also posted this video in the watch section, because in a way it is what gives me the satisfaction of a good watch. Its the knowledge that, in the computer age, there are still real humans, craftsmen, real hands and eyes putting these things together, and that you are wearing the product of a huge amount of work. Its not to show off to others, but that sense of a piece of craft, ( sometimes a piece of art) that you can have with you...
http://digg.com/video/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-watch...
Of course there is no functional reason to have one, You don't even need a Swatch. You can have your phone tell you the time. However, it is something that some people value and that it completely irrelevant to others, which is fair enough.
http://digg.com/video/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-watch...
Of course there is no functional reason to have one, You don't even need a Swatch. You can have your phone tell you the time. However, it is something that some people value and that it completely irrelevant to others, which is fair enough.
jimmy156 said:
You are missing the point,
A more expensive house will be bigger, with a better garden or closer to where you need to be, holidaying abroad gives you sun, sea and an experience of a different culture, eating at nice restaurants gives you nicer food that is better for your health, using a modern computer will be quicker and allow you to run programs etc. that an old one wont.
M&S suits are perhaps a better analogy, is a ££££ suit actually tangibly better then an M&S one, i dont know.
But the point the article makes is that a £100,000k watch doesn't do anything better then a £1000 watch, or even a £100 watch. It wont tell the time any better, it wont necessarily look any better, it wont necessarily last any longer or perform any extra functions.
Each to their own though! Spend your money on whatever you like, i wouldn't call you stupid for it
The point for most is not the functionality, but the aesthetic beauty of such watches, plus the knowledge of the craftsmanship that has gone into it. A more expensive house will be bigger, with a better garden or closer to where you need to be, holidaying abroad gives you sun, sea and an experience of a different culture, eating at nice restaurants gives you nicer food that is better for your health, using a modern computer will be quicker and allow you to run programs etc. that an old one wont.
M&S suits are perhaps a better analogy, is a ££££ suit actually tangibly better then an M&S one, i dont know.
But the point the article makes is that a £100,000k watch doesn't do anything better then a £1000 watch, or even a £100 watch. It wont tell the time any better, it wont necessarily look any better, it wont necessarily last any longer or perform any extra functions.
Each to their own though! Spend your money on whatever you like, i wouldn't call you stupid for it
Regard it as jewellery ... which is on the whole useless, but your wife will always prefer a 2 carat diamond over a 1 carat. With the obvious cost consequences.
If you regard the watch as art, why is a Monet worth so much more than one of the hundreds of paintings you can buy in Montmartre by one of the many local artists? It's just a canvas with some paint on it.
Voldemort said:
Men who buy expensive watches are rich. Men who buy expensive watches (or, indeed, anything else) that they can't afford are stupid. The end.
Nicely summed up! "At the moment, I’m buying a house. Had I turned right out of university and walked into JP Morgan, I wouldn’t be faffing around with a mortgage, I’d be buying the place outright, probably as part of the portfolio I was building up to give me something to do when I retire next year.
I was musing along these lines when a watch supplement fell out of the magazine I was reading. I remembered something I’ve been told so often that it must be true: when City boys get their first big bonus, they go out and buy a dumb fast car or an expensive watch. And then I thought of all those braying, pink-shirted Canary Wharf types, with their gleaming doughnut-sized timepieces, and I realised that I would never have cut it as a banker. You see, I’m just not impressed enough by £20,000 watches.
There is something deeply weird and also rather offensive about expensive watches."
He just comes across as vitriolic and full of inverted snobbery. Maybe his schoolmates have outdone him and he's bitter? Sounds like either the art world or the Labour party would be the only place such an idiot would end up. Not sure he would have 'walked into JP Morgan' or any other financial institution given the clear attitude problem. He needs to get over himself - he's deluded.
Edited by Mosdef on Thursday 24th July 11:29
tuscaneer said:
H22observer said:
Sharing it around with whom? A watch manufacturer in Switzerland that turns over several billion dollars per year, but doesn't pay any tax because it's owned by "A charity" ?
Philanthropy, eh.
fPhilanthropy, eh.
kin hell pal, you're coming across like a full on bellend!!Jules360 said:
The point for most is not the functionality, but the aesthetic beauty of such watches, plus the knowledge of the craftsmanship that has gone into it.
Regard it as jewellery ... which is on the whole useless, but your wife will always prefer a 2 carat diamond over a 1 carat. With the obvious cost consequences.
If you regard the watch as art, why is a Monet worth so much more than one of the hundreds of paintings you can buy in Montmartre by one of the many local artists? It's just a canvas with some paint on it.
Art is a good analogy, many paintings worth crazy money are no more aesthetically pleasing, nor expensive to produce, then a £100 painting by a local artist.Regard it as jewellery ... which is on the whole useless, but your wife will always prefer a 2 carat diamond over a 1 carat. With the obvious cost consequences.
If you regard the watch as art, why is a Monet worth so much more than one of the hundreds of paintings you can buy in Montmartre by one of the many local artists? It's just a canvas with some paint on it.
kmpowell said:
Apparently...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/109764...
EDITED at 16:24 to add... I see the Telegraph have in the last few hours changed the title of the article from "Men who buy expensive watches are stupid" to "Why I've never understood the appeal of a posh watch".
Naughty naughty
Like buying fast cars?http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/109764...
EDITED at 16:24 to add... I see the Telegraph have in the last few hours changed the title of the article from "Men who buy expensive watches are stupid" to "Why I've never understood the appeal of a posh watch".
Naughty naughty
Edited by kmpowell on Monday 21st July 16:25
Author states in article:
Let’s take an Omega Seamaster. If you want a nice watch, I would argue that this is all the watch you need. It ticks all the important watch boxes and it’s a great, classic timepiece. You can pick them up quite cheaply second hand and I’ve bought several and they’re fantastic.
Let’s take an Omega Seamaster. If you want a nice watch, I would argue that this is all the watch you need. It ticks all the important watch boxes and it’s a great, classic timepiece. You can pick them up quite cheaply second hand and I’ve bought several and they’re fantastic.
Pommygranite said:
tuscaneer said:
H22observer said:
Sharing it around with whom? A watch manufacturer in Switzerland that turns over several billion dollars per year, but doesn't pay any tax because it's owned by "A charity" ?
Philanthropy, eh.
fPhilanthropy, eh.
kin hell pal, you're coming across like a full on bellend!!Pommygranite said:
tuscaneer said:
H22observer said:
Sharing it around with whom? A watch manufacturer in Switzerland that turns over several billion dollars per year, but doesn't pay any tax because it's owned by "A charity" ?
Philanthropy, eh.
fPhilanthropy, eh.
kin hell pal, you're coming across like a full on bellend!!
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