Real cost of Rolex ownership

[benjijames28]

I've been a watch obsessive for nearly 3 years now, going from Casio to Rolex and settled down with my Tudor Pelagos which has been on my wrist nearly 2 years, day in day out.

My life took a drastic change of direction 12 months ago, split with wife, sold house, net girlfriend, girlfriend pregnant, now I've got a son. Luckily my outgoings are low due to my lifestyle and my job is as secure as can be.

I've got some money in bank from my house sale, not a lot but it's there. I have considered buying a watch I've loved for a long time, in fact I owned the old 36mm version, it's the Rolex explorer 1.

Now they are pretty hard to find but I've found one. It will be at my local Rolex ad for me next Saturday.

4800 of your finest British pounds, but what is the real cost of owning such a watch?

That model like a lot of Rolex watches is in high demand. There will be a bit of a dip in value buying new but I rekkon it's worth an easy 4k should you need to sell it in the first few years of ownership.

So the real cost of buying that watch is 800 pound plus a secured deposit of 4000 which you should get back.

I can't afford to buy a house in my own, so the money is either gonna sit there doing nothing, or I'm gonna end up upgrading my car. We all know how much I would lose on a car.

So compared to owning a car or buying say a stty watch like a brietlng, the cost of owning a in demand Rolex is very very low.

My Tudor Pelagos cost me 2400 cash from an ad brand new. I could sell it tomorrow to watch finder for 1600, or private for 2000, it's cost me a few hundred quid a year and given me so much enjoyment. It's my everyday hero and I wouldn't be without it. So really it's cost me as much as a shopping centre citizen watch. Bargain.

Man maths at its finest.

Of course after 5 years the Tudor will need a 300 pound visit to Rolex servicing, and after 10 years the Rolex will need a 1000? Pound service. But we don't need to think about that.

[benjijames28]

ClaphamGT3 said:

You have a wife and young child, you can't afford to buy a home but you'll drop £4k on a watch?

The world's gone mad.....

I have a girlfriend and a child yes.

I can't get a mortgage with my income even tho I have the money for a deposit, the girlfriend only works part time, so unless I buy a small house in a terrible area I cannot afford to buy.

Should things change and I need the money I will put that before a few luxury watches, fk I'd downgrade my car too.

You could say save money for a bigger deposit so I can buy a house with the mortgage I'm eligible for. Problem is I've got say 9 grand, and can borrow maybe 80 or 90, round here it gets me nothing but a place I'd rather not live. I would need an extra 20 grand minimum deposit to start looking at houses in semi decent areas. While renting it's gonna take me best part of a decade to save even 20 grand. By that time how much will I need? Probably even more, I will also be nearly 40 years old.

Oh and I'm not a first time buyer so there's no government scheme to help me. Until I earn more money I'm stuck.

So right now I'm happy where I live and my girlfriend, her kids and our baby area in a nice secure home in a nice area with all their family living close by.

I even work 5 minutes away.

Life isn't so bad.

Edited by benjijames28 on Saturday 25th February 19:40

[benjijames28]

lockhart flawse said:

I am wearing my father's Rolex Date today. It's at least 28 years old, keeps pretty good time and has never had a service. Could do with a bit of a clean but I am not sure how important a service really is?

One other v small point - I don't wear it that often so it always needs the date and time setting. I actually enjoy changing the date and time and so I wouldn't want to pay Rolex £300 or whatever to service it so that I might have to adjust the time less often.

Service is very important, your slowly breaking the watch, and it will cost a lot more then service cost to fix when it goes break.

It's like your running an engine without oil.

[benjijames28]

scherzkeks said:

The level of idiocy here is off the charts.

I want to buy myself something with my own money, and I talk about how much that something is worth if I sell it, the difference between the two prices been the real cost of ownership, not the retail price you pay.

So what's your comment about?