Expensive Watch Appeal?

[JurgenWigg]

I've had the unfortunate curse to have really expensive tastes. Cars, clothing, computers (why else would I own a mac? ), and more and more - watches.

I've fallen in love with the Omega Seamaster diver chronometer. Yes, a 2400 dollar watch. Now, through various sources i've found it for about a thousand, so more than half off. Through the good graces of my parents forsight, they've got enough saved to pay for my in-state tuition and room/board for 4 years, so all the money i have right now is just kind of sitting around, burning a hole in my pocket.

Anyone have any anecdotes to push me one way or another?

 

[ravenvii]

If you want something that has an awesome design, check out Movado.

I won't push you either way though.

 

[jng]

I too have expensive tastes, but probably not as expensive as yours. I would never pay that much for a watch. The most I've paid is about $100. But I also tend to lose them.

Anyway, right before I started college, I bought my first mac and with accessories and all, it cost me about $2000. Then my school bill came and I was short about $2000. =/ So I asked my parents for the money. I felt really guilty afterwards, because it was short notice (I expected to have enough) and I never ask my parents for anything.

If you have money left over, do something smart with it. 2 summers ago, I emptied the bank to go to Europe, but before I did, I bought some stock (Apple included).

So reward yourself, but don't spend all of your money.

 

[PCMacUser]

I've had the unfortunate curse to have really expensive tastes. Cars, clothing, computers (why else would I own a mac? ), and more and more - watches.

I've fallen in love with the Omega Seamaster diver chronometer. Yes, a 2400 dollar watch. Now, through various sources i've found it for about a thousand, so more than half off. Through the good graces of my parents forsight, they've got enough saved to pay for my in-state tuition and room/board for 4 years, so all the money i have right now is just kind of sitting around, burning a hole in my pocket.

Anyone have any anecdotes to push me one way or another?

The Seamaster chonometer is an excellent watch. Make sure you get the newer version with the co-axial movement. Like most Swiss watch companies, their movements are made by a third party and are then modified by Omega. If you want a watch with an 'in-house' movement, ie, one that is designed and made by the same company, then you have to look at Rolex or Jaeger LeCoultre. But then you're looking at spending some serious cash.

 

[OutThere]

I would have a little difficulty actually wearing a $2400 watch around, except on special occasions. I'm more comfortable with a watch I can scuff up a bit without kicking myself afterward. My friend recently knocked the entire bezel off center (12:00 is where 1:00 used to be) on his $1500 TAG. Kind of a rough situation as far as I'm concerned.

Also, I'm not sure if you're in college yet or not, but you might want to consider two things: 1) I gained some significantly different interests in college (a car became a hell of a lot more desirable) and 2) Dorm rooms aren't particularly secure. Several of my friends have had cash/iPods/laptops stolen.

 

[Sobe]

I wear a Tag Heuer WG1127

It's the only piece of "jewelry" I own other than my college ring, but it's also really solid. I've snorkeled and traveled with it and it's taken a good beating and is still going strong with no repairs needed.

Cost around $1700 new around 10 years ago.

I love it to death so yeah I can see spending over $1k on a nice watch, especially if it's half off a $2400 watch.

Of course the responsible thing to do would be to pay for your own expenses if you can afford a $1K+ watch.

Seems a bit obnoxious to let your parents pay for your college + room/board while you go buy expensive watches for yourself.

 

[JurgenWigg]

Seems a bit obnoxious to let your parents pay for your college + room/board while you go buy expensive watches for yourself.

Haha, true, and i'm thinking of going to grad school as well, so that might be a better place to start saving money towards!

And realizing the point that dorm rooms aren't exactly the safest place for things (i lock my laptop to the desk, not taking chances), i'll probably pass up on this opportunity.

I'm already in college but I already got myself a 1993 Mazda MX-6 LS. A nice, fun, sporty car, but well, seriously, it's from 1993, it wasn't expensive. Runs like a dream though.

Any other expensive watch wearers out there though? It's cool hearing what everyone has!

 

[asherman13]

Well, I guess if a watch is good enough for James Bond, it's good enough for anybody.

Pretty damn pricey though. Be sure you got some solid cash flow going into your bank account before you start any solid cash flow going out of your back account.

My rule of thumb on an item: if I can't earn the money back (via the number printed on my paychecks, money that goes into savings not included) in a month or two, I skip it for now, and save for the next few months so that I won't be going in the red for any amount of time when I buy anything.

 

[iBlue]

I know you won't believe me now, but one day you will regret spending money like this. 'A fool and his money are soon parted', as they say.

I also have to say I find it distasteful to have your parents foot your way though college while you buy yourself these sorts of extravagances. Do what you will though, but I bet you look back and find this very unwise and embarrassing.

I wish I had saved money and had a down-payment on a house. Hindsight is always 20/20 though.

 

[edesignuk]

It's just a watch. I mean really, unless you're seriously well off and $1k really is peanuts to you I wouldn't blow $1k on one.

 

[PCMacUser]

I know you won't believe me now, but one day you will regret spending money like this. 'A fool and his money are soon parted', as they say.

I also have to say I find it distasteful to have your parents foot your way though college while you buy yourself these sorts of extravagances. Do what you will though, but I bet you look back and find this very unwise and embarrassing.

I wish I had saved money and had a down-payment on a house. Hindsight is always 20/20 though.

That's the sort of advice you could easily give to anyone on this forum who says 'which Mac should I buy'? The main difference being that the watch will still be worth something in 5 years time, and can be passed down through the generations as an heirloom.

 

[PCMacUser]

Any other expensive watch wearers out there though? It's cool hearing what everyone has!

My everyday watch is a Seiko Sportura. It's gorgeous, reliable, and features a sapphire crystal face. And even better, you can get it for $300 on Amazon.

Find it here.

 

[GoCubsGo]

A good watch is important to me because I simply love watches...clocks even. I think the whole premiss of time keeping is fairly intriguing to me. That said, the most I've spent on a watch for myself was $400. I probably wouldn't go over that.

To the person who said it was in bad taste to spend that kind of money on something like this while his parents foot the bill for college is right on. Kudos to you for putting it so eloquently and direct.

I say put that cash away, spend some if you must on something you may need for school. When you're out there you may regret your fancy watch while your stomach is rumbling for a nice meal.

 

[jng]

This is probably a stupid question. One of the reasons I don't buy expensive watches is that I go through them pretty quickly.

I don't like metal (well my skin doesn't). But anyway, if I don't lose them, I wear them down pretty quickly. I also sweat quite a bit and so the watch smells like sweat after a while (up close), at which point I just chuck it and buy a new one.

So how do you guys avoid this problem? Or am I only the only one with this problem?

 

[iBlue]

That's the sort of advice you could easily give to anyone on this forum who says 'which Mac should I buy'? The main difference being that the watch will still be worth something in 5 years time, and can be passed down through the generations as an heirloom.

that's not the sort of advice I'd give on that. A mac is a tool. This is just an ego fluffing extravagance cleverly disguised as a watch.

 

[Stampyhead]

That's the sort of advice you could easily give to anyone on this forum who says 'which Mac should I buy'? The main difference being that the watch will still be worth something in 5 years time, and can be passed down through the generations as an heirloom.

The main difference is that a computer is a valuable tool that will help you in school. A watch is just an expensive way to know what time it is. I haven't worn a watch in like 15 years. If I want to know the time I just look at my cell phone or my computer screen. Obviously we all have different interests, but in my opinion a computer is almost a necessity in college where a watch (especially an expensive one) is an extravagance.

 

[iKwick7]

If you want something that has an awesome design, check out Movado.

I won't push you either way though.

I'm a big fan of Movado.

As far as watches go, I love them. I say it doesn't matter what it costs- if you can afford it and you like it, get it. I have a few watches that cost around $50. I've got an Original Penguin watch (That I LOVE) that was about $200 and a Movado watch that was around $950. I wear the "cheap" ones more than the Movado, of course, but I like them just as much.

 

[-hh]

I've had the unfortunate curse to have really expensive tastes....

Save it for when after all of your college expenses are paid for, and you have your downpayment for your first house.

Anyone have any anecdotes to push me one way or another?

Sure. Here's two anecdotes for you:

#1: Thanksgiving 2004. We were vacationing on Little Cayman in the Caribbean at a famous small resort (it is listed in the "1000 places before you die" book, if you must know the name), and we having dinner with the owner and some other guests of hers, which on this night happened to includ a millionaire widow originally from Monaco who owns a house on the island, who had in tow her current "Boy Toy" companion.

During one of the courses of the meal and over smalltalk, we learned that the BoyToy had a hobby: he collected expensive watches, and he was very intrigued and impressed with the watch that I was wearing. Gosh, he had never seen a watch anything like mine, he gushed.

I politely accepted his compliments, answered his questions about its features, but I was overall simply trying to downplay it all. But he persisted, so I finally had to burst his bubble: the watch that he was gushing over was merely a cheap $35 (Casio Solar ) that I had picked up at Walmart the week before, because the battery had died in my normal scuba diving watch.

Suddenly, he wasn't as interested in trading one of his $4000 watches for my mere $35 one. Priceless!


#2: Its amazing how much money you can save by simply doing without small frivolous expenses. It means that those resources will accumulate and can be use for some other purpose.

YMMV as to what sorts of things intrest you, but for us, it is world travel. We run a normal vacation in our budget, but we have a second budget where we put our "toys not bought" savings into, and every couple of years, it has enough to upgrade our normal vacation to something really special.

Summer 2006 is the example here, illustrated by an iPhoto album of our safari in Tanzania. The question is...would you rather have had an experience something like this, or would you rather just have a pretty looking watch?


-hh

 

[TomGolden]

Other folks have done a very good job of giving reasons why this is likely not the right time for someone in your situation (original poster) to be considering such a purchase. And I certainly do not want or mean to disagree with what has been said. But I will give my own story on my watch just for giggles.

I, too, have long been fascinated by very nice Swiss watches. But it wasn't until last year that I finally decided to actually do some homework into precisely what I wanted and determine if it was a purchase I would be comfortable making.

I was 39 at the time, divorced with no children, 12 years into my home mortgage and already owning my dream truck and motorcycles. Also 14 years into my career as a Computer systems engineer. So I felt well able to afford such a purchase if I found the right watch for me.

I found a nice web site on the Swiss watch industry that had links to many manufacturers, as well as lot of FAQs and other general info on watches, and of course Swiss watches specifically.

This led to my purchase of a Breitling SuperOcean.

I decided on Breitling for several reasons, one of which being that every single Breitling model is a certified Chronometer according to the very stringent Swiss Watch Federation. This certification gaurantees that the specific watch mechanism will neither lose nor gain more than 1/2 of a second in a 24 hour period. To the best of my research, Brietling is the only watch maker in the world who has every single model they make certified to this standard.

The SuperOcean is a Divers type watch, and is certified water proof to a depth of 1500 meters/5000 feet. That's the second "highest" such rating I have ever seen, with only one other watch I am aware of being at I think 3000m/10000ft, but I forget whose watch that was....

It is a simple type watch - only hour, minute and second hands, and a date display. I kind of like the simplicity of this style. I do like the snazzy look of chronographs, but I would never use all their features, and I hate the idea of being a poser, so I decided against those models.

Lastly, the SuperOcean is an automatic (meaning self winding). No battery. I'm an engineer, a gear head. The idea of a purely mechanical watch being so incredibly well designed that it could meet the aforementioned Certified Chronometer standard is absolutely amazing to me, and I decided that was the watch for me. Oh, and it has a steel (not stainless steel) bracelet, which I must have, because leather bands break on me after about a year. And to me, the idea of a rubber watch band on a watch costing well over $1000 is absolutely ridiculous.

This type of watch will, if properly cared for, last a lifetime with no problem.

I absolutely love it so far.

-Tom

 

[nbs2]

That's the sort of advice you could easily give to anyone on this forum who says 'which Mac should I buy'? The main difference being that the watch will still be worth something in 5 years time, and can be passed down through the generations as an heirloom.

that's not the sort of advice I'd give on that. A mac is a tool. This is just an ego fluffing extravagance cleverly disguised as a watch.

I don't know if I'd agree with Blue on this being purely ego fluffing, but as she and others pointed out, a computer is a tool. Just as I would steer someone who could practically use a MB or Mac Mini towards that instead of a MPB or MP, I think you should look at what will accomplish your goal.

If having the nicer watch will help you (perhaps you are a business major, where networking is half the point of the program), then get it. If not, something else may be better. Everybody has the point where they cross the need line - I stressed over buying a $50 Swatch because I can get a $20 Timex that will work just as well.

As a side consideration, as your parents are paying for your room/board, you may wish to consider getting their input. They certainly have no obligation to put you through school, and spending such a large sum with their input would go a long way towards showing them your appreciation.

On a side note, I was thinking about AAPL a few weeks back and realized that if I had bought stock instead of my Al-PB, I would have enough to buy a MBP and make the down payment on a house.

 

[MacNut]

My expensive watch is about $200 but I don't wear it all the time.

 

[Dandaman]

I actually have an Omega Seamaster watch. It was a wedding gift from my in-laws. They insisted that I get a nice watch (apparently it's a Korean tradition to buy the son-in-law a nice watch). I am very grateful to them, however, I'd never buy one myself. Don't get me wrong. I love this watch. It is awesome and everyone mentions how nice it looks. But it's a ton of money for a watch. I guess if you feel that you can't live without it and you have the money, go at it. Like most here, I'd advise against it.

daniel

 

[MacDuck]

Well...after reading the other posts, I thought I'd put my two cents in.

I own a 4 year old Rolex Submariner (300 Meters / 1000 Feet Water Resistant- 39mm = 1 5/8" Case, 6" Adjustable Bracelet- Screw Down Crown). I am an avid diver, although I've taken this watch on exactly 2 dives. Im just too scared to loose it diving. The watch is simple, not flashy, and it rugged as hell. The thing never scratches (diamond face) and is easy to maintain and clean.

I got this as a present for turning 21 from the parents. It is more like an investment, and will likely last me throughout my life. It is a little on the heavy side, but you get used to wearing it, and I have no problems wearing it out in public.

The oyster perpetual time on this watch is like a dream....no batteries. Keeps time like a champ, and is easy to read, especially with the date. They go for now around 5 grand. It was cheaper by a grand over 3 years ago. These watches do appreciate in value.

Anyway...I love it to death. I also own an Ebel Sportwave 1215047. This watch I received for graduation from undergrad two years ago. Its a nice watch, swiss movement, but sadly, I've had some problems with the band. Eitherway, its a nice dress watch, modern, but classy.

Cheers!

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I am going to say do not spend that much for a watch because unless you have money to burn and dropping that much money is pocket change do not even think about it.
Like why get that brand yes they may look nice but really most people are not going to know what it is and heck I didn't not know what omega watches where until I saw them on mac rumors.

If you want a good watch that still looks really nice go look at citizen watches. They are very nice watches and are above the normal watches you will see people wear. I own 2 of them. One is a citizen I got 6 years ago and I do not wear it very much today. It a little flasher and dressier than the other one. My other citizen watch is a one of their Titanium watches. It looks really nice and is a watch I can wear with anything but T-shirt and it not look out of place. Reason I wear it all the time is it is light. I don't go showing it off oh look at my citizen. Hell I bet most people think it is a fossil because people in college do not own 300 buck watches.

I would say go look at citizen watches. They are still a good higher end watch but not insanely priced. Titanium is you want to wear it all the time because it makes a HUGE difference in weight (more than 1/2) only draw back it is does scratch but it hard to see them.

Oh yes I do own a cheap timex watch I wear when I am doing physical activity or something that can risk getting it damage.


And like other said spend the money on something that is a bit more useful. For example something that I put a lot of my money into is my Mountain bike and with that much money I could get a really nice bike.

 

[Sun Baked]

Re Expensive watches:

Gives the mugger a reason to stop you, beat you, and take your watch and wallet.

A $2k watch, nice suit shoes, and a sushi lunch is definitely a more tempting target that a guy in a t-shirt, ratty shoes, with a Happy Meal.