Watches, then?

stickyfiddle

This could be a slippery slope... After the recent watch threads I've been looking at watches, and my 30th is coming up. Had a wander around the Tag Heuer shop last night. Some of them are lovely, but all it's actually done is confirm that I want a proper Submariner, and I can't justify that kind of spend on a watch, probably ever. Boo!

Not sure the point of this thread really. Let's talk about watches anyway!

chillidoggy

Stop fannying around and buy yourself a Submariner if you want one, Sticky!

After all, when was the last time anyone really justified spending thousands on a amp or a guitar without a shedload of all the hackneyed bullshit reasons we dish out to ourselves and other halves?

And you'll more than likely get your money back when you sell it., plus you'll have had the pleasure of owning one. How much are they out there, anyway?

stickyfiddle

Lol! I don't know exactly, but around 30k AED, which is just under 5k sterling. No way that's gonna happen!

octatonic

Ok, let's do this.

Getting the central issue out of the way early...

After years of not wearing a watch I've been thinking of getting one too.

The issue I have with 'watch culture' is often it is just an expression of how much money a person has, rather than being a functional device that tells the time.

I might as well strap a bunch of £50's to my wrist.

I look at Tag Heuer and then I look at Tissot.

As far as I can see the only reason that I, personally, would buy a Tag Heuer is because I can afford it and I'd want other people to know that I can afford it.

Tissot make a watch that does everything I need it to- but I haven't bought one.

Why? Well, I dunno really- I guess because although I don't take watch culture seriously I'd also be aware that certain people would be 'judging me' for having a Tissot, rather than a Tag.

I guess I just don't want to play the game.

I know it is silly but still...

I also haven't bought a Tag because I just can't justify spending that amount of coin on a wrist watch.

So I keep using my iPhone.

stickyfiddle

octatonic said:

Ok, let's do this.

Getting the central issue out of the way early...

After years of not wearing a watch I've been thinking of getting one too.

The issue I have with 'watch culture' is often it is just an expression of how much money a person has, rather than being a functional device that tells the time.

I might as well strap a bunch of £50's to my wrist.

I look at Tag Heuer and then I look at Tissot.

As far as I can see the only reason that I, personally, would buy a Tag Heuer is because I can afford it and I'd want other people to know that I can afford it.

Tissot make a watch that does everything I need it to- but I haven't bought one.

I also haven't bought a Tag because I just can't justify spending that amount of coin on a wrist watch.

So I keep using my iPhone.

That's where I am with it. I already have a nice Mondaine that doesn't owe me the world and keeps good time. I could justify a £200 Seiko but not sure I could justify something posher when I could use that money on something else.

octatonic

Never mind that I get a new iPhone every 12 months.

But I guess they do more than a wristwatch.

I'm not saying I'm immune to fashion concepts- but wrist watch culture rubs me the wrong way for some reason.

Maybe it is too gauche.

Alnico

Citizen Eco Drive

£200 - 300

Understated, well built and not a financial status symbol.

Red Arrows Limited Edition models are very nice, as is the Royal Marines and Blue Arrows Editions.

richardhomer

I love a nice watch.

I accept that some might take the view that it is simply a statement of how much money you have (or perhaps more accurately how much money you borrowed to buy it...) - though you could level exactly the same criticism at someone playing a 'posh' guitar. Possibly a double standard? Those Squiers have the same notes on them as a Suhr!

Personally I think there a many reasons for buying a nice watch. Assuming it is not a quartz one - which I believe Tags are - with a quality Swiss watch you are buying a beautifully crafted piece of engineering, with history and heritage. There is something precious about that level of craft - it hasn't been thrown together, with built-in obsolescence so they can sell you another when it breaks (or when the 'new one' is released).

They can also be a good investment. I bought my Rolex 27 years ago for £1095. A new one is £5500!

I would never sell mine. I've owned it longer than any guitar, it has been a constant companion throughout my adult life, as a single man, a married man, a divorced man, as a father, through successes and failures.... I will leave it to my son and hope it becomes a family heirloom.

stickyfiddle

richardhomer said:

I love a nice watch.

I accept that some might take the view that it is simply a statement of how much money you have (or perhaps more accurately how much money you borrowed to buy it...) - though you could level exactly the same criticism at someone playing a 'posh' guitar. Possibly a double standard? Those Squiers have the same notes on them as a Suhr!

Personally I think there a many reasons for buying a nice watch. Assuming it is not a quartz one - which I believe Tags are - with a quality Swiss watch you are buying a beautifully crafted piece of engineering, with history and heritage. There is something precious about that level of craft - it hasn't been thrown together, with built-in obsolescence so they can sell you another when it breaks (or when the 'new one' is released).

They can also be a good investment. I bought my Rolex 27 years ago for £1095. A new one is £5500!

I would never sell mine. I've owned it longer than any guitar, it has been a constant companion throughout my adult life, as a single man, a married man, a divorced man, as a father, through successes and failures.... I will leave it to my son and hope it becomes a family heirloom.

That's the thing that gets me. It's just a huge step to get to it in the first place when I could buy a super-nice Martin for less money and have that forever too.

(and Tag do some Quartz, some Auto these days, FWIW)

TTony

Although I say this with a rather nice watch on my wrist (birthday present), I'd probably rather spend £1000 on a few watches from here;

http://twistedtime.com

rather than £5k on a single statement watch.

Fretwired

richardhomer said:

I love a nice watch.

I accept that some might take the view that it is simply a statement of how much money you have (or perhaps more accurately how much money you borrowed to buy it...) - though you could level exactly the same criticism at someone playing a 'posh' guitar. Possibly a double standard? Those Squiers have the same notes on them as a Suhr!

Personally I think there a many reasons for buying a nice watch. Assuming it is not a quartz one - which I believe Tags are - with a quality Swiss watch you are buying a beautifully crafted piece of engineering, with history and heritage. There is something precious about that level of craft - it hasn't been thrown together, with built-in obsolescence so they can sell you another when it breaks (or when the 'new one' is released).

They can also be a good investment. I bought my Rolex 27 years ago for £1095. A new one is £5500!

I would never sell mine. I've owned it longer than any guitar, it has been a constant companion throughout my adult life, as a single man, a married man, a divorced man, as a father, through successes and failures.... I will leave it to my son and hope it becomes a family heirloom.

The same here .. I bought my Rolex 26 years ago and have looked after it. The £150 for a service was steep but the watch is now worth £5K+. I also have a gold Tissot from 1978 which I paid £500 for .. it's now worth £6K. Watches can be a good investment.

richardhomer

stickyfiddle;234532" said:

I could buy a super-nice Martin for less money and have that forever too.

Agreed - but I thought you wanted some morale support to help you justify buying an expensive watch!

I've also done the Martin thing. Had mine for 21 years - which works out at about 15p per day....

octatonic

Re the double standard.

I guess it shows the priority I put on a musical instrument.

There are certainly differences between the Suhr and the Squier and for me it is worth the extra money.

I acknowledge that there are differences between the Tag and the Tissot too- but I'm a professional musician, not a professional ... er.. time looker.

I get the investment angle though- I guess it is an area that requires a lot of knowledge to make a profit?

What sort of return?

More than 10% p.a.?

viz

You look at your watch 72 times a day. If you get 1p of pleasure every time you look at it, assuming cost of capital at 3%, it'll pay back in 27 years. It's the same as buying a third of a cup of starbucks coffee every day, except you'll still have it when you're 57.

richardhomer

octatonic;234545" said:

I acknowledge that there are differences between the Tag and the Tissot too- but I'm a professional musician, not a professional ... er.. time looker

Before I bought my watch, I was an amateur/semi-pro musician. By the time I bought it, I already owned two pre-CBS Strats, as I too placed a greater emphasis on musical instruments.

I didn't buy them as status symbols, I bought them as I was deadly serious about my playing. The most I ever earned from playing in a band was about £20...

The argument can be extended to anything - cars/clothes/coffee makers/hi-fi/phones/computers/tablets, etc. You drive (IIRC) a BMW presumably not because you are a professional driver but because you appreciate the quality of it as a 'driver's car'. Some may take the view (I don't incidentally - I'm purely playing devil's advocate) that you chose that car as a demonstration of your wealth.

I think it is perfectly possible to choose to own something more luxurious than the entry level of anything without necessarily being a 'show off'.

FX_Munkee

I'm a big Seiko fan (also Orient, they're made by the same people).
If you fancy a quality Japanese automatic, I can recommend Creation Watches they manage to deliver to the UK in about 5 days and never seem to get touched by customs? (even if they did it would still be more economical than buying in the UK)
I know you're in UAE Sticky, so you'd have to check with them about delivery there.

Edit: actually I've found your watch, a Swiss Jazzmaster

jellyroll

I had Watch Acquisition Syndrome about 10 years ago and bought a Rolex for £2.5k. I wear it everyday and admire the engineering inside it. It's a shame the mechanism isn't visible because it really is astounding how it works However, even after a decade, I still sort of feel "it's not me" because of the blinginess of the brand (although my particular watch is actually quite plain). 

Like GAS, WAS is just one of those things you need to get out of your system. 

richardhomer

jellyroll;234614" said:

It's a shame the mechanism isn't visible because it really is astounding how it works 

Fortunately Omega make ones with transparent backs...

Roland

This isn't about cost, it's about quality of life. If it's important to you, and you can afford it, then do it. When I worked in Switzerland they all had expensive watches tearing their shirt cuffs. Mine was £9.99 out of Argos. It came with alarm and two time zones, and you can guess who's watch kept the best time.

Phil_aka_Pip

Watches. I used to wear one of those wide studded leather things with 3 buckled straps threaded through it, carrying a Timex. Had it for almost 10 years. Then the leather thing broke and I never replaced it. I decided that time was for my benefit not the other way round and I was not going to be its servant. Hence breakfast time was when I woke up + the time it took to get washed & clothed. Work start time was breakfast time + the time it took to eat it then travel to work. Work end time was work start time + an honest day's work. That was 1984 (I think) and things are still that way today. I haven't worn a watch since. Despite that, I don't remember ever having missed a train, and though my timekeeping may appear rather irregular to some, no employer has ever had to berate me for delivering software "late".

ROOG

About 5 or 6 years ago I went through a patch were I was Gasing for a Brietling Navitimer, I tried one on in a jewellers and the size was a worry as its a lumpy ol thing. I then spotted  a new model by Rotary in Argos, looks similar and has virtually identical case dimensions.

So I bought that to see if I could live with it. I still have it, it gets stacks of abuse, the glass still has that polished look about it, the chrome is still completely intact. For £50 ish it's a great machine for telling the time, it even has big numbers on the dial so I can read them!

I havent managed to break it yet and have no intention of buying a real one. The only irritation is when people spot it I feel compelled to tell them its a copy, cos I don't want them to think I've blown close to £3k on a wrist watch.