Just get a good Seiko and never let your arms stop moving. No one will know the difference.

I hate all watches equally, and rings, necklaces, etc.

I almost ripped my finger off with my wedding band one day and no longer wear that either but when I did, I hated the way it felt on my finger.

Wearing a watch is like torture for me for some reason.

I did have a swatch once though, many many years ago.

Meh, I wouldn’t judge a guy who makes 10M a year for wearing a Rolex. I’d still think it’s stupid, but 10M a year is fuck you money.

Most arfcommers probably don’t make 10M a year, and based off the other thread, most who own Rolexes probably make about what I make or less.

I would say as a guy with a total household income in the 250k range, buying a Rolex is incredibly stupid at my income level.

Shit, easy enough for Italians.

That will help offset all the salary you left on the table by not switching employers over the years. Well, about one switch at least.

If I can justify the expense I'm picking up one of these for my Alberto Santos-Dumont cosplay.

It's sad that you see thought as something that needs to be resourced and used sparingly.

Autism.    I feel the same way about rayon shirts.

If you were wearing a Rolex, you’d know

An interesting comparison to the Rolex - and a broader commentary on "is X really worth Y" - is the Birkin Bag.

Broadly speaking the Birkin, which goes from $8500-$300,000 (average is $12-15k) is the womans Rolex. Reading this article, the points made about the bag - from its enduring appeal to how it appreciates in value due to scarcity and the demands of the resale market - very closely mirrors the discussion about Rolex.

https://madisonavenuecouture.com/blogs/news/why-are-birkin-bags-so-expensive-and-worth-the-price



For myself, I can absolutely see the value in a $1000-$4000 woman's handbag. And I can see the value in a $1000-$4000 watch. At these prices you are seeing very beautifully crafted but functional items that genuinely pull away from their cheaper alternatives.

But for watches and purses getting into $10-15k, when compared to whats available in the $1-4k zone, I don't see it.

For an upper-middle-class dude cosplaying as a chef, I think you put too much thought in to the watch deal.

Rolex is interesting because it’s not necessarily a “rich dude” thing, especially in the stainless models. It’s a somewhere between $100K/annual - infinity thing. Way too many motivations exist to buy them and different socioeconomic strata own them. It’s not a Richard Mille cost situation.

I agree to an extent. But you could substitute any luxury good and the theory would hold. High end rifles, full custom 1911s, sports cars and whiskeys are all good around here though.

IMO the only reason Porsche threads are celebrated while watch threads get trashed is more arfkommers want a Porsche than want a luxury watch, for whatever reason.

Oddly enough the arfcom of watches (Watchuseek) has (at least for the many years I was an active member) none of this eat the rich bullshit. I could post my rare JDM Seiko alongside my Gshock, Pan homage or Rolex and no one there would bat an eye.

Everyone likes different things.

To me, Rolexes scream poverty,  kind of like when I see a ghetto thug decked out with giant diamonds earrings, a big gold chain, diamond grillz on their teeth, or expensive rims on a cheap car.

As a general rule, most people who are wealthy aren’t ostentatious.

Or as my father used to say, money can’t buy class.  I associate Rolexes and diamond grillz on your teeth as low class.

But to each their own.

I do not own any Rolex pieces but not for the reasons OP cites.

-Mass appeal is a negative for me. I’m a bit of a contrarian.

-I need to see the watch movement, which is the main attraction IMO.

-Criminals recognize the brand, increasing odds of theft.

-Many people view Rolex owners to be ostentatious a holes and I’d rather not throw that vibe. See above post!

PS- quality watch brands such as Rolex don’t depreciate too much and are therefore not very “expensive” to own, relative to other indulgences.

Top 3, I can understand

Ostentatious a-hole vibe from a piece of metal? On the face of the statement, that says more about the person making the judgement imo

Now, if they observe a-hole behavior…that’s a different story.

You equate a stainless steel sport model Rolex with “diamond grillz”? To each their own, indeed.

Fuck yes

I’m a poor and I’ve got one.

Next up: grillz?

Got one gold toof already.

But it’s in my front pocket

Ultra pov AND ostentatious. I knew it! Probably an a-hole, as well. GD always delivers

Thank you.  I actually enjoyed the watch discussion as much as this one.  Interesting to see the mindset and thought patterns of so many people.  

I like watches...nice ones...don't own one.    When I met my wife, she was recently divorced.  Once we started dating, she gave me a gift of a watch.  She had been an officer's wife and it was a watch that was popular with lots of military guys.  I don't remember the brand.  I don't think it was terribly expensive, $300-400.  It was decent looking and masculine, but it was enormous.  like wearing half a brick on your wrist.  I said no thanks, not my style. (it screamed "poser" on me) She really wanted to piss on my leg and replace the watch I had, so she took me shopping and bought me a Citizen.  it suited me better, but I beat the hell out of it until the crystal was so scratched you could barely see thru it, and I bought myself a $100 Bertucci.  I have stomped the hell out of that thing doing farm work, and building our house, and it just keeps going.  
I drive a 19 year old truck with 270,000 miles and rust holes above the rear wheels.  I wear my boots till they fall apart.  I say if you want the watch and can afford it without causing yourself financial hardship, go for it.  Same with a car or whatever it is. There was a lot of my life that I couldn't afford that kind of thing.  Now that I could, I have no desire.   But I still buy lots of stuff that is way more expensive than necessary. We are nearing the end of building our own house in the mountains and I am putting a $6k stove in it.    It will probably cook just like a $700 stove, or the 1965 GE electric range we have been using for the last year in the house we rent.    In the end, it's all just stuff.  But it's the stuff I wanted.

are rich people that wear rolexs so insecure that they feel the need to show others they have wealth?
Seems to me if one is wealthy its best to keep that fact as quiet as possible.

I don’t understand the fascination with counting other people’s money.

If you want a Rolex, for what ever reason, get it.  I’m not paying for it, so what do I care.

It has nothing to do with what it is made of. It is because they are status symbols.

My favorite Rolex to wear, GMT II

A diamond grill is a status symbol?

Yes. They say “look at me, I’m so successful I can wear diamonds on my teeth”.

Up until 3-4 years ago, owning a Rolex was essentially free so if you wanted one and had the cash lying around, why not???

I don’t totally disagree - more pointing out the concept of “status symbol” could potentially be overused. I’ve spoken to a successful NFL player that had a set in, as well as a couple hourly equipment operators. Anything above the basics required to survive could be considered “status symbols”. King Ranch F-250…status symbol. 3000 sq ft house…status symbol. Class warfare is gross.

I've destroyed 3 wrists - watches came through tho.

Yep, I bought my Sub no-date in 2017 for $6500 now they are are selling for around $13k.

I set some personal goals and when I met them, I bought the Sub. With that being said, I only bought the Rolex because they are good investments, I'm a big gearhead and love mechanical, well built things. Honestly though, it sits in my safe and I wear it maybe once or twice a year, mainly because I don't seek attention and pretty much the reason the OP stated, there are dickbags out there that automatically think I'm a dickbag for owning a Rolex, how fucking gay is that?

I'm thinking about selling mine to help fund the paint job on my Porsche 911, that should really trigger some people here.

If you destroy watches at work, then stop thrashing about like a monkey. (Avatar notwithstanding...)

I was a loadmaster on KC-130s. Loading many types of cargo, and chaining it all down with jacks. I wore my watch every day for years, and never destroyed it. When I got back to the states, I traded it upward and got full retail applied to the new one.

Your inability to not destroy watches is the issue...

m

Missed the Rolex income thread, but I will push back a little on the claim.

I think it really depends on what sacrifices you are willing to make.  There no question they hold SOME value, better than a car for example.

I think if you are willing sacrifice other hobbies, and saved up the cash, and it's truly one of your hobbies and interests you can pull it off with minimal damage to savings.

Many will finance the Rolex watch, own a 800k house, and finance a Ford raptor all on a 250k salary.  That's definitely not smart, but it's not the watch, it's the mentality.

I've still got both a Quartz wristwatch and a mechanical pocket watch from when I was a kid and I was doing all sorts of stuff that destroyed things. The wristwatch needs a new battery but the pocket watch still keeps pretty good time. It's a New Haven dollar watch. As old as my paternal grandfather and still ticking.

I don't even know why anybody would need a watch nowadays.  Everybody and their little brown dog carries a cell phone with them that has the time on it.  Watches are obsolete for the most part.

I took off my watch when I retired in 2003 and haven't worn one since.  Don't miss having one at all.

I sure as hell would not buy an expensive watch as flashy jewelry.  Kinda of a faggot thing to do.

Oh, you gotta just admit you're a tad jealous how he's beating you at your own game here.

Me, my status symbol / flex is paying people to do the kinds of work that might lead to a damaged watch. That, or having the foresight to wear a more appropriate watch when needed.

That is a mistake.  You are a very smart guy who can go far but chooses to sale yourself short.

The nicer things in life help to make make life worth living and all the hard work that it takes to do it ..... worth it.

I would destroy watch if I wore it to work. And expensive watches don't tell time as well as my phone.  They seem pointless unless you are trying to pick up a stripper or something.

Y'know, unless it is specifically *designed* to do "man stuff"...in which case it puts up with that abuse and keeps on rolling.

Mine's going on 25 years of being not-babied through an aviation career, and I'm sure it is nowhere near done.

Attached File

Why do you have that big house?
You don’t need that big house.
I don’t have a big house
Why do you have that much land?
You don’t need that much land.
I don’t have any land.
Why do you have that nice gun?
You don’t need a nice gun.
I don’t have a nice gun.
Why do you have so many nice guns?
I only have one gun.
Why do you have that expensive nice car?
You don’t need that expensive car.
I don’t have an expensive car.  
Why do you have all those nice expensive cars?
You don’t need all those expensive cars.
Why do you have that expensive watch?
You don’t need an expensive watch.  
I don’t have an expensive watch.
I am taking all the shit you don’t need.  For the people.

The wealthier you are the more others hate you for what you have because they don"t

The green-eyed monster is in most people and that is what this thread is about in its entirety whether you admit it or not.

Everyone on this board brags about something.  Look at my new gun .. scope ... lawn mower ... pick-up ... wife ... child ... dog ... etc. and there is someone that hates you for it.

Look at my new Rolex.

Ummm-
Your knowledge of the timeline is very off and not accurate.
Yes.
They were, essentially, just another Swiss watch.
Their Explorer, GMT, turn-o-graph, and Submariner didn’t even exist until right at the end of the Korean War.

And this is about the period Rolex began to hammer home its reputation as a solid, accurate, reliable, good choice.

Maybe Vietnam?
Good god, it was endemic them.
And Rolex was in full swing in engendering the reputation as not only accurate, reliable, - but a discerning choice for those with accomplishments above the ordinary.

And IRL young pilots, Green Berets, Rangers, SEALs, and recon marines were running with these things left and right.

The big shit occurred from around 1970 to 1985 or so.
Around 1970,  Seiko diver was about 1/2 the price of a Rolex diver.
Around 1985, 1/10 the price.

The survive the influx of less expensive but decent quality Japanese manufacturing, and the coming cheap quartz accuracy- not at first- but they saw how inexpensive quartz could be potentially over time-
Rolex decided- we are not going to weather it out and survive this crisis-we are going to crush it and make it our bitch.
So they set to work converting their image from a high quality item that was the discerning choice, of say- the aspiring young architect on Safari, the Navy LCMDR and his platoon of frogmen, the Classics Professor on a dig, the airline pilot that also races, etc.

And it was highly successful.
They converted to an image of it being a luxury item for very successful people.
This was great for the company, but between 85-2000 or so -
The continued success starting pricing them out of the original market-
Leaving it with this weird, hybrid reputation few people really embodied.

On the wrist of some pasty Wall Street type that never did anything exciting with it, or too expensive to be on the wrist of a new pilot or recon marine.
Few and far between were the former SEAL with an Econ B.A. from Dartmouth or the guy with an M.S. in Engineering that’s a test pilot.

The mid to lates 80s also brought some changes overall to watches.  High quality professional level analog quartz became less expensive than automatic versions of the same watch.  People started giving cheap durable stuff like G-shocks a try.
By the end of the 90s, hockey puck watches with every feature were available.  Automatic sports watches from Citizen and Seiko were very inexpensive.  James Bond had a new watch.  And that brand got some renewed attention not seen since their 60s era SM300s.

Sure, some green berets and pilots were still buying a Sub, SD, or GMT, but a lot of less expensive automatics were being chosen instead.  And some stuck with digital.

Then GWOT happened.

And another reason to not get a Rolex was introduced.
And that was the fact that a lot of people in that community were handed for free an auto or analog quartz Marathon.  And also a plethora of hickey puck watches.

The other thing that has been happening the last decade or two, is sort of a renaissance in Swiss watchmaking.
At a price point and quality where used to essentially only be Seiko or Citizen auto divers for decades, there are now several Swiss and micro brand options.

Over a similar time frame, Rolex has kind of had a similar shift of that seen in, say, a Toyota Land Cruiser.
It’s current Lexus LX market position vastly different that it was 30 years ago, let alone 70.

Swiss brands that did not grow so much in prices over the decades have had some staying power.

I have met several.  And it used to be very common.
It’s become less common as the price point has shifted.

That is a comically narrow view of society and conspicuous consumption.

There will always be things with monetary value and/or expense that people have negative views of.

The guy who brought up "grillz" offered a really good analogy. I have zero doubts there are very expensive "grillz" out there, with some displaying incredible talent and artistry. That doesn't mean the way I roll my eyes at the people who wear them means I am "jealous" or that I just lack the financial means to buy such things (though, wouldn't be surprised of I couldn't afford a lot of them).

The difference is hip hop cosplay is a different type of cosplay, tending to attract different people.