WSJ article on how to buy a luxury watch

[pangloss]

Here's a LINK (http://on.wsj.com/1O0Tbdd) to an article in the Wall St. Journal about buying a luxury watch with a ~$5000 budget. I've not yet been bitten by the watch bug yet, but I found the article interesting nonetheless. Other might find it useful. Hopefully the link dodges the WSJ pay wall.

[Brightlightman]

I am not a watch guy, and I sorta hope that TIME never comes.

[pangloss]

I am not a watch guy, and I sorta hope that TIME never comes.

I know what you mean. My wife bought me a Luminox as a wedding present. It's over 10 years old now, and I'm still happy with it. I think it is about as high end as I'll get.

[Badger]

Buying my Omega was one of the best decisions I ever made. I used money I saved from per diem and overtime from overseas protection details. I wear it to work every day. When I check the time, it reminds me of great trips and great friends. Plus, I can pass it down to my son. When describing the desire for a nice watch, I "didn't get it" until "I got it." Now I completely understand why a guy wants a good timepiece. A nice watch, for me, is also a throwback to a time when a gentleman knew how to dress. G-shocks have their place though.

[SmokinHole]

Not a watch guy but I have an Omega Chronosport that was my grandpa's. It was purchased in '67 for the princely sum of $180 and I still have the original receipt, case, and instructions. Omega has a heirloom program where they take older pieces and essentially zero-time them. It's about a grand but I think it will be money well spent.

[Mike OTDP]

Watches are like cars and furniture...the retail price is never what you pay. Watch eBay auctions. I picked up my IWC Fliegerchronograph new for about 40% under nominal retail. Also, if you have any sort of unit or organization affiliation, they may have a discount program. My daily wearer is a Bremont in U.S. Naval Test Pilot School markings.

[bog]

Cool article, right about my price range if I ever buy my first luxury watch.

I'm looking for a good milestone to celebrate with the purchase, like breaking $1M gross annual sales in my business or something similar, possibly for my 10 yr wedding anniversary coming up. Looking at the Rolex Explorer, haven't' shopped much but I like the Explorer for it's image and name.

If I ever sell my business or make a property deal big enough to call a major milestone I am immediately going out and getting a luxury watch and a really expensive bottle of scotch (or two.... or five), probably also have a really expensive custom pen to sign the deal. This type of stuff is just cool to me.

[pangloss]

I'm looking for a good milestone to celebrate with the purchase, like breaking $1M gross annual sales in my business or something similar, possibly for my 10 yr wedding anniversary coming up.

This makes tons of sense to me. I'd have much less problem justifying the expense to myself under a circumstance like that.

[EDELWEISS]

Watches are no longer timepieces they are a statement of who you are... If you just want to know the time look on any of the 100s of devices you already have that tell you the time. Watches OTOH are the "overcoats" of 100 years ago. You could tell exactly who a man was by what coat he was wearing. Today it cars and watches, and maybe a few other things....

There are guys who wear Timex Ironman's and guys who wear Omega Dark Side of the Moon and Rolex Submariners and even a few of us who occasionally use pocket watches. When I was still on active duty, the joke was you couldnt be in SF unless you had a Rolex "SUB" and mirror sunglasses...

My Rolex GMT II cost the tidy sum of $3500 in 1990, now they start at $9000. Its still keeping great time (yes it gets sent back to Rolex every few years); but some of the high tech watches from that period use batteries that arent even made anymore. So when youre thinking youre just soooooo cool with your new Apple watch, dont forget theyll release a new model next year and every one will think youre lame for wearing the BlackBerry version.

Remember if it were just about needs, we'd all vote for Hillary. Watches are about WANT, and thats good enough for meeee

[Jon Payne]

I've never regretted purchasing quality time pieces. I wear an Omega Seamaster daily and a Rolex Datejust on weekends.

[barnetmill]

An expensive watch is an interesting luxury. It does very little that a cheaper digital watch will not do and in my case is subject to damage and loss. I lose a $20-40 watch and really do not care. I loose or smash a several thousand dollar Rolex and that hurts. The practical difference is a few seconds a week in time variation. But there is a social aspect in wearing an expensive watch that some get from your peers which is important in impressing people. So that aspect is not to be discounted along with wearing expensive, stylish clothing.

Recently I watched some people that locally had some power at a local board meeting of county commissioners. One of my gun clubs is fighting these guys over development. Unlike the politicians running the board meeting, these guys were not well dressed and really did not give a damn about anything except getting what they wanted. They looked more like low classed thugs which they are, but are not people to be discounted on what they are able to do. They are in the process of doing a multi-million dollar real estate deal that will require local, state, and federal spending on local highways. They called themselves the Exit 3 group relative a new exit on I-10 along with a network of new roads for a rural part of the county. They are looking at developing 17,000 acres of land into housing. I never bothered to look to see what watches these people were wearing.

[Paper Shredder]

Yeah it's a pretty expensive hobby if you get bit like classic gun collecting.

Like other "gentlemanly" hobbies, it usually involves investment and appreciation. So it's not a typical collection sickness with hoarding and junk.

I have been bit ever since I saw one of my freshman college professors wear one. He was a pretty bad ass guy, very fit, power lifter, martial artist, drove a modded BMW M5, but a super intelligent dude. I guess I was enamored with it all coming from rural Pennsylvania. He has the typical black and stainless Submariner.

Since then I got a Panerai when my first big promotion came, then I got a TT GMT, then I realized I couldn't wear it daily because of the perception I conveyed in my world and now have a Seamaster as my daily that was a wedding gift from my bride.

[fish78]

Luxury watches cost considerably more than $5,000. It all depends on what you want in a watch. If you want the most accurate watch...buy any well made quartz watch...analog or digital...If you want a mechanical watch look at makers who use a quality Swiss movement...plain watch with no complications can be had for less that $500...once you enter the realm of true luxury watches, you have Rolex on the bottom of the heap and go upwards from there...not hard to find luxury watches in excess of $100,000.

[GemJedi]

As a former jeweler, I can tell you that there are two ways to buy a nice watch for significantly less than retail, First is grey market. These are new watches unofficially sold through a watch broker. The reason for this market is because the luxury manufacturers require their retailers to sell a certain $ amount per year in order to keep being a dealer. The official retail dealer will sell a watch to a broker, who will sell that watch to a non-dealer retailer, who will sell it to you, even though that final retailer is not an official dealer of that brand. Watches are typically a 100% markup from the retailer to you but you can usually obtain a 20% discount buying the watch this way. Official dealers of luxury watches typically do not discount for fear of losing their dealership. The downside is that this grey market sale does not come with a manufacturer warranty.

The other way to buy a luxury watch at a discount is to buy pre-owned. The highest level brands are like classic cars, owning a 1969 Mustang has its own cache and no one will accuse you of being cheap by buying used if you buy something that has collector value. Still, the 1980 Rolex is typically less than the current Rolex sold new. In this case make sure the serial numbers match and that the watch is not a Frankenstein collection of salvaged originals and also make sure it has been given a going over by a certified watchmaker.

[TFA303]

Disappointing watch fact I discovered recently -Tag Heuer will not service watches past a certain age (20 years in my case). I've always gotten great factory service from them, so this was very frustrating. When I next buy a good watch, it won't be a Tag.

[GemJedi]

Disappointing watch fact I discovered recently -Tag Heuer will not service watches past a certain age (20 years in my case). I've always gotten great factory service from them, so this was very frustrating. When I next buy a good watch, it won't be a Tag.

The manufacturers are not in the business of providing watch repair services. They only do so as necessary to provide warranty service. Even then, most warranty service is done at the local authorized watchmaker level. You would not expect Glock to keep taking in your gun after twenty years when there are local gunsmiths who can do most repairs.

[Paper Shredder]

Disappointing watch fact I discovered recently -Tag Heuer will not service watches past a certain age (20 years in my case). I've always gotten great factory service from them, so this was very frustrating. When I next buy a good watch, it won't be a Tag.

I love the new carrera series but it seems that the brand has overreached in consumerism in recent years where exclusive luxury cache has been tossed in favor of quantity.

[Mike OTDP]

I love the new carrera series but it seems that the brand has overreached in consumerism in recent years where exclusive luxury cache has been tossed in favor of quantity.
That happens sometimes, not just with watches. It seems to be the most frequent with a change in ownership.

[Coach]

I love my G-Shocks, but lately I'm feeling the urge for this:

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/Coach_Hamman/image_zpsjjqc93j5.jpeg (http://s237.photobucket.com/user/Coach_Hamman/media/image_zpsjjqc93j5.jpeg.html)

[moostapha]

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/24/1717e9dada1a4b53d4925811a1a51159.jpg

It probably doesn't fit any of the guidelines. It's quartz. It's discontinued. But I've had it since 1996. I put it on a NATO strap because I got sick of breaking pins in the bracelet every few years.

Still...love it.

[coastalcop]

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/24/1717e9dada1a4b53d4925811a1a51159.jpg

It probably doesn't fit any of the guidelines. It's quartz. It's discontinued. But I've had it since 1996. I put it on a NATO strap because I got sick of breaking pins in the bracelet every few years.

Still...love it.

Watches with history are the best bro. I've got an old one I will never wear that my grandfather wore as UDT during ww2. I still bust out the 1911 he brought home as a bbq gun ( made by the Remington rand typewriter company). But the watch will stay in the deposit box ( can't even remember what it is)

[moostapha]

Yeah. I wear mine every day.

I also saved up for it for a few years when I was a kid. I apparently just loved watches.

My first kiss, I was wearing it. 3 proms. My first fight. My first SD class. The first time I shot a rifle. The first time I shot a pistol. First time I drove. Just about every milestone.

I just hope Omega keeps servicing it. Last year, it had the big overhaul. Cost almost as much as I paid, and I think the case is the only original part.

[coastalcop]

Yeah. I wear mine every day.

I also saved up for it for a few years when I was a kid. I apparently just loved watches.

My first kiss, I was wearing it. 3 proms. My first fight. My first SD class. The first time I shot a rifle. The first time I shot a pistol. First time I drove. Just about every milestone.

I just hope Omega keeps servicing it. Last year, it had the big overhaul. Cost almost as much as I paid, and I think the case is the only original part.

When they stop sourcing the quartz movement, opt for the automatic during service . There is a certain panache to an auto ( that said I've had autos from omega, zodiac , Rolex, orient, seiko, invicta, fortis, etc...... What's on my wrist right now? The Fitbit my xo bought me 6 months ago ;)

[Paper Shredder]

I used to live in Hong Kong for a stint as an Expat deal. A colleague and I were perusing a high end watch store as usual dreaming and witnessed a mainlanders shell out over $100k in RMB cash buying a Rose Gold A Lange Sohn.... We thought we were ballers until that happened.

[moostapha]

There is a certain panache to an auto

That there is. But the case is also thicker and it keeps worse time.

So, by then...I'll probably have to turn this one to a desk ornament and hope they make a new one I like as much.

To my knowledge, they stopped making the waves on the face, which is one of the subtle touches that makes this model 300M better than all the others.