Well Elfin was telling me that if I bought one it would still be an investment even if I wasn’t expecting to make money out of it and simply wanting it as a heirloom.

Was I?

There’s a (Northern?) notion of ‘sunday best’; save your best suits for events, roll out the good china twice a year and so on

I’m from Buxton originally and I “get” this. Is that northern enough? 😆

I got married in a very inexpensive suit and then wore it over and over again for other events and even work. It’s now falling apart. An expensive one may have been no better made, but I would not have worn it as much for fear of wearing out an expensive suit. Daft, eh? 😆

Oh, and just to help the Hard Of Thinking a little bit

….and we must all bow down to your superiority complex 😯

Cougar – I agree with that to an extent and I don’t like the thought of things not being used as intended. For instance, I went to a vintage car owners club twice. The second time it was raining and most of them turned up in family saloons because they wouldn’t take their precious ‘collectors items’ out in the rain. I also sold a very bling Breitling for that very reason, as I didn’t feel comfortable wearing it most of the time and thought it was a waste.

I can also fully appreciate that people just like to have things, even if they sit in a drawer 99% of the time and only get taken out to look at occasionally. Stamp collecting anyone?

Elfinsafety – Member
Well Elfin was telling me that if I bought one it would still be an investment even if I wasn’t expecting to make money out of it and simply wanting it as a heirloom.
Was I?

I don’t know now – you bored my brain into a coma.

….and we must all bow down to your superiority complex

Well, it’s not my fault you’re so inferior…

I can also fully appreciate that people just like to have things, even if they sit in a drawer shed 99% of the time and only get taken out to look at occasionally. Stamp collectingMountain biking anyone?

FTFY

I went to a vintage car owners club

I think that’s a slightly different situation though. They’re not ‘expensive’ cars, they’re irreplaceable antiques. If I had a 2011 Mustang I’d be driving it every day; if I had a ’67 Mustang it’d be wrapped in Vaseline and Visquine and hermetically sealed in a humidity-controlled room.

It’s like comparing a large new build in the country to a listed building; they might have the same material value on paper, but there’s a vast difference when it comes to whether or not you’d want to knock down the east wall and build a conservatory.

I think whether you use something, or wrap it in cotton wool can largely depend on how much money you have. This guy seems quite happy to thrash his cars round a race track as he has the money to rebuild them should they have a prang. If I was lucky enough to own any of them, I’d have to sleep with them to make sure they were safe 😉

Yeah that and the fact the manufacturers often GIVE him cars the lucky fecker.

Whoah this thread has stirred up some strong feelings in a few people eh? A betting man might wager the same people who don’t “get” expensive watches are by and large the same people who don’t (pretend not to?) get why others buy big expensive ego chariot skills compensator bikes, drive flash cars or wear expensive clothes. A cynic might say there’s a whiff of the green eyed monster. Just sayin’ is all 🙂

I like those Motul stools and table sets.

I simply found you were on this occasion – making an argument out of nothing.

erm thats what stw is for.

The first one reminds me of B&O hifi stuff – great to look at but not necessarily the best sound/vision for the money

eh? I thought we’d already established for a functional watch buy a £20 casio, everything else is aesthetics so function is pretty much irrelevant (certainly seems to be at the silly money end of the market)

Oh I’m also a northerner who has to fight against the “keep that for best” mindset everyday. Grrrr

if I had a ’67 Mustang it’d be wrapped in Vaseline and Visquine and hermetically sealed in a humidity-controlled room.

Why it’s made for driving, you should be enjoying it. If you don’t whats the point in paying for it? One of the reasons I nearly had a fit when that bottle of plonk went for 750K, investment it may be but it can never be enjoyed, it could taste of horses piss but until it’s opened you’ll never know and when that happenes you just blew 3/4ers of a mill on a tipple. Atleast with that ever so nebulous Art stuff you can enjoy it everyday and then still sell it on for a wedge if you want.

A betting man might wager the same people who don’t “get” expensive watches are by and large the same people who don’t (pretend not to?) get why others buy big expensive ego chariot skills compensator bikes, drive flash cars or wear expensive clothes.

Umm, I think it’s more about the pointless self-justification. We know that expensive watches don’t tell the time any more accurately (and may be worse), and they may or may not hold their value so don’t make much sense as an investment.

I’m surprised by this thread; I always assumed that spending lots of money on an expensive watch would get you something that fulfilled its basic function at least as well as something cheap.

Interesting..

buy a £20 casio

Eh? We’re talking about ‘function’, not ‘bling’! 😆

@ransos I’m not sure anyone here is trying to justify why they buy expensive watches (nor should they need to). They buy them because they want them, same reason as they might buy an expensive car (why not get a second hand corolla? perfectly fine) or clothes (nothing wrong with tesco value is there?)

It’s pretty humorous seeing all these people frothing at the gash with righteous indignation over choices other people make, that don’t affect them in the slightest, and are none of their business 🙂

Random your mixing thing up a bit there, expensive cars and bike skills compensators quite often (to some extent) are functionally better so not just an aesthetics/status symbol thing. I actually have a 2nd hand corolla, as a wheeled box to get me where I want to go it’s fine, it does lack some elements tho, comfortable seats and a decent MPG for starters, cruise control would be nice too. If extra money gets you extra/better functionality I’ll save up (where possible/reasonable), if extra money gets you “ooooh you paid a LOT for that didnt you?” comments/looks, as I said I’ll shake my head.

I’m hardly frothing at the mouth tho.

good enough to get a stricken space ship back to earth, and most automatics can run not far off COSC standards if they’re properly regulated

the watch nasa endorse is neither automatic or COSC standard.

I own a 2000 Series TAG Automatic. It’s midsized, has a simple white face & stainless steel strap and tells me the time & date. It’s not ‘bling’ or flash just a nice plain watch that does a good job. Bought it in 1992 & it’s been worn most days since including whilst mtbing, skiing, diving, football, DIY etc – it’s even survived a day hydrospeeding and an unpleasant motorcycle accident.

I’m kinda confused as to which category this puts me in?

It’s pretty humorous seeing all these people frothing at the gash with righteous indignation over choices other people make, that don’t affect them in the slightest, and are none of their business

Eh? Where’s that happening then? I don’t see it.

There you go with that imagination of yours again… 😉

good enough to get a stricken space ship back to earth

Of course, I, and I’d suspect most people, really need a watch with this function.

I’m kinda confused as to which category this puts me in?

Your user name tells you.

(only kidding)

😆

All is clear now MF 🙂

It’s funny that expensive watches get refered to a ‘bling’ watches. FWIW, I tend to think of ‘bling’ watches as either shiny cheap tat with masses of sparkly stuff stuck on, or the expensive version where only the materials change.
The other sort of bling, the ‘I have more money than you will ever see and I show it by wearing a watch that cost more than your house, but is so complicated it’s virtually unusable’, like this one:

For myself, even if I had millions available, this would be my watch of choice:

Why? Because it’s a robustly built watch that appeals by it’s sheer simplicity. It does one thing. It tells the time clearly and unambiguously. One second’s glance will tell you what time it is, which is why I’ve got the B&R replica, and I’ll probably get a £50 replica of one of these too, as the £5000 it costs is out of my reach. Doesn’t matter, I love the face, it’s just perfection to my aesthetic senses, and it’s all I require a watch to be. Even G-Shock watches shout ‘HEY, LOOK AT ME, I’M A REAL ADVENTURE KINDA GUY, AND I WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW IT!!!’
And most of them are far too complicated too. I even dislike those cheap Casio’s, they’re to difficult to read quickly, especially in the dark. Yes, they have a backlight, but you have to press a button to get that.

the watch nasa endorse is neither automatic or COSC standard.

True – the Speedie pro is a manual wind, but it’s still not a quartz, and I think the point I was making still stands. A properly regulated mechanical movement, whether it’s automatic or manual wind is going to be plenty accurate enough for most people’s real world needs.

I only really want a watch to perform one function, which is telling me the time. My life doesn’t require me to know the time so precisely that I need greater accuracy than either my Seiko or Omega provide. I’ve owned Casios in the past, and part of what I don’t like about them is the additional faff that comes with most of them, and what to me appears the ridiculously over-engineered look of G-Shocks. I much prefer the neat and tidy look of an analogue faced watch in a neat case, but that’s entirely a matter of preference.

@ransos I’m not sure anyone here is trying to justify why they buy expensive watches (nor should they need to). They buy them because they want them, same reason as they might buy an expensive car (why not get a second hand corolla? perfectly fine) or clothes (nothing wrong with tesco value is there?)

Actually, that’s exactly what they’re doing. Your analogy is spurious – an expensive car is (usually) measurably better than a cheap car. This isn’t the case with a watch.

As I said earlier, I completely understand why people might want an expensive watch, a point you seem to have missed.

I’d suspect most people, really need a watch with this function

A second hand seems a reasonable enough function for people to have on a watch?

Do automatic* wearers remove theirs at night?
.
.
.
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the watch kind, not the 7.62 kind…

For myself, even if I had millions available, this would be my watch of choice:

Why? Because it’s a robustly built watch that appeals by it’s sheer simplicity. It does one thing. It tells the time clearly and unambiguously. One second’s glance will tell you what time it is, which is why I’ve got the B&R replica, and I’ll probably get a £50 replica of one of these too, as the £5000 it costs is out of my reach.

Given that there are hundreds of watches with that clear a face and similar stylings costing a few hundred quid or less… why would you buy a fake?

tend to take my watch off at night when I’m at home – if I’m on a residential, or camping out, I tend to keep it on all the time.

FWIW, their is a lot to be said for s simple, aethetically pleasing face.

The case and bracelet of my watch is highly polished stainless steel, but the face is simple black with luminous numbers. The only clutter is the date display

That Paneri Luminor is gorgeous.. Bloomin loverly, such a simple and effective design, clear, concise, chunky..

You say you’ve a replica.. Not one of those funky “egyptian” market ones is it..

I much prefer the neat and tidy look of an analogue faced watch in a neat case

Me too. I love that Luminor one above. I really hate those watches with so many dials and hands that it’s like looking at a “Magic Eye” picture to tell the time. Mine cost me £80. Black leather strap, stainless steel case, white face and black arms. I think I’ve had it 8 years or so and have replaced the battery and strap twice. It keeps great time and – if it wasn’t for the scratches made when my 2 year old “borrowed” it I would be happy with it for the rest of my life.

Mondaine; maybe not über posh, but I love it for it’s simplicity again, and it’s ubiquitous iconic style

Most beautiful thing on this thread so far.

Mondaine = Mundane IMO

But then I like swatches…

Panerais are great, I have a 177 model in titanium as my girly reed-like wrists found the steel ones too heavy. Beware though, they wear very big on the wrist; I find mine a little too big to wear as a formal watch, and too nice to wear as a beater. Such is life I guess.

Are we still on this?

Anyone want to buy one? You don’t need to justify it to anyone or convince anyone of the rationale behind the purchase. JFDI. Your money, your life, your choice.

The old buy cheap/functional vs dearer/same function debate will go on a slong as time. Make your choice for you and **** the naysayers. That’s all. 🙂

“if I had a ’67 Mustang it’d be wrapped in Vaseline and Visquine and hermetically sealed in a humidity-controlled room.”

I’ve got a ’68 fastback, and it gets driven,probably only once or twice every month but it does get driven.Bloody utterly pointless owning it otherwise.

“if I had a ’67 Mustang it’d be wrapped in Vaseline and Visquine and hermetically sealed in a humidity-controlled room.”

I’ve got a ’68 fastback, and it gets driven,probably only once or twice every month but it does get driven.Bloody utterly pointless owning it otherwise.

whoops, sorry double post.I also own a cheapish automatic watch, that’s 40 odd years old and still keeps time reasonably well.