My sister had four children young, was a single mum living in a two bedroom council flat while working in McDonald’s to make ends meet.
She worked hard and ended up owning her own successfull business. Now she has a nice house , drives a nice new Mercedes as does her postman husband and would think nothing about spending £25,000 on a two week holiday.

She had it hard for along time. But now can afford the finer things in life and why not,

Good luck to her. Spanking your money on expensive holidays is totally understandable. Who wouldn’t?

My point is that the supposed ‘finer things in life’ we’re talking about here all look… you know…. a bit shit.

I like Mercedes cars, I like fancy holidays and I like big houses. Because they all achieve something or are beter than the cheaper alterbative in some real way. All these watches do is cost money, they are a vehicle for marketing.

If you bought them because they looked nice, then you’d be just as happy with the indistinguishable cheap copy, no?

Anyone can buy what the hell they want. They can think it is worth whatever they want. But they can’t expect the rest of us to believe it is about taste, or engineering, or an investment strategy.

It’s a symbol which purchasers think is of class and style. But you don’t just buy those.

So your view is a bit inconsistent.
You object to being told it’s about taste, engineering or an investment, but happy to tell the fans what it isn’t.

Nice watches are classy and subtle things; the very best are often expensive.

The world is increasingly less classy and definitely not very subtle, so the same watchmakers cater for this audience accordingly, often with products that are actually lower down the range! Says it all really. You can’t buy class, but some try to.

That’s all there is to it, it’s not a watch thing! It’s a THINGS thing.

Carry on 🙂

A university mate of Madame sounds like your sister, Chip. Trouble was the house with a guest house in the grounds, the new Ferrari (his) AMG Merc (hers), jetskis, holidays in one of the most expensive hotels in Hollywood, spectacular wedding and… I’m sure you’ve go the idea now, was all done with mirrors. It took a fairly minor drop in the company turnover to bring the whole credit-based mirage to an end. Everything saleable was sold, she got 40k as her share of the divorce (and the kids) and then he went bankrupt as she was the brains behind the business.

Things are not always what they appear. I hope your sister is being extravagant with money that’s really hers.

I think describing expensive watches/cars/toys/whatever as art is incorrect. I think the best way to think of art as ‘having no purpose, other than itself’ and because of that, watches, while may be very aesthetically pleasing/wonderful bits of engineering/sound investments, are not ‘Art’, because they tell the time/are cars etc.

Its their money, if they choose to put it on their wrist/in their garage/on their wall instead of in an institution, fine. If I had the choice, given the same return I know which is more fun, and what I’d do.

I also wonder if the haters would be quite so passionate in their hatred of these things if a big lottery win came their way. Like all the winners that suddenly and inexplicably start voting for the blue team, post win. Odd, that.

How many haters have iphones?

Or Miele, Bosch, Gaggia, Audi 🙂

How many haters have iphones?

not very exclusive these watches then ? sound like mass produced tat.

Things are not always what they appear. I hope your sister is being extravagant with money that’s really hers.

Edukator, she worked hard 7days a week to build it then two years ago decided she had had enough and took a step back putting managers in to run it instead. The business soon began to suffer, loosing contracts, so she sacked them went back to work before then selling the business last year for a small fortune.

She is now bored with sitting at home and now looking to start another business just not yet sure what.

I’d imagine that the uber wealthy look at that thing as the mark of someone who’s recently come in to a crap-load of money, i.e. the nouveau riche. There are probably far less well-known and more exclusive brands out there that “those in the know” would go for.

Speculation on my part of course, but c’mon, it’s like winning the lotto and buying a lime-green lambo with gold mags versus a Maybach.

Excellent, Chip. Our friends had an offer of 4m for the business in its heyday, I suggested they take the money and do something else with it, or even nothing for a while. Perhaps that’s why we haven’t heard much from them of late.

Edit: just one word isn’t so excellent, “bored”. I haven’t worked since 42 but being bored hasn’t come into it. Perhaps she hasn’t heard of STW. 😕

But seriously, with time and the money to do pretty much what you want how does one get bored?

Or would those in the know just use their phones to find out what time it is like everyone else?

I know when it’s time for lunch, the sun comes around the corner of the house onto the area it’s nice to sit and eat lunch.

I understand what mol grips is saying, u just don’t agree with it. A nice watch is much the same as jewellery, people don’t buy the cheapest tat they can find, they buy what they like. Why has gold always been expensive? Used to have no practical application whatsoever. How about pearls? Utterly useless, and yet, I’d be surprised if Mrs Molly doesn’t own some bits and pieces of nice jewlry, and I’d also guess you’ve bought a couple of bits of it. this is no different to not buying the cheapest possible watch. If anyone on this thread has spent more than £10 on a watch, then they’re playing the same game!

My wife chose her own engagement ring, cost £90 🙂 remember that diamonds are only expensive cos they are rare, not because they are any nicer than other gems. The market is controlled, so that they can milk you.

they are rare

They are not, they are expensive because their price is controlled.

‘De Beers’. To me that means getting my round in.

Which you famously never do! 😛

My wife chose her own engagement ring, cost £90

So you paid more then you had to then. Why?

Which you famously never do!

Tru dat.

Argh my arch-Nemesis is abound!

So you can buy an engagement ring for less meaning it was chosen purely on aesthetic grounds. You’re as guilty as the Patek Phillipe crowd

And can I point out there’s nothing wrong with that at all.

Theres a programme on gaudy tat exclusive watch dealers, and suchlike, on BBC2 at the moment

Just watching it, I like watches but I’m gob smacked that that OK, quite nice Rolex just went for £700k at auction!

Thats a lot of coke and hookers!! 😯

10 grand for a cake?! Puts the watches in perspective! 😯

My first contribution to this thread, so I probably wasn’t included in your list, but no, if I had a big lottery win I wouldn’t buy one of these watches. Because the reason I don’t currently own one has nothing to do with the affordability. I might buy an iPhone though.

Edu has it here for me. I’m not at all envious of the lifestyles of those people who own these watches (well if I had their money I’d sell up and buy myself an Edu lifestyle).

I’m not sure you’re getting molgrips point here – he does query why those who like the aesthetic don’t just buy a well made fake which looks the same, and is the same in every functional sense.

Those watches look like something out of a cheap dress suit watchshop

So you paid more then you had to then. Why?

As aracer said. The point is that we bought the prettiest one. It’s cost is related to the cost of making it and the cost of finding the stone, which was Tanzanite. The coat of the watch is over inflated beyond what it coat, because mugs will pay it for no other reason than its expensive.

I believe the marketing industry has a name for this phenomenon, something like “perceived quality” I.E. people think it’s worth a lot simply because it cost a lot.

If you only liked the watch for its looks, you would be thrilled to be able to buy the fake for a fraction.

Jesus! Those watches (250k each) look like something Huggy Bear would balk at for looking a bit too tacky!

That Rolex that just went on tv in Geniva was ghastly.

Very few things have a real value. Whether it’s a Rolex, an iPhone or a pair of Levis jeans, a large percentage of the cost is the ‘perceived quality’.
We are all guilty of falling for this.

Actually, I didn’t ask why. I stated that you could have bought one for less but you didn’t. That means you’re making a purchase based on asthetics and a value to you.
same as those watch buyers.

Oh, and binners, +1 – that chiming watch was absolutely gopping- but then that’s my perception, and it would be if it cost £1!

Antiques Roadshow is on now. That’s another one that amazes me. You see the ridiculous valuations put on stuff that’s invariabley absolutely bloody awful, but old, and think to yourself ‘who on earth buys this tat?’

That means you’re making a purchase based on asthetics and a value to you.

Of course, and it’s the nature of this ‘value’ that I’m questioning here.

It’s the Emperor’s new clothes.

It’s the Emperor’s new clothes.

I’m not sure many disagree with that, but it’s everywhere, not just watches.

The value argument is simple – its like a well made suit or pair of shoes. You can buy cheap versions but is that value?

Simple analogy: buy a classic watch versus an new apple watch or a casio. All tell the time. But two will depreciate (rapidly?) in value and one will (a) last longer than the other two AND (b) increase in value. Assuming that you can make the choice, which one is the best?

IMO simple classics a the best, many of the super expensive bling ones are truly horrendous. But a nice classic will endure for generations – now, who made that point originally?!?

Having said ^, true wealth is enjoying the things that money can’t buy. So sounds like Edukator is the wealthiest man on STW!!

Doesn’t your other half make nice hand woven scarves?
I have seen scarves for £1:99 why would you need to pay more?