How much would you spend on a watch?

In My Humble Opinion
41

I love watches, and I have 10 vintage ones, 8 of them Hamiltons. The most I’ve paid for any of them was $2,500 for a “driving watch”. It’s got a square face that’s set at an angle on the strap, so if you’re looking at it with the strap vertical, the face is diamond-shaped. When I have my hands on the steering wheel, the face is perfectly set so I can see it without taking my hands off the wheel. I was so thrilled when I got it- I showed it to my husband, whose only response was, “But you have a clock in your car.” Hmph.

 I saw a Hamilton Spur, circa 1929, in mint condition on a website not too long ago- but it was $6,200.
42

If it costs over $50, it’s not worth it.

Right now, I’m wearing a Nike Triax watch that I got at one of their outlet stores for $40. It’s lasted for about two years so far and does everything I need it to. It’s defintely not a dress watch, but then, I never dress up.

43

My husband bought me the most beautiful, delicate watch. I have very small bones, and most bracelets don’t fit me. It has a bangle bracelet (that we had to special order from the Mfr.) and the face is a small oval. I think he paid around $400 for it. It’s from France.

However, my eyesight is failing me in my old age, and I’m afraid I’m going to have to get something bigger if I want to actually tell time with a watch. I’m truly bummed.

Other than that, a cheap Timex was my last watch. I had that thing for about 15 years and it never lost a minute. And I beat the hell out of it, too!

44

they used to be one of the only portable thingys that tell time, but now they’re jewelry; so it depends on how much you’re willing to spend on jewelry, which i assume is any amount so long as you fancy it…

45

Love the Timexes. I enjoy cheap watches anyway, but I’m especially fond of Timexes.

Not a collector, nor do I know much (or anything) about them. Just enjoy them. Today I’m wearing what I believe to be one of the last manually wound models they made. Of course, I have absolutely no information to back this belief up, but hey, whatever.

46

Truth Seeker: I work in wholesale jewelry, which should help explain the issue…

Legomancer: That’s a riot! I’d love to say that, but as you quite correctly point out, I’d not do much business thereafter.

LMM: Every career has its costs. Stockbrokers have coronaries at 40, lawyers have to work 100 hour weeks for years until they make senior partner, Jewelry marketers have to wear $10,000 watches to impress the bozo buyers, and shit shovelers have to… well… shovel shit. You and I simply disagree. I’d much rather work at a job that requires me to wear the watch to impress bozos (and pays me commensurately) than shovel shit. My ego can take it… But if you’re determined, I have a spare shovel in the garage; You’re welcome to it.

InConceivable: Holy crud! We agree on something :slight_smile:

47

Watches are the only jewelery I wear. Out of the 29 watches I own, most fall in the $40-75 dollar range. Personal favorites include a few Timex, Skagen and a Shivas I purchased in Stockholm. I love the watch but have been unable to find others in the U.S. Anyone know of a Shivas dealer??

48

Damn. I am going to have to be more careful from now on. :smiley:

49

I’ve got my gradaddy’s 1928 Waltham wrist watch. It keeps good time for such an old watch, and I like the fact that it looks quite different from a modern watch. The only drawback-it is hard to find a watcg repair guy, who can fix mechanical watches these days…just about all watches are electronic, and the old timers who can fix mechanical movements are dying off.

50

ralph: try looking for a jeweler or watchery that works with old pocket/railroad watches. There’s a fair number of folks as collect those (i.e. my father) and there are three different places that work on them around his town… That’s where you’ll find guys who know mechanical watches.

51

It’s not the being able to afford a $10,000 watch that would bother me (that would be just fine with me), it’s the being judged on how much money I could ostentatiously display on my arm that would bug me.

52

OK, got me there. For some reason, I was thinking, say, agent, or organ broker, or something. You’ve come up with the one profession where this might actually be acceptable.

OK, never mind me.

53

Thanks, LMM. But I’d disagree with you regardless of my specific industry. I hardly think my profession is “the one” where this “might actually be acceptable.” There are many professions where you have to give a certain impression to succeed and if you don’t play by the rules, you’re gonna lose. Period.

One example I can think of on a different scale is an accountant – if you walk in to an accountant and he’s using a freebie solar-powered 10-key credit-card size calculator from the pizza joint down the street, he’s not going to be getting your business. He might be a great accountant, but he doesn’t make you believe he can do his job. So maybe he has to go out and buy one of those $500 200-key HP Desktop Adding machines that does 4,000 functions, 3,990 of which he’ll never need. He doesn’t have an adding machine fetish, he’s just figured out that perceptions DO count…

An agent, as another example, has to make you believe that he knows, can interface with, and even intimidate/negotiate with studio heads, producers, as well as the stars he (hopefully) works for already. You’d also, probably, want to feel that he was a success in his job and you weren’t his first “test case.” So the accoutrements that might help foster that impression - Mercedes, fancy watch, etc. might well be key ingredients for him to succeed.

Like we’ve all said, if you feel that’s “beneath” you, by all means go shovel shit… But I think it’s ridiculous to be so condescending toward people who are simply operating according to the social standards of the area where they find themselves.

I haven’t asked what you do/have done for a living in your life, but my guess is that you have on many occasions done/bought/said/worn things according to the dictums of that profession’s accepted standard. Even if that means you ARE a shit shoveler, and you wear a NAPA auto-parts hat because everyone else in the SSWA (shit-shoveling workers of america) union does too. Just because your “required standard” doesn’t cost as much as mine doesn’t make mine bad and yours just fine.

Basically, perceptions DO count. If fostering the right impression as part (though only a small part) of what it takes to succeed is “beneath you,” you better look into getting your SSWA card up to date.

54

I guess I can see how that would make sense. One of the reasons I was intrigued is that in some circles, an ostentatiously expensive watch is a faux pas. The guy worth $500,000,000 wears a $4000 Rolex while his stockbroker wears a $20,000 Audemars Piguet or a diamond-encrusted Presidential.

When money really is no object, I guess people lose the impulse to convince others that money is no object.

55

Count me in on the “i don’t get” club. With the exception of DrLizardo’s shoemaker’s shoes situation, I just can’t see expensive watches making any sense.

I’ve had the same Casio $27 water resistant calculator watch for about 5 years. Before that, I had another IDENTICAL one for at least 10 years until it finally broke. Granted, I’m an engineer, so no one cares what I wear (within reason.) But, how does one go through several watches a year?

56

Not so ridiculous. I’m not condescending towards people who have to wear a uniform, so to speak, but to a profession (or a society) that judges people (other than unfavorably) on the level of display they can manage. That’s just bad in general. A $10,000 watch is not necessarily more tasteful than a mouthful of gold teeth, or a big Cuban rope with a Mercedes emblem dangling from it. And it creates ill-will, class jealousy, and general discord in society. I mean, $10,000 is someone’s tuition for their kid. Or food on said kid’s table for a year or so.

57

As a lawyer I can tell you that we most certainly judge each other by our watches…the goal is expensive, but not too much so as they’re tacky.

I had to put the watch my parents gave to me, a gold ladies datejust to pasture due to this. I now have a lovely stainless and gold Tag…make fun of it if you will, but it’s the perfect lawyer watch…

58

I haven’t worn a watch in years. I always forget to put it on and when I do, I tend to bang my wrist against things, so the face inevitably gets little dints in it.

Any watch I want would be as a piece of jewelery rather than a timekeeper. I’m highly enamoured with a Gucci watch that came out a couple of years ago - three strips of leather that wind around the wrist with a little silver face. When it came out, I looked at it and the “I’m-looking-for-a-watch” part of my brain went “Yes! That one is it!”.

59

I bought a really cool Mickey Mouse watch (made for Disney by Idon’tknowwho) several years ago. I love it, it keeps excellent time, and although I have had to replace the watchband a couple of times, it is still ticking. I think I paid around $25.00 for it at K-Mart.

If it ever dies, I will definitely buy another one.

When I say several years, I MEAN several years. I have had it at least 6 years… actually more, but I don’t know how much longer. Spend a bunch of money on a watch?

Ummm…Why?

60

I wanted a Movadao Museum watch for years. A few years ago, I went to buy one. All is well until I realize that without the numbers, I can’t tell what time it is!

Sheesh, what a let down.

Went with the ESQ instead. About $250, I love it. I do consider it a piece of jewelry. When I need the time, I check my cell phone.