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It's also that a Swiss watch isn't really designed to be replaced, rather endlessley maintained. A lot of the higher end Swiss watches have lifetime guarantees
by akhatri_aus 11y ago
It's also that a Swiss watch isn't really designed to be replaced, rather endlessley maintained.
A lot of the higher end Swiss watches have lifetime guarantees, meaning you could even pass it down to your kid and have it fixed for free. The mechanical movements also mean they don't need batteries replaced.
This is a barefaced opposite to the 'Smartwatches'. Next year there'll be an iWatch 2 or something. Next to the smaller issue of charging many people adore these Swiss watches for their ability to 'just work' for decades and decades.
Another thing I guess, is they're likely to retain their value.
- rimantas 11y agoStraight from the horse's mouth: "You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely take care of it for the next generation."
- w1ntermute 11y agohttp://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2011/11/luxury_branding_the_future_lea.html http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2011/11/luxury_branding_the_f...
- raverbashing 11y agoInteresting article, but I suspect he's wrong about the secondary market But yeah, having a fancy watch only matters if you have enough money to buy it AND for it to be expensive (the "Aspirationals 14%") Bill Gates can go into a store and buy the most expensive Rolex, no problem. It's at most, as expensive to him as a PS4 for most mortals.
- darkr 11y agoI think it's a way off that, so I took a look According to census.gov, the median net worth in 2011 for American is $68,828. Bill Gates net worth is $79.3b. A ps4 at launch was $399 Let's say a top-line swanky Rolex is $500k A ps4 is therefore 0.58% of net worth of the median American A 500k Rolex is 0.00006% of net worth of the median bill gates. Ignoring the amount of percentage of income available as disposable income, a 500k Rolex is .003% of a ps4 (maths check anyone?)
- raverbashing 11y agoYeah, I had done the math with more "round numbers" but I must have fumbled it somehow, you're right By that proportion, the value of a 500k Rolex to Bill Gates is equivalent to the median net worth of an American is (drum roll): $0.42 Bill Gates has 1.1 Million times the median net worth.
- devNoise 11y agoThis comment on Bill Gates net worth reminded me of this Neil deGrasse Tyson video: https://youtu.be/B2inExgT77s https://youtu.be/B2inExgT77s
- rcurry 11y agoAs a watch collector, I can assure you that the author of that blog post has no idea what he's talking about. The secondary market for luxury watches is huge, and a Patek is about the worst example you could find in terms of a watch that doesn't hold its value over time. The nice thing is that a used luxury watch usually holds its value really well - you buy a used Rolex in good condition, for fair market price, and you are not going to lose money if you decided to sell it five years from now.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- crdb 11y agoI thought this was a better analysis, even if I disagree with parts of it: http://www.quora.com/Why-would-anyone-buy-a-Rolex-watch/answer/Suzanne-Sadedin http://www.quora.com/Why-would-anyone-buy-a-Rolex-watch/answ... (I can't remember how to edit the Quora link to make it non-walled). "There are people claiming that a Rolex is magnificent technology, coincidentally signalling their intelligence. There are people claiming that a Rolex is beautiful, inadvertently signalling their good taste. There are people claiming that a Rolex is reliable and an heirloom, accidentally signalling that they are respectable. And there are people claiming that a Rolex is good for business, purely by chance signalling that they are clever businessmen." "Of course, none of this applies to me. I honestly love Van Gogh paintings, not because it signals good taste within my social circle, but because they're intrinsically beautiful. I'm certainly not trying to raise my social status, or signal anything whatsoever. Not me, no."