The Breitling Watch Source Forums

ok i have been thinking lately about watches, so whats new right...lol. the thing about this hobby of ours is that we all have thresholds on what we consider is too much to spend. and for every person thats an individual line.

my thing is this....when i add up all the money that i have spent on my pieces i say to myself "Sh## i could have bought ________ or i could have bought ________ (other watches that is). But the thought of spending more than 7k on a piece right now, for me is too much to swallow. but its obvious that when you add up my collection i have spent more than that collectively. why is it so hard to save the money and just drop it on a bigger purchase??? do you guys battle with the same thing? what do you consider your threshold for a watch?

I have thought that myself. All the money I have spent on mediocre watches, I could have gotten a fricken Rolex. I found as I have "stepped my game up" so has the prices of my watches. I went from an Oris TT1, which was my first really nice watch, I still love it by the way, to my Steelfish. Now I just dress up my fish with different bands to keep me from dropping down on another watch. I have the itch for a new one. I know what you mean though. Sometimes I wish I just threw it all down at once on a really nice piece.

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Rob
Breitling SO Steelfish, silver
Breitling SO Abyss, silver
Rolex Submariner, no date

Wonder if the opposite works, for example rather than a $50,000 watch, buy 10 for $5,000.

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End of Discussion.

Of course there is second-guessing. Some of it comes with changing tastes, ever-growing exposure to what's out there, and conditioning to the thought of paying X dollars for a watch. A few years ago you would never have convinced me that I would spend the money I did on my Breguet. One of the reasons I took so long to buy my beloved Navi was because of the cost barrier. So what did I do? I bought less expensive watches because the cost was more palatable, as "stop gap" or variety watches. Then, as many do, after I figured out I accumulated a lot of nice watches but not the ones I really wanted, I decided to thin the herd and go for those watches. That's the story of this year for me. And I spent far more money than what I paid for my "big 4" watches to get to this point. I think it's pretty common.

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Scott

AP Royal Oak 15400, silver
Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Classic Cars
Vintage gold Corum
Rolex DJ 36 TT, oyster dial, oyster/smooth
Baume & Mercier Riviera 200m, silver dial/aquamarine bezel
Breitling Superocean 57, rose/stainless

I remember when I thought 1k was a huge step. Now 10k seems pretty reasonable. I think we just get used to the initial blow, and then subsequent blows seem like less of an issue.

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-RJ

I think I'm in the same boat. Spending $500 on a watch use to be excessive. Now spending 5-10k is pretty standard. The bad thing is. Once you have one you just have to have more. It's a very expensive habit! And I can't complain to my fiancé about spending $300 on a dress. But that being said, I say can you sell that dress for as much as you paid for it anytime in the future? The obvious reply is no, I win

Hello All,
Archie understands completely!

I have spent about A$50,000- (that is my actual expenditure - Retail Replacement is about A$150,000-) ARCHIE IS A VALUE SHOPPER AND ONLY BUYS BANG PER BUCK !!! on my collection..... that is the 12 pieces you see below. I was thinking of liquidating all the mens pieces and buying 1 or 2 pieces..... like a JLC Reverso Pink Gold Minute Repeater..... (Had the chance at $28,000-) and say a Steel Breitling Navitimer.....

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I need more watches....

I will set aside a budget for watches for the year, generally based on how my business is doing - current contracts, previous year's results, future prospects etc. I won't spend more than that in a year and will be happy to carry some over to the next year or divert it to other areas if needed. Within that framework it really comes down to what appeals - 1 watch or 20. I have started to move towards fewer acquisitions and hence a higher average price over the last little while, but that's also partly due to the fact that I keep what I buy.

I definitely agree with EVERYONE on this topic...

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"I don't got the bright watch I got the right watch" -Jay Z

scott i like how you mentioned buying less expensive watches was like a "stop gap". you know whats scary what if what you own now is the "stop gap" for your future purchases....

all i can say is AP and Patek here we come!

Lalalalala can't hear you lalalalalala.

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Scott

AP Royal Oak 15400, silver
Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Classic Cars
Vintage gold Corum
Rolex DJ 36 TT, oyster dial, oyster/smooth
Baume & Mercier Riviera 200m, silver dial/aquamarine bezel
Breitling Superocean 57, rose/stainless

Ahhh yes... the "my tastes get more exclusive and more expensive" syndrome... I'm very familiar with that...

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"I don't got the bright watch I got the right watch" -Jay Z

I think my experiences have been pretty much the same.

having said that I have been pretty lucky and have only really lost money on one watch recently. probably only one of the ones I have moved on that I maybe wish I had kept - rolex explorer 2.

I really want an AP ROO but I would have to sell all 4 of my watches to finance that and I like having a variety of watches to wear too much to do that. I suspect I would even then struggle to pull the trigger on spending £10 - £15k on one watch. even then woud I be comfortable wearing it?

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Timlaw

seawolf titanium yelow dial
rolex submariner 11610LN
panerai pam49
zenith el primero rainbow flyback
heuer monaco
tudor heritage chronograph

hey bud sorry to hear about you selling your Rolex Explorer 2. what a great piece. you must be excited for the latest release of that watch this fall.

you raise a very good question

"I suspect I would even then struggle to pull the trigger on spending £10 - £15k on one watch. even then woud I be comfortable wearing it?"

i wonder this too myself. even if i did buy a ROO (my fav watch too ) would i be comfortable enought to walk around with it knowing its value is so great.

That's when someone who looks suspicious tells you it's a gorgeous watch, you tell them "thanks, it's fake"

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End of Discussion.