I can't. I tremble spending $800 for a throw-away Apple Ultra. Growing up poor, yet seeing James Bond and other pinnacle of achievement people wearing brands like Rolex, I can dream of owning one. But, my frugality just won't let me buy something of luxury.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
I can't. I tremble spending $800 for a throw-away Apple Ultra. Growing up poor, yet seeing James Bond and other pinnacle of achievement people wearing brands like Rolex, I can dream of owning one. But, my frugality just won't let me buy something of luxury.

I won't hesitate to spend big money on something if the value is there. But dollars are manhole covers to me when it's not there. Right now I want to have a custom guitar pickup made for me that's $189, which is expensive for a pickup, but worth it. However, I cannot bring myself to pay the $26 for UPS ground shipping from CA to AZ. It's ridiculous. And so I'll likely go without.

I don't even own a watch. Yet, I'm retired so I don't care what time it is.

quote:

Originally posted by rburg:
I don't even own a watch. Yet, I'm retired so I don't care what time it is.

He he.

Expensive watches are accepted as jewelry for men by most folks. Rolex is probably the most famous.

Any digital watch will spank a mechanical for accuracy, and at an order of magnitude less cost. But, they aren't flashy so they don't have the same pull with the ladies I guess.

Rolex makes a fine watch. As others have stated, it’s not necessarily the ‘best,’ highest-quality, or most accurate. I inherited a stainless Submariner from my father almost 20 years ago (this was a ‘dream watch’ for me). Back then, it was worth around $3000 or so. Today, good used ones (and I just had mine factory refurbished several years ago) go for around $8000 or more. That is a bad thing for me, actually. As an heirloom, I don’t much care how much it’s worth, as I don’t plan to sell it. However, recently I find myself less willing to go out in public wearing $8K on my wrist. I don’t want a tweaker to bash me on the back of the head with a brick and steal my watch. Now, I only wear it to work (I work on a military installation, so it’s a lot more secure). I don’t need/wear a watch outside of work, since I always carry my phone with me.


I have wanted a Rolex for decades. When my father first bought his, I would wear it when I came home on leave (I was in the USAF – I would also drive his Porsche and basically pretend I was in an entirely different social class). It really is a nice watch; good and heavy, like I prefer. I really don’t like most other Rolex watches; with the exceptions of the Daytona or a Yachtmaster. I hate the ones slathered in diamonds – those are too glitzy for me, and IMO really only good for showing off how much F-you money somebody has. I doubt many people even wear those things. . . I did drool over a gold Submariner last time I was in a Rolex store, but $40,000 for a watch is a tad bit out of my range.


I have other dream watches, such as an F-22 edition Omega (a couple F-22 pilots I know own them). I was actually briefly tempted to sell my Sub and buy an orange-face Doxa dive watch. I have been reading Clive Cussler novels since the 1980s, and his hero Dirk Pitt drove classic cars and wore an orange Doxa. Matthew McCaughnehey (however he spells it) wears one while portraying Dirk Pitt in the 2005 movie Sahara). I think those go for around $3k or so. I could buy two of those and have gun money left over if I ever did sell my Rolex, but I’m not anywhere near ready to do that.

The Clive Cussler appreciation group I follow on Facebook has a LOT of Doxa photos. They have turquoise “NUMA Editions,” white and black face versions, and a new Clive Cussler Edition that I can drool over. Funny thing is, I have never even seen a Doxa in real life, though I have been fascinated with this watch for 40 years. . .


I understand those who ‘don’t get it.’ I’m a watch guy, just as I am a ‘gun guy’ and a ‘car guy.’ If you don’t like them, I can’t really explain why I do.

It's akin to asking why Colt Pythons when a Hi-Point does the same thing.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
It's akin to asking why Colt Pythons when a Hi-Point does the same thing.

That's a pretty good analogy. I have a rolex because when I was a kid growing up poor I saw it as a sign of success. I decided when I was 10 that if I ever made any money that I was going to buy a Submariner. When the day came that I could afford it I went and plunked down $3,500 for it. It has gone up a bit in value since then. One of the first nice things I bought for myself and I still love it.

Yes, there is a mystique about Rolex watches, at least there was in decades gone by. My late wife gifted me a Rolex when we became engaged in the early 1990s (she wore a Rolex acquainted in Hong Kong some time earlier). Many of my colleagues at the time worn a Rolex, so it had a certain cache in some circles. I seldom wear it today other than for formal occasions. I gave myself an Apple Ultra for my 75th birthday--seems suitable for old age because of all the biometric and alert functions. My day-to-day watch is a Casio.

Whenever I'm sent out of town by my company, I wear my Rolex.

It lets the vendors know that my company knows to let me handle that decision and I am rewarded for it.

I EARNED my Rolexes as a reward for a job well done. Well, done good enough because the watch I truly want is $35,000 and not even a Rolex.

quote:

Originally posted by rburg:

I don't even own a watch. Yet, I'm retired so I don't care what time it is.

"I'm not into time, man."