Best Time To Buy An Expensive Watch? Neva!!!!

My fellow Americans, let me get this off my chest right now: a high-priced watch is a terrible investment! Sure, certain brands may hold their value somewhat over time, but most of them do not!

For the most part, watches depreciate in value. Exceptions exist of course (like a Patek Philippe [if you can afford these, what are you doing reading my blog? LOL]). However, the one you’re probably looking at is not going to be an investment piece, but something to wear and enjoy, right? In this case, if you get a huge discount, say 50-75% off retail, you’ll be much better off than getting mugged with the M.S.R.P. (neva do this …. eva!) As a rule of thumb, know that any kind of jewelry is going to generally be a bad investment, but if you buy a watch that’s made of 24K or has a bunch of diamonds in it, you’ll guarantee yourself that there will always be some value due to the materials involved, if nothing else…

What’s a watch really worth when you break it down? Personally, I believe a sharp looking watch should retail for under $300. I’m pretty happy with stainless steel or titanium; I don’t need silver, gold, diamonds and whatnots on there, and it doesn’t have to be mechanically complicated (just tell me the time and look good)! I swear, the watch companies must have gotten together one day and concocted some dastardly plans to rip everyone off (that’s right: consumers are being robbed blindly … these watches are not worth nearly what these thieves are charging). Do yourself a favor before you blow your cash: decide what it’s worth to you first! For example: is a $10,000 watch worth 10 times the amount of a $1,000 watch to you (God, I hope not)? What about a $1,000 watch and $9,000 in other items (say a vintage  ’51 VW Beetle Split Window Deluxe. Again, NOT!)?

Want to hear “crazy”? Well, a neighbor of mine said his grandmother bought a watch back in the 60’s for $35,000 … WHaat did he just say (this is the price that a middle-class family could have bought a home for back then)? He told me that it was a wafer thin, gold watch covered in diamonds, which she thought would hold its value forever. Man was she wrong … he inherited this watch when she died, and just recently decided to get it appraised. Take a guesstimate at what its present resale value was! Did you guess less than $1,000? If not, you were wrong! God, what a gigantic waste of cash (she’s probably turning in her grave right now).

Seriously, you should really take two very important factors into account, if you ever lose your mind enough to want to buy a pricey watch. First, do you have enough money to comfortably waste like that? If the answers is no, then it’s a really bad idea! Second, is it a really good watch that’s likely to last for a long time? For example, Rolex makes jewelry-quality watches (that is, they are built for looks first and function second) that are decent enough, but they are vastly overpriced for the quality that you’ll get out of them. For something that starts at $5000, you could get a much higher quality watch. That said, Rolex doesn’t sell crappy products, just really, really expensive ones.

The real question comes down to this: is buying an expensive watch a waste of money or not, and in my opinion it is! If you’re paying that much money for something that won’t command even 1/10 of the retail price in resale value, then I certainly think that a high-priced watch is a huge waste of cash. Hey, I’m not telling you what to do, and this article is just stating my opinion on the matter, so if you’re happy dumping large amounts of money on something that’s sole purpose it to tell time, which any $25 Timex will do, then go for it! At the very least, however, remember this while you do …

“Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” – John F. Kennedy (before he started to do watch ads! LOL [actually, he would have never agreed to this exploitation of a deceased legend! What's next ... John Lennon doing handgun ads?]).