Expensive Watches?

[girlfriend44]

Do you know anyone who wear an expensive watch today like Rolex for example?

Even if I was wealthier I would never buy an expensive watch.
Don't wear a watch anyway.
What a magnet for thieves?
What a worry, wondering where you have put it, being careful not to lose it etc?
Most people look at their phones today I would have thought as well?
Absolutely hate anything on my wrist.
Are they for show-offs?

Why the watch hate on here? Wasn’t there a similar thread not too long ago?

I don't wear an expensive watch (or any watch at all) and neither does DP, but I do know a couple of people who wear expensive watches. Yes, they wear them every day and no, they're aren't show-offs. One of them is a colleague - I'd noticed that she wears a lovely watch every day and when I complimented her on it she said 'Oh, thank you - I'm really sentimental about it because my mum and dad gave it to me when I graduated'. Then a couple of weeks ago when we were sitting side by side to edit a video together I noticed for the first time that it's a actually a Cartier. She's not at all a show-offy person, actually quite the opposite I'd say. She wears minimal, simple jewellery and I've never seen her with a designer bag or dressed in anything with a logo.

It's not the price of a watch that makes it ostentatious. It's the style. A simple, sleek Rolex (or whatever other premium watch brand) is far less show-offy than a massive gold blingy chunky watch with a jewelled casing and face and loads of random dials and buttons by cheaper brand, even if the Rolex cost ten times the price.

I have a beautiful Omega which was a gift from MiL, which I wore every day for nearly 30 years.

It doesn't work any more, the bracelet is looking the worse for wear and it would cost too much for me to have it put right.

I loved it and thought of it both as a beautiful piece of jewellery and as something useful.

I'd never be without a watch but would/could never spend Omega/Rolex money on one.

My last watch, which I wear every day cost over £1k, but I'd sold some old jewellery to pay for it.

Smartphones don't cost as much as an expensive watch, no. But they're much easier to sell quickly and much harder to identity once they've been wiped, so they're very attractive to muggers. They can snatch them in a second and sell them pretty much immediately, so they can take several in a day and have the cash in their pocket by tea-time and are unlikely to be tracked down via a stolen phone. But a watch has to be wrestled off someone's wrist and the process of selling one on is a lot riskier. It's very easy to find a casual buyer for a phone, It's not very easy to find a casual buyer for a Rolex, so you're probably going to have it hanging around for a while, and if you take it to an actual watch dealer they'll ask questions about authenticity and start looking up serial numbers etc, and so on.

So although a Rolex costs more than an iPhone, you are still more likely to get mugged for a phone than for a watch.

Out of interest, how do these people who steal watches from shops get rid of them then?

Good for you! I would love a Rolex and if I had one I would absolutely wear it everyday.

I love watches - always have done, my husband is the same. All our watches have increased in value - as have my handbags and jewelry. I view them all as investments , am I aware it may make me a target, yes, but I'm careful not to flash it around and to be fair am more worried about my phone being stolen!

Out of interest, how do these people who steal watches from shops get rid of them then?

Same way they get rid of anything that's a bit tricky provenance wise, they're stolen to order with a customer in mind, they 'drip' them out to pawn shops using mules to spin the story or they transfer them to a country where the market is more 'flexible'. There was a thing on about the darkside of Ibiza, and they were saying that the expensive watch/jewellery stolen there was ending up in the middle east.

My dad wear a Rolex, it was a work gift and he's worn it for decades. I doubt most people would give it a second glance as it's pretty old and standard looking.

I fancy a Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso, as it's just a classy looking watch. I never make the next step to actually buying one though as I'm a clumsy ox.

I often wonder where all the land rover type cars vanish to. They're so unreliable to start with, who's fixing them? Apparently many expensive cars are shipped out in containers to break down god knows where.

Watches I don't see them as an investment but a beautiful piece of jewellery

I have a beautiful gold Rolex I love it. I have loved watches since my first Times watch as a child. I did wear it everyday. It now retired just on special occasions but I look at it a lot .

i also love chiming clocks 😁

I have a tag watch, significantly more than the casio it replaced but not in the league of other expensive watches.
I can't imagine spending 5 or 6 (or 7!! 😳) figures on a watch .... if i had it.....but then I wouldn't on a fancy handbag but some people do.

I'm not sure why people "don't understand" expensive bags or watches, people want them and like them...so (assuming they can afford them) they buy them ... its not a difficult concept!

I’ve had my Omega Constellation, with diamond bezel, for about 20 years. I wore it day in day out for a long time. A great mix of beautiful, functional and somehow not particularly ostentatious. I virtually never wear it now though, it’s been replaced by my garmin!

I have an Omega Speedmaster Professional 'Moon Watch', it's the watch that the Apollo astronauts wore. I bought it 30 years ago for about £900, currently retails for £6.5K.
I got it because I had read an article about it, liked the look of it and was drawn to it's 'history'.
I used to wear it daily but now only occasionally, partly because it costs £600 to get it serviced every 5 years of daily wear - something to bear in mind when buying a luxury watch.

Currently my daily wear watch is a Pagani that I bought for £80 from Amazon. It's similar to the Omega in looks but has a 'panda' dial.

I have quite an expensive watch (Longines.) I wear it because I like to know the time and don’t like cheap things. HTH.

I have an Omega I wear. I always wear a watch, I have several.

If it's a 90s Moonwatch it's movement Omega 861 which is based on a Lemania calibre. These can be serviced, easily, by a good independent watchmaker, which will be a lot less than £600.
Plus, its a very robust movement so likely to not need servicing for a good few years beyond 5 which is just a guideline figure (because it increases maintenance revenue)

In short, wear it, it's what they're built for!

I bought it in 1993. I've had it serviced 4 times - the first 3 times because it had stopped working, each time a few years apart. Then it sat in a drawer because I couldn't afford to get it fixed.
I had it serviced last year by a good watch repairer and it cost me £600. That was full service, bracelet refurbishment etc.

I have an expensive diamond watch (it’s not that flashy looking!) it was a gift from my partner 15 years ago and I’ve worn it almost daily. I love a nice watch and think it finishes off an outfit nicely. Also like not having to get my phone out to check the time. I would be devastated if anything happened to it. I think it’s beautiful it’s not to show off. 15 years of daily use I think it’s been worth the money!

A couple of years ago he bought me the gold version (other one is silver) which is also lovely and I now switch beetween the two, A watch is the only ‘jewellery’ I wear consistently. I also love £1 primark flip flops 😀 and my other jewellery I wear occasionally is from accessorize etc… just cheap bits!

Caught by the spammers bump - reported both of them

Just because you don't like wearing watches OP doesn't mean that those of us who do are show offs🙄
I alternate my Omega Constellation and Tag Alter Ego. Both discrete and unlikely to attract attention.

I have a Tag that I wear every day - it wasn’t ridiculously expensive, compared to Rolex, Omega, etc. Like someone said upthread, I don’t think anyone really notices it!