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Old 25 February 2008, 09:34 PM   #31
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The one thing I've not seen factored in here is annual inflation rates. An item purchased for $100 in Canada in 1978 would cost $318.52 today. If that item didn't increase in value by more than 3.94% calculated annually, it lost money.
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Old 25 February 2008, 09:49 PM   #32
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"Rolex an investment?"

NOT - really, since 5000USD in 1998 are much MORE worth than 5000USD in 2008! It is from the very very basic economics study that everyone knows or should have it in mind.

However, as Bo said, some models are more desirable!
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Old 26 February 2008, 08:15 AM   #33
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I think there are a lot better investments out there if that's what you're looking for. A Rolex is something to treasure and appreciate on your wrist. I don't see too many preowned Rolex's on sale for more than their original values.
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Old 26 February 2008, 09:19 AM   #34
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To me, Rolex is an awesome watch that I can wear for half a decade normally or if I get lucky can sell after use and make money.

What's not to like? More upfront yes, but, you do get usage + your money back over time.
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Old 26 February 2008, 09:47 AM   #35
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i am trying to convince myself that purchasing a sea dweller before the price hike (march 1) is a good investment :-) my thought process goes something like this: if i can get 10% of now, and purchase from an AD where there is no sales tax, then I will be way ahead once the 10% across the board price hike goes into affect. since i live in CA that would mean my watch would go up in value ~ 28% in one week (less whatever depreciation the watch suffers when i purchase it). I can't quite convince myself this is a good idea...

feel free to talk me into it ;-)
I know exactly what you are going through - I am having the exact same debate with myself about whether to get a TT Yacht Master before the March 1 price hike. Considering I just bought my first Rolex on February 9, two in one month seems extremely excessive.
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Old 26 February 2008, 09:59 AM   #36
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I know exactly what you are going through - I am having the exact same debate with myself about whether to get a TT Yacht Master before the March 1 price hike. Considering I just bought my first Rolex on February 9, two in one month seems extremely excessive.

Can you do the 10% layaway plan, pay the rest in 90 days?
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Old 26 February 2008, 10:12 AM   #37
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I guess I could - but I'd rather just pay for it all at once and get it over with. Kind of like pulling a band-aid off really fast. More painful initailly, but over quicker.

On one hand, I don't want to get it, and then not wear it enough to justify the purchase. On the other hand, I don't want to be haunted by it for the next few months and decide I want it after the price hike hits.

Of course, the price hike could be all hype to get people like me to buy.
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Old 26 February 2008, 10:37 AM   #38
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Not good as investments especially when you consider repair, maint and insurance costs. But as far as a hobby, much much better than most.

Of course there are the exceptions like picking up a Cosmograph many years ago for $400 or so. Or a Milgauss that may be now worth over $100,000.
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Old 26 February 2008, 10:39 AM   #39
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I guess I could - but I'd rather just pay for it all at once and get it over with. Kind of like pulling a band-aid off really fast. More painful initailly, but over quicker.

On one hand, I don't want to get it, and then not wear it enough to justify the purchase. On the other hand, I don't want to be haunted by it for the next few months and decide I want it after the price hike hits.

Of course, the price hike could be all hype to get people like me to buy.
i am exactly where you are...i just bought my first rolex last year...it seems awfully fast to buy another one --but the price is never going to be cheaper (and i can afford it...i just can't quite justify it). my SO is even cool with me getting it (she also has a rolex)
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Old 26 February 2008, 10:42 AM   #40
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i am exactly where you are...i just bought my first rolex last year...it seems awfully fast to buy another one --but the price is never going to be cheaper (and i can afford it...i just can't quite justify it). my SO is even cool with me getting it (she also has a rolex)
Exactly! I guess I have 4 more days to think it over.
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Old 26 February 2008, 10:42 AM   #41
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Buying a Rolex is very much the same as buying a vintage guitar. I buy old guitars because I love them and actually do play them and I love the craftsmanship. If they happen to go up in value that's great but I really don't consider that in the equation. My Rolex - I love it. When I'm out and about, playing golf, heading to a party, it just makes me feel good and I could care less if it goes up in value. I've worked hard my entire life and feel I deserve to wear a great watch. Hell, I might buy a '59 Corvette I feel so good now!
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Old 26 February 2008, 10:43 AM   #42
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Exactly! I guess I have 4 more days to think it over.
what model are you pondering? (i want a sea dweller)
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Old 26 February 2008, 10:48 AM   #43
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what model are you pondering? (i want a sea dweller)
TT Lady Yacht Master with white dial. I like it because it is in between a dress watch and sport watch. Seems like you can wear it with a suit or on the beach (while my TT Jubilee bracelet DJ with 10 diamond dial is a little much for the beach).
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Old 26 February 2008, 11:01 AM   #44
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Buying a Rolex is very much the same as buying a vintage guitar. I buy old guitars because I love them and actually do play them and I love the craftsmanship. If they happen to go up in value that's great but I really don't consider that in the equation. My Rolex - I love it. When I'm out and about, playing golf, heading to a party, it just makes me feel good and I could care less if it goes up in value. I've worked hard my entire life and feel I deserve to wear a great watch. Hell, I might buy a '59 Corvette I feel so good now!
Good attitude
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Old 26 February 2008, 12:05 PM   #45
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Investment

There's many books on the subject of building wealth as we all know.... one common thread is that people interested in building wealth spend their disposable $$ on things that grow in value or at least maintain their value.

No-matter who you are, you're going to spend a certain % of you extra $$$ on FUN....... IMHO if you're concerned about building wealth then spend you fun $$ on something at least has a shot at gaining value.

Consumer electronics is a poor choice! Clothing is a poor choice!!! Drugs and alcohol are poor choices.

I choose vintage Rollies and Vintage Guitars. All your money is MADE on the purchase. If you do your homework and have patience you can get good deals on guitars and watches. Especially if you specialize in a certain niche which you can become very knowledgable about.......

In a way the art of building wealth and collecting becomes the hobby.

I worked with several guys years ago who horse-traded rollies.... over time they went from a few SS models, up to TT models, and now they primarily play with 18K models...... they're very very shrewd traders/dealers, WHO NEVER make a bad trade.

Now throw on top of all this a certain passion for these fine watches and an appreciation for the heritage and function.... and you've got a pretty fine hobby.

Will I become the next rockafeller soley on vintage rollies..... NOT..... will my hobby be the equivalent of cash-into-trash..... NOT...... I'm somewhere in between :)

Plus you can't wear a GE stock on your arm and admire it :)
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Old 26 February 2008, 12:17 PM   #46
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Here is my take


I have $5000 to spend on a watch.


DO I want a Tag? Omega? Pan or Rollie??


I looked at the what ifs.

In 10 years if I tire of my $5000 watch, which is going to be the easiest to sell if I want to step up or step down.


Hands down the Rolex in my opinion.

Its the Ferrari of watches,, most recognized and well know luxury watch to the average person in the world.

Don
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Old 26 February 2008, 12:27 PM   #47
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One beautiful about rolex is they do increase their price about 10% every year.
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Old 26 February 2008, 12:31 PM   #48
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I look at is as an expenditure that I can recoup most of, if I ever have to. That can't be said about many other watches.
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Old 26 February 2008, 12:36 PM   #49
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No-matter who you are, you're going to spend a certain % of you extra $$$ on FUN....... IMHO if you're concerned about building wealth then spend you fun $$ on something at least has a shot at gaining value.
That would be 66 Vette and Rollie's for me
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Old 26 February 2008, 12:51 PM   #50
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That would be 66 Vette and Rollie's for me
Love the '66. My dad has a '64 (bought new). My favorite is a '65 327/365.
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Old 26 February 2008, 01:11 PM   #51
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The one I bought 18 years ago is going for 4 times what I gave for it. The one I bought 12 years ago has also quadrupled in value. I didn't buy them AS investments, but to me it's a cool bonus that the values have increased that much!

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Old 26 February 2008, 01:22 PM   #52
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Sounds like your heading to a Oregon AD with no sales tax, (just a guess) factor in gas! LOL
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Old 26 February 2008, 02:26 PM   #53
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Modern ones, no. Double red SD, yes. The price on that watch is going up faster than gas prices and won't come down anytime soon, IMHO!
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Old 10 July 2008, 06:20 AM   #54
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There are various ways of thinking of investment. It may be true that a typical Rolex bought 25 years ago has only appreciated in value by a few percent a year, and therefore underperformed (say) the US stock market. But this is a rather narrow perspective to take on "investment".

First, remember that these stock market returns were made in a time of (by historical standards) relative peace and stability, at least in the US and Europe. In less stable times a fine watch (like any jewellery) can represent an excellent store of value. Watches can be used in barter: they are portable and fairly easily hidden: if they are properly made (like a Rolex) they can take quite a bit of punishment and in extremis even be buried or inserted in more intimate "safe places" (anyone remember Pulp Fiction?). When the Soviet stormtroopers are raising the hammer and sickle over your town hall, which are you going to grab: your share certificates or your Rolex?

What is more, a Rolex (unlike a share or bond, but like a bar of gold, for example) does not represent anyone's liability. So you are not exposed to the risk of someone going bust and making your investment worthless, or to your country being brought to its knees by political corruption & incompetence, or inflation. Nor do you have to worry about the company you invested in going bust or being appropriated by the state. Again, watches do well in times of crisis simply because people trust them when they do not trust managers and politicians (explaining why those Soviet troops took millions of watches from the wrists of dead Nazis). Were you better off with share in Enron, or a Yachtmaster? 2006-vintage 'AAA'-rated sub-prime mortgage bonds, or a Milgauss? 1920s German government bonds, or a tasty Oyster Unicorn Viceroy? For that matter, in 1971 when Nixon took the US off gold, would you have been better off with US dollars in the bank, or a well-looked after 1968 Submariner?

When you want to buy or sell a Rolex, you do not need to wait for the exchange to open. Hardly a single stock market anywhere in the world avoided being closed down completely for at least some of the 20th Century. Nor do you need to worry about the exchange never opening again. There are some delightful share certificates still in existence which were issued by Russian companies before 1917. They make excellent wall decorations.

Some charming items hold their value for a while, but can be overtaken by events. I have a lovely Leica camera which I adore, and which takes very nice pictures: but one day the last piece of film will be exposed, and everyone will finally have a digital camera (which they will throw away six months later when a better one comes out). Some put their money into vintage cars, but one day the oil will run out. In a hundred years, my camera will be a curiosity, and a Ferrari a laughable anachronism, but people will still want to know the time (and will still have wrists). And having survived the onslaught of quartz, a Rolex is already obsolete technology, yet has kept its value - quite an impressive stress test.

Being a bit more technical, you can think of your Rolex as an "alternative asset", in the sense that its value performance over time is unlikely to be correlated with the performance of any financial asset. This simply means that when the value of financial assets is falling, the value of "alternatives" need not. In recent years sophisticated investors, including hedge funds, have increasingly sought investments of this kind to try and diversify their risk - which is why they have ended up buying things like wine, stamps, farmland, works of art and musical instruments. The trouble is that as more and more investment money goes into these things, the more correlated their performance inevitably becomes with that of the stock market. Also, there is a limited supply of top quality art, violins and wine, and as the saying goes, they ain't making any more land. So even a small amount of new investment can distort the market, i.e., starts to push the price up very rapidly - and creates the risk that the price will fall rapidly when things start to go wrong. Plus many of these investments are not liquid, i.e., cannot easily be sold when you need cash quick. Some of them, like wine, stamps and musical instruments, but unlike the relatively robust Rolex, need specialist storage which is expensive and inconvenient (and trying doing a "Pulp Fiction" with your Stradivarius), and willing buyers can typically only be found by using brokers (who are expensive and usually a bit creepy). Finally, buying a quality violin, never mind a Picasso or a cattle ranch, is a major commitment, requiring you to tie up millions in capital, and meaning that when capital is tight buyers may be few and far between. And if you own a farm, one stroke of the bureaucrat's pen can replace your name on the land register with another. By contrast, there is a large existing supply of Rolexes (and Rolex turns over SFr3bn a year, suggesting that supply is unlikely to dry up), meaning that new money is unlikely to cause major distortions, the market is deep and strong, no brokers are required, possession is ten tenths of ownership, and your investment can be broken up into bite-size chunks of a few thousand dollars at a time so you don't flood the market when you need to liquidate.

In sum: a Rolex is extremely liquid, universally accepted as a form of payment, robust (if not quite indestructible like a gold bar), portable, inflation-proof, needs no special storage, can be sold in small chunks without the involvement (or knowledge) of regulators, governments, stock exchanges or brokers, and is immune from risk of bankruptcy, obsolescence and market disruptions. And when Ivan comes you can stick it up your butt and still run in relative comfort for the border. When you arrive in Geneva you can wear it to the bank (a dousing in Dettol may be recommended) and probably even offer it as collateral, when you need a loan.

When you take this wider perspective, it is hard to think of another investment which can compete.
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Old 23 July 2008, 01:43 PM   #55
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[QUOTE=ludwig_9;663240]There are various ways of thinking of investment. It may be true that a typical Rolex bought 25 years ago has only appreciated in value by a few percent a year, and therefore underperformed.........../QUOTE]

I was just about to buy my first Rolex but after reading this, I think I'll buy two. I'd be crazy not to!
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Old 23 July 2008, 02:03 PM   #56
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This is an oldie, but still a good read.............
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Old 23 July 2008, 02:10 PM   #57
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I don't buy many things as an investment.

I buy nice things because I tend to like nice things.

I did make a point not to buy a new Rolex because like a lot of stuff you take an initial hit buying it new.

If I want to invest, I'll buy Krugerrands.
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Old 23 July 2008, 03:26 PM   #58
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If i sell all the Rolexes that i bought in the last 30 years,i might come out even.
30 years of pleasure that they gave me: priceless.
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Old 23 July 2008, 04:02 PM   #59
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I've always thought of a Rolex being a luxury item that has the potential to aide me at a time of desperate need... Such as being abroad with no way home. The resale value is there but you have to be prepared to suffer a loss.
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Old 23 July 2008, 05:39 PM   #60
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Investment ??

I don't know if buying a new Rolex is an investment (unless it's one that's hard to find) but I suspect that buying one a couple of years old at a good discount off retail might be a much better opportunity to realize a larger return when sold.

I've never seen any actual values but I'd be suprised if an AD paid more than 55-60% of the retail price for a Rolex and that 40-45% is a lot to make up.
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