[Archetype]

Originally Posted by Dave O

The dollar value of a vacation is zero once it is over. Does that mean I won't take a vacation because there is no value to it once it is over? No, I take vacations for the memories and the smiles it puts on my face. Again, no different than a watch.

You are missing my point entirely. The two are very different and you don't compare apples to apples. Again you sound irresponsible when it comes to money as you do not seem to care about wasting it when you can avoid doing so.

Spending 10k for holidays and spending 10k for a Rolex is NOT the same. Both give you pleasure and satisfaction with the big difference being that with the Rolex your 10k will always be there should for instance an urgent medical attention at a private hospital is needed. Your holidays would have left you with nothing tangible to rely on at a future date. I am not saying one is better than the other nor am I saying we need to always think about value retainment but taking a vacation is not the same as buying a watch from a financial point of view.

My point is IF one can avoid wasting money one should do so. It doesn't matter what it is that you are buying and why you are buying it. I think you misunderstand me completely.

Think of this analogy and compare it to buying a watch from a boutique vs grey market.

If you had in front of you on two different reputable websites two holiday packages both offering exactly the same but one was 40% less costly(due to a promotional event). In addition to this if you picked the cheaper one you would also get refunded 80% of your funds at the end of your trip. Which one would you choose? You come across as someone who wouldn't care which one he picked. I suspect you are very wealthy hence money is not a consideration for you which would explain your stance on this.

Originally Posted by Dave O

But my level of enthusiast I believe is on a different level than yours as I never plan on selling any of my watches.

"I don't plan" and "I will not sell no matter what" are two completely different things though. If something unfortunate happened and you needed money you didn't have you would sell them and you know this. I have watches I just get bored of after some years and never wear them so I sell them OR something happens and I need access to funds so I sell them. These are the only reasons I'd ever sell a watch. Generally speaking so long I like a watch I would almost never sell it. Its nice to build a collection over time. Each watch has different meaning and memory associated to it.

Originally Posted by Dave O

I understand wanting to preserve your money. I just don't treat watches like assets, which it seems you do. I treat them like a vacation or car that depreciates in value.

I will reiterate it once more. Caring about the value of a watch doesn't make one less or more "true watch collector". If it does you haven't demonstrated it yet. What you have demonstrated is that you don't care about wasting money when there is an easy and readily available alternative not to which is fair enough. You don't need treat it as an asset to be prudent about where you are buying them from. Bar wealthy people I always feel sorry for normal folk who walk into boutiques and get ripped given the availability of alternatives.