Watches and your Assets

[watchfan0529]

Taking into account the current resale value of your watch collection, how much is your watch collection worth as a percentage of your total asset holdings?

[james.l]

Enjoy your stuff. Watches are for wearing. Stocks are for investing

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[ap1]

Interesting - I’d try to aim for less than 10% and you may think you have a 10 spot but it’s really a 4 spot....

[Slider817]

If anyone has over 2.5% of their net worth in watches they have a serious problem.

[watchfan0529]

Originally Posted by james.l

Enjoy your stuff. Watches are for wearing. Stocks are for investing

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I do enjoy them! With all the time spent on this passion however, it is reassuring to know that there is some monetary value behind the pieces I collect should I decide to let go/swap a watch, that not all the money goes down the drain.

[JR16]

Originally Posted by Slider817

If anyone has over 2.5% of their net worth in watches they have a serious problem.

That’s a random number !


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[Slider817]

Originally Posted by JR16

That’s a random number !


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Half of 5, seemed large enough that you can enjoy a hobby, but conservative enough that ones toys make little impact on your bottom line

[The Argonaut]

Originally Posted by james.l

Enjoy your stuff. Watches are for wearing. Stocks are for investing

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Seconded. Watches are like cars: they almost all depreciate apart from a rare few, and very few know or guess correctly as to what these are. I find this question troubling. The underlying premise speaks so much to what's wrong with watch collecting today.

[astewartconst]

Like 2% personally which is too high in my opinion


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[stockae92]

I don't know. I would say not high enough for me to care. :)

This is a hobby, I keep it small enough not to affect any of my actual financial obligation.

To think of it, I think the money is about the same as the 3 cars that I own for my household.

[VFA]

Useless poll. Options should have been 1, 2, 3, ...., 10, 10+%

[_speedmaster_]

An age breakout would've been interesting.

A 25 year old with just a speedy pro can easily exceed 5% of their total assets.

[_speedmaster_]

Also, I think net worth would be a better indicator than total assets. Someone with a $500k house and no debt is in great financial shape. Someone with a $1m house with a 80% LTV and student loan debt... should probably not be spending as much on luxury watches.

[boogiebot]

Wow this could be a very interesting thread as I think people tolerance for risk and value on how they prioritize things across the board will differ.

Not sure you’re actually gonna be able to pull any type of metric like data as I would think most people would not share this kind of personal info on a random board and if they did would this be considered bragging??


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[liu_watch]

Originally Posted by Slider817

If anyone has over 2.5% of their net worth in watches they have a serious problem.

So if someone has $1m net worth, he still cannot afford a new day-date? (He would need to have 1.5m.) No wonder it is a symbol of financial success.

[Jay (Eire)]

Let me ask this question which is somewhat related.

How many people here feel like they have a better understanding and feel for the used / grey / vintage watch market than the stock market?

Are you more confident of estimating the market price of your [insert appropriate watch here; for example “late 1990’s unpolished Rolex GMT 16710 full set box and papers”] or shares of Apple in two, five or ten years from now?

If it’s the case that many are more confident with the future value predictions related to watches over shares, and I believe that to be the case for lots of people here, then why would it be unreasonable to think that some portion of the population here may look at some part of their watch collection as an illiquid portion of a larger investment portfolio.

What’s also interesting to me is that we hear “watches are not investments” all the time, and as a general comment (public service announcement) that’s OK. But it’s not true in the absolute.

In addition we seem to have no problem accepting “traders” amongst us, but those that may be “investors” seem to be ridiculed some times.








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[JR16]

Originally Posted by liu_watch

So if someone has $1m net worth, he still cannot afford a new day-date? (He would need to have 1.5m.) No wonder it is a symbol of financial success.

Agreed, I think 2.5% is too low. I also think that coming up w a % is totally arbitrary and too many variables involved.


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[GradyPhilpott]

[wot]

100% bruh

[vman]

Originally Posted by Jay (Eire)

Let me ask this question which is somewhat related.

How many people here feel like they have a better understanding and feel for the used / grey / vintage watch market than the stock market?

Are you more confident of estimating the market price of your [insert appropriate watch here; for example “late 1990’s unpolished Rolex GMT 16710 full set box and papers”] or shares of Apple in two, five or ten years from now?

If it’s the case that many are more confident with the future value predictions related to watches over shares, and I believe that to be the case for lots of people here, then why would it be unreasonable to think that some portion of the population here may look at some part of their watch collection as an illiquid portion of a larger investment portfolio.

What’s also interesting to me is that we hear “watches are not investments” all the time, and as a general comment (public service announcement) that’s OK. But it’s not true in the absolute.

In addition we seem to have no problem accepting “traders” amongst us, but those that may be “investors” seem to be ridiculed some times.

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Wolf of Wall Street had a beautiful moment on the subject of stocks and trading. When you're a broker, you get paid on transactions regardless of whether the market up, down or sideways. That's why I have no issues with gray dealers or trusted sellers. Trade is how they make $. But most watch investors make me laugh.

Buy watches with $ you get from dividends and enjoy them.

And to answer your questions: I have no idea what the stock or watch market will do ;-) Can care less, because I spend cold hard cash on everything other than electricity and internet.

[Slider817]

Originally Posted by liu_watch

So if someone has $1m net worth, he still cannot afford a new day-date? (He would need to have 1.5m.) No wonder it is a symbol of financial success.

Originally Posted by JR16

Agreed, I think 2.5% is too low. I also think that coming up w a % is totally arbitrary and too many variables involved.


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It was a little arbitrary, but I don’t think someone who has a net worth of $1MM hs any business buying a $50,000 watch.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by watchfan0529

Taking into account the current resale value of your watch collection, how much is your watch collection worth as a percentage of your total asset holdings?

Post your collection and assets first!

Then please explain why this is relevant.

[JR16]

Originally Posted by Slider817

It was a little arbitrary, but I don’t think someone who has a net worth of $1MM hs any business buying a $50,000 watch.

Agreed and to my point, common sense trumps any %.


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[watchfan0529]

Originally Posted by beshannon

Post your collection and assets first!

Then please explain why this is relevant.

The poll was made anonymous for a reason.:)

It's interesting to see how the results are developing so far. I made this poll to see how much people are financially willing to spend in this hobby/passion.

I wouldn't judge those who put a lot of their money in watch collecting. I live in the capital of watchmaking, and if you think some people are crazy about putting a lot of money in watches, imagine all the professionals in Switzerland and other places who dedicate their careers to this industry!

There is more to watch collecting than the hot pieces that you normally see on here like a 5711, or a Daytona. Some serious collectors put serious money in this passion. Having a sense of the reasonable resale price of one's watches allows that person to plan the collection well and see if they can sell some of their pieces in exchange for another.

Maybe to some of us this is just a hobby, but try and visit Switzerland, not just your AD or your grey dealer. You'll see maybe the intense passion for watchmaking by many people here and how spending that much of one's personal wealth on bits and pieces of tiny moving gears can be justified.

[vman]

OP, loved your poll and participated.

In general, behavior economics, marketing, neuroscience, and related disciplines are of interest to me. Throughout the years, I've observed members of this forum, my friends, and, of course, myself in terms of watch collecting and the evolution of opinions. It is quite interesting!

Will chip in some info about myself.

When I was much younger, my collection of a single Panerai was probably probably close to my 100% total net worth, as despite savings I still had tens of thousands in student loans. Naturally, the Panerai was a purchase of the heart. Loved the brand in its infancy!

As I got older, my watches changed and the collection consisted of "true" value keepers—mostly Rolex and Omega—that I could sell easily. The watches represented a sizeable fraction of my net worth.

Now, my watches represent a tiny fraction. I have just sold off my last "safety" pieces that I never really cared to wear. Will end up with two watches, both bought from ADs, that I will not likely to sell. Both purchased by the guidance of my heart. Re-sell and brand status are not in the picture.

Curious what others will contribute!

[GGGMT]

~1% of my net worth. And if I invested much more heavily in vintage pieces much earlier and more heavily than I did, I’d be a wealthier guy.


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[Bearxj86]

I think in some cases, putting your money in stainless steel rolex and Pateks is similar to putting it in gold or commodities; you don't expect to make a bundle but you don't expect significant degradation if you bought in at reasonable prices. 10-20% is about right if you're a serious watch collector imho.

[AK797]

Depends on how many watches you have, if you have 1 or 2 SS Rolexes then it better be a tiny percentage, but if you have a few SS PPs then you can relax that a fair bit as they are now very stable/lucrative assets for lack of better word.

[subtona]

Being of a certain age with no children affords the absence of college tuition for a child..

Those funds have been allocated to watches.

[Pongster]

Per chrono24’s watch collection feature, value of my stash is more or less at my acquisition cost.

I actually dont know my total assets or actual net worth since my wife handles our conjugal stuff. So i only used as base my individual net worth that i personally handle.

On that basis, my watches equivalent to about 15%.