I struggle a lot with granting myself "permission" to spend crazy money on watches. I too am very fortunate to be financially able to do it and still meet my commitments to my family, but I still question whether it's "right". It really is a somewhat embarassing luxury from a purely practical standpoint. My wife and I started with literally nothing and made a lot of sacrifices to get where we are, so this kind of consumption isn't in my DNA. However, I have always appreciated quality, craftsmanship and beauty and when I caught the watch bug I fell hard!
As much as I truly enjoy them and have no investment aspiration at all attached to my collection, it does help me feel better about moving forward buying a watch if I believe I am getting a good deal and that I will be able to recover a good percentage of the funds if I sell.
A couple things that haven't been mentioned yet:
- Will you be comfortable wearing a watch that costs this much? I have seen some people get a "grail" watch only to be paralyzed into not wearing it for fear of damaging it or having it stolen.
- For a complete financial analysis you have to consider maintenance and other holding costs as you own it. Insuring a piece like that will be expensive and sending minute repeaters in for maintenance is probably a five-figure hit every 5 years or so.
Great discussion, guys!
Steve