New York Times Article

[ChronoSloth]

Poor NYT article title, "Watches Are Yet Another Easy Way Rich People Make Their Money Into More Money", in conjunction with Chrono24 television commercials, signals a market top for this contrarian. Besides the choice of title, the tone of the article left a bad taste in my mouth.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/s...e-watches.html

[Jojoshop]

Interesting article, thanks for sharing

[SunTzu]

Too funny, my mother just sent that to me, literally 5 minutes ago.

[greekbum]

The top was in October 2018 imho.

[BNABOD]

Originally Posted by ChronoSloth

Poor NYT article title, "Watches Are Yet Another Easy Way Rich People Make Their Money Into More Money", in conjunction with Chrono24 television commercials, signals a market top for this contrarian. Besides the choice of title, the tone of the article left a bad taste in my mouth.



https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/s...e-watches.html

It is The NY Times you know ....just sayin

[05carbondrz]

I think the worst that will be seen is a correction like in the Daytona market mentioned in the Article.I still firmly believe the top end examples of “common” Watches will at the very least hold their value(5513,1675,1680).

[vipereaper30]

Originally Posted by SunTzu

Too funny, my mother just sent that to me, literally 5 minutes ago.

So I'm not the only one... My mother sends me every watch article she comes across. As in cuts them out and sends them by mail.

[jfmiii]

Originally Posted by greekbum

The top was in October 2018 imho.

Nick, please go on....

[donq]

Ugh. This scene is starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth.

When did this all become about money and entitlement?

If I read another thread about how abused someone feels because they are being denied the right to spend $10,000 on a watch, or asking how much money they can make if they do, I’m going to vomit.

Greedy greedy pigs.

I fell in love with Rolex because of Jacques Cousteau, Edmund Hillary and Steve McQueen. A token of achievement, determination and style.
Not an investment vehicle. I like Rolex in spite of the fact that they are expensive, not because they are.

I never spent more than $4000 for one, and my newest one is 20 years old.
I doubt I will ever buy another one.

[TimeLord2]

Originally Posted by ChronoSloth

Poor NYT article title, "Watches Are Yet Another Easy Way Rich People Make Their Money Into More Money", in conjunction with Chrono24 television commercials, signals a market top for this contrarian. Besides the choice of title, the tone of the article left a bad taste in my mouth.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/s...e-watches.html

Clearly not a vintage guy...

[ChronoSloth]

Originally Posted by donq

Ugh. This scene is starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth.

When did this all become about money and entitlement?

If I read another thread about how abused someone feels because they are being denied the right to spend $10,000 on a watch, or asking how much money they can make if they do, I’m going to vomit.

Greedy greedy pigs.

I fell in love with Rolex because of Jacques Cousteau, Edmund Hillary and Steve McQueen. A token of achievement, determination and style.
Not an investment vehicle. I like Rolex in spite of the fact that they are expensive, not because they are.

I never spent more than $4000 for one, and my newest one is 20 years old.
I doubt I will ever buy another one.

Yes, I completely agree. Please let me elaborate. After rereading my initial post, my thought process definitely didn’t come across correctly. I meant a market top in the sense that those just arriving to the dance are causing the out of control price surge in the vintage hobby and inventory issues in the modern world given ridiculous demand. What’s leaving a bad taste in my mouth is how the neophyte collector, and I use that term loosely because most newbies are simply speculators, is becoming the face of the hobby. The article clearly exemplifies this and casts those of us who’ve been around more than a week in a bad light by lumping us in with those looking for a quick buck. Speculative frenzies never end well, and that’s what I believe we’re approaching given the mainstream media (and people’s mothers) recent coverage.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Vincent65]

Not one mention of the inherent deterioration and associated risk you're buying into with the older (50s/60s) examples. One lume plot falls off an 80K gilt SUB's dial, for instance, and you've just lost 10s of Ks...

[jfmiii]

Originally Posted by Vincent65

Not one mention of the inherent deterioration and associated risk you're buying into with the older (50s/60s) examples. One lume plot falls off an 80K gilt SUB's dial, for instance, and you've just lost 10s of Ks...

lol. i pulled out my matte 16750 last week to play around with my DSLR and noticed in one of the pictures a chunk of lume missing from the 9 o'clock marker. it wasnt evident to the naked eye. the watch has been packed away for about 6 months. i went into panic. spent about an hour looking for my loupe. finally found it and took a look at the watch. all the lume was there, it mustve been a reflection off a scratch in the acrylic crystal.

[Racer X]

Originally Posted by jfmiii

lol. i pulled out my matte 16750 last week to play around with my DSLR and noticed in one of the pictures a chunk of lume missing from the 9 o'clock marker. it wasnt evident to the naked eye. the watch has been packed away for about 6 months. i went into panic. spent about an hour looking for my loupe. finally found it and took a look at the watch. all the lume was there, it mustve been a reflection off a scratch in the acrylic crystal.

I've been there, but the damage was real. I was handling my red sub, carefully cradling it so as not to get my oils all over it after just polishing it with a cloth, and, because I didn't have a strong grip on it, dropped it on a hardwood floor! I got off somewhat easy as I only lost a part of a minute marker, but I still kick myself. Treat these pieces with care!

[79280_116520]

Originally Posted by donq

Ugh. This scene is starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth.

When did this all become about money and entitlement?

It's been like this for at least 5 years mostly with the youngest millennial snowflakes. I did a FTF transaction with a well known trusted dealer and young spoiled kids were also in the shop bragging about some self-proclaimed "baller" teen who was a watch dealer on IG.

The trusted dealer was the middleman who left the millennial snowflake to finish up a transaction with me on behalf of another dealer.

During the brief moment of 10 minutes or so, the "entitled" millennial snowflake was getting mad and having a fit that no one was paying attention to him. The kid was giving me the stink eye the entire time. rofl:

Trusted dealers are cordial and keep it professional. It's not necessarily the same with these snowflake buyers.
Rich parents + spoiled entitlement + IG = disaster for any hobby

[FTX I]

Great read. At first it was a bit annoying with the bitcoin comparison and the guy replacing his 401k for a bunch of watches lol but it turned out to be a great article. BTH I've watched ellen degeneres and seinfeld and I immediately recognized her PN Daytona and she couldn't stop touching and rubbing it like it was feeling very uncomfortable on her wrist. It's just something I observed. I think for someone used to a platinum Daytona on a daily basis the vintage PN must have an awkward feeling on the wrist, but I'm just guessing all that of course.

[Racer X]

Originally Posted by 79280_116520

It's been like this for at least 5 years mostly with the youngest millennial snowflakes. I did a FTF transaction with a well known trusted dealer and young spoiled kids were also in the shop bragging about some self-proclaimed "baller" teen who was a watch dealer on IG.

The trusted dealer was the middleman who left the millennial snowflake to finish up a transaction with me on behalf of another dealer.

During the brief moment of 10 minutes or so, the "entitled" millennial snowflake was getting mad and having a fit that no one was paying attention to him. The kid was giving me the stink eye the entire time. rofl:

Trusted dealers are cordial and keep it professional. It's not necessarily the same with these snowflake buyers.
Rich parents + spoiled entitlement + IG = disaster for any hobby

Going to take a wild guess and say you're over 40

[79280_116520]

Originally Posted by Racer X

Going to take a wild guess and say you're over 40

Nope, much younger, but I've been into watches for many years.

[thomaspp]

The jig is up... I agree

[Kingface66]

Originally Posted by thomaspp

The jig is up... I agree

If so, definitely for buying....but, those of us holding onto sought-after vintage references in great shape may do quite well in the coming days....

[sensui]

The market is definitely @ a high. But I think if you're paying up for truly nice examples that you'd keep (@ least over the next 3-5 years).....I think they'd be just fine even through the postulated upcoming recessions. On the other hand....if you're trying to find the cheapest non-correct/acceptable examples just to wear etc...unless you're keeping the rest of your life and just to wear the hell out of it......might sting when this all goes south. I've slowed my buying way down on vintage but if I buy, I only put it toward top examples.

[SOG DIVER]

Indeed. I am fast turning into an upscale tool watch wearer.
But then again my mentor was a Force Recon Marine with a 5513
that had been through the 67 Khe Sanh siege. Ironically, managed to be at Khe Sanh 4 years later with a 1680. Both watches being battle hardened tends to
put core values in perspective.

De Oppresso Liber

[Racer X]

Originally Posted by sensui

The market is definitely @ a high. But I think if you're paying up for truly nice examples that you'd keep (@ least over the next 3-5 years).....I think they'd be just fine even through the postulated upcoming recessions. On the other hand....if you're trying to find the cheapest non-correct/acceptable examples just to wear etc...unless you're keeping the rest of your life and just to wear the hell out of it......might sting when this all goes south. I've slowed my buying way down on vintage but if I buy, I only put it toward top examples.

It's impossible to say. I thought the market was toppy nearly 10 years ago, and how wrong I was. The best idea is not to treat these watches as investment instruments and just buy what you love. If it appreciates, great, but that's icing on the cake.