[Closed] So, just sent my watch off for a service...

But there's also a section who like things such as this. Makes you no less a person actually wanting one and then actually managing to buy one. I'd love a new full susser to replace my now seriously tired (nearly) 4 yr old one, but as I've got more important things (like treating my kids to the best stuff we can) to spend on then it's well down the list. Each to their own I say and to those who can't afford, unlucky!

Each to their own I say and to those who can't afford, unlucky!

I've no problem with people owning or buying whatever they like, just amused by people who do so & then think others will/should be impressed!

I've no problem with people owning or buying whatever they like, just amused by people who do so & then think others will/should be impressed! [i]

Exactly this. To be fair, I likely wouldn't notice anyway.

Does mine count as vintage now? Animal watch bought in 1996 with my first uni grant cheque!

We have three guys at work that keep going on about watches, and how expensive theirs were.
All three have personalised registration plates on their big shiny black cars with blacked out windows. The plates all depict their initials or some tenuous link to their name (in case they can't remember which car is theirs, I imagine).
They could have saved on this expense though, because to find their car, all they would have to do is look in the nearest disabled space.
Nobbers.

You are right though, none of them lives with their mum.

there's a one armed geezer on bolton market who does watches, bet he'd fix it for a fiver.

Animal watch bought in 1996 with my first uni grant cheque

😉

Animal watch bought in 1996

I've got a circa 94 one that was still going great then somehow I seem to have lost it in the last couple of months - very annoying 😡 It must worth...I don't know...50p?

Has anyone pointed out yet that you could have just bought a replica for £120 and the wife would be none the wiser?

http://www.enwatchesale.co.uk/replica-ebel-1911-btr-gmt-1215624-men-watch-p-5658.html

🙂

I must admit tho I do look at other peoples bikes and think jammy bastard I'd love one of those. Where as I don't do that with watches. I just like mine because my wife bought it for me...

My Tag Heur Formula 1 cost £85 in 1989, last year it went in for a new battery, service and plastic strap = £250!!! I asked for it to be returned, but it seems they carried out the work because it now works again!!! (Anyone wanna buy it? Same as the one JMC won, complete with display box & card box.)

Where a Rolex will draw admiring glances, a Casio will leave a girl wondering if you still live with your mum

Re the cost for the OP - I would live to see a breakdown of how this price is arrived at but you are looking at a highly skilled watchmaker doing a job that will have taken years to learn and involve many hours of labour. To put it in perspective, how much does a main car dealer charge per hour?

3 months seems a bit ridiculous though. Does it get returned to the factory at any point?

And if so, which of Jupiter's moons is it on?

Where a Rolex will draw admiring glances, a Casio will leave a girl wondering if you still live with your mum

Has a watch ever drawn an admiring glance? Except in the narcissistic imagination of the wearer? Or from some other equal Patrick Bateman-a-like? Seriously? Every time I think of a statement watch like a Rolex, I immediately picture.....

[img] [/img]

They're like wearing a Range Rover Sport, with a body kit, and a private plate on your wrist. It just screams 'absolute stroker'!

Binners - agreed, and indeed Terry is a stroker of epic proportion. But for Mr Terry there a rolex is proportionally less expensive as a fraction of his hard earned and deserved (!) salary than a casio is to you or I. Is it gratuitous bling when you can afford it with ease? Do you and I look at a Rolex and not see its obvious engineering loveliness because of its social climber connotations?

A fair point. I'm sure its a beautifully crafted piece of engineering.

I know its just personal preference - each to their own, and all that - but I think from an aesthetic viewpoint, they're just really, really ugly. I don't like unnecessarily fussy stuff. And there's far too much going on with watches like that. And those chunky metal straps are truly hideous! All IMHO, of course

Got an orange neoprene strap on mine binners, like a proper divers jobby! Does that increase my stroker level exponentially? I also wear mine in the sea....

obviously there is a sad section of society that thinks a bling watch marks them out as an important grown up member of society, you know what they say about fools & their money

And you probably know the saying about fools who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing? We can't all win The Monty Python Yorkshirmen sketch!

I've not got a £4k watch, but do have an MG in the garrage which once serviced, taxed, insured and MOT'd costs about what the OP's paid, every year! It gets used probably a lot less and can't even tell me how much petrol is left accurately, let alone the time!

wrightyson - I think an orange neoprene strap sounds refreshingly, almost dangerously subversive actually.

They're still ugly though 😉

Don't understand this expensive watch business, but coming on a bike forum (even this one) and ****ing on about watches is asking for mockery.

and I claim my £5

'Tis funny how this comes up every few months on a forum where many wouldn't think twice about paying £4k for a push bike. It always polarises those that can't begin to see how anyone would spend so much on [i]that[/i] and those that do.

For those wondering, it never reaches a sensible conclusion just goes quiet for another couple of months before going round all over again 🙂

[i]Has anyone pointed out yet that you could have just bought a replica for £120 and the wife would be none the wiser?[/i]

It looks like [i]that[/i]?!?

Blimey, I really expected
[img] [/img]

Gawd, I wish I had money to burn.

I don't understand the hysterics over expensive watches. A five grand watch might seem ludicrous to some people but's it's hardly the definition of opulent consumption. If you drink 5 pints of lager every Saturday night you spend about 5 grand over 5 years.

In a similar vein a nissan micra is probably a more reliable and useful car than a fancy penis extension, but I know what I'd rather drive 🙂

John Terry's watch is a limited edition. It's powered by the up and down shuffling motion of a five knuckle shuffle. He recharges his many many times during the day. 8)

'Tis funny how this comes up every few months on a forum where many wouldn't think twice about paying £4k for a push bike.

I think most of us would think twice about that much, but in any case - bikes DO something. Watches don't - at least nothing remarkable.

Expensive watches ONLY exist as a place to put money. They have no other quality besides being expensive. That's it.

Errrr, 'that's it' in your opinion. Others may exist. Not very liberal of you there Moly. Tut tut.

A £5k bike works a lot better than a £100 bike.

A £5k watch doesn't tell the time any better than a £5 Casio - and often worse.

I don't think they're a waste of money necessarily - I've never lost significant money when selling old watches. In fact in some cases have made a few quid. But would agree they're not much more than (well engineered) man-jewellery and no different to women wearing expensive jewels or those ridiculous handbags that cost the GDP of a small country - if it wasn't for my stupid expensive watch how would the fit young men I'm trying to pick up in the bar know that I was loaded? 😉

if it wasn't for my stupid expensive watch how would the fit young men I'm trying to pick up in the bar know that I was loaded?

You could always light your Cuban cigars with £50 notes

You could always light your Cuban cigars with £50 notes

Apparently it's against Wetherspoons' code of conduct 🙁

Errrr, 'that's it' in your opinion. Others may exist.

Yep, entirely my opinion.

As for being illiberal - I'm not trying to stop anyone from having nice watches 🙂

There are many things in life that you can choose to spend money on where a cheaper functionally equivalent option exists - pens, clothes, cuff links, ties, luggage, shoes, food, fragrances, pets, hi fis... Just because I can't understand why people spend money on some of these doesn't make their choice any more right or wrong than someone who chooses to spend their money on a watch, but don't let that stop the arguing...

pens, clothes, cuff links, ties, luggage, shoes, food, fragrances, pets, hi fis

A long list of things I'm proud to say I've never spend more money on than was required 😉

(and I don't think I've ever bought cufflinks, ties, or fragrances)

[quote=bencooper ]
(and I don't think I've ever bought cufflinks, ties, or fragrances)
I bet your mother buys them for you 😉

I inherited one tie from my father that I use for funerals and weddings, I've got some of my grandfather's cufflinks about somewhere but I never use them because I have shirts with that clever modern invention - buttons.

And I attract women with my natural musk.

Oh, and thanks to an advert over there --->

May I present you with a watch owner:

[img] [/img]

A long list of things I'm proud to say I've never spend more money on than was required

Same here! Except the hifi, which I cobbled together with discount and obselete ebay parts for about £500 in total, between 1999 and 2004 or so. It sounds a lot better than a £50 radio though.

That chap looks like he's wearing an Android watch though - interesting!

So you've only ever eaten the cheapest thing that satisfies your appetite and nutritional needs and only drunk to quench your thirst? Surely anything more than that is frivolous expenditure?

Hmm..... I don't think food is comparable. I'm certainly not eating in fancy restaurants and drinking expensive wine, but I'm not eating tesco value either.

There's bargain bin stuff, there's good value, there's nice, and then there's bonkers. And then on top of that there's ludicrous.

I have a watch - it's not a £5 Casio, it was abotu £150. It was also a gift, and I never wear it either 🙂 My wedding ring was £90 too.

Welcome to the STW puritans thread. Only unnecessarily expenditure on high end bikes allowed. Any other category considered frivolous 🙂

Oh no, I do spend money on stuff, but only stuff that actually DOES something. And I'll spend more on stuff that does something better than a cheap version.

Value comes from function in this house 🙂

I love champagne, and will hopefully be drinking loads over the next two weekends for the wife's 40th celebrations, however it'll probably be cava....

Moley's pointless expenditure this week:

Panniers
Rack
Map of Great Divide route

🙂

Hehehe 🙂

Value comes from function in this house

So no "little luxuries" just because you like them, regardless of whether they're the best thing for the job or not? Each to their own I guess...

A £5k bike works a lot better than a £100 bike.

A £5k watch doesn't tell the time any better than a £5 Casio - and often worse.

£1.5k coffee machine.
£20-£40 kg artisan roasted coffee
£4.5k one-off handmade italian bike.
nice restaurants. (bocca de lupo on saturday, Noviko next week)
first name terms with the wine merchant.
6 pairs of handmade northampton goodyear welted shoes.
only an old seiko diver and a new yobokies seiko.

it's my money, i enjoy spending it on those things. they are there to impress me not other people.
i'm not after affirmation of vanity purchasing from people on the internet i have never met 🙄

evidently if you buy well with rolex's they should just about pay for their servicing. prices of daytonas have always risen.
you would never get that kind of return on a bike, car or hi-fi.

>Includes a crown but that is included in the price of the device anyhow. After having recently had to spend £900 on a new turbo for the car and now this, the worst kind of things to have to spend money on.<

Aha... fur coat and nae knickers.

You wont be banging many fitties wearing a cheapo watch. If you cannot afford a proper watch, then better to go with a cheapo digital watch or a Swatch. These watches are not pretentious and what they say about you is that you are practical and rate functionality.

One of the worst fashion sins imo is wearing anything analogue looking that costs less than say 2K pounds. Unless like I said its a Swatch.

One of the worst brands of watches and biggest accessory sins are for example Tag Heuer watches IMO. Why - It shows that you 'care' about your watch, but that you could not afford a proper watch. If you cannot afford a proper watch then just buy a Swatch. Otherwise save up a bit of money and buy a cheaper IWC etc... 🙂

or a cheaper Sinn, timefactors, Stowa Damasko, archymede etc. still great watches but without the gauche rolex nob-factor. (though i wouldn't mind a silver faced air-king as they are quite subtle)

A £5k bike works a lot better than a £100 bike.

A £5k watch doesn't tell the time any better than a £5 Casio - and often worse.

Unless you are racing or riding suitably difficult terrain then I'm not sure that's true. Certainly I've seen a group at Cwmcarn on £20 bikes who looked to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. Their club had set a £50 limit previously, but the bikes were deemed too good 😀

A nice watch is clearly jewellery to some extent, so it's ability to tell the time is secondary. Mine is absolutely rubbish at timekeeping, as its over 80 now and needs a bit of work. I just like it as an object.

£1.5k coffee machine.
£20-£40 kg artisan roasted coffee
£4.5k one-off handmade italian bike.
nice restaurants. (bocca de lupo on saturday, Noviko next week)
first name terms with the wine merchant.
6 pairs of handmade northampton goodyear welted shoes.

😆

?
[img] [/img]
?
[img] [/img]
?
[img] [/img]
Some really tasteless and cheap analogue watches I've owned... 🙄

I would post pics of the ladies I've been with but they were/are never fitties and it was nothing to do with my personality that attracted them to me 🙄

EDIT: [img] [/img]

Never owned one of these but they're next on my list 🙂

WTF happened in here in 24 hours?

Anyhow, casio - £8.99, I don't live with my Mum, I love the simple face (like wearer), I don't feel like a nob, and I don't crap myself when I'm wearing it that I might scratch diddums.

*I do also have a diddums watch fetish, and I am a nob*

EDIT: Although I don't 'get' Rolex, or mahoosive cases and chronograph stuff, unless you really are a diver, or have wrists the size of your ankles.

[IMG] [/IMG]

This thread has really depressed me I didn't know people could be so judgemental about almost nothing.

This thread has really depressed me I didn't know people could be so judgemental about almost nothing.

You must be new here....

...and as a result, must be judged.

Friggin' newbie. Stinking up the place with your new car smell...and...erm...sorry..I seem to have lost the thread. What were we talking about?

One of the worst fashion sins imo is wearing anything analogue looking that costs less than say 2K pounds. Unless like I said its a Swatch.

😕

+1 to what molgrips is saying, I think...

I can't see myself ever spending more than £100, let alone £5k, on a watch, but that's only cause I can think of a whole range of stuff I'd rather spend that money on.

However if you're in the position where you can buy all that other stuff, and still have enough left to blow that much on a watch, then why not?

Although I guess you could argue that every time you look at that watch you're going to be reminded of how loaded you are. Where as if you donate £4.9k to charity and then buy yourself a £100 watch, every time you look at it you're going to be reminded of what a nice guy you are.

I can't understand the company charging that much and not giving you a lifetime guarantee though, that service charge sounds nuts.

I didn't know people could be so judgemental about almost nothing.

Me too, until I checked the URL of where I was, then realised it was all normal. Jealously, indifference, vexatious types and those that don't give two hoots about anything and are happy for those that are happy, all mixed into one site. I kinda like it, don't be depressed 😀

Social etiquette decrees that British people are not allowed to be judgemental in public. Somewhat bizarrely, the Internet seems to be considered a private location by most people.

One of the worst fashion sins imo is wearing anything analogue looking that costs less than say 2K pounds.

I would almost buy a cheap analogue watch just to break the rule

Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course

The statement just has so many layers

"fashion sin" I think my whole life is a fashion sin. What is a fashion sin? Should we care what people look like?

I suppose that must have really upset some one with a £1,800 watch

I think I might start inventing my own stupid fashion rules

Could you tell a fake if some one was wearing it? How does that fit in style wise?

In some way I'm disappointed that this rates more highly as a style statement than a tag heur

[img] [/img]

Funny reading this thread and the knobs are out assuming that a thread like this is merely so people can say 'I've to an expensive watch...'

It really is pathetic, for the record, I do have a couple of nice watches, but I drive an 8 year old people carrier and couldnt give a toss what image i project to the outside world, and trying to justify that a watch that will last decades is a waste of money where as a bike which cost a similar amount is not is laughable.

[stating the obvious]

That watch up there is [i]very[/i] orange 🙂

[/stating the obvious]

What's all this about watches? I thought they'd all been made redundant by mobile phones? Apart from the ones that allow you to dive to 100m of course. Very useful they are!

Unless you are racing or riding suitably difficult terrain then I'm not sure that's true.

£5k is over the odds, yes, but £3k bikes are definitely better than £100 ones. No question. Simply durability if you're riding it a lot.

and trying to justify that a watch that will last decades is a waste of money where as a bike which cost a similar amount is not is laughable.

So what if it does last decades? It'll still be a waste of money in 30 years time. Why would a normal £200 watch not last decades anyway?

I don't think watches are comparable with bikes anyway. Bikes take a lot of physical punishment, and sooner or later they will succumb to it. And more expensive components will last longer, or be lighter and/or perform better. An expensive watch does nothing a cheap one doesn't do. And in many cases the fancy clockwork ones are less accurate than a cheap quartz one anyway.

Did you hear there's a new Ferrari coming out? It does 0-60 in 11 seconds, top speed of 110mph, does 35mpg, seats four and costs £3m. Want one?

I would almost buy a cheap analogue watch just to break the rule

Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course

The statement just has so many layers

"fashion sin" I think my whole life is a fashion sin. What is a fashion sin? Should we care what people look like?

I suppose that must have really upset some one with a £1,800 watch

I think I might start inventing my own stupid fashion rules

Could you tell a fake if some one was wearing it? How does that fit in style wise?

In some way I'm disappointed that this rates more highly as a style statement than a tag heur

ampthill, i will try to answer some of your questions, i like fashion so maybe i can give you some tips 🙂

Yes, we should care what people look like and you should care what you look like IMO.

Well no-one needs to be upset because it is just my opinion 🙂

Oh yes! you could definitely tell when it's a fake very easily!

Yes, your orange watch is definitely better than a Tag Huer for many reasons. 1-Your watch is functional and you use it to jog/run and as timing instrument. For what you do and for your lifestyle it is perfect. Although personally I would never advocate bright colors like that. Some women might not find that attractive.

I would like to give you another little tip/experiment if you dont mind: Try to do something a bit different style wise next time you go out or go to a bar for example. Try to put in some effort and just take it one step up. Like if you normally wear jeans and tshirt to bar, now try with jeans and nice shirt with collar, maybe put some gel in your hair and smell nice or bit different than usual. Shoes are very important too, try wearing some nicer shoes. And also take off your orange watch. Just try it once and see the different response you get, if any. I think you will be very surprised. 🙂

Just a thought, people do realise these things actually appreciate in value, yes? If I sold my Roly now I'd get 2.5 times what I paid for it. So not that silly really. Now about these £3k bikes, how do they appreciate? Oh....

now try with jeans and nice shirt with collar, maybe put some gel in your hair and smell nice or bit different than usual.

Arf.. you'll look like every other scrubbed up valley lad in Cardiff to get pissed and shag something. Style can't be bought, you have to understand it to have it 🙂

you should care what you look like IMO

Interested to hear why you think this. I thought the only true way to be cool was not to care if you're cool or not. Of course I could be wrong, not being cool myself 🙂

Now about these £3k bikes

£3k bikes are not bought just to look nice, at least not in my house! They are bought to do a job better than a £1k bike. £5k watches do not do a better job than £100 watches.

That's enough internet for me today.

Moly+point+missed..... Arf 🙂

Yes, we should care what people look like and you should care what you look like IMO.

I don't care what you or I look like.
I do like the look of some watches. Fortunately, many cost between £100 and £300 pounds, which for me is just about affordable.
For me, it's nothing about fashion, or needing to look good, I just like the look of some watches.
I'm sure others here like the look of more expensive watches, hence people buying Rolex's etc.
I don't really see this is a problem.

G-Shock, bitches.

[img] [/img]

If they appreciate in value then that's great. How do they stack up against other investments?

Are other investments quite so 'nice' ? 🙂

Not sure I'd categorise them as investments but its nice to know that discretionary spend isn't necessarily gone for ever and is a bit of a counterpoint to the 'it's just a waste of money' position. Anyway, this is all getting a bit dull 🙂

I lost a shitload of money selling the Tissot with the Black Face up there after a year.

I think they perform better over time.... (no pun intended 🙂 )

Yes, we should care what people look like and you should care what you look like IMO.

The only reason I care about the looks of others is for the purposes of procreation. A fancy watch doesn't add to the appeal.

Unless they are exposing themselves in some unpleasant way. In which case the watch still doesn't make any difference.

Nowt wrong with fancy watches, but for me.... meh...for you, do what you like.

All this chat has got me thinking about splashing out on an obnoxious wrist bauble, they obviously annoy the frack out of a lot of people. That's priceless, having the right time is just a bonus.

Get some enormous sovereign rings while you're at it. Diamond studded ones.

I bought a watch that some might consider expensive (a Stowa Flieger for those that like that kind of thing) as a present to myself for surviving to 30 and also, because I'm surrounded and severely irritated by electrical gubbins all day loved the idea of a purely mechanical watch. For what it's worth my Mrs hates it and the frequency/kinkyness of the sex is exactly the same.

£5k is over the odds, yes, but £3k bikes are definitely better than £100 ones. No question. Simply durability if you're riding it a lot.

So now your only criteria for a bike being better than another is durability? So rigid singlespeed bikes are better than those with suspension and gears? 😉

I wouldn't disagree that watches are largely a fashion item. Something that conveys upon the owner a slight sense of "special". But that's the central purpose, not being accurate to the nth degree. I also think that expensive bikes are quite similar, given that the central purposes of riding for most people are fun and fitness. Both are achievable on a cheap bike. Not many on here owning cheap bikes though....

All this chat has got me thinking about splashing out on an obnoxious wrist bauble, they obviously annoy the frack out of a lot of people.

You might as well save your money 😉

So now your only criteria for a bike being better than another is durability?

No, that's badly typed. I meant to say that even if you reduced it to simple durability then expensive components would be better.

given that the central purposes of riding for most people are fun and fitness. Both are achievable on a cheap bike

Hmm, well for me, cheap bikes are less fun because they perform less well. Of course if I could only afford a cheap one I'd ride it and be happy - as I did for many years. But I now have expensive ones, and I ride those and love them more. I haven't changed them in 6 years and I don't plan to any time soon, because they are still just as lovely as when I bought them.

I think that there are all sorts of bike owners on here anyway, from Audi driving trail centre mincers with too much gear to bearded purists doing 300 miles a week on a steel hardtail. Likewise Rolex flashers and people who just use their phone to tell the time 🙂