Dappered

Affordable Men's Style

12 Rationalizations for an overly expensive watch purchase

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ra·tion·al·ize (verb): A defense mechanism involving the construction of a logical justification for seemingly illogical or unacceptable feelings or behaviors.

LET’S DO THIS!

this is a bad idea

#1. Remember how much your wife’s/fiancee’s engagement ring cost? Right.

#2. You’ve been meaning to sell a bunch of old stuff on ebay, this is just motivation to clean house… (even though all that selling will only partially fund the purchase of said overly expensive watch)

#3. Like your place of work is really gonna give you a gold watch when you retire? Hell no. And why bother? Like they’re not going to lay you off before then anyway…

#4. You gave up smoking!

#5. Hell, you never even STARTED smoking!

#6. You got a new suit for an upcoming big event, & all your old watches just don’t look “right” with it.

#7. It’s something you could pass down to your son one day! Even though you’ve only got daughters. And you just had a vasectomy.

#8. You just had a vasectomy!

#9. You recently paid off your student loans. And you’ve got a low APR credit card, so really, what’s wrong with paying it off over a few months now that you’re debt free? (Or is it now “were” debt free?)

#10. It’s almost Fall. What a better time to, I mean, that’s exciting! No?

#11. It was an impulse purchase, and you had every intent to return it. But, well… 

#12. You’ve been carrying a flip phone/other outdated device for years. Think of all that money you’ve saved by not breathlessly acquiring the new version of the iPhone that comes out every 3.26 months.

this is what you'd call priorities

Prioritization in action. A German-made Nomos. Not cheap. Might need all 12 of those rationalizations.
(meanwhile, just for the sake of balance.)

Comments

  2. #5. Hell, you never even STARTED smoking!

    I could rationalize a few Pateks for the amount of not-smoking, not-drinking, not-doing-drugs, not-even-getting-speeding-tickets that I’ve done in my blissfully dull life.

  5. I second #1, #5, #10, and #11. Now I have to pick which credit card I’m going to use to buy this Rolex “Hulk” Submariner…

  6. #14. You are just going to keep wasting your money on increasingly expensive mini-grails until you work up the gumption to buy your real grail, so you might as well do yourself a favor, take the plunge, and buy the big one today!

  7. I’ve thought about #7 before (minus the daughters part)… my father passed away a little over a year ago and really didn’t have much in terms of possessions for my siblings and I to have as momentos. Someday when I can work it into our budget I’m going to save up for a nice watch that I can pass on to my son. Of course physical items only mean so much, but I still love the idea of my son wearing my old watch on his wrist and thinking of me, if briefly, each day when he puts it on.

  8. Good choice… the all-green Sub is probably my favorite modern Rolex, after the GMT Master IIc.

    I personally wouldn’t buy a watch on finance, but if you do, just make sure you get a 0% starting interest and pay it all off before the interest kicks in.

  9. Just remember, a memento is only as good as its association with the original owner. A Seiko or Hamilton that you wear every day will have more sentimental value to your kids than an Omega or Rolex that mostly sits in a safe.

  10. Most Omegas won’t just sit in a safe every day. As far as watches go, they are sure expensive compared to the Seiko or most Hamiltons but not on the level of watches I’d want a save fore like an AP or JLC. They can certainly be every day watches.

  11. Thanks Ben, I completely agree. I’m planning on wearing the hell out of whatever I go with!

  12. The point is, there’s no reason to spend thousands of dollars on a “nice” watch as a memento for your children if you don’t intend to wear it. A less expensive watch that you wear frequently will have a greater sentimental connection with your heirs than one that you buy specifically to preserve and protect in storage for posterity.

    Buy an affordable watch and wear it; or, buy an expensive watch and wear it. But don’t buy an expensive watch just because you think that more expensive watches make better heirlooms. The cost of the watch is not what makes it a meaningful heirloom – in fact, the more expensive the watch, the more tempted your heirs will probably be to sell it for its cash value rather than cherish it for its connection with the original owner.

  13. You know the watch at the bottom is expensive when the product’s website hides or maybe doesn’t even display prices. I consider myself fortunate that expensive watches never appealed to me (For better or worse I’m a shoe guy…). To each their own vice or vices.

  17. Joe great article, can you recommend some good watch faces ? Looking to buy some worn&wound watch straps and would like to pair with a nice face watch.

  18. That is not uncommon as most watch makers either don’t sell onsite, or at a minimuim don’t sell through their own website.

  19. “Bart: And I’ll take up smoking and give that up.
    Homer: Good for you, son. Giving up smoking is one of the hardest
    things you’ll ever have to do. Have a dollar.
    [gives a dollar bill to Bart]
    Lisa: But he didn’t do anything!
    Homer: Didn’t he, Lisa? Didn’t he?”

  20. Just make sure you go through all the rationalizations while they’re still making the damn watch.

    Steinhart (not expensive per se, but when the watch costs more than most of my pistol collection, that’s expensive) discontinued the gorgeous dual time Triton before I got through all of my rationalizing.

  21. I’m about to celebrate the 10th anniversary of my last speeding ticket. I bet that works. I’m not into expensive watches, but I’m sure I could find something expensive to buy…

  22. Re. #7, nice men’s watches can look great on a lady. My wife wears a vintage men’s Rolex, and gets tons of compliments.

  23. I agree, many men’s watches are absolutely wearable for women, and many daughters would be very happy to inherit their father’s watch.

  24. Good thing none of the above applied when I bought my first high end watch. It was a thought out and rationalized purchase…

  29. I don’t get the expensive watch thing. Yeah, the Nomos watch looks great. But I can get a similar look from Braun or Skagen for $100-200.

  30. I love Braun watches. Nice pieces of history that still have a huge influence on modern design (especially Apple).

    A pity most of them aren’t made in Germany anymore.