> I have never understood why anyone would spend such enormous sums on a
> watch.
I can understand why for several reasons that have nothing to do with
anatomical issues.
A person may use such an item as a reward for reaching a goal. I see
that with several friends that built businesses and when they achieved
a level of success, they bought a dream car, or watch, or both. It was
part of all the sacrifices made when they were building up the
business (lots of raman soup and mini hotdogs, no sleep, no money, no
social life, 100+ hours a week of unending work, and a ragged out
Honda Civic). But they had this goal of rewarding themselves with such
an item as a reminder of what they went through to get to that point.
When they wear the watch, or slip into the seat of their Lamborghini,
they are reminded of all the hard times and what it took to get here.
In reality, these people rarely have many expensive items, but that
watch or car is both a tangible and intangible representation of
"why". One of my acquaintances in Texas was one such person. He's now
a multi-billionaire and very famous. But that first watch and car is
part of his most prized possessions and keeps him grounded. No, he no
longer has that Civic.
That said, there are the other types of buyers. They buy art. They buy
the rare. They buy the special. The smart ones do so as an investment
strategy. The smarter ones do so as a means to pass wealth down to the
next generation. The smartest ones do so with OTHER people's money.
The dumb ones just waste money on fashion things, but in some circles,
that's a very critical part of being in that circle.
But is there ANY difference between what you do with bicycles and what
"they" do with expensive watches? As a percentage of a person's
wealth, there probably isn't much difference. Who am I to criticize?
AG Schnozz
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