Oh you sweet summer child...
The high end watch companies only survive due to wall street and those working in the London and Tokyo exchanges.
A Submariner is 5k used in good shape at a good price. New they're 10k. Their money statement is "I can have two nickels to rub together." Typically its their first job on the street, often its not even the first bonus, as thats immediately used to improve their wardrobe and move up to something like..
A Rolex perpetual day date, which used is any where 15 to 20k, new i think they're above forty, the statement is "I'm doing comfortably" Btw, i have a halfway decent fugaziof one from when most of the fakes were coming out of Hong Kong. Only a die hard rolex guy would notice and only iy he really looked at it. The fact that it wears a real rolex band helps sell it ( the original band was two small for my tree trunk like wrists, so i bough an 80 dollar real band)..
Vintage rolexs btw, especially from the early sixties and older, for two reasons, collectors, and really clever finance guys will buy them, make up some story about their grandfather winning it in a card game from some upper class british british navy twat in the early days of postwar japan. The story invariably plays to 3 things, family history, loyalty (to the grandfather who swindled one of them rich assholes who havent worked in 8 generations), which means he now bows out of the watch game, without having to move up to the likes of...
That Patel Phillipe I mentioned previously? Its a beautiful watch (something i'd might consider if i ever hit the powerball), it's also 320,000 dollars the last i looked. The same kind of individual who wheres suits from Henry Poole, and buys his shoes from Lobb ( they make what may be the nicest Wellingtons boots on the planet, and charge enough for them to buy a nice decent used car with money left over.) The statement it makes is "I have fuck you money"
Then theres the final class of watch as status symbol. The one that doesn't wear one. You know the middle aged guy thats wearing a faded tshirt and high tops. The guy who looks like he should be working in a pizzaria. The same guy who scares everybody shitless when he declares a meeting the second he walks in from his commute in Veyron from his main house that was featured in architectural digest and cost 40 million dollars in Westchester. The statement he makes is " people dress to impress me, because im the wrathful god of their personal universe"
Nyc , besides being the clothing center of the US, its also the Jewelry capital and the watch capital. Walk down 47th street in manhattan, and youll probably pass 20 million dollars in timepieces in one block.
Aaaannnd i just made the mistake of seeing what Overstock has in pre owned Submariners. A really nice all stainless with black face oyster perpetual. It should be nice for just over 12k..
Well the Megamillions drawing is tonight, mebbe ill actually win something for once...