What income do you need to consider purchasing a $10k watch? $100k car?

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Ne0

Golden Member
Nov 4, 1999
1,227
14
81
How much will the dealer give you for a used watch, 60% of its value?

Rolex and Patek are the two best brands for resale. For example, the Submariner I bought 6 years ago I paid $5500 for I could probably sell it for around $5000 now. If you have some vintage Rolex watches (IE Paul Newman Daytona) those could be had in the 1980's for $1000 - $2000 and now they're selling in the six figure range (some even fetching 7 figures: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...na-sells-for-record-1-1-million-at-christie-s).
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,600
1,005
126
Rolex and Patek are the two best brands for resale. For example, the Submariner I bought 6 years ago I paid $5500 for I could probably sell it for around $5000 now. If you have some vintage Rolex watches (IE Paul Newman Daytona) those could be had in the 1980's for $1000 - $2000 and now they're selling in the six figure range (some even fetching 7 figures: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...na-sells-for-record-1-1-million-at-christie-s).

Agreed.

A friend of mine has a Submariner he bought about 10 years ago. He paid about $5k for it and he could sell it today for about that. Old TAG-Heuer Monaco's are pretty valuable too and Rolex Daytona's seem to be hard to come by. I was at my local Rolex dealer (high end jewelry store and authorized Rolex dealer) looking at Datejust II's and I asked if they had any Daytona's and she just laughed at me. Said she was expecting one in August... this was over a month ago. She did take my info and called me a couple days later saying the store owner authorized her to give me a $1200 credit for my TAG (with box and papers) toward the Datejust II I was looking at. That's about half what I paid for it.

99% of the watches you see on wrists aren't worth a crap though. I know very very few people who are into horology and high end timepieces. Most just buy some piece of garbage for a couple hundred bucks and once the battery dies they toss it in a drawer and forget about it.

I bought my wife a Cartier tank automatic for Christmas last year. I'm not sure how well those hold their value but it is a well recognized luxury brand so desirability is probably higher for that watch than most.
 
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JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,600
1,005
126
If I made over 300K+
and my kids college fund was all set
and I got all those renovations to my house paid off
and we took that vacation my wife wanted
and the numbers on my investments were where I want them to be
and my wife got that whatever it she always wanted
then maybe I'd consider a 100K car.

Fortunately, there aren't any 100K+ cars I desire.

This could tempt me.

mercedes-s-class-c_3445021k.jpg


Or the Coupe version if you're not into convertibles.

2015-Mercedes-Benz-S-Class-Coupe-front-side-view-with-sun.jpg
 
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Fenixgoon

Lifer
Jun 30, 2003
33,634
13,325
136
let extra rich person buy 100k car.

wait 4 years.

buy said car for 30k.

(or in my case, i <3 the 2007-2009 Audi S8...can be had for 20-30k at this point. very reliable as far as i can tell)
 
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pauldun170

Diamond Member
Sep 26, 2011
9,559
5,808
136
If I had 100K sitting around and I wanted something for the driveway, I'd split among some cars that actually interest me. At least for the moment
a_-1_1443571779_1626.jpg


Toyota%20MR2%20(4).jpg


1995-bmw-540i-black-wallpaper-2.jpg
 
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JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,600
1,005
126
let extra rich person buy 100k car.

wait 4 years.

buy said car for 30k.

(or in my case, i <3 the 2007-2009 Audi S8...can be had for 20-30k at this point. very reliable as far as i can tell)

FTR-A 2009 S8 is 7 years old at this point... going on 8.

Personally, I'd look for something a little newer and with a CPO warranty and not an Audi.
 
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Raincity

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2000
4,477
12
81
You guys are some serious ballers. I am still driving the same truck that i paid $10800 in 95 and still wearing the same Gshock that I paid 65$ at Target in the same decade.
 
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pcgeek11

Lifer
Jun 12, 2005
22,415
5,018
136
I do wear a 400 dollar watch. That is at my limit at this time for what I would pay for a watch. A car at this point in time at most 50K. I am in the low six figure range.
 
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OverVolt

Lifer
Aug 31, 2002
14,278
89
91
Life is short, if you want to buy it, buy it! WHat ever makes you happy. You can't take money with you when you past.
Actually the boomers are an outlier in having this outlook. For most of history parents usually gave a shit what their kids' standing was in life.
 
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Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,176
1,816
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Life is short, if you want to buy it, buy it! WHat ever makes you happy. You can't take money with you when you past.
Well, I hope to live until 95, after retiring at 60. That's 35 years of retirement. And like I said, my grandfather lived until 99, despite smoking like a chimney.

Maybe I'll work at 25% after 60 for a while, but still a lot of retirement funds I'll need.

And plus, I have kids. I can pass on some of the leftovers to them. And there will be leftovers, because it would be moronic to leave yourself zero cushion.
 
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nexus5rocks

Senior member
Mar 12, 2014
413
84
101
My first Rolex purchase was in 2010, I paid around $5500 for a Submariner 14060M and I was making $320,000 then. The only Rolex I own that is over $10k is a Daytona 116520, I purchased that in 2014 and what I pay myself (own a small private company) had gone up a bit since then as our revenue / profits climbed.

Thanks. Looks like I have some catching up to do before splurging on a BLNR.
 
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nexus5rocks

Senior member
Mar 12, 2014
413
84
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Nope. The question is "how much income". My response is that it doesn't matter the income (IMO), but it does matter how much wealth you have. Given enough wealth, maintenance is not an issue. If you saved up 100k for 20 years and plunked it all on a car, I think we can all agree that you are doing it wrong. If you saved up 5mil over 20 years and plunked 100k on a car, no one is going to criticize you.

If you are making 500k a year, have zero assets and you buy a 100k car, I would contend that you are doing it wrong.

How does one save up $5M over 20 years? Unless it's via windfall, it's income.
$100k on a $500k annual income is 20% of your income. As a percentage, that's far less than what most normal people spend on a car.
Average price of a new car is in the $30k range. Average income is what, $40-50k?
 
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nexus5rocks

Senior member
Mar 12, 2014
413
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JimKiler

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 2002
3,561
206
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http://www.invaluable.com/blog/inside-the-archives-mens-rolex-watches/

Look up prices on a Comex. They're basically modded Submariners (which cost under a thousand in 1950) that easily go for $50k now.

Not all watches appreciate in value. You have to know what to look for.
My mint condition Swatch Pager watch is worth $20 and I paid $180 for it 2.5 decades ago. I will leave the collectable watches for others and stick with my Fossil that still runs great.
 
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rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
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There are lots of factors - do you have to repay loans, # of kids to support, cost of living in your area.

Buy it when you don't have to finance it and still have money left over for emergencies and a retirement fund.
 

sontakke

Senior member
Aug 8, 2001
895
11
81
Somebody said you can buy car for the amount by which your portfolio moves up in a day (on an average)! Essentially, that amount is rounding error as far as your net worth is concerned and you could afford to splurge that much without even a single thought.

I am not sure I buy in to it though.
 

brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,682
6,046
136
You guys are some serious ballers. I am still driving the same truck that i paid $10800 in 95 and still wearing the same Gshock that I paid 65$ at Target in the same decade.

i bought my watch in '99 for 10$ from walmart, and it's still running great!

i haven't liked any other watches because they all seem big
 

brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,682
6,046
136
Somebody said you can buy car for the amount by which your portfolio moves up in a day (on an average)! Essentially, that amount is rounding error as far as your net worth is concerned and you could afford to splurge that much without even a single thought.

I am not sure I buy in to it though.

for most people that daily fluctuation would be somewhere between 0$ and 1000$

so i don't buy it either :D