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I guess I'm cheap. I wouldn't spend more than .15% on any one watch, and maybe .5% on a total collection. Or am I just too practical to ever be a real WIS?
I'll join the cheapo group. .5% for total collection sounds like plenty, although I guess you could introduce the old discussion of whether to apply that to three watches or twenty, so I would not quibble over the .15%. I'll add this: I think the comfortable percentage for total collection goes *way* up once you start getting into silly amounts of money, because you have your housing, your retirement, and your family's education covered, so who cares? If someone has, say, $50 mil in the bank, they can spend $10 mil on watches and their great-grandchildren will still never need to lift a finger.
 
No more than 0.5%.
If your net worth was $5000, 0.5% would be $25, and you'd wear a seiko or casio.
If your net worth was $5,000,000, 0.5% would be $25,000, and you'd wear a Patek Philippe.

Sounds about right.
:think:Well, according to your theory then I better go and start looking for my missing millions...:-d
 
I didn't see anyone mention it but assuming you are buying a watch with a good chunk of change it could actually be included among your assets. You could argue that the net worth you lose would only be in the depreciation and their isn't going to be as much of that with a quality watch as there would be with something like a car.
 
I didn't see anyone mention it but assuming you are buying a watch with a good chunk of change it could actually be included among your assets. You could argue that the net worth you lose would only be in the depreciation and their isn't going to be as much of that with a quality watch as there would be with something like a car.
No one has. Good point. With the right watch your assets just shift.
 
Funny you say that. There's a guy on my block who's house is valued at approx $130,000 and has a $200,000 Lamborghini in his garage.
Ever see smoke coming out of the house? Smells funny? Maybe seen Breaking Bad?
 
Just buy a really nice watch but gently used, that way your 25K watch can possibly be had for 15K. Makes it easier to swallow regardless of your net worth.
To me watch buying is done in increments. When I 1st started the 100 dollar Swatch was a huge deal then I slowly graduated to nicer watches, eventually moved on to automatic watches and have been building things up ever since. So right now at this moment could I spend 20K on a watch, sure I could, would I do it....NO just because I have other priorities like putting my kids through college and paying off my house as fast as humanly possible. Will I one day spend 10K or more on a watch, maybe but if I see something I like for 1500 bucks then I will just grab it and feel good with myself. I also see watches as something I will pass on to my kids so to me the price is part of the equation but there is more to it than that.
 
This thread made me curious. So i computed. This is just based on assets that i directly handle (excluding family and conjugal assets like our home and cars that my wife handles).

Art: 1%
Realty: 20%
Loans: 25%
Equities: 2%
Insurance: 4%
Watches: 15%
Cash or near cash: 33%
 
I feel OP's question is incorrect to begin with. There's no right or wrong answer. I dont really see a correlation between net worth and how much one is willing to spend on a watch. There are so many variables including lifestyle, financial discipline, sentimental value towards the watch, personal beliefs etc.

I have a friend who makes good coin but lives his life to the fullest without trying to actively save every dollar he can. He has a huge collection of luxury watches - watches he adores and wears with pride. Do I think he has saved enough for a rainy day? No. On the flip side, I have another friend who also loves watches but his most expensive watch is a MM300 although he has 4 investment properties, a lucrative engineering business yet a modest lifestyle.

I fall somewhere in the middle where I'm financially responsible having saved aggressively for years while also enjoying the finer things in life (in moderation, of course). Yet, I have spent about 30k on 6 watches in my collection. But I'm not worth anywhere near 3 million. However, I felt my watch purchases would not set me back substantially from my future financial goals as I had planned my finances around these purchases.

In short, it's relative. Whats more important to the person based on their personal beliefs, life experiences and what makes them happy.
 
Net worth is way to complicated to factor in as a marker for what you can or should afford for a watch - or any hobby. Cash flow and level of debt factor in. On paper, I should be able to afford a luxury watch, but with kid's college looming and other expenses, my financial advisor would never recommend a Rolex [emoji16]
Straight out of college, I had a tiny income and my living expenses were very modest. I should have bought a Rolex back then and suffered through top ramen for a year. I was only responsible for myself.

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I guess people spend what they are comfortable with according to their ideals and goals... Some even spend money they don't have on watches and go in debt, others spend way less than what they can really afford to spend. I believe hardly anyone would see this in the way of a percentage of net worth.
 
This thread made me curious. So i computed. This is just based on assets that i directly handle (excluding family and conjugal assets like our home and cars that my wife handles).

Art: 1%
Realty: 20%
Loans: 25%
Equities: 2%
Insurance: 4%
Watches: 15%
Cash or near cash: 33%
and ive spent about 1.5% (of the 15%) on one watch. so 13.5% on the rest of my collection.
 
Simple answer to the question: Probably not more than $3,000... and it would have to be a special watch. Something like... if Omega or Wenger made a chronograph watch that was exclusively for Formula-1, could do at least 10 ATM, 23 jewels or more, had an exhibition back, the right case size, and... struck my fancy. Maybe if it was everything I mentioned above, but commemorated the Colin Chapman / John Player Special F1 wins... then yes... I might have to do it.

Long answer: I think to each their own. People buy things for different reasons. I'm more fascinated by the engineering and the artistic qualities of a watch more so than I am concerned about whether someone things I look super-cool wearing it. I'm the kind of guy that would much rather have a 1969 Ferrari 275 GTB than a newer Enzo Ferrari. I'd much rather have a 1969 Porsche 911-S (which an old 1996 Pontiac Grand Am Sedan w/ 4 cyl could destroy on the track) rather than a brand new Porsche 911. I don't have any real interest in a Rolex any more than I do an S-class Mercedes.
 
For me it's about disposable income. Have your emergency fund of like 6 months expenses or salary saved up. Travel funds, fund your roth ira for the year, max out your 401k, whatever else you have. Kids etc. Then just keep working and saving, and see what money you have left. Some months I can afford to play with all my income some months none. Just depends on what's going on.
 
I'm not sure this is the right question. Isn't a premium watch a significant financial asset that is part of your net worth?
In general watches are not investments. If a watch is a 'significant financial asset' then it may not say much about the rest of the holder's 'assets'. And regardless a watch is not part of the net worth...until it has been purchased so the question stands...right?
 
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