Is owning a Rolex a status symbol?

[Oceanklassik]

Hi, moved my discussion on this to here. Now, let me see how I should start this...

Ok, let me clarify that my views are not against anyone here. It is my opinion thru' my personal experience. I recently attended a friend's function at an upmarket residence somewhere in Bt Timah. Though nt my very close friend, he is a long time friend, and there are some other of our friends. One thing for sure, they are all VERY, VERY RICH!

This is a jist of my conversation wif one of them:
Me : Heh dude, so how many watches do u hv man? I recalled having
seen tat u hv a built in showcase in ur walk-in wardrobe whre u
placed all ur precious pieces?
Rich : Nt many la. Worth mentioning r one Frank Muller(he was wearing it) n
one Patek Philippe. Te rest r Cartiers n TAGhs.
Me : How come u'v got no ROLEX?
Rich : I never like ROLEX. They r heavy on the wrist n easily available n
affordable. I think ROLEX is for those who "wannabe" but can
any wannabe afford to start up their watch hobby wif FM/PP?
Me : I tot te ROLEX sports series r quite sought after? Didnt u even heard
abt it?
Rich : Nt too sure, think few of my mgrs(referring to those under him) wear
them. (he went on to advise me..) R u into watches too dude?
Me : Nt really. Hd one/two la.
Rich : Oh, then u shld nt anyhow buy. Get only te "LIMITED EDITIONS" of
those brands u r interested in. Te rest r worthless.

(then we got cut off by other friends mingling in)

[Darkangel]

Actually I do have some comments on this...but I think better not to say in the case that I spark out another arguement =X

[Oceanklassik]

Continuation II

Seeing tat another was wearing a Breguet, I commented tat he had a nice watch. Then te conversation goes:

Me : Hey, do u hv any ROLEX watches? I see tat u r oso a watch lover
(pointing to his Breguet)?
Rich2 : No. ROLEX got many fakes out there n they r heavy( ).
If I wear one, chance is tat pple might think it is fake la. Anyway
never liked ROLEX, a very Chinese "ah-pek"(old man) brand.
Me : So u only like Breguet, it seems?
Rich2 : No la. This one, my father bought me many years ago. Dun hv many
n nt really into watches. Only got another Patek Phillippe, oso my
father bought me for $150,000k( ). I dun wear it often; mostly
in my safe deposit box.

(again, others came in to mingle... )

[louisoh]

Diff people can have diff opinions... different mindset on why they buy watches.

For some, it's all about the prestige and status...these people would like to have the tip top brands...to them, Rolex may be a ah pek brand and is not exactly the 'rolls royce' among watch brands

For others, it's about buying nice watches that he/she likes... it dosen't matter if its a PP or FM or casio or swatch... it's about the simple love for nice watches.

[^Lee^]

...a good conversation, indeed.

Like the older said, "a mountain is highest than the other mountain". That's no meaning of comparision.

To me...wearing a rolex (or more expensive watch) doesn't really show a status, but more to individual hobby / interest and that's depend where you are.

Honestly, my boss who own a company with >1000 employees (not include of oversea) who's just wearing a coca cola watch. So what is his status???

Cheerio,

[Darkangel]

...a good conversation, indeed.

Like the older said, "a mountain is highest than the other mountain". That's no meaning of comparision.

To me...wearing a rolex (or more expensive watch) does't really show a status, but more to individual hobby / interest and that's depend where you are.

Honestly, my boss who own a company with >1000 emplyees (not include of oversea) who's just wear a coca cola watch. So what is his status???

Cheerio,

I totally agree with this 1.

Some people thing brands like FM/PP are valuable watches...some dunno WTF is that at all. I m going have to disagree with the first post that FM watches have good value,because so far the preowned vaue of it is not that great yet. PP would be a good brand to keep forever I would say.

Of course that's totally me. I do have a friend which is 2 yrs older than me...his dad is also a collector...but the only brand never in his box is Rolex also...so yeah different people have different perception in different things...

JUST ENJOY YOUR ROLLIE...that's what matters man

Dun worry about what others think!!

[Oceanklassik]

Continuation III

As we were in the group chatting away wif our spouses, I started to really feel out of place. Their conversations were really the "upper class" type like "oh, i got my PP watches cheap at only $22,000, n i bought a pair, one for my wife", "i was given a VIP invitation letter to the launch of maserati n didnt like te noisy car after trying", etc... OMG!!!

I dared nt even to share wif them my new found interest in watches n thankfully, i was only wearing a casio at the function.

One conversation I overheard tat really pissed me off(n made me left early) was betwn my wife n one of the rich wives:

Rich Wife: I see tat ur hubby quite interested in watches. Looking at my wife's
watch(lady's Hamilton), u hv a nice one thre. He bought for u?
Wife : Yes, he's(me) starting to get crazy over watches now.
Rich Wife: How many did he buy oredi?
Wife : (sensing my discomfort) Nt many la. A few. Got one ROLEX.
Rich Wife: So how much is yours?
Wife : Abt $1,000+, after discount.
Rich Wife: Wah! So CHEAP ah?!
Wife : I dun mind te price as long as i love te watch n it is from my
husband.
Rich Wife: This one got diamond one or nt. Shld get the diamond one mah.
Wife : I dun like. Nt my kind. Diamonds belong to jewellery pieces, not on
watches.

(having overheard the above. i excuse us tat my children hd to take their afternoon naps n left... )

[Darkangel]

That is also why we have a local ROLEX forum...ROLEX ONLY FORUM for ROLEX OWNERS/ENTHUSIASTS...most of us have the same perception for this brand/watch...so chances of having arguements is lesser unlike other watch forums which are open to so many brands of watches.

It's nicer to talk to people who have a similar perception on a certain thing than to someone who has a different perception. He likes this..u like that. It's not that fun talking to him anymore

[Oceanklassik]

Wa, my story hasn't finished got so many post liao ah..

I was jus sharing la.. My feelings n tots.. No prob. I m happy to see te way u guys r responding to tis. At least, i m nt feeling out of place here, n my children r taking their naps liao..

Cheers!

[seiko.citizen]

plenty of stuck up people up there, who think they are on top of the world ready to put you down in an instant. I personally dont like those type of people.
Many people in this world and best we leave them to their other bunch of stuck up friends.

[louisoh]

which is why i really muz say kudos to the bunch of people here in SGROC... i've met up with quite a number of them and they are all really really nice and down to earth people...

[Oceanklassik]

Nt all r like tat. I dun blame those who r born wif te silver spoon cos sometimes they r jus being ignorant. They hv been rich n still r. It is those who climb frm te ranks n when they strike it big, n behave like they r thre, is wat pissed me off te most !

Thanks for allowing me space to let go such nonsense n sorry if u hv to read it..

[elyjacob]

like they say, buy what you like.. end of storylah...

everyone is entitled to their opinion and imho, their opinion usually sways to the side they are more comfortable with... and usually what they are confortable with, they wear...

i like the iwc pilot chrono but my friend say there are better chronos around... but i like. so end of storylah.. don't be worried about what others say... enjoy your watches!!!

[seiko.citizen]

Nt all r like tat. I dun blame those who r born wif te silver spoon cos sometimes they r jus being ignorant. They hv been rich n still r. It is those who climb frm te ranks n when they strike it big, n behave like they r thre, is wat pissed me off te most !

Thanks for allowing me space to let go such nonsense n sorry if u hv to read it..

you are right... silver spoon fed babies end up to be the most ignorant baskits around. they look down on the earth, as if we work for them.

[pingpong]

haha.. bro i understand how u feel...

aiyah no end one la.. this comparison thing.. that tai tai will also kenna same thing by a even richer tai tai... keke...

even the watch got diamond, they will also comment "aiyoh why the diamond so small? must be big big then swee mah...." haha

Nt all r like tat. I dun blame those who r born wif te silver spoon cos sometimes they r jus being ignorant. They hv been rich n still r. It is those who climb frm te ranks n when they strike it big, n behave like they r thre, is wat pissed me off te most !

Thanks for allowing me space to let go such nonsense n sorry if u hv to read it..