Buying your first luxury watch without regret? First answer these 5 questions
You want to buy a watch and not just any watch, your next watch should be a luxury watch. Maybe it's even your very first luxury watch that you want to treat yourself to.
pay close attention now, because you really need to answer the following five questions before you buy to make sure it's the right decision.
You need to be sure about these topics: reason for purchase, watch brand, second hand purchase, test wear, budget. If you can answer all of them clearly, you won't regret your first luxury watch purchase.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to dissuade you from your decision to buy a luxury watch. I just want to make sure that you don't regret your purchase afterwards.
If you landed on this article by chance and have no intention to buy a watch, then I wish you a lot of fun while reading and maybe you will find more interesting watch blogs on our website.
Why?
The first and probably the most important question is: why do you want to buy a luxury watch?
Personal Style
Your luxury watch should highlight your personal style and you're looking for a good luxury watch that perfectly matches it? That's a good start. In this case, the visual elements and well-known brands probably play a big role for you. If you can determine, for yourself, what type of watch you would like, you are already on an optimal path to finding the watch that fits you perfectly.
Daily use
You want a stylish watch that you can wear every day? Then I have a good news and a bad news for you. The good news is that there are countless, excellent options for you and you're not necessarily tied to luxurious brands and hefty price tags. The bad news though, you haven't narrowed down your search much. You should still give some thought to prices and styles, as well as features.
Professional reputation
You want to make an impression in your professional life with your luxury watch and maybe be taken more seriously and respected? Then I advise you to go for the big, recognizable brands. Choose a watch that can be recognized from a distance. Rolex, Omega, or Panerai, among others, are brands that more than meet this requirement.
Status symbol
You are doing well financially and would like to show it? Then a beautiful watch is in my eyes certainly the more elegant way to achieve this than to hang a lot of gold jewelry around your neck. Keep in mind, less is often more, think of Rolex, Audemars Piguet or Patek Philippe. Also, with small features like a tourbillon, you can increase the wow factor of your watch by quite a bit.
Watch freak
Are you fascinated by mechanics, the restless interaction of hundreds of particles to make a simple-looking but very complicated function work? Then you're on the verge of becoming a true watch nerd. In my opinion one of the best reasons to buy a luxury watch, because that's what most big brands claim to offer. Besides, with this idea, you can best break down the sheer endless choice to the factors that are most important to you.
Is your watchknowledge up to date?
Here is our list of must-know watches!
Bet you'll find a watch on it that you've never seen before.
Brand?
In Switzerland alone, there are over 100 different watch brands. Germany has Glashütte, a huge watch manufacturer that produces various brands, and I don't even want to get started on the young but diligently growing Japanese watch market, because there's not enough space for that here.
Accordingly, in order to somewhat narrow down your search for the perfect first luxury watch, it's important to think about what brand you want to wear.
A big decision you'll have to make is whether you'd rather go for the giants of the luxury watch industry, or find a small manufacture worthy of your attention.
Both sides have their advantages. With a Rolex, or an Audemars Piguet on your wrist, no one will ask you if that was an expensive watch. On the other hand, with a Haldimann, you can boast of the highest horlogerie from a small family business.
A disadvantage with the big brands can be that they no longer seem so special. Sentences like "Nowadays everybody wears an Omega" or "The Rolex is a waiter's watch" could, depending on the case, scratch the ego a bit. By the way, these are both sentences I got to hear in the last week, while I am a waiter and very proud of my wooden core as a work watch.
On the other hand, the small brands, as ingenious as they may be, have other things to contend with. For one thing, you may have to wait a long time for your watch because as a small company they simply can't produce the watch that quickly, further it will happen that your watch won't get the admiration it deserves without you explaining the details.
Second hand
Another question that is probably especially important for your first luxury watch, (but still has its raison d'être afterwards), is whether you want to buy your watch new or second hand.
Again, both have their advantages and disadvantages.
With new watches, you don't have to worry about provenance and authentication, but they are expensive and may only be available in small quantities or not at all.
Second hand watches may be slightly cheaper (and if not, you have a daring proof of value) and often easier to buy than new ones. On the other hand, you have to do much more research on the seller and be quite careful to get all the documents, etc. on it.
Is your watchknowledge up to date?
Here is our list of must-know watches!
Bet you'll find a watch on it that you've never seen before.
Testing it on
Have you tried on your first luxury watch before buying it?
No? Then do it urgently.
I've seen people discover a watch that seems just perfect, but the first time they try it on, they realize it doesn't fit them at all.
So go try on your dream watch first!
You don't have to buy it on the spot when you try it on, but you might find one or two other models in a watch store that you hadn't even considered.
Budget?
What kind of watch can you afford?
Luxury watches are great. When you get comfortable in this world and start comparing watches, it can suddenly happen that you lose touch with the prices. This also happens to me regularly when I walk through the watch stores on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse.
When you are making a budget, please keep the following points in mind:
Value retention is not guaranteed. A watch is often seen as a safe investment, and it can be, but value retention is never guaranteed. I recommend not relying too much on the watch as an investment.
Could you afford the watch twice? If you could buy the watch a second time, then you know you can truly afford it. I apply this rule to practically all luxury items I want to purchase.
Would the two-watch strategy be something that would be worthwhile for you? The two-watch strategy is a means to ensure a longer life in the best condition for your beloved luxury watch.
Is your watchknowledge up to date?
Here is our list of must-know watches!
Bet you'll find a watch on it that you've never seen before.
Conclusion
Your first luxury watch is something exciting!
It may even be the start of a long and lucrative career as a watch collector.
Hopefully by answering these five questions, you can save yourself some frustration. Write me in the comments if they helped you and which watch you treated yourself to first.
Just don't forget to enjoy the purchase in between all the considerations and decisions, because you will never be able to buy your first luxury watch again, this experience is once in a lifetime.
Source cover image: Pexels | edited post
About the author
Benno Büchler
In pursuit of more charmingly atypical watches, the teenage interest developed into a real passion. I strive to find the perfect combination of deviant and ravishing for the wrist.
