Overheard at work: $30,000 watch. My brain hurts :-( yes this persons household income is considerably higher than mine, but it would still be like me buying a 6k watch... wtf? My 12 year old $150 watch is still going strong... it felt like such a luxury at the time! I also tryed to convince people that luxury goods were for the ultra rich not cubicle jockeys like us. That we aren't even the target market... the target market is the ultra rich, ceos, pop stars etc... don't think anyone else agreed with me. But i have never seen myself as being in that realm :-S
Is it an Apple watch made of unobtainium and powered by uranium?
Naha,
powered by Unbrainium.
FWIW, some watches could be considered collector's items, and may appreciate in value in certain markets, although we all know that ultimately things are worth what others will pay for them. It's the same premise by which some paintings or sculptures are worth millions - it just takes an intimate knowledge of the market to identify what is considered "valuable".
I agree that $30k for a watch is Caligulan excess. This reminds me of a story that kinda fits here. Having read all 161 pages of this thread, I feel like it's time to contribute :-) My first contribution to this thread will be an "Overheard a few years ago in college" one, as my coworkers are surprisingly reasonable:
Imagine my surprise when I learned that one of my hallmates in my college dorm had 2 ~$35k Rolexes in his room - I was dumbstruck! But wait, it gets better:
...AND a ~$9k Tag Heuer watch that he never wore.
AND 3 Ferrari's.
AND a 7-series BMW.
AND a ~$100k Mercedes.
AND a Ford Expedition.
AND a BMW X5.
AND a house so big that a mutual friend of ours literally got lost and wound up in a DIFFERENT WING by mistake, in a high-COL area.
...
I could go on for days. The level of ridiculous consumption was/continues to be baffling. I know nothing about whether or not they could "afford" all of this, but that isn't really the point...