Luxury Watch owners: do you feel guilt?

Jeebus!!!

Bad day in Hamburg,or what!!

The short answer is no. As for spending on broadening my family’s experience, we’re fortunate enough there’s budget for that too that’s separate from my watches. Then again, I don’t own any watches that I paid more than $1000.

I’m feeding the watch makers and sales peoples families, no shame…. Although granted I’m not flexing gold Pateks on people….. I could of spent my money feeding the poor but honestly that’s not my responsibility(I’m certainly not expecting others to feed me)….. I work for my money and spend it on what I enjoy & suggest everyone else does the same. Treat people fairly and don’t behave in too of a greedy manner and don’t worry about it…. None of us are perfect.

I think the issue you're circling is capitalism, not watches.

To a certain degree, I more so have the guilt of well I could have spent that money on X, Y, or Z versus whatever watch. It is a hard pill to swallow, but the world is not a fair place. Socioeconomic inequality is something remains to be unsolved in many places across the world. Its something I deal with professionally everyday with my patients. I see watch collecting as something that peaks my interest and brings me joy. I think many of us work hard for our money we shouldn’t shame ourselves for enjoying it.

Its for the reason i just own an Actua geneve and record geneve and thats it.

Err let me think about those 6 questions

No

No

No

No

No

I donate to charity regularly

Done 👍🏻

Nah mate! I myself would buy one or two “grail” pieces if I win the lottery.

I just think that this is an interesting topic that hasn’t been discussed on this forum.

No. Over 20% of my net monthly income goes straight out to charity, and I don't vote Tory. My conscience is clear.

I provide for my family and help out those close to me when I can. No one in my family has ever went without the necessities of life because of my watch spending. I waited 25 years before I bought my Omega Seamaster 300 Heritage and I paid for it in full, no credit. I earned that mutherfucker the hard way.

I feel sad that others are hungry or work too hard for small sums of money but that ain't caused by me. It's caused by the selfish billionaires and governments. Not me buying myself one really wonderful watch that I will wear until the day I die.

I have previously felt significant... not guilt, but... anxiety over spending money on luxury watches. That is, I used to worry about wasting so much money on such frivolous crap. But, not anymore. Now, I positively revel in burning my cash on these useless trinkets!

There's this story in economics that goes something along the lines of: "My wife wanted me to buy her flowers. And, well, really, the ultimate purpose of getting flowers is to show a potential female mate that you have so much in the way of resources that you can afford to waste your money on something that's completely useless and will wilt and die within a few days... so, flowers. Well, I cut out all that crap and just burned a hundred dollar bill in front of my wife's eyes. I don't know why she won't talk to me now?"

That's what luxury watches are for me. A way to burn thousands upon thousands of dollars on completely useless crap, to demonstrate to my lizard brain that I really am financially secure and to stop worrying about money. And, it worked!

As for feeling guilt because the money could go towards other human beings?

You know the trolley thought experiment? If, say, you put one of my 2 puppy dogs on one Track A, and, say, 7.5 billion human beings on Track B... I'm sending the train down Track B. WTF do I care about other human beings?

I don’t feel guilty with the exception that I want to make sure I’m not spending all of my families money on things just for me. I strive to make sure we all have the experiences we desire collectively.

I feel blessed, not guilty.

No one should ever feel guilty about being able to afford luxury items. My first nice watch was a Kenneth Cole timepiece, which I still cherish as a constant reminder of where I started.

There are individuals who own much more extravagant watches than myself on Watch Crunch, and I genuinely feel happy for them! I appreciate their willingness to share their exquisite timepieces with all of us on this platform.

Reflecting on my past, there were some challenging moments:

In 1989, I lost a 4-year scholarship from the Urban Bankers Union due to a combination of my counselor's incompetence and my lack of follow-up when I was 18.

At 18, I got my high school sweetheart pregnant, but we have been happily married for 34 years now.

We moved into a less-than-ideal two-family flat in a rough area near 7 Mile Road in Detroit, which was riddled with crime.

During that period, we had to rely on aid for a year, including food stamps and assistance with utilities. Additionally, I purchased a Grand Marquee car with a bent frame and missing windows, which presented its own challenges. Try shower curtains for windows!

I started my career with sales job that initially paid me $65 weekly plus commission, and I even worked a second job as a janitor at night to make ends meet.

As I progressed in my career, my wife and I prioritized setting up a 529 college fund for my daughter when she was just one year old, displaying my determination to provide a better future for her. I worked hard to climb the sales/corporate ladder, becoming a skilled salesman and leader to support my family.

My wife pursued her education while I worked, eventually landing a fantastic job. After 12 years of moving from state-to-state and securing promotions, my wife and I decided to have another child. My son was born 12 years after my daughter, and we promptly established a 529 college fund for him as well.

I purchased my first home at the age of 24. My wife and I had our second home built when I was 30...we have lived in this one for 22 years.

Both my daughter and son have made great strides in their education, with my daughter graduating from the University of Michigan and my son recently hired as a substitute teacher at a private school south of Detroit. He's transferring to Wayne State University to pursue his bachelor's degree and even wants to teach in Detroit.

Besides my professional success, I also give back to the community by providing my time to various organizations and speaking at juvenile centers in Detroit (I do not give money; that goes to my granddaughters college fund).

My journey was not without hardships; I've worked various jobs, from flipping burgers to cleaning toilets. Through hard work, determination, and drive, my wife and I have been able to provide a good life for our children and have the privilege to travel frequently as well as purchase the things we only dreamed about at age 18.

I am proud of my accomplishments, and I make no apologies for being able to enjoy owning nice watches and will continue to do so unapologetically.

Apologies for the lengthy rant; it's just been a meaningful journey for me and I get rather, for the lack of a better term, pissed off when people make not only excuses but put those down that can afford luxury items.

By the way, I was that laborer long ago!!!!

#Determination #NoExcuses #Grind #HussleHarder #GetUpEarly! #MicDrop!!!

Not in the slightest.

I work hard for what I have, chose to not be cursed with children and have zero debts.

I work minimum wage.

Zero to be guilty about.

As long as my family's needs are met & I help when I can in my small circle, there should be no guilt.

If I felt guilt over all the injustice in the world, I'd never get out of bed.

Wow I was expecting a little bit more empathy and compassion on this thread.

I do sometimes feel guilty, not because I in any way have caused these problems, but the thousands of ££ I’ve spent could genuinely change quite a few lives in poorer parts of the world. My parents families all live in ‘third world’ countries and what I make in a month they don’t even make in a year.

We do obviously send money back and help them, but I know I could do more for them and others like them. Build homes, provide materials and tools to enable them to be more self-sufficient, provide clean water through wells/pumps etc. set up education centres and so much more could be done.

But instead I wanted another shiny watch. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t had much handed to me on a plate and have worked my ass off to be where I am, so I get that point of view.

But I just can’t get on the bandwagon of essentially saying screw everyone else it’s all about me, like some have said above.

No

No.

Survival of the fittest. Did the lioness felt guilty eating the baby antelope NOPe!

no

“Please insert a rant about the 1% exploiting the masses and turning us against ourselves to distract from their crimes against humanity and the planet. It’s not about race, religion or sexuality. It’s about money and resources. We’re down here bickering over crumbs while the ruling class rob us blind... It’s about multinational corporations making record profits by polluting the air and water and then telling me to ‘do my part’ to prevent pollution”

No, I do not feel guilty about a watch.

Everything okay?

To answer the question, absolutely not. All my essentials are covered. We live a life well traveled and volunteer time and money regularly.

We can sit here and debate all day about the moral quandaries that comes with spending, but ultimately, everyone is their own measuring stick and constantly worrying about the success or plight of others can be mentally damaging.

In the early 1800s the state of Georgia decided it was going to conduct of series of lotteries for parcels of land for pennies an acre, for about 100k families. This is one of the best natural real world studies of what happens when we all the sudden give a large population of those without means a large windfall, in this case land, to create a farm, provide to their family, and create generational wealth. There are countless studies on this; but long and short the windfall of land did not result in multigenerational wealth and the poverty gap remained. We could look at all the amazing facets of this, but ultimately, wealth, or an infusion of sudden wealth, is not useful without changing deep rooted behavioral changes, starting with education. This also explains why a significant portion of lottery winners go broke shortly after winning.

TLDR: Never feel guilty about spending what you have earned and solving poverty is not as simple as people think.

Without answering the question, guilt is a really loaded term. There's no way to ask about whether or not someone feels guilty about something without implying that they're doing something wrong.

Not to say you're doing that intentionally but the framing is going to get you a very specific sort of answer.

Lol nope! And you're in the wrong forum to ask this. 😂 😂 😂

You can buy a Ferrari but your Ford Fiesta will get you where you want to go. And it’s just a car at the end of the day.

What about all the poor workers at the Ferrari factory that would get laid off if everyone felt this way?

Since I still file my wife’s annual income tax returns, I see that she has two good causes that she donates to perhaps to balance out her love for designer bags and runners. I write a modest cheque to a well financed mission each year and will give some coins to polite street persons who tell a good story, the few dollars is to stop the BS because I am not interested in the story and perhaps I am not even a good guy. My life has not been a bowl of cherries but I have never blamed anybody or any situation for my problems. The dollars that I spend on myself and my family that might be considered frivolous are funds that I earn. A client once wanted to instal a 20k Artemide murano glass chantelier in his condo bedroom, his wife and family were not supportive. I said that the man earned the funds and does what he chooses. Somebody is always suffering while another person is celebrating, that’s just life and sometimes life sucks big time. Vote for better politicians. Demand better actions.

You are right. The wording of my question is quite extreme. But I don’t mean to piss of anyone.

Like I said before in this thread. I would probably buy one or two luxury pieces myself if I had more money to burn.

I just remembered when I paid 350 for a watch dollars that I asked myself: “Am I stupid to pay that much on something that I don’t need? Will I regret it?”

I still think that it is kind of silly, but I haven’t regretted it so far.

No. I worked hard for what I can have.