Losing a $3,000 watch
Two weeks ago, a YouTuber told an anecdote about losing a $3,000 watch on the beach in Mexico. (It wasn't the main point of his video, but it's the point that I want to address.)
As he told it, he was in a hurry, got careless, and lost his watch somewhere on the beach. (I can't really fault him. I once lost a $90 FitBit, because I was in a hurry and got careless.) He and his family searched for it, but couldn't find it.
In the comments, one person mentioned that this could never happen to him, because his watches cost $30 at most. I can relate to that. My watches cost a more than $30, but far less than $3,000. I wear affordable watches, in part, so I don't need to worry about them getting lost, damaged, destroyed, or stolen. I feel free to wear them anywhere, without getting paranoid about what could happen.
I'm interested in hearing the opinions of you all. For those who wear affordable watches, how much does the potential for loss influence your decision to wear less expensive watches? For those of you who wear expensive watches, does the potential for loss ever cause you to forgo wearing a watch? Does it ever cause you to feel concern over what could happen to your watch? Does that concern ever decrease your enjoyment of wearing a watch?
I started getting interested in style when I started wearing kilts. This eventually led me to resume wearing watches. (I wore watches regularly as a teenager, but fell out of the habit.) I've discover...
My watches are "affordable" to some, and "expensive" to others, as they cost $800-1600 CAD.
One of the main reasons I haven't really considered buy more expensive watches is that I can lose, or destroy any watch I own, and it's not a catastrophic loss. I can buy a replacement tomorrow if anything happens to any of my watches.
My philosophy with toys/extras is that if I can't afford to replace it, or accept the loss, I can't afford it in the first place.
At one point I kept all my watches insured. Killed a two-tone DJ years ago and they bought me a new one.
Now only my wife's watch is insured. I don't worry about theft at home.
But I wear what I want when out. And never give it a second thought.
At home i pretty much wear what every i want. But when traveling - then i usually have my beater watch or a cheaper watch. Heard to many horror stories about getting robbed. I have been approached twice in my life, but wearing my 20$ beater made them lose interest real quick.
My most expensive watch is around $1000. Even that I won't wear in certain parts of town or while traveling, not so much for the fear of losing it, but I don't want it to be forcefully removed, one way or the other. I've never been at the beach with anything but a beater. Just the thought of fine sand under the bezel rubs me the wrong way. (no pun intended)
There is no way in hell I would ever wear anything but my G-Shock to the beach. Okay maybe one of my Vostoks, but no way am I wearing something like my Zodiac or Squale. In most other situations, watch choice is up for debate, but not at a public beach.
I recently picked up 2 luxury watches, when before all of my watches were either affordable or entry level. I do notice I worry about it a bit, and I have started to look at getting them insured to help with that. For the most part I am able to forget about it though and just wear/enjoy my watches
After getting separated the financial impact of losing a watch doesn't even enter my mind!
I'm wearing my watches according to the situation I might get into. Going to the beach? I'll probably wear my gshock or a Seiko turtle on a Nato.
I even have watches which I don't really wear daily but enjoy wearing during my holidays. These are the G-Square, an Orient Mako I and my latest purchase, a Maranez Samui. This way I make sure to no loose or damage my favorite (not to say "expensive") watches. And as a side effect I connect a lot of memories with my holiday-watches ;)
That’s why I sold my Ernst Benz Swiss mechanical watch. Beautiful watch but after a small drop damaged it, which required sending it from Canada to the US for repair, I hardly wore it and finally realized that it was no longer bringing me any joy. Now I wear my indestructible Timex when working and save my Seikos for non-work days.