Nothing But a "C" Thang - C being Culture

As an Asian, I always found that mentality frustrating and disappointing. Watching relatives go broke and their kids go hungry then ask us for food because they want to buy a fancier car. I guess I'm lucky I got out. I can respect the "culture" but it doesn't mean I had to like it.

Absolutely. It's frustrating when it gets to the extreme example you gave. But I would also say that the same can be said about some western values. I don't like, for instance, that individuality can lead to narcissistic tendencies where someone thinks the world revolves around them, loving oneself to the exclusion of everyone and everything else. I find that selfish. BUT, that's an extreme, similar again to your example. Both good and bad. I don't see anything wrong with caring about what others think, in moderation. That mentality shouldn't be villified. No person is an island.

Interesting take. I’m white / Canadian

I buy mostly buy high end micro, Seiko Luxe, and GS. So : zero high status watches. I don’t care if anyone thinks my watch is cool. (Secretly, it is!😜)

My Japanese wife rejects most luxe items as being too expensive and a waste, but doesn’t give me any grief over a 10k watch. (For better or worse 😂)

I can state Japanese culture is indeed hard wired to fit in with the group.

“The nail that sticks out get hammered down” is a common Japanese statement

But - there is also a pretty strong culture of being humble and thoughtful about others feelings. Curious if the need to out luxe your friends or keep up is from a different Asian cultural or just my lived experience doesn’t reflect accurately the whole picture..

Young man who trims my hair every 6 weeks is from Japan, owns in partnership with a non Japanese business partner 5 successful salons here in Toronto, guy is not much for luxury items but he and his new wife did fly to Manhattan to pick up their wedding bands from Harry Winston, shops here in Toronto do not carry the jewelry. Hiroki is quiet and cautious with their plan to dominate the competition, his locations are situated in high rent areas. I noticed the furniture in his salons were designer stuff: Ghost chairs fixtures from Herman Miller, lighting from Artimede of Italy. His designer respected his desire to attract a certain clientele. This is not a criticism more an observation but most of the Japanese that I have met are not merely interested in keeping up but to be better, often times seems like they are competing with themselves.

I think the concept of individualism is over-hyped in most western countries, to a degree that it is almost a marketing tool. Most people want to belong to a group, as it is a huge part of the human survival strategy. Aside from varying roles of the family vs. welfare state, we are experiencing the same dependencies.

The thing with flexing is: It's often self-defeating, meaning that a wealthy person doesn't have much of a need to flex, as that person is already where they want to be. On the flip side, conspicuous consumption doesn't really change your life. Your financials are the same (or worse) than before, and it will likely have little influence on those people who matter to you. Yes, wearing the same brands may signal that you belong to the same group. But for me the relationship is the inverse, meaning that it is not the consumption that creates the group, but that consumption is used to indicate membership.

I can however see if someone is celebrating their success with an expensive watch, and it happy about it. But then again, that wouldn't be a flex to me, either.

I do however realize that people relate differently when it comes to the ability to consume. For example, my daughter's best friend is part of a Vietnamese immigrant family. The parents are quite busy, and we drive her around a lot. Her parents took her and my daughter to the mall. They bought her lunch, and my daughter was happy. Then the mom felt bad because my daughter didn't spend any money, yet my daughter could not have cared less, as she saw it from a needs-based approach, and didn't feel left out at all. I agree that there are distinct differences on how luxury consumption is viewed.

Luxury consumption (and I suppose "flexing") is OK as long as you can afford it.

If your buying high cost anything at the expense of being able to afford a car, housing, eating or, heaven forbid, healthcare. that is not a wise or prudent decission.

Nicely put!

I am a Asian (southeast) who has lived in the Europe for 20 years so I kind of understand both cultures.

What my GSs are zero high status watch? Oh no. I want a Relax

I love the observation of eastern culture being interdependent (seems to track really well in my mind), but the characterization of western culture as independent is interesting because of how differently independence is interpreted in the US vs Europe.

US culture highly values the idea of the self-made man and the American Dream. In that respect, independence looks like having enough drive and luck to be able to financially support yourself and your family in a society that's generally unforgiving (weak safety sets, unaffordable education, employment-tied healthcare, etc). That's the self-made "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" (which is an oxymoron) part of the culture where most "successful" people are always preoccupied with talking about what they have going on and how busy they are.

But how many evaluate others is based on the other side of that equation -- the American Dream. The house, the car. Conspicuous consumption is rampant in the US. Holidays are sales events before anything else, and everything and everyone is a billboard opportunity. So for those who have made it, there's often a desire to mark the milestone or look the part. And especially for those who haven't made it, status symbols still offer a social shortcut to proxy a certain image.

The numbers support this -- Rolex has 30% of the Swiss market share globally, but 40% of the Swiss market share in the U.S. Of course, us crunchers are enlightened enthusiasts immune to social pressures, but for everyone else, there's a submariner at the AD waiting for your wrist (demo model, not for sale).

Interesting anthropological debate. Ostentatious displays (somewhat vulgar, but one mustn't be too judgemental) abound in the West too, usually amongst members of more recently established communities, who 'made it' from roots of poverty. There's plenty of one-upmanship. 'Old money' in the West evolved past that need, or is more subtle and refined. But they've had generations to get there. Flexing is not classy at all. Eastern cultures with thousands of years of philosophy and spirituality, and Western too, and it all comes down to this 😂

I really enjoyed the video and gained some understanding of my Asian brothers and sisters, thanks! 👍

Way out of my pay grade.

@nawirby Sorry to break to you my friend! I work in a massive hospital with thousands of employees. Nobody knows a Grand Seiko from a 100 buck Alba. Even my colleagues sporting gold rollies or kermit subs have never heard of it.

You go with an Omega, Relax, Breitling, Cartier, etc.. if you want a barista or nurse to know you are flexing a watch 🙄😂

Funny - despite her stated Korean identity, her accent is Aussie, so she has a pretty good sense of Western thinking I'll bet.

I lived in Uni with a girl who was Japanese but had lived quite a few years in Australia and had the identical accent. Very nostalgic listening 😂

The Puffy jacket phenomenon is hilarious. But - I can report that her puffy jacket hierarchy is either local, or out of date.

The "it" jacket worn by every super rich person from Mainland China here (about 1/2 the population now) is 'Canada Goose' brand. Ironically, it's worn by nobody who was born in Canada, as the insane pricing starts around $1000 😂

Quite true. Nouveau riche is often looked down upon for being crass, gaudy, and ostentatious while old money is often praised for their class, simplicity, elegance, etc. It's Caddyshack. But, like you said, old rich had time to practice. The qualities of refinement had been handed down from generation to generation. Then there's nouveau riche who are just trying to enjoy their money not caring what others think while also caring about what others think. "I don't care that my solid gold Rolex Datejust makes me look like an 80s gangster, I just care that everyone sees I AM wearing a Rolex." The irony is strong in this one.

Jackets have never been a "thing" here in the Philippines. We're a tropical country and too hot to rock a puffy even in the cold months. I should say cool months. It never gets cold.

But in the 90s, when I was in high school, I remember the "it" status thing being Swatches. You didn't have a Swatch you might as well bring out a begging bowl because the kids in my high school would have treated you like a panhandler. The kids in my high school were brutal. I of course didn't have a Swatch. My family never succumbed to that kind of societal pressure.

Good thing I hung out with the comicbook nerds so I didn't get teased a lot over my lack of Swatch watches. But the comics dorks had their own heirarchial status symbols. In an X-Men-is-the-best community, I got bullied and made fun of for reading Batman. You can change the ball but the game remains the same.

I appreciate the sharing of cultural perspectives. Many westerners don’t seem to take the time to consider where different behaviors may come from. Thanks for sharing! Good food for thought

It's fascinating observing how we humans behave. Interaction with watches is a window into that. Just look at how influential this app is.

I ask myself, why did I buy a certain watch. Answer: I was suckered into it by marketing. Heck, I nearly bought the Blancpain Swatch last week as it was available in Swatch, London. I don't hate on it, I just resisted the impulse buy, this time.

Anyway, I enjoyed your post to get a perspective of another society. Ultimately though, I wonder if there is a common denominator regardless of where we live; our differences are just a veneer, perhaps.

That's my gripe with a lot of this girl's otherwise interesting video. In America, individuality is not exclusive of social pressures. Peers define their own in-groups and out-groups (as opposed to it necessarily being family, classmates/colleagues, etc), and care little about what the outgroup thinks but a lot about what their peers think.

Flex, hypebeast culture, keeping up with the Jones', or today's quiet luxury trends, there's a growing element of "if you know, you know" in today's US culture