Have you purchased a watch over the past two years with gains from stocks or crypto?

Crypto is a scam. 

"That's all I have to say about that"

Corporal Gump, USMC

Apologies if I’m being too anal, but the poll questions are somewhat leading. I mean, I understand that the gist is to understand if perhaps the rise in asset values has driven luxury watch purchasing behavior, but then why limit the question to stocks and crypto? 

I mean… so long as assets generate increased cash flows and / or real interest rates fall, those asset prices will rise. It doesn’t matter if it’s stocks, crypto, real estate, bonds, etc., etc. 

In my own case, I own a lot of different assets. Those assets continue to generate more and more free cash flows, so those assets are worth more, and my net worth has gone up. Because my net worth has gone up, I’ve purchased more watches... and more comic books, and more clothes, and, most importantly, more alcohol. 

But, all financial assets should largely be liquid and fungible, yeah?

well not crypto but started an ONLYFans account and made some gains there and used my funds to buy watches and other things …so I fall under neither…but I do take some crypto on my account …

😉

Nope. I wouldn’t create a capital gain to buy a watch, that’s how one goes from having money to having none. Sure reward one’s self, but there is investing and then saving. I only buy watches with what I save. My investing is long term/tax sensitively focused, IE retire no later than 55 with FU money.

Would I have loved to cash in on the crypto craze?  Yep. Would I have bought something silly if I bought BTC low and sold high? Tempting. Do I think crypto and NTF in their current forms are glorified Ponzi and pump and dump schemes? Absolutely. Do I think the blockchain infrastructure behind something like Ethereum will have many benefits outside of “currency”?  Certainly.

Dude...  are you me?  Like, genuinely, I'm beginning to think that some mad scientist created 2 of us, and the only difference was he decided to make one clone Asian and the other one white.  Craziness! 

No joke, I think you and I both work at the same Big Tech company too!  Like, if I'm not mistaken, I think in one of your wrist shots or something, there was a mug with the company logo on it!

With regard to crypto, what blows my mind is that EVERYONE is ignoring this one very simple equation!

It's like everyone's standing around at the top of a tower, each person has a big rock in their left hand and a small rock in their right hand, and everyone is saying, "I know for certain that the big rock will hit the ground before the small rock if I release them both at the same time."  Like, somehow, these new 2022 rocks repeal the fundamental laws of physics and f = ma.  

If the numerator in the equation is zero, then the fundamental value of the asset, barring convenience yield, must be ZERO!!!

But, 100% agree that, hopefully, blockchain infrastructure will provide significant decentralized benefits down the road!

Wanna hear a hilarious story?  So, back in 2015, I didn't want to pay the $125/month cable fee to get the package with Fox Soccer - the only way to watch English Premier League where I was living.  So, I went online and found this Eastern European site that would allow you to download full matches, if you subscribed for $3/month or some such.  I'm positive it was entirely legal, they had licensed the rights directly from the Premier League, etc., etc.  But, they only accepted payment in Bitcoin.  So, I dutifully bought $100 in Bitcoin.  But, before I could download any matches, the site shut down!  

"I can't believe I wasted $100 on this stupid Bitcoin!"  Well, a number of years later...  sold it for an 80x return.  

I wasted my hard-earned money by buying something with a fundamental value of $0 and sold it for 80x what I paid for it!  This world is full of sh*t that is truly stranger than fiction.  

No but I bought a watch in reliance upon unrealized stock gains right before the crash.  Oh well, I don't have to sell to pay for the watch (as noted by others here, that is what savings is for) but that is how I rationalized the purchase (watch is free because of the increase in stock value).

If I hold on long enough, the stock will go up again and I can use the gain to rationalize another watch purchase.  It's why I never sell.  

While our tech portion of the company is massive, I play largely in the financial services/planning space, but not far removed. Watches, comics, finance.  Check, Check, and Check. 

When 99% of all crypto is held by 1%, there are clearly issues. I won’t get into all the ways why it can’t function as a currency.

Nice score on that $100! I don’t fault anyone for having made money on it, the same way I don’t fault anyone on any speculative item. Again, would have loved to myself, but being in the world of finance, I just couldn‘t see it, especially since it was being pushed as a currency, something they are trying to get away from, because obviously.

Yeah, I'm on the strategy & operations side.  Nobody believes the stories I tell about how EFF'ed up everything is, and how nobody does any work, because it's a giant monopoly, and because it's a monopoly, nobody has to do anything.  I had a neighbor who asked me if he should buy stock.  I told him all my stories, and he kept saying, "No way!  That can't be true!  I mean, it's supposed to be this company filled with the smartest people in the world."  My answer:  "Dude, look at me.  I'm an idiot, and I work there.  So is everyone else there."  It's insane.  

On crypto...  Currency:  1) Store of value, and 2) medium of exchange.  

• Does X thing do a good job of #1?  Uh...  when you have +/- 10% daily swings, not sure you can call that a good store of value
• Does X thing do a good job of #2?  Uh...   who in the world uses it to actually buy and sell goods???

This is a nutty world, man!

Crypto is a scam tho

Lol why are we talking about crypto on a watch forum? I bought a bunch in 2016 and cashed out last year for a down payment on my house. I haven’t seen the poll results but you should only sell securities/crypto for necessities, not luxuries

Back in 2016 I bought some crypto currency. Watched the market rise, enjoyed paper gains, and then watched the market crash. Then in 2021, when things were picking up, I ended up selling for approximately what I initially bought for. 

This timeline also coincided with our firm being bought by a Big 4 accounting firm. I’m on the consulting side, but we still have to disclose all financial holdings, i.e. stocks, index/mutual funds, family offices, board memberships and a whole lot of other silly things. Due to compliance and independence rules we can’t own stocks in companies (or their subsidiaries or parent companies) we do audit services for, so it’s a bit of a hassle checking and purchasing stocks, not to mention the additional reporting I’m then subject to. Ended up selling my remaining stocks, which wasn’t much anyways as most of my savings are in index funds.

Long story short, the money I freed up was play money I had forgotten about, and it was enough to fund a Tudor BB58 in 925 silver. I considered my initial deposits sunk costs, thus this watch was “free”. Obviously that’s a silly way of looking at it, but I’m happy with telling myself that.

I'm under some "regulatory oversight", and holding a specific stock and having direct control over the acquisition and sale of that stock would create too much overhead, and I couldn't do it in a timely manner.

So no, I did not buy anything with gains in the stock market or crypto, even though these gains undoubtedly existed.  

I’ve actually gone the other direction. I had a few pieces I acquired at a deep discount and was able to sell for a profit. I took the proceeds from that and invested In a little side account where I day trade. I’m too big a chicken to day trade with my main investment accounts

Dogecoin bought my first Hamilton. 😂😂👌🏽🐕🚀