Best watch for $5,000+

[afan]

I had heard that some of the fake Rolex watches were well made on the outside- intended to fool even careful shoppers. I thought they had junk movements, since no one who knew how to take one apart and check would ever buy the fake. Rolex would never claim a real one would go 25 years without service. Some owners say they only send the watches for service when there is a problem and they can go for many years with no attention.
Since you do not mention replacing a battery, I assume it was a mechanical movement? Any chance a real Rolex found its way into the stall selling fakes?

[Independent George]

I had heard that some of the fake Rolex watches were well made on the outside- intended to fool even careful shoppers. I thought they had junk movements, since no one who knew how to take one apart and check would ever buy the fake. Rolex would never claim a real one would go 25 years without service. Some owners say they only send the watches for service when there is a problem and they can go for many years with no attention.
Since you do not mention replacing a battery, I assume it was a mechanical movement? Any chance a real Rolex found its way into the stall selling fakes?

Not only are they well made on the outside, there's a nonzero chance that they're coming from the same factories in China producing the cases, hands, bracelets, etc. for Rolex and other luxury brands. The movements will be different (not necessarily bad - SeaGull, for example, makes a lot of cheap and serviceable ETA 2824 clones), since that's what accounts for most of the cost. Likewise, you can buy frankenwatches from India & Pakistan which use real cases, hands, & dials from luxury brands, and put cheap mechanical movements inside of them.

Again, this goes to the 'why' of watch collecting. If you're just trying to flex an expensive luxury good, a fake or frankenwatch will do the job. If you like the looks & style of the luxury brands but don't want to pay the astronomical costs, there are a lot of great homage watches like Steinhart. If you have a genuine love of watches and an appreciation for mechanical watch movements, then you're going to buy the real thing. What people often don't get is that the real watch collectors don't limit themselves to just luxury brands. Go browse Watchuseek, and you'll see people waxing rhapsodic about their G-Shocks right alongside ALS.

[corn18]

A good replica/fake has a 1:1 reproduction of the movement. The only way to tell it is fake is to pull out a 10x loop and look at the finish on the flat bits. It won't be quite as polished as a real one. Once they figure that out, it will be very difficult to tell the difference.

[Taylor Larimore]

Bogleheads:

Shortly after World War II ended in Europe, I was sent to Switzerland to participate in an inter-divisional swimming contest (I won the freestyle race). On my way back to my 101st Airborne Division, I entered a small watch store in Basel. I had money from back-pay. I told the proprietor I wanted three watches to send to my family in America.

The elderly proprietor recommended three Rolex watches. I never heard the Rolex name, but they were moderately priced so I ordered the watches for my mother, father and brother.

The three watches are still in my family.

Best wishes.
Taylor

Jack Bogle's Words of Wisdom: "I’ve known many people in the financial business who’ve said, ‘I’m really proud because I did it all myself.’ And when someone has the temerity to say that to me, and a lot of people do, the first thing I say is ‘isn’t that wonderful, you did it all yourself. And I think that’s terrific, I don’t know many people who’ve done that. But how did you arrange to be born in the United States of America?"

[apex84]

A good replica/fake has a 1:1 reproduction of the movement. The only way to tell it is fake is to pull out a 10x loop and look at the finish on the flat bits. It won't be quite as polished as a real one. Once they figure that out, it will be very difficult to tell the difference.

Usually the fake movements have non-functional jewels without pivots. The underlying architecture of the movement doesn't change, but extra jewels are added and the shape of the bridges is changed to make the movement more closely resemble the real thing. This is mostly for watches with display backs (like Omega since we're talking mostly about the Rolex price range here).

[corn18]

A good replica/fake has a 1:1 reproduction of the movement. The only way to tell it is fake is to pull out a 10x loop and look at the finish on the flat bits. It won't be quite as polished as a real one. Once they figure that out, it will be very difficult to tell the difference.

Usually the fake movements have non-functional jewels without pivots. The underlying architecture of the movement doesn't change, but extra jewels are added and the shape of the bridges is changed to make the movement more closely resemble the real thing. This is mostly for watches with display backs (like Omega since we're talking mostly about the Rolex price range here).

The latest fakes of the Daytona use real jewels and are identical in every way to the original.

[hunoraut]

Not only are they well made on the outside, there's a nonzero chance that they're coming from the same factories in China producing the cases, hands, bracelets, etc. for Rolex and other luxury brands.

Rolex is fully integrated vertically, and manufactures all its goods in Switzerland, including the foundry that makes the metals and alloys for its cases.

In the industry the margins are sufficiently high, and the volumes are relatively low, that there is no need for n’th degree savings from offshoring.

For example, Ickler GmbH produce cases in Germany that house watches that are in the hundreds of dollars. Saving a few dollars in the COGS by going Chinese will completely kill the pricing power of a luxury product that retails in the thousands.

[DSBH]

Bogleheads:

Shortly after World War II ended in Europe, I was sent to Switzerland to participate in an inter-divisional swimming contest (I won the freestyle race). On my way back to my 101st Airborne Division, I entered a small watch store in Basel. I had money from back-pay. I told the proprietor I wanted three watches to send to my family in America.

The elderly proprietor recommended three Rolex watches. I never heard the Rolex name, but they were moderately priced so I ordered the watches for my mother, father and brother.

The three watches are still in my family.

Best wishes.
Taylor

Jack Bogle's Words of Wisdom: "I’ve known many people in the financial business who’ve said, ‘I’m really proud because I did it all myself.’ And when someone has the temerity to say that to me, and a lot of people do, the first thing I say is ‘isn’t that wonderful, you did it all yourself. And I think that’s terrific, I don’t know many people who’ve done that. But how did you arrange to be born in the United States of America?"

Taylor,

Congratulations! I am guessing that you probably paid $100 a piece back then, and they are likely worth at least 5K-10K each right now - slightly better return than Total Stock

Best,
DSBH

[manuvns]

Omega seamaster aqua terra GMT is a very good watch for 6K if you can find one

[Kendall]

A few off topic posts were deleted in order to keep this thread on track. As LadyGeek notes in the original post of this thread:

Subject: Best watch for $5,000+

This thread is a continuation of Best watch for around $5,000? [Archived].

Use this thread to discuss watches with a value of $5,000 or greater. Discussions must be personal and actionable, meaning:

- You already own a $5,000+ watch
- You are considering the purchase of a watch with a value of $5,000 or greater

What this thread is not:
- A general discussion about wearing a watch
- A lifestyle discussion regarding the purchase of a large dollar value watch

--moderator Kendall

[Petrocelli]

Back in 2008, when I started the "Best watch for $5,000" thread, I was thinking about getting a $5,000 watch for my 50th birthday. I didn't get it, but my wife bought me a Rolex for about $7,000 a few years later.

I checked today, and my watch now sells for $11,300.

[manuvns]

Back in 2008, when I started the "Best watch for $5,000" thread, I was thinking about getting a $5,000 watch for my 50th birthday. I didn't get it, but my wife bought me a Rolex for about $7,000 a few years later.

I checked today, and my watch now sells for $11,300.

Did that outperform your total bond market fund ?
here are some 47 Best Watches Under $5000 from Teddy
https://teddybaldassarre.com/blogs/watc ... under-5000

[Petrocelli]

Back in 2008, when I started the "Best watch for $5,000" thread, I was thinking about getting a $5,000 watch for my 50th birthday. I didn't get it, but my wife bought me a Rolex for about $7,000 a few years later.

I checked today, and my watch now sells for $11,300.

Did that outperform your total bond market fund ?
here are some 47 Best Watches Under $5000 from Teddy
https://teddybaldassarre.com/blogs/watc ... under-5000

It was a gift. So assuming as basis of zero, the answer is yes.

There point is, the Rolex has held its value well. And if you are going to buy a luxury watch, you should buy them most inexpensive Rolex. It will be a nice heirloom for my son.