Creative Accounting for the Watch Obsessive

 

 I purchased the Japanese version of the Orient M-Force, costing double the non-Japanese version ($570 for mine vs. $283 for the other). My more expensive version from all accounts turned out to be the same watch with the same cheap bracelet. So I upgraded the bracelet for $80, jacking up the price to $650 (paid for by Invictas I sold on eBay) and it turned out that I didn’t like the upgrade bracelet’s style. So I took off the upgrade and had the original bracelet put back on. 

Because of this debacle, I won’t be buying the $700 Armida A5 Diver for my birthday this October. So by buying the overpriced Orient, I won’t be spending $700. So in addition to the beautiful Orient M-Force, I was given, according to my creative accounting and rather twisted logic, a $700 check. Boy, am I happy.

As I tell my students, the capacity for self-delusion is infinite.  

Related articles

It Would be Nice to Upgrade the Orient M-Force First Generation with a Bracelet That Doesn't Need Sanding

Have to Unload the Seiko Kinetic SKA427 Gunmetal Diver

Upgrading the Bracelet on the Orient M-Force SEL-3001B0

Busy Or Not, the New Bracelet Upgrade for the Orient M-Force Is Staying

There's No Need for All This Hate for Invicta

A Tale of Two Bracelets

Comments

[jonnybardo]

Well done - from one Master Rationalizer to another.

[jonnybardo]

Although the only hole in your argument - and it is a big one - is that October is a long time away. Do you mean to tell me that you won't be spending some hundreds of dollars on watches between now and then? That's 5 1/2 months from now.

[herculodge]

My watch obsession took a turn in the last month. I don't know where it's going. It's hard to know what I'll buy, or not buy, in the next year.

[jonnybardo]

I'm in a similar boat. I'm still feeling the craving to buy ever-more watches, but its a bit toned down. I still have ten watches I want to sell which will give me a bit of dough to play with.

[herculodge]

The good/bad news is that the watches I now like are $700-$3,000, which will slow down my accumulation. I hate being a caretaker for 55 watches, as I was a year ago.

[Ed S]

Have you looked at what it will cost to send two kids to college? And they probably won't want to go to El-Co, trust me.

[jonnybardo]

I like the idea of 12 as a soft cap and 20 as a hard. In other words, shoot for 12 but live with <20.

There are a few I want in the <$400 range, so I might get one or two more before waiting for the next big purchase - either a Tuna or micro-brand like Prometheus Manta Ray, Armida A5 or Zenton. For some reason I'm more inclined to go micro-brand before Tuna.

[herculodge]

Microbrands have better quality than Tuna. Better quality at lower price.

[Angelo]

I think the key here is not the watches----but the collector. It's a matter of retraining ourselves to be excited/happy by lower priced offerings. There must be are all sorts of desirable watches south of $500.00. The challenge is to find them----and also to "retrain" to consider them "everything you want." It's sort of like that with cars too. Sometimes, you might have your eyes on a $90,000. Mercedes and dream of it----but get a Maxima for well under half that price and not feel like you're settling. Luckily, the bug hasn't bitten me like it has you guys. I spent under a hundred bucks on a Casio G Shock and was thrilled with it (still am). My Tauchmeisters/Aeromatics have been under $200.00 (on sale) and I love them. I could get a cheapo watch and be entertained by it.