Now that Kevin O’Leary has pumped luxury watches as investments for years on YouTube, they’re skyrocketing in price across the board. Even Rolex Datejusts, once able to be found in AD cases everywhere, are exceedingly rare and go for around $10k on the grey market. What’s your favorite watch brand and model, and how do you think luxury watches are perceived by peers in IB and PE? Has the perception evolved over the past several years, and in what ways?
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My parents bought me a black sub after I graduated high school cause I got a full ride. They got it for a 20% discount from my local AD and now it’s worth 2x what they paid. Next watch will be a second hand speed master with my stub money in the next 2 months.
Where did you go to school? I’m looking for targets/semi-targets that offer full rides.
Ball So Hard University
nothing signals 'I want you to know that I'm a junior investment banker' to a more broad audience than a Rolex Sub. For better or worse. Rolex in general is a brand largely perpetuated by an image rather than any significant horological credibility but it's a pretty safe place to put your money.
patek while he giv me nek, yuhur
I'm two levels down from MD and I wear the same watch he wears, a Rolex Daytona. Yes, I get it, there's plenty of Rolex haters out there and some of that is deserved. But the Daytona speaks for itself - anyone that sees it knows that it's not an "entry level" watch like a Sub would say. You show a Daytona to anyone - watch aficionado or not - and they instantly know that it's an expensive watch.
Always loved A.Lange & Söhne pieces, felt like they’re a “if you know, you know” type of watch.
Get a G Shock to instantly assert dominance
My daily is a Lange Zeitwerk. :)
You need to pay your Lange Tax
Sure, here's a movement shot I took with a bit of lightroom abuse :)
Apple Watch.
Movado.
EDIT - Can someone please explain the MS to me?
Movado is a mall watch - it is overmarketed to the suburban/ex-urban mall-going proletariat and is vastly overpriced. Movado watches don't hold their value and are easy to find. The opinion among the watch crowd is that they are low-quality and really flashy (in a trashy way). I would also group Shinola watches in here as the same category which is a shame because I like the brand otherwise.
To put it bluntly, it screams "I have some money but don't really know anything about watches".
This will not be a popular comment, but I'll contribute my perspective. I don't wear a watch. I've gone through a couple apple watches, but I keep losing them. One fell off cliff jumping. The thought of carrying around 20k on my wrist is terrifying. I also don't really think rolexes look cool. I feel like whenever I see someone wearing one, if they are an analyst or associate, I think you probably grew up in CT and got that for graduation. It's just a little basic. Kind of like driving a BMW or going to vacation on the Greek Islands. I don't see a rolex and think, "oh this person has good taste." In fact, it makes me think oh this person just wants to fit in.