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John Horwitz's avatar

"The MYTH of Fingerprints"

No, it's not jealousy - see, I've owned a Rolex Sub/No Date 5513 for almost 40 years. Also the proud owner of a Waltham Pocket watch form 1899, a Vacheron & Constantin from 1955, a Jaeger LeCoultre from 1970 and a Bulova pocket watch from the 1940's.

Good watches all, and serviced regularly they keep good time. Not as accurate as a quartz mind you but close enough not to miss a meeting or a flight.

At a distance, the Rolex is easy to recognize; especially by collectors, the LeCoultre and Vacheron are not special looking and by definition the two pocket watches always draw questions.

Cringeworthy is the quote "People who wear Rolexes wear them because they want to be perceived as the kind of people who wear Rolexes (and maybe because they want to tell the time). "

GOOD GOD - I would much rather be known as the kind person, the thoughtful person even as the smart person rather than hitch my identity to a piece of fashion jewelry...because that would make me THE SHALLOW PERSON, the one who wears conspicuous consumption as their only means of external validation.

As for Rolex being a 'Luxury' brand, it is one of the less expensive and not even on the top ten list:

https://www.otaa.com/blogs/journal/top-ten-most-expensive-watches-current-production?srsltid=AfmBOor4c8BIrUCHggeBJhJwbIGdIPyNtrV1yhDyqrs5lGan_8Cn29k0

That being said, their ad campaign is clever. Did you know that they are re-buying used Rolexes, refurbishing them and reselling them with their standard guarantee? Not an inexpensive way to get a Rolex but the buyin is within the realm of the upper middle class.

My favorite is the Vacheron, a very thin windup with understated elegance, it belonged to my father.

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