some simple truths...

what a difference a day makes... twenty four little hours...

simple truth 1 - buy watches dat u can love for some time

the thing is i see people flipping watches n though some, including myself may do it for acquisition of grails, some just tire of what they have and want someting else or the next hot watch, which is all fine, no right or wrong there... as long as u can move wat u had bought easily for something else.

the secondary market is highly imperfect and there r folks who like it dat way just fine. the closer u come to a global exchange or a more efficient market, the tighter the spreads get n dealers will make less per piece.

as i am not dealer, i do wish someone wif money n sense realises that the best way to go is to bring all buyers n sellers of pre-owned pieces together to establish firm secondary market pricing n hopefully for some stronger dealers to do 2way quotes for select super-strong brands ensuring liquidity for them (which the brand owners will love immensely as well even if they don't say so officially ;) if anyone wants to sponsor me to get this up n running the right way jus contact me yuh (will work for watches ;) kiddin

so back to the truth... if u can't move a watch than at least if u still love or like it alot or if it continues to bring a smile to yr face when u strap it on (even though u may want another), then its still pretty alright, right? :)

a mate of mine moved this recently... but while he held on to it... it was still a fine watch that i'm sure put a smile on his face :)

simple truth 2 - spending beyond your means is just not that good an idea :)

now i dont claim to live by my own advice but because i haven't i truly speak from experience :)
ok guys(assuming 90+% of readers here r boys) if u are unmarried, u only hv to take care of yrself. pay off yr student loans, honor yr parents wif a monthly amount regardless of whether they need it n tithe if so inclined. the rest of the money u make is for booze, broads, toys, games... passions in all shapes n forms... console games to ipads, world of warcraft to golf, hi fidelity audio, pricey cameras & lenses to ginger midgets in green kangaroo gimp outfits with boxing gloves... hey! whatever rocks your boat mate ;)

enjoy as much as u can yr singlehood n spend as much as u can on yourself without going bankrupt yuh. because u dun hv wife, kids n loads-a-bills over yr head, u hv certain liberties (not only on the $ side) so enjoy them while u can...

for married guys, u r screwed. if u spend a bit excessively relative to yr net worth(defined by me as all cash + highly liquid assets like equities and other select financial assets NOT hedge funds) than be prepared to reap the whirlwind unless u buy said whirlwind some nice blingety-bling/it bag or grail exclusive birkins/nice watch which will restore order... for awhile...

note i mentioned relative... so lets say i know a guy with more than 10mil in watches. its not ok if he has just a couple mil thats cash or close to cash but if he's got over a 300mil to play around than whats the 10mil spent? and of course some of those ultra rare pateks may fetch stunning prices someday... next case, a guy with $300k in watches but with less than $100k in cash or cash equivalents on hand... not such a good idea huh...

but the fact is for most of us who aren't scrooge mcduck, theres a mortgage to pay [an aside: watch 'thank you for smoking' if u haven't]. should u only be spending after u have fully paid yr house, car, set aside all funds for yr kids education till university n base retirement funds to support a bland-ish lifestyle? the toil of saving up to that point might be just too damn hard and u would be having a pretty miserable existence to that point without enjoying the fruits of yr labor thru life's up-down and upside-down journey no? ok unless they are other compensating factors but in general, as u age and as u earn, u want to be happy no? so how? spend a little lah :)

this one may not be in the 'spend a little' category... not for the faint hearted... but the diamond hearted... love all freaks, blingy and non-blingy ;)

simple truth 3 - timeless classics always work better than depeche mode...

superhot watch ABC comes to the market... everyone and their uncle seems to want one... the models(the leggy type with sultry written all over) at the launch event all look as if they would go out with you if you own one too... the retailer is just saying that its like squeezing blood from the roc to get a piece for u but he can do it if u really really want it (but u must recognise what herculean effort it is for him to do this for u as he is using it for 'building' the relationship for their vvip n high potential + high roller customers).. grey market dealers are pricing it 30% more, then 50% more... and u crave for hot watch... u yearn for hot watch... and eventually u land it... after a few months have passed, is the hot watch still hot? sometime it takes a bit longer but the hotness fades... so the next question is 'is it still kickass to YOU?' ask yourself 6 months after and at 6 months intervals from there... if after 2 years it stills totally kick ass(to u), then you're pretty safe :)

example of classics that will never go out of style... select wong kar wai films man... they are that good :) i'm in the mood for love... simply because you're near me...

oh and because DM was mentioned... "let me see you stripped down to the bone... let me hear you make decisions without your television..." & "u know how hard it is for me to shake the disease"

here's one of my timeless classics...

so some simple truths to share... can be viewed as advice as well... do with it what u will :) & have a good week ahead...oh and what watch are you thinking of getting next? cheers, raph