Genuinely I am only interested in watches based on two things. The first was brought up here often, and that is the look of them. I'm not a big RM fan, so the only concern I would have about pulling it off is pulling it off of my wrist. But the second thing that hasn't really been mentioned here is the accuracy of the rep. It's not necessarily that I like the appearance of Rolex watches, but I really appreciate how much time, effort, and money went into making them the most accurate reps possible. I also like the idea of paying 3% of the price of gen for 99.9% of the watch. I know many people here will claim that there are differences and I fully believe them... I just don't can't see them.
The other thing too is that no matter how much money I make in life, I don't see myself spending more than like $1000 on a watch, especially one made of stainless steel. The fact that people are spending like $50k on a steel Daytona absolutely baffles me. I'd rather invest it and put that towards my future, whatever that holds. Besides, anybody with some money in their bank can drop a few grand on a watch, but the fun in this hobby comes from reading all the information on the models I'm interested in, and nerding out about all the small details.
Just appreciate the things you can afford. People use that argument to try and say that reps are bad, and while I see the logic in it, the value for money of reps is just so much better than anything you'll ever find in the gen market. The only thing is that this hobby requires time, and technical skill that only comes with time. Coming into this knowing nothing about watches, learning about the mechanics of it was really interesting. This is proving to be helpful because it means when things go wrong with a watch - which they will - I can try to fix it myself instead of just pitching it and buying a new one. The whole reason for hobbies is to distract ourselves from the misery of life, and just based on the sheer amount of time this hobby can absorb, it serves its function perfectly.
Basically, just buy and wear what you like. Most importantly though don't be doing it out of insecurity or trying to keep up with the joneses. There's always going to be someone with more money and hence, a better watch than you. Just appreciate this hobby for what it is and stop worrying about what everyone else thinks of you.
but ofc like all in the world even this is a matter of Taste and different ppl have a different understanding of quality.
