Quote:
Originally Posted by Z K
I think we talked about it earlier.
When I say crap, I mean they don't look as close to the real article as it can.
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Now that you've reminded me of it, I recall that is what you said earlier. Sorry, I forgot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Z K
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I think the majority of people in most places do not care. Most can't even tell what kind of watch you have or care other than "it looks good".
I don't think it makes a difference if you are already a professional in a certain area. People acknowledge that and know your credentials.
But for those who are looking to move up, the name brand items puts them into a better standing. It sounds materialistic, and it is, but in a country where everyone is looking to move up and out do each other, they try to stand out in any way possible. Someone better dressed will get the nod over someone who isn't - especially for women. It's pretty sexist in China and men have more power than women in the work force. A more attractive individual will get picked over someone else given they both have the same credentials.
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I find it more disconcerting that there are people who judge -- accord higher or lower standing -- on the basis of things like watches than that there are people who expect that to happen as a consequence of their displaying a "posh" or posh-seeming personal effect. I'm not sure which fo them is the bigger fool and which is the bigger boor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Z K
There are attributes that make the authentic item more appealing besides the legal ones. Things such as attention to details and styling.
For example, a lot of people copy the Submariner - both homage watches and replicas. But having the real one is just different. The homages will not have the exact styling or little details. The replica may have the same details but the QC is not as good and the finishing is rough. There are some concerns such as if you can possibly resell the watch in the future if you are in a rough patch or decide to "upgrade" or change your style.
Also, there is just a "je ne sais quoi" factor to owning the real thing. No matter how good the replica gets or a homage apes the original, if the real deal is what your heart desires - only the real one will do. It becomes a emotional decision at that point.
That is how I feel about sports cars as well. They are terrible investments but, for me, it is a emotional purchase more than a practical one. When I do take it out on the track and open it up to the limit, I enjoy my time. That does mean I can have a great time in a Miata as well as the M3 on the track. But I enjoy the M3 as a able all around car. I can blast it around the track one day and take it out to a nice dinner on the town the same night. Then go grocery shopping in it the next day. The luxury features and "image" of the car are secondary to the performance for me.That is why, for me, a watch can not provide me the enjoyment my car can. A higher performance car can provide me a better time behind the wheel, a higher end watch can't tell time better.
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Red:
Did you really want to open that door?
There's without question a decent enough argument for one's perhaps not being in as dire straits had one bought the fake Rolex; notwithstanding the fact that resellable or not, one is going to be economically worse off having bought most Rolexes if only because rarely can one reliably sell a used one for as much as one paid for it. (Let's just assume that in the hypothetical person/situation you broached the consumer didn't buy the pricey watch in Month 1 and then before, say, Month 36 find "money too tight to mention." Seems to me that if financial disaster -- to the point one must sell off a watch of all things -- comes about that quick, either an exceptional event occurred or they really couldn't afford the thing to begin with.)
Blue:
Agreed.
Green:
That is exactly one of the key reasons I say that whether someone else's fake "whatever" is irrelevant to everyone except that person. I know from square one that there is no way a fake watch can match in all tangible dimensions the traits found in my authentic one. The fake may and probably will keep time well enough, even if it isn't as well as my fake. The fake may provide substantively the same aesthetics, perhaps identical aesthetics, and that doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I think it a compliment that the person who owns the fake variant likes the aesthetics as much as I do.
That said, as an owner of the real thing, I know that at some point, my authentic "whatever" will outperform their fake. That's all I need to know and that's all that matters. If I have an authentic BMW and "you" have an authentic Mazda, do you think that it matters to me that "you" don't have a BMW? Should it matter to me? If not, why should the fact that "you" instead have a fake BMW matter to me? Moreover, the fake Rolex someone bought last month has zero impact on the authentic one I bought and have worn for the past 20+ years. The truth is I don't care, and don't have a reason to care, what kind of car "you" have any more than I care, or have good reason for caring, about what kind of (authentic, fake, or what make of either) watch "you" have.
All the best.