TGIF: Can't Afford the Watch? Buy the Company!

A Financial Cure for Watch Envy!

I've finally found a cure for watch envy: many of the high end watches that we can only drool over are actually manufactured and marketed under the auspices of publicly-traded companies. While most of us can't afford the ultra-luxury watch, we may well be able to afford the stock (or in American Depository Receipt (ADR) offerings that signify foreign stocks in US markets). If you can't buy the watch, buy the watchmaker. Once you own a few shares of a luxury watch company, you'll never be jealous or envious of a watch owner again.

Jaeger Le Coultre Ultra Thin Moonphase (photo by Remi Mathis, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

 

What are some of the publicly-traded watchmakers that are represented in the US stock market?

Swatch Group (SWGAY is the ADR). This company includes watch brands like Breguet, Harry Winston, Blancpain, Glashutte Original, Jaquet Droz, Omega, Longines, Rado, Union Glashutte, Tissot, Balmain, Certina, Mido, Hamilton, Swatch, and Flik Flak.

LVMH Moet Hennessy Luis Vuiton (LVMUY is the ADR). This includes watch brands like Bvlgari, Chaumet, DANIEL ROTH, Fred, Gerald Genta, Hublot, L'Epee 1839, Repossi, TAG Heuer, Tiffany & Co., and Zenith.

Companie Financiere Richemont (CFRUY is the ADR). This includes watch brands like Cartier, A. Lange & Sohne, Baume & Mercier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, Piaget, Roger Dubuis, Vacheron Constantin, and Montblanc.

Omega De Ville (Amazon Photo)

As a watch company owner, from here on out, if you want an Omega De Ville and you can afford an Omega De Ville, you can get yourself an Omega De Ville! You can even use my Amazon Affiliate link here if you want! You really do deserve an Omega watch!

Owning a stake in a luxury watchmaker means that you can vicariously enjoy a wealthy person's watch flex while actually transferring some tiny portion of their wealth into your brokerage account in the form of dividends or increased share value. 

Now you don't have to be a communist or a mugger to transfer wealth from the rich to the poor and middle class.

Now, I have to be perfectly clear. This IS NOT financial advice. This is just psychological advice. However, in what many are describing as a K-shaped economy where the middle class is being squeezed, there is some financial logic to investing into luxury goods makers.

As asset owners, the rich are getting richer by virtue of their investments. They aren't going to see a decline in their propensity to consume due to job market fluctuations. They'll be able to buy nice things even when the rest of us can't. But, if you own the stock or an ADR representing the stock of a company they patronize, you should be able to benefit in a small way. Of course, for major investment decisions, you'll want to do your own research and make your own decisions.

Rolex isn't publicly-traded, buy from Swatch group

Me. I'll just scroll through X and rejoice in all the beautiful watches that people buy and share on X and pay me for!

 (Pro Tip: Do your own research. I'm buying cheap $10 watches for a reason).

To learn other ways to cure watch envy, read my post here!

TGIF: How to Enjoy Watches You Can't Afford

Watch collecting is one hobby that regularly confronts you with the limits of your financial means. Quite simply for most of us, it raises our awareness of the existence of nice things that we can't possibly afford. Sometimes, it's almost painful. We can see the Rolex that seems so close, yet so far away, in post after post online, in watch collecting magazines, and in the web advertising that follows us around and haunts our online experiences. It can be demoralizing. But, it doesn't have to be. There are ways to enjoy watches you can't afford.

A Rolex Sea Dweller

First, consider the watches that are obvious status symbols. They are sometimes used as a weapon by flashy people who want to measure social status, rank, and class. People who use material possessions to bludgeon others with less wealth aren't being classy. They are being gauche. However, some of these status-symbol watch brands like Rolex have rich histories and are associated with some of our planet's greatest adventurers. As watch enthusiasts, we can focus on the connection between Rolex and heroines and heroes like Mercedes Gleitze, Jacques Cousteau, Sir  Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay, Jacques Piccard, Don Walsh, and James Cameron. I also like to think of the many service personnel around the world who may have them as the result of earning combat and hardship pay in faraway lands. These status brands are actually about more than a flashy trust fund baby can even begin to appreciate.

Sir Edmund Hillary (circa 1953)

Second, think about the horological masterpieces from Breguet, Maximillian Buser and Friends, Constantin Vacheron, and RGM. These are watches that rise to the level of fine art. Fine art. For most of us, it's unrealistic to even contemplate owning fine art like a real Monet or Picasso. We won't be carting the Statue of David home from Florence for use in our garden statuaries anytime soon. Just as we can enjoy the aesthetics of fine art in a museum or in photographs online, we can enjoy the looks and mechanical mastery of high end luxury watches without owning them. We can also seek out art that we can afford and enjoy.

Swatch reminds us that not every fine art watch has to be expensive (Amazon photo)

What do we do with this knowledge? I think we relax. We can focus on watches that we can afford and not worry about the ones that we can't. If you can't afford a Rolex, you can bring elements of the Rolex style into the watches that you can afford. If you want the exact look, you can find it in an homage watch. You'll find five great Rolex Submariner homage watches collected here in my Amazon affiliate storefront.  If you like elements of the look, the iconic watches have inspired generations of independent designs that have dive watch looks. The luxury watch brands can serve as guidance and templates for the watches the rest of us actually wear.

Your watch is about you and your adventures!

Do you still envy fine watches that you can't afford? I do have a surefire financial cure for watch envy. Read my blog post here to find out more!