It’s your money–do what you want with it!
In the next few paragraphs, I am going to present a few good reasons why you should never apologize for owning a luxury watch. But this is probably the best one: It’s your money. You acquired it legally (I hope). You have to answer to no one for how you spend it. It brought you satisfaction for your own reasons. In fact your reasons need not be good ones. There are no bad reasons for owning a luxury item.
Apology is from a Greek word meaning defense. You don’t need a reason. You don’t have to defend yourself. It’s your money. No one has a right to challenge what you do with it.
Philosophically speaking, there is no better way to spend your money. Consider my generalized definition of luxury: It is a good or service with a cost or value above that which you need for utility. By that definition, practically everything we buy is a luxury, at least, to us. As humans, we tend to acquire the nicest things we can comfortably afford. Practically no one who can afford a 2,000 sf. home rents a 600 sf. apartment, all else being equal. A person who can comfortably afford a luxury watch is behaving somewhat obscenely if they purchase an inexpensive, cheaply made watch. If you care about watches and can comfortably afford a good one, you might have to explain why you didn’t buy a luxury watch, but never why you did. Again, it’s your money. You can afford it. It would be counterintuitive to buy anything else.
Here are a few more good reasons for your purchase:
It is a time-honored status symbol
Somewhere along the way, “status symbol” has become a four-letter word. We sometimes like to pretend that status does not matter. We dismiss it as shallow, self-indulgent, and elitist. But we do not live in a world where status does not matter. It absolutely does matter, and we need socially acceptable ways of advertising certain attributes about ourselves. A fine watch is an ancient, noble, and tasteful symbol of many desirable attributes. Wealth, refinement, achievement, and the appreciation of finer things are a few important attributes quietly conveyed by a luxury watch.
It conveys a sense of history
Sometimes preowned watches do an even better job at conveying these attributes. A new watch might imply that you only recently came by some money. You got a raise. You made partner at the firm. You reached an honorable retirement after a lifetime of much appreciated service. These achievements are worth noting. Rather than wearing a chest full of merit badges, metals and ribbons, we wear a fine watch. A preowned watch suggests we have a since of history and our place in it. We are a link in a chain of achievers. A watch passed down from father to son says something about family and connectedness.
Even when a preowned watch is purchased from a dealer, it demonstrates an appreciation of history and tradition that for many represents an important character trait.
It provides patronage for the arts
Most parts of a luxury watch provide utility. But every part of a luxury watch represents artistry. To get a fuller appreciation of this fact, check out this article on the hands of a luxury watch, just the hands. No part of the device is taken for granted. The high end of every product category is what subsidizes the middle and low ends. Style also trickles down from the high end. If not for the artistry at the high end of the watch market, all watches would be ugly and undesirable. What desirable attributes cheap watches have, they got from the expensive ones. There are simply no good cheap watches without the expensive ones showing the way.
There are reasons aplenty to own a luxury watch, but you don’t need any of them. The fact that you want it justifies the watch’s existence. And the fact that you can afford it justifies you having it. Never apologize for good taste, and the appreciation of the finer things in life.
Liz Becker
Info sourced by the author exclusively for luxuryactivist.com. Featured image source from Leohamel.com. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.
