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What a broken down Breitling watch might tell you about yourself.

Danny Sullivan

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As i turned 19 i took a decent amount of money (for beeing in vocational training at a local tuning parts manufacturer) and bought a Breitling watch.

I did so because i already had a nice car and wanted people to recognize "I am someone" when my car is not around. Yep...

This is how i valued luxury items like a watch in that time.

Fast forward to this day and the struggle i had over the past 6 years i was not wearing this watch for 5 years until recently. But the battery was dead.

So i brought it into a luxury watch store in my city. Turns out the battery leaked and destroyed the mechanic inside the watch.

Now picture me, standing there with the most cozy but not rugged looking jeans, shoes and top i found that morning, inmidst people dressed like they're heading to the opera - where even the salesman drive Porsche at least, wear suits or dresses and obviously expensive watches or jewelry (40k millionaires?).

The lady infront of me is explaining me what's wrong with the watch and that it needs to be send to Breitling directly so that they can repair it. But there's a catch:

Lady: "We need to send your package value insured and Breitling itself will provide you with a costs estimate on what needs to be done to repair your watch."

Me: "And how much would that probably be?"

Lady: "It's 65 € for the value insured package and around 85-150 € for a costs estimate from Breitling. But the value of the watch is sure worth it."

Me: "Yeah, the value of the watch is sure worth it, but my understanding of value is not. I'll take the watch with me again. Thanks for your efforts."

Almost everyone in the store was looking at me, as if they'd pity or belittle me for not spending that "small" amount of money on a watch.

15 years later from buying this watch with superficial intentions, this has become completely irrelevant to me, because my priorities changed. There are so much more useful things that i can do with probably 800-1000 € in my pockets, rather than repairing a thing that shows time and looks nice on my wrist.

So next time you find yourself in an "hostile environment" where you're obviously acting "out of sidewalkers script", take a step back, overcome the uncomfortness of the situation and think "does this really matter to me? or am i doing this for superficial reasons?"

This was a great lesson for me and i'm glad it happened like it did.

I packed the watch back into its box, put it into my wardrobe and never spent a single thought on it again.
 
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Healthfulness

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As i turned 19 i took a decent amount of money (for beeing in vocational training at a local tuning parts manufacturer) and bought a Breitling watch.

I did so because i already had a nice car and wanted people to recognize "I am someone" when my car is not around. Yep...

This is how i valued luxury items like a watch in that time.

Fast forward to this day and the struggle i had over the past 6 years i was not wearing this watch for 5 years until recently. But the battery was dead.

So i brought it into a luxury watch store in my city. Turns out the battery leaked and destroyed the mechanic inside the watch.

Now picture me, standing there with the most cozy but not rugged looking jeans, shoes and top i found that morning, inmidst people dressed like they're heading to the opera - where even the salesman drive Porsche at least, wear suits or dresses and obviously expensive watches or jewelry (40k millionaires?).

The lady infront of me is explaining me what's wrong with the watch and that it needs to be send to Breitling directly so that they can repair it. But there's a catch:

Lady: "We need to send your package value insured and Breitling itself will provide you with a costs estimate on what needs to be done to repair your watch."

Me: "And how much would that probably be?"

Lady: "It's 65 € for the value insured package and around 85-150 € for a costs estimate from Breitling. But the value of the watch is sure worth it."

Me: "Yeah, the value of the watch is sure worth it, but my understanding of value is not. I'll take the watch with me again. Thanks for your efforts."

Almost everyone in the store was looking at me, as if they'd pity or belittle me for not spending that "small" amount of money on a watch.

15 years later from buying this watch with superficial intentions, this has become completely irrelevant to me, because my priorities changed. There are so much more useful things that i can do with probably 800-1000 € in my pockets, rather than repairing a thing that shows time and looks nice on my wrist.

So next time you find yourself in an "hostile environment" where you're obviously acting "out of sidewalkers script", take a step back, overcome the uncomfortness of the situation and think "does this really matter to me? or am i doing this for superficial reasons?"

This was a great lesson for me and i'm glad it happened like it did.

I packed the watch back into its box, put it into my wardrobe and never spent a single thought on it again.
Can't you fix It and resell for higher price?
 

Healthfulness

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Maybe,... i think it would be possible but i haven't looked into selling used / repaired luxury watches. But even if it sounds stupid, i'll keep this one around as a reminder.
I actually thought that you might keep It as reminder, I think that's totally fine, you will make that amount It cost dozens or hundreds of times :D
 
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Stargazer

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Huh?

Luxury Watch Repairs

These guys send a free 'insured up to £25,000' box for you to post your watch and do a free appraisal and then advise on costs of repair.

So the cost to you to get the exact quote is zero.

Can't believe Germany does not have similar luxury watch repairers.

They have an online chat facility you can use to start ball rolling, you could at least use that for free.

Dan
 

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
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Aren't Breitlings expensive?

Point is ... reckless consumption for the sake of vanity can cause more reckless consumption. ;)
 

Kak

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The money allergy!

So so so many people are sidewalking idiots. Good post and nice story.

Luxury brand cars are my favorite to berate sidewalkers for. They are the exact market 9/10 of these cars are developed for. 50k employees think they are big shots in their 3 series or CLA Mercedes... in reality, they are pathetic. It's insane to me. I have radar for that bullshit a mile away.
 
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ZCP

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Take it out and display it on your desk. That story may help you land a massive business deal.
 

Antifragile

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If something you buy brings you joy - buy it, enjoy it.

To some it’s a super car, to others it’s a luxury watch or a mansion, vacation home, a plane …whatever !

The beauty of being entrepreneur life is that it’s unscripted .

But sometimes we let the ego take over and drive. Trying to outshine the neighbors without the real means to do so. Not realizing that it’s not the 1% but the 99% who you see and are your “neighbours” and they too can’t afford the things they buy. What’s visible isn’t always real. Being successful vs looking successful.


Some of this behaviour instead of bringing joy, brings stress of debt. Like a leased BMW preventing one from quitting a job to start a business… bills must be paid.

The question I ask myself is this: by doing / buying X what am I saying NO to? Will my future self thank me or berate me for this?

For example, I enjoy cycling as a sport. I spend stupid amounts of money on bikes. But I’ve never once regretted it. But the luxury watches, much like the OP, mean nothing to me. I love my Garmin sports watch more.
 

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