How Much Happiness Can A $20,000 Rolex Give You
[0:00:00] So, the question is how much happiness comes
with owning an expensive watch? Well, I know for me the answer is easy because
in 2018, I paid $11,290 for this watch. Today, new, this watch is selling for $28,995. As
an investment, that’s 156% return in less than five years.
And, by the way, I know the bottom is falling out on Rolexes as an investment, but still
used, this is going for $18,995. So, by that measure, the happiness of this watch you could
say is between $17 and $7,000 depending on what you can get for it.
But, seriously, gents, today, I want to tackle the question, does buying a luxury watch actually
make you happier? And if it does, by how much? To do this, gents, I’m going to examine
seven different criteria points. And at the end of this video, I will give you my opinion
on whether or not this watch has actually made me happy as an individual.
[Music] So, to start things off, I want to address
the elephant in the door, which is a lot of you guys are saying there is no way money
can buy you happiness. Gents, I get it and I want to agree, but there’s
a lot of research that shows if you don’t have enough money, your levels of happiness
are really low because you’ve got tons of money issues.
In fact, to be specific, I read that someone needs to be making about $105,000 a year in
North America to reach their peak happiness level. Anything past that doesn’t seem to
bring that much happiness. And, by the way, globally that number is 60,000.
All that being said, according to happiness researchers, which by the way I happen to
have one as a great friend, who was a former professor of mine at UT. But, these researchers
they talk again and again it’s not about buying a physical item that brings you happiness,
it’s about the experiences and the freedom it can give you in your life.
So, why then do watch buyers watch collectors talk about the euphoria they feel not only
after they buy the watch, but even decades later when they’re wearing the watch, they
feel happiness. Where does this come from? Well, that takes us to the point of association.
Watches have become one of those pieces one of those items that we own that celebrate
milestones in our lives. Maybe it’s a graduation, maybe it was a gift that you received from
a loved one. I know for me, I purchased this watch when
I had my first million dollar year at Real Men Real Style.
Now, forgive me if you’ve heard the story, but building up RMRS to its first million
dollar year was a ten-year process that went through a lot of just really tough patches.
We went through a bankruptcy, I just, you know, lost some investors. It was something
that I lost a lot of my own personal savings. And when we had that first hundred thousand
dollar year, I was just like, God, we’re on the right path. Then, we had two hundred
thousand dollar year, then a four hundred thousand dollar year, then a seven hundred
thousand dollar year. And I knew this, you know, 2017, I’m like,
we are going to hit a million dollars. And when we hit it, it was such a magic number
to be able to have a strong profit margin, to be able to employ a dozen people, and to
be able to note that I’m having impact on the world.
And for me, when I went and bought this watch, it was a celebration and every time I wear
it, I think back to that one year in which, yeah, no one can take that away from me. Nobody
can take away that accomplishment and the impact we had.
It’s the memories, it’s the sense of accomplishment, even the story of buying the watch. Actually,
Aaron Marino helped me out because he had a contact at a particular store. And this
is, again, before the prices started shooting up, you could actually get a 10% to 15% discount
if you were paying cash and, boom, I made it happen.
Now, gents, watches are cool, but changing gears here really quick, something that brings
me a lot more happiness than a watch. You guys know I’m a family man. I’ve been
married for almost twenty years, making sure my family is covered with life insurance,
that right there not only gives me happiness, but satisfaction knowing that they are taken
care of if something happens to me. Now, gents, I’m bringing this up because
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get your family covered with life insurance. Now, the next reason this watch has actually
brought me some happiness is it has appreciated in value. I alluded to that at the beginning
of this video, but I could sell this used watch for more than what I purchased it.
[0:04:58] Now, I know inflation takes away from that,
but still there are very few things that a person can purchase that increase in value
like that. Now, homes are nice because you can live in
them and in general they appreciate over time land. But, watches are, yeah, one of those
few items out there and I think that’s why they’re in this special category because
as jewelry pieces as collector pieces. And not all watches do this. Obviously, G-SHOCKs
are great, but watches maybe that haven’t reached an apex in their technology point.
So, Apple watches are not going to necessarily increase in value unless it’s collector’s
version and you never opened it. Point being is because this has reached its
apex point almost a hundred years ago ability to tell time, these watches like these and
because Rolex is limited and this is also from a brand that I think has limited production
has kind of created that scarcity and it’s become synonymous with high-end watches for
most people on the planet. For that reason, yeah, it’s just retained value and that
actually does make me happy. Next up, let’s talk about the functional
aspect. As a watch, it has performed flawlessly. I just love wearing this. It tells very accurate
time. I maybe lose a couple of seconds a month. More often I’m resetting it because maybe
I – still I’ve got other watches in my collection I’m trying to wear for a few
days or going there and reset the time. Functionally also, I have to say that because
of the work I do, I was able to buy this with my business, so it’s technically owned by
my company. But this has popped up in dozens of videos over the last five years and in
that sense, I’ve actually made additional money because I’ve made entire post about
Rolex. I have talked about this, so I created content based off of this, so in many ways
I’ve gotten a lot of functional value from this simple watch.
Now, gents, if you’re enjoying today’s video, do me a favor and smash that like button.
Seriously, have you ever worn a nice watch and nobody noticed, yeah, in solidarity, come
on, hit that like button, it will make you – make us feel a little bit better that
nobody noticed our watches. Next up, let’s talk about Rolex as a conversation
piece. So, I was over at a party and just talking with a gentleman I didn’t know super
well. And all of a sudden, he saw I’m wearing a watch and he asked what type of watch. And
his eyes lit up when he found out it was a Rolex.
I wasn’t meaning to show off, we just simply he was into watches, he’s always wanted
a Rolex. He was super excited when I took it off of my wrist and let him wear it, hold
it, check it out. I mean, he went and showed his wife.
This is an aspiration of his and you just find these fanatics. I mean, there’s a whole
club a whole group of people out there and it’s not just a great conversation starter,
but you find it kind of gets you into this watch club.
Now, I have to say there are so many other people out there that know so much more about
watches than me. I mean, I used to always call this thing right here the face. I know
I’m supposed to call it a dial. Point being is I know enough to be dangerous,
but I am in no way like a super watch expert. But, when you wear a watch like this, all
of a sudden you become part of the club. You have bought in to the community and it doesn’t
matter where you’re at in the world, people want to have a conversation about it.
Now, you do need to be careful because, you know, there are probably some parts in the
world where they’ll cut your hand right off to take an expensive watch like this.
And I do not wear this abroad or in places I am not familiar with.
That being said, I just really have enjoyed the conversations that have just started when
people notice that you’re wearing a watch like this.
And on a side note, I don’t think I’ve ever impressed a woman by wearing a Rolex.
Women are from the research I’ve read just are drawn to nice watches, but they don’t
necessarily look at brands. Now, I’m sure there are some women out there
that collect watches and they know the brand and what it, you know, if they knew it was
a Rolex, maybe. But, yeah, anyone ever had anyone recognized a Rolex or recognized the
watch they’re wearing? I’d love to hear from you guys down in the comments, what are
your thoughts on this? Now, another reason is watch is actually brought
me some happiness is thinking about it I have never had buyer’s regret. Now, my company
has gone through some up and downs since we had that really great first million dollar
year and we’ve had multiple million dollar years since then, but maybe profit margin
has gone down. And there are definitely been months in which
it’s like, wow, I could use, you know, an extra, you know, $12,000 dollars to the bottom
line. But, I’ve never really reached a point in which I said, you know what? I would like
to sell, I’d like to get rid of this watch. And this is important because I did have another
Rolex, a Submariner, which I have to admit after I bought and I only wore it three times
in a period of six months and I was really forcing myself to wear it, I realized I made
a bad purchasing decision and in that case, I resold that watch.
This was the beginning of the pandemic, so about 2020 late. And I made actually a thousand
dollars on that sale. And related to that last point, a buyer’s
remorse, I could afford it. And I think that’s key because I know a lot of people buy things
that they can’t afford especially cars, it’s something that you really want that
nice car, but five years later, you’re still making those thousand dollar payments and
your car is just five years. You towed it a few years back, it’s never
run. The same, it’s had issues and, yet, you are still stuck you’re almost underwater
on those payments. And that one was really nice about paying for something straight upfront,
having the money at the time and realizing, okay, this is going to be a splurge.
This is something though that I – I just really want it at that point and I know I’m
going to get value from versus something, again, that you’re making payments on and
then you’re feeling that pain again and again.
[0:10:03] Now, really quick, I want to show you a piece
right here. So, this is an heirloom watch that my son will receive from me. It was owned
by his grandfather on his mom’s side. And he picked this up, you know, during the Soviet
Union times, but Sasha passed away and my son, Sasha, is named after his grandfather.
Something like this just has meaning simply because it was owned in the family, there
are stories and it was used again and again. Is it the most accurate time keeper? Of course
not. But, it is something that is you’ll just keep.
And I really like the idea that I now have an heirloom piece and I’ve actually got
a few Rolexes in my collection. I also have a wide variety of other watches, which could
stand up to the test of time. But, I have a feeling that this watch right here is probably
going to be fought over by my kids. I haven’t decided which of the five is going
to get it. I’ll probably set them up right there and just throw it out and see which
one gets it and let them, you know, go to, you know, fistcuffs right there and just,
yeah, see which one is toughest, right? Now, the area I probably got the least amount
of happiness from this though was did I really want it? Was this something for years I was
aspiring to have a Rolex? And the answer is no. As a kid I didn’t
grow up wanting a Rolex. No one around me owned a Rolex. I never even really knew what
Rolexes were until I – maybe I’d heard about them and you kind of see them in movies
here or there. But, it wasn’t until I got into the style
space. First, I was into suits and I never wore a watch at all. And then, I got into
fashion watches as many of you guys have, you know, let me know in the comments.
But, until I got into fashion watches, I never really paid attention to all the different
brands. Within a year of getting into fashion watches learning reading more, all of a sudden,
I started realizing, you know, I would like something really nice, something that would
be of heirloom quality that I could pass on. And, yeah, you know, again, that’s when
I started wanting it and then, having friends that have these type of watches, I realized,
you know, I – I do want this. But, it was something that built up actually relatively
recently, but I – so I’d have to say that, you know, I wasn’t scratching a twenty-year
itch, but it was something that when I bought it, I feel good.
If you want to learn more about Rolex watches, check out this video. I made it a few years
ago, but it is a detailed guide of the Rolex watch collection, all the different styles.
And, yes, I do mispronounced one of them. Hey, I was learning and I – come on, I always
mispronounced things. But, guys, go check it out, solid video. I
really enjoyed making it and, yeah, it’s a good one, go check it out.
[0:12:20] End of audio